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The Commission met for a special meeting on November 16, 2009 to discuss the Harbor Square Master Plan and hear a presentation by LMN Urban Design and Berk Associates. The Redevelopment Analysis presented is available to download below.
The Port welcomes and encourages your thoughts and comments, please send your feedback to info@portofedmonds.org.
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To Port of Edmonds,
Since most of the citizens of Edmonds do not want tall buildings similar to the Kirkland and Fairhaven waterfronts, how about a mix of cottage housing and 3 story townhouses with useful retail shops on the ground floor. Edmonds needs more affordable housing for middle income families. The development could be commuter oriented with retail including a small grocery store, a pharamacy, "five and dime" general store, craft shop, daycare etc. This way people would not have to get in a car to drive to Westgate to pick up milk or medicine. If the developers across the street from Harbor Square did something similar, it would be like a small village. With the new economy and more emphasis on sustainable living I don't see a need for more expensive condos and upscale boutiques. It would be nice to have families living in downtown Edmonds. Check out www.cottagecompany.com for a look at developments in Redmond and Kirkland.
Pat Gales
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Thank you for your comments and ideas concerning Harbor Square re-development. The Port of Edmonds is open to any new concepts that are economically feasible, and subject to final approval by the Port Commission and the City of Edmonds. We think some form of mixed use concept makes the most sense based on available information and consultants advice. Community support is the key, and we appreciate your input.
Robert E. McChesney
Executive Director
PORT OF EDMONDS
(425) 774-0549
bmcchesney@portofedmonds.org
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Questions:
Wouldn't Harbor Square redevelopment exacerbate an existing problem of excess commercial space available in downtown Edmonds? For example, the 1st level of the building on 5th St. where ACE Hardware is located has been vacant for a couple years. A couple restaurants were going to lease the space, that never happened. Commercial vacancies downtown make the city look like it is dying, not thriving. If there are a lot of commercial vacancies here, then wouldn't building more office space be overbuilding? Overbuilding might be good for developers and their lenders (assuming the developers remain solvent), but how would it benefit the rest of us who live here?
If living near the Sounder train is a draw, why do nearby condos languish on the market for a long time? That is how it seems, no matter whether they are relatively new, or relics of the 70's. I live in a nearby condo and walk to the Sounder train to commute to my office in downtown Seattle, and I love it. But I seem to be an exception. There are few who do as I do, but most drive and park. The Sounder schedule is nothing for non-commuters to cheer about. Except for the occasional game downtown, the Sounder is of little value to people who don't work downtown. If the Sounder had mid-day trips, it would appeal to a much wider group. But it doesn't.
Condos seem to remain on the market for a long time here in downtown Edmonds. Wouldn't building more and more condos make this situation worse, or drive down prices of existing condos by flooding the market even more? There are condos being built just north of the ferry terminal, overlooking the railroad tracks. No one has been working on the condos for weeks, I think they may be headed in the same direction as the restaurants that never materialized in the building where Ace Hardware is on 5th street - and that is nowhere.
Thanks for listening. Judy Murphy
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Thank you for your questions and concerns regarding potential future development at Harbor Square. Market timing is certainly a critically important issue. We agree the real estate market is extremely soft right now for both commercial and residential, but I suppose that's part of the riddle. The absorption rate for existing commercial inventory is dependent on many external factors beyond our control, and essentially unpredictable. But we think the market will eventually recover. The process for adopting/approving a final plan might take another year or two, and possibly longer depending on how things go. We want to re-position and re-define Harbor Square for the future. Some form of mixed use development seems to be the best approach. Getting there will be a challenge. Thanks again for your comments.
Robert E. McChesney
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| Bob,
Attached is a worksheet that has data lifted from your analysis doc and then creates some tax per person analysis in various categories and compares that with the same factors using city data. It was in that analysis that it looked like the port estimates were low.
For the property tax part I did not have a clear understanding of the mix of condos vs town houses. The respective values were 376k and 316k so for this work I use an average of 350k and then did some comparisons to the city data.
I tried to write some notes for clarification but if they are not clear let me know.
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