Tag: development

The Evolution of a Lynnwood Construction Project

Carl Setzer
Evergreen Estates Sign - Lynnwood

If you travel around the intersection of 188th and Highway 99 in Lynnwood, you’ve probably noticed the land that’s been sitting vacant for years has been cleared. It’s been quite the journey for this site over the past few years.

Evergreen Estates Construction
Evergreen Estates – Lynnwood

It has evolved a fair amount since it was the Evergreen Estates mobile home park. Back in 2017, it was slated to become the Evergreen Village apartments, a 231 unit 6-story multi-family project. There were low-income units planned, which would be valuable in this region, especially with housing prices rising rapidly. Though it would’ve solidly impacted traffic in my neighborhood, I was good with something going in. That project fell apart, however, I don’t have visibility to the specifics. It did go through much of the more involved parts of the permitting process. I did notice that the property went up for sale after languishing for a few years. In 2020, it was bought by Holman Lynnwood RED LLC, an affiliate of Holman Auto of New Jersey. And now the land has been cleared and the project seems to be moving forward.

Many of us are going “great, just what we need…ANOTHER car lot on Highway 99!” I’m glad that the property will be developed and become less of a trash and graffiti magnet.

A Thursday Morning Opps

Carl Setzer

Currently I’m at the Snohomish County campus to do some research on one of my projects. Forgot that the Planning and Development Services department is closed until 10 on Thursdays (had it in my head that was Wednesdays). Opps! That worked out for the best, though. Got to talk with one of the staffers about a different project, which will move that forward quicker. And then ran into a friend at the cafe here. I haven’t talked with her in several months, so it was nice to catch up on stuff (mostly kids…you know how parents are).

The cafe here is actually pretty nice. Especially for a office cafeteria kind of place. I enjoy the food here, and they serve Cafe D’Arte coffee. Not a favorite, but I do enjoy it.

It’s a delightful spring morning. Glad I brought my fleece, but the sun is lovely. Listening to the weird combination of construction noise, people chatting, and the seagulls and crows getting worked up over the eagle perched atop the Angel of the Winda arena (formerly Comcast/Xfinity). The eagle quickly got annoyed with the crows dive-bombing it and took off.

So much construction going on. The courthouse upgrade a few feet behind me, and the Hopelink work a few blocks to the south on Broadway make for a vibrant area. And fir a bit of traffic noise. Everett is changing right around me. I don’t think I’d recognize the place if I’d been gone 10 years. An amazing time to be here, enjoying a random respite from the busyness of modern life.

A Few Random Thoughts This Saturday

Carl Setzer

It was a stunning day, one delightfully free of any hint of snow. After some morning meetings, we went to Alderwood Mall this evening for a few errands. A few observations: First, I like the renovated Apple Store. Doubling the space, as well as the high ceilings make the space feel huge. I got a reminder that I need to get my old Macbook Pro over there for the geniuses to commence voodoo. The poor thing failed to boot for several months. I’m pretty sure it’s simply a failed charger, but am not sure. Could be a failed battery, too.

Also, I noticed the increased presence of uniformed security officers in Nordstroms. I didn’t notice them that much at the mall before, but today they were very present, up front and obvious in Nordy’s. Makes me wonder why. Or if I was just remarkably unaware before.

Tomorrow we’re going to see Captain Marvel. Quite possibly at Alderwood Mall, but maybe we’ll make a bigger trip of it and head to Seattle. I do enjoy Cinerama, but it might also be fun to see it at the Pacific Science Center’s Imax theatre. I’ll post a review tomorrow. With that, I’ve been watching too many gents lamenting that Marvel hates men now, so I’m sure the internet dialog will be charming.

I had a couple of meetings this week that gave me pause about regional development. We have this intersection between the desire to maintain our pristine wild spaces, most powerfully manifested by the Growth Management Act, with the economic forces that bring 1,000s of people into our region every year. As we crash up against those barriers, I see growth getting vertical. Anyway, I will write  a bit more in depth about this soon.

How’s your weekend going? Did you get out and enjoy the gorgeous day here in Seattle? I certainly hope so.

 

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Lesser Seattle and Other Thoughts

Carl Setzer

I grew up reading Emmett Watson (a key part of Seattle’s literary history), and decided to revisit some of his writings. Currently, I’m working my way through Emmett Watson: “My Life In Print” (affiliate link). This book has a whole section about his, somewhat tongue-in-cheek writings about a somewhat fictional organization: the Society for Lesser Seattle.

The ideology of this came as a counter to the relentless boosterism for growing Seattle. If you loved the city, imagine how annoying it would be to continue to hear how to “fix” what you cherish.

Now, to be fair, the global city that Seattle is today resulted from that boosterism. But there were elements of that growth mindset that were truly mindless. Growth for growth’s sake is not wise or healthy, in my view.

Change is a part of life. It’s crucial to evolve. However, I find deep value in spending time assessing:

  • Who you are
  • Who you want to become
  • Then evaluate the opportunities which present themselves

All three are important. I can’t imagine anything more sad than “evolving” into someone you hate.

The same is true for cities, and any type of community.

“Know thyself”, a line I’ve heard bantered forth occasionally, seems apt here.

With communities, a challenge: dealing with divergent answers of those questions. Democracy can get ugly at times.

Let’s explore all of this, shall we?

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Some changes in Everett

Carl Setzer

A few months ago (well, maybe a bit longer) Everett’s Trinity Lutheran College folded up shop. We have a new tenant moving into their old space: Funko, formerly of Lynnwood. 

 Looks like they’re taking the whole building, which, if true, will be great both for Funko and Everett.  That’ll be a boon for the local businesses, restaurants and such. 

I’m excited to see this change, though Lynnwood will certainly miss a great company that’s up and coming. Such is the way of things, I guess. 

My curiosities, buildings, real estate and Everett

Carl Setzer

I noticed a classic older building in downtown Everett the other day. The building doesn’t look bad at all, but it’s completely vacant; not even the storefront spaces are occupied.

These are things that capture my attention.

I’m pulling a blog post together about this particular property, as it’s pretty interesting. Well, to me, at least.

Buildings and the politics around them fascinate me.

With this, Everett has begun to  intrigue me. There are some very lovely structures and neighborhoods, with some significant regional history. With these sorts of buildings, a thriving arts scene and solid proximity to Seattle, we have some amazing potential up here.

Around 35 miles north of Seattle, with access to the Sounder Trains and buses, along with Snohomish County’s CT bus fleet, centering from the Everett Station, accessing Seattle is pretty easy and convenient. The Eastside is a little less easy, but not too much so. Microsoft’s Connector buses make their way up here (Snohomish and Mill Creek…maybe with enough lobbying, the Everett station can get a stop, too), and there’s Sounder and CT buses that head to Microsoft’s Commons and the Overlake Station, and downtown Bellevue. Within a few years, and the lightrail system gets fully launched, Everett’s interconnection with the greater Seattle economy will be solidified.

Everett does have a lot to offer, and the way the region’s developing, it will be far more interconnected and accessible to the rest of the region soon.

There’s a lot of opportunity for the forward thinking folks.

High density, population growth, economics and Seattle area development

Carl Setzer

Working in construction, I think about development a lot. Things like density, traffic, quality of life, and affordability. And my personal interests add concerns about bicycle friendliness, walk-ability, accessibility, with sustainability. 

The issue of density has come up a bit lately. 

We like our single family homes. Yet it’s not the most stable model. First, supply and demand. By building mostly SFRs, we hold down supply. Demand, in our region, isn’t stable or static, it’s growing. This dynamic will continue to drive prices up. Sure, expect other market forces to put downward pressure on prices, from time to time. But the upward pressure of demand will be there for the foreseeable future. People want/need to live here 

The best thing we can do for affordability is develop more multi-family homes. Condos and such. I’m not sure envisioning the Puget Sound basin like Tokyo is the design ascetic I’d shoot for, (nothing against Tokyo) but I’m not considering that. I’m just meditating on market forces. 

Consider things like air condos, a way to get the SFR experience with a bit more modest price tag. We compromise on yard, another suburban charm. We value yards, but we can’t have both yards and affordability. 

Market forces will drive us to the higher density models. Understanding market dynamics, it’s hard not to envision a line of high rises from Olympia to Everett… eventually. So, I would like us to be thoughtful about how we get there, since reactively following market dynamics does always go elegantly. 

New Construction In Lynnwood

Carl Setzer

I noticed a Proposed Land Use sign a few days ago here just north of Highway 99 & 176th in Lynnwood. Looks like NW Motor Sports is planning on moving there, or expanding their operations there. It’ll blend right in with the other car lots around there.

It will be nice for the land to be used, though. It’s a pretty highly valued lot and the owners would certainly rather have income offsetting the taxes versus sitting there vacant.

Observed changes in #Lynnwood

Carl Setzer3 Comments

Yesterday I noticed that demolition started on the old Taco Bell just east of Highway 99 on 196th. It’s last incarnation: another taco place, this one of similar quality to the great taco trucks. Many memories, but the building’s neglect finally won.

We’re getting a CVS pharmacy, which surely shall add delight to an already very busy corner. It’s a high-volume intersection, so I expect they’ll do well. I imagine traffic to get worse there, though. Maybe it’ll hardly be noticeable, that whatever traffic improvements built will easily compensate. One can hope.

Gives me pause, all this development. Our suburb’s design focuses on cars. Parts of Lynnwood are walkable. Yet many spots require a significant level of bravery and/or desperation. I’d love to see more walkability and bicycle friendly design featured in our development. Maybe we can all feel encouraged to slow down and enjoy our neighborhoods. Discovering a great life that doesn’t involve lugging around tons of steel and plastic. One hopes. Well, on this one I act. Some things are important enough to demand action. Some things…

Some significant changes in Lynnwood

Carl Setzer

My town has seen some rapid changes these last few months. Several major projects are in process, both public and private. These are bringing much needed growth to the area.

Costco’s long delayed new store on the old Lynnwood high school site finally launched; moving really fast. I’m glad the City is being thoughtful with the road structure around the area. Adding much more capacity to the area is quite critical, as traffic volumes are going to go nuts when Costco comes online.

Another significant spot of change is off of 196th & 36th. The aging and dilapidated Alderwood Manor Hardware Store building was finally razed. And just a few feet away, a multi-story apartment building or condo tower will be built. That will significantly impact traffic in that area, already a heavily traveled spot. But the City already had improvements in process.

These are just a few highlights. There’s a CVS pharmacy in the works for 196th near 99, the long-overdue traffic revision by the Post Office on 208th, and more. Lynnwood is coming alive economically. It’s amazing and delightful to watch.