Port’s planned demolition of waterfront warehouse will pave way for other projects
The Port of Bellingham is moving forward with plans to demolish a waterfront warehouse, one more step in possibly establishing affordable housing and a food campus in the district.
Demolition of the 56,000-square-foot warehouse at 1111 Cornwall Ave., near the Opportunity Council, is expected to take place early next year. Bids for the project are going out later this month, said Mike Hogan, spokesman for the port. The warehouse was formerly the Georgia-Pacific lignin packaging building.
Removing the building clears the way for the port’s redevelopment plans. That includes possibly building a 40,000-square-foot food campus, in addition to an apartment project that would be affordable for residents.
Known as the Millworks project, the food campus idea was presented to the port last spring by Mauri Ingram, president and CEO of the Whatcom Community Foundation. The proposed campus would have a variety of uses that help local farms, restaurants, food trucks and stores. Spaces could be set aside for commercial kitchens, catering services and for farmers that need storage space to create value-added products.
Hogan said port staff has been working closely with the Millworks team and has made significant progress in developing a plan. He said they hope to bring a proposed agreement to the port commission for approval early next year.
Ingram said they also are working on a Qualified Opportunity Fund for the project, which should be ready in early 2020. The fund provides tax incentives for investors in some real estate projects.
As for the affordable housing project, Hogan said they are using a state grant to evaluate what project would work best on that property. The consulting work would take place in early 2020.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
