Shipping containers serving food? Port looks to bring more people to the waterfront
The Port of Bellingham is working on several ideas to bring more people to the waterfront district in 2020.
The port is looking to capitalize on the popularity of the temporary bike park built near Waypoint Park and have several projects in the works. One idea they are working on with another group is developing a temporary shipping container/food truck market next to the bike park.
Converting shipping containers into places of business is growing in popularity, with websites showing creative ways to design the structures. For the waterfront district, the container structures could be used in a variety of ways, said Mike Hogan, spokesman for the port. Examples he gave range from serving food and beverages to offering bike rentals.
The port is also planning to install temporary grass over a large area in front of the former Georgia-Pacific digester tanks in order to create an area for events, Hogan said in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
These temporary projects are a way to encourage the community to enjoy the area before longer-term projects are built.
“The bike park has been an extremely popular addition to the waterfront for people of all ages,” Hogan said. The bike park is on property that will become a permanent city park.
The bike park should be in place for a while. A timeline has not been established for building the permanent city park and will depend on the pace of development, but it will likely be at least 10 years, Hogan said.
While the pace of redevelopment was slower than expected in 2019, the city, port and developer Harcourt did remodel the Granary building, which now has a yoga studio as the first tenant, and completed Laurel Street and the associated infrastructure last spring.
Port projects for 2020
Here are the permanent projects that are expected to be tackled in 2020:
▪ Condo construction: Construction of the 94-unit condominium project next to the Whatcom Waterway is expected to start in May, with occupancy beginning in January 2022. Along with the condo units, it will have commercial space and underground parking.
The project was delayed several times, but permits were filed earlier this year and officials for the developer, Harcourt, told the Port of Bellingham commissioners in October about the May starting date.
▪ Demolition of the lignin warehouse: Removing the 56,000-square-foot warehouse is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2020. The warehouse was formerly the Georgia-Pacific lignin packaging building at 1111 Cornwall Ave., near the Opportunity Council.
▪ Construction of the food campus: The demolition of the lignin building may lead to the construction of a 40,000-square-foot food campus. It’s possible that the project could get going next year, but plans still need to be finalized and approved by the port commission.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
