Port of Bellingham moves forward on waterfront affordable housing, food campus plan
An affordable housing development that includes a job creation campus on the waterfront is moving forward, but it will take some time before construction is underway.
On Tuesday, Sept. 7, Port of Bellingham commissioners unanimously approved an option to sell 3.3 acres of property to Mercy Housing Northwest and The Millworks LLC. The sale price is set at $2 million and the option lasts until Dec. 31, 2022, to allow the organizations time to work with donors, investors and lenders to secure the financing necessary to complete the sale and fund construction.
If the sale is completed, the plan is to develop more than 70 affordable housing units, a multi-classroom early learning center and a 50,000-square-foot food campus. The food campus will focus on local agricultural product processing, business incubation and workforce training, according to a news release from the port.
With the option in place, construction of this project isn’t expected to begin until 2023.
Mercy Housing Northwest is a relatively new partner to this project, which first started taking shape in 2019. The organization has a strong track record in Whatcom County, having completed six other developments in Whatcom County and having just started construction of the Barkley Family Housing building, which will have 77 affordable apartments and seven YMCA Early Learning Center classrooms. The Barkley development is expected to be completed in November 2022.
“The Bellingham community is important to Mercy Housing Northwest and we are thrilled to have this opportunity to deepen our commitment here. This project would not be possible without partnership,” said Joe Thompson, president of Mercy Housing Northwest.
During the Sept. 7 commission meeting, Thompson said this will be the first project for them that involves a job-creation component, such as the food campus. However they have a strong track record of partnership that seeks to use affordable housing as a platform to solve other inter-related challenges, such as food insecurity.
“It’s a variation of a theme we are familiar with,” Thompson said.
The site for this housing and food campus was formerly used by Georgia-Pacific as a lignin warehouse and is near the Opportunity Council building on Cornwall Avenue.
The $2 million proposed selling price is below the market value of the property, which is estimated at nearly $3.6 million. The lower agreed sale price reflects the restrictions that would be placed on that property, which includes having part of the property only be used as affordable housing for 30 years.
There are also other community benefit agreements still being worked out that help lower the purchase price for the Mercy Housing and Millworks, said Brian Gouran, director of environmental programs for the port.
The proposed food campus is expected to be geared toward farmers bringing in harvests for processing, which are then made available to local consumers through the farmers markets, stores or local restaurants. Mauri Ingram, Millworks LLC manager and Whatcom Community Foundation president/CEO, said at the meeting the food campus would also provide opportunities for education organizations as well as for-profit and non-profit businesses.
