Harcourt, Port moving forward with this residential construction on Bellingham’s waterfront
With construction of its three condominium buildings underway near Waypoint Park, Harcourt is moving forward with plans for two apartment buildings that will be built nearby in the Bellingham Waterfront District.
During a Tuesday, April 19, commission meeting, Port of Bellingham staff unveiled some initial concept drawings on what for now are called projects 3 and 4. It will consist of two six-story, mixed-use buildings with commercial space on the ground floor and around 140 apartment units on the upper levels.
The buildings will also have podium parking, meaning the parking will be built into the first floor next to the commercial space, avoiding the necessity of digging down to put in underground parking, something that is currently taking place nearby in the three condominium buildings.
These two new buildings are slated to go on the corner of Laurel Street and Granary Avenue. The current designs call for keeping the former Georgia-Pacific digesters, known in the community as the waterfront’s rocket ships, in place. The bike track, shipping container village and beer garden can also remain.
One change that would eventually need to be made is moving the seasonal Wednesday Farmer’s Market. Executive Director Rob Fix said that while the port hasn’t yet approached the organizers of the farmer’s market yet, he expressed confidence that they could find another area for the market.
There’s plenty of time to find a new space for the farmer’s market on the waterfront. While port commissioners approved the initial plans 3-0 on Tuesday, Harcourt will need to submit more formal plans to the port and city, go through the necessary public hearings and purchase the property. Construction of these two buildings isn’t expected to start until the end of 2023 or early 2024, said Brian Gouran, the port’s environmental and planning services director. Once construction starts, it typically takes around two years to finish.
The submission of these initial plans is an important step in the development of the central area of the waterfront district, because it begins to show how it takes shape. The initial plans show streets that have dead ends, creating plaza areas near the apartment buildings.
Port commissioners also appeared pleased that the digesters would stay in that same spot. Gouran said initially there was some discussion about moving them to different parts of the property, as happened with the Acid Ball, but feedback from the port staff led Harcourt to keep them in place and build around them.
“It seems like it makes sense for a lot of different reasons,” Gouran said at the port meeting, noting that the digesters appear to be popular with the community and there are opportunities to incorporate some public space around them.
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
