Four proposals offered for a major waterfront project. See the details, vote for your favorite
The Port of Bellingham has received four proposals on what to do with the Boardmill building near Waypoint Park, reflecting a wide range of ideas that could dramatically change the look of the Waterfront District.
The proposals, which were obtained through a public records request, are currently being reviewed by a committee that includes Port of Bellingham staff as well as representatives from the city of Bellingham, Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.
The committee is in the process of gathering additional information about the proposals and doing reference checks, but expects to have the review completed by the end of July, said Elliott Smith, director of real estate and asset management for the port. Port staff plan to make a recommendation to the three commissioners at a Tuesday, Aug. 9, meeting.
If the commissioners vote to accept the recommendation, the port will enter into negotiations with the selected development team. If negotiations are successful, a proposal to sell the 3.42 acres of land will be presented at a future commission meeting.
In terms of public comment, there are several options to reach the commissioners, including email, phone, as well as attending a port commission meeting and speaking during the public comment period.
So what are the proposals? Details are below, in no particular order. Three are from local groups, while a fourth proposal is from Harcourt, which remodeled the Granary Building and is currently building condominiums next to Waypoint Park.
“It is exciting to see interest from the private market in transforming a heavy industrial building constructed in 1946 into a modern, mixed-use building despite the financial and technical challenges,” Smith said in an email. “The four redevelopment visions for the Boardmill Building each have different strengths and each option would be a great addition to our waterfront.”
You can vote for your favorite proposal at the bottom of this story.
Option A
Developer/Design team: Raymond Faber, Faber Construction; Sean Hegstad, Haven Design Workshop; Michael Watters, developer; Elie Samuel, developer.
Proposal details: This team is proposing to convert the Boardmill building into a boutique hotel and convention center, but also construct residential housing and a food hub using sustainable building systems. Examples include rain gardens, pervious pavers, solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations.
Estimated completion date: Construction starting in January 2024, completion date by December 2025.
Other notes: In this proposal, the Boardmill will be converted into three levels, with the upper two having 74 hotel rooms and the first level being an event area. The food hub could have a variety of options, including restaurants with a greenhouse roof, cafes and brewpubs to create gathering areas. The separate residential buildings on the property could either be condos or apartments, with the goal of creating different price points.
Option B
Developer/Design team: Hollander Hospitality, which owns the Bellingham Towers. Team members include Jon Falcon of Falcon Works Design in Bellingham; David Murphy of Murphy Varey in Seattle; Scott Goodall of Impact Design in Ferndale and Kate Brugger, Hollander Hospitality interior designer.
Proposal details: While the focus of the proposal is in converting the Boardmill into a hotel and building a building for more rooms, this group also wants to do some work in the surrounding area if it can garner public support. This includes developing a 5,000-seat soccer-specific stadium south of the hotel that would be home to a USL Championship or MLS Next Pro professional soccer team and host international matches. Another idea is a 200,000-square-foot inflatable dome that could have indoor soccer and be part of a sports and entertainment district.
As for the hotel itself, this proposal calls for renovating the Boardmill into a hotel with 32-50 rooms with a restaurant on the east side of the building. An additional building on the west side of the Boardmill would be home to 190 more hotel rooms. The entire hotel would operate as a Hilton under a franchise agreement.
Estimated completion date: The hotel would be done before the 2026 World Cup, which will have games in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
Other notes: Hollander Hospitality has a track record of operating, renovating and developing mid- and upscale hotels, including the Courtyard Marriott in Tacoma and the Holiday Inn and the Crowne Plaza near SeaTac airport. In opening remarks about the proposal, President and CEO Mark Hollander noted how popular soccer is, not only globally but in the Pacific Northwest. “A waterfront district stadium would be the envy of soccer fans in the region,” Hollander said.
Option C
Developer/Design Team: Harcourt Developments.
Proposal Details: Plans call for a 208-room hotel with conference and banquet facilities. The Boardmill would be the event area, while the hotel would be built next to it, featuring a glass design that has a slight curve to it. The height of the new building would not conflict with established view corridors. The company, based in Ireland, also touted its success in building hotels, including the Titanic Hotel in Belfast, Ireland, the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool, England and the Lough Eske Castle Hotel in Donegal, Ireland.
Estimated completion date: Harcourt estimates two years for the permitting and design phase, followed by two years of construction, putting the completion date around 2026.
Other notes: Harcourt originally had exclusive rights to redevelop the Boardmill building, but port commissioners took that designation away after Harcourt missed construction deadlines for its condominium project next to Waypoint Park. Along with remodeling the Granary Building and building condominiums next to Waypoint Park, Harcourt is also building two mixed-use six-story buildings that will have 140 apartment units. That project is slated to begin in late 2023 or early 2024.
Option D
Developer/Design Team: Colliver Construction Management, Crawford Architects, Katy Scherrer Landscape Design, 2020 Engineering, Paul Schissler Associates.
Proposal details: This team proposes to convert the Boardmill area into a recreation area that would be a new home to the YMCA, have an aquatic center, rooftop gardens, basketball courts, fitness area and a demonstration kitchen.
“This proposal represents a response to previously identified needs in the community for a complex that answers to the desire for wellness, water safety, health and fitness and most of all family recreation and positive growth for youth in the community,” according to the proposal.
Completion date: Construction would start in March 2024, completed by October 2025.
Other Notes: Ray Colliver, who is part of the design team, retired from the Paul Allen management company Vulcan Inc. in 2013, founding his firm that consulted on the Northgate expansion project that now has the NHL Seattle Kraken practice facility. Bellingham’s 2020 Engineering would lead the low-impact site design, which includes making it a triple-net zero development, focusing on offsetting energy, water and waste.
If you are having trouble seeing or accessing the poll below, click on this link.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
