Transit transformation: WTA envisions new hub at vacant Bellingham Public Market
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- WTA plans $6.2M purchase of former Public Market for new downtown transit station
- Current Bellingham Station hits capacity daily, limiting service expansion options
- WTA aims to activate site with offices while planning transit-oriented development
The Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) has plans to close on a purchase of the former Bellingham Public Market building and transform it into a new transit station in the downtown area.
When asked about the need for a new transit station in the downtown area, WTA Director of Community and Government Relations Maureen McCarthy told The Herald that the current Bellingham Station reaches capacity several times each day as buses fill the station’s 10 gates.
“This limits our ability to add new routes or increase frequency on existing routes,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said it was unclear whether this purchase would impact the other downtown transit station’s operations, but that WTA may be able to operate out of its existing station throughout the construction of the new development.
The purchase of the property at 1530 Cornwall Ave. is not yet finalized as WTA undergoes a “due diligence process,” McCarthy said. If that process goes well, McCarthy said WTA will ask its board to authorize a purchase in October for $6.2 million.
Assuming WTA does purchase the property, McCarthy said the agency’s first step will be to “activate” the property.
“By making tenant improvements to the existing Public Market building, we’ll create needed office space for some of our own staff and have office space to rent to other tenants. Importantly, this will bring healthy activity to the site while we begin our project planning,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said WTA was months away from being able to provide specific details about the plans for the new station. But she said the agency would draw from the community feedback received in its 2022 visioning study. Participants identified many features they would like to see in a downtown transit-oriented development, such as additional transit capacity, housing, community services, community open space and amenities for walking and biking.
“When the Public Market property became available, our Board of Directors saw the opportunity to combine all of these uses in a true Transit Oriented Development project,” McCarthy told The Herald.
The former Public Market building was most recently subleased by the local nonprofit and religious organization Lighthouse Mission Ministries, which utilized the space for its Base Camp operations as an overnight shelter for unhoused individuals.
Before that, the building housed a grocery store, food court and small eateries before closing in 2018.
The property has been vacant since last fall, when Base Camp’s operations were relocated to Lighthouse Mission’s new five-story building in Bellingham’s Old Town district.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 6:17 AM.
