New buildings to rise from vacant Fairhaven lots
Fairhaven’s brick skyline is about to get some additions — more office space, and townhouses somewhere north of $600,000.
Fairhaven Harbor phase 1 at 800 Harris Ave. will include nine three-story homes, each about 2,500 square feet. A real estate flier said prices range from $639,000 to $695,000.
The townhouses will line Eighth Street from Harris to McKenzie Avenue. A small commercial building will go in at the corner of Harris and Eighth.
The city permit center said it received the building application for phase 1 of Fairhaven Harbor on Oct. 2. Total cost of the first phase is estimated at $2.5 million.
Phase 2 will be much bigger, as described by the project architect, Jed Clark of Arbour North Architects in Bellingham. The developer is David Ebenal under the name Dominion Sustainable Development Co.
An early rendering of the second phase, submitted to the city, shows a five-story building directly across Ninth Street from Harris Square condominiums. Phase 2 includes 60 apartments and more commercial space, making 8,300 square feet total for businesses, Clark said.
Residents on the west side of Harris Square will no longer have a clear view in the direction of Bellingham Bay. None of the neighbors should be surprised, Clark said.
“Everyone in the area has received the plans,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but nobody seems to be too upset.”
The upper levels of the building will be stepped back, Clark said, to reduce the amount of view space the new building takes away from Harris Square residents.
Not that the view extends as far as Bellingham Bay anyway. Trees surrounding Padden Creek between the new development and the bay are not likely to be removed.
On the other side of the neighborhood, next to Fairhaven Library where a gas station once stood, David Christensen has applied for permits to build a two-story, 13,790-square-foot commercial building to be called the Orca Building.
Street and sidewalk improvements, and building construction on the vacant lot, could begin in November and be completed in August 2016, according to the application received by the city Oct. 1.
The developer and the city are sharing the cost of improvements to the surrounding streets. The developer will add angled parking next to the building, on Mill Avenue. The city plans to widen the sidewalk on 12th Street, including an extension at the corner of 12th and Mill that should make it safer to cross both 12th and Finnegan Way at Mill.
The estimated cost of the building is $1.3 million, according to the application.
Applications for both Fairhaven Harbor and the Orca Building are still under city review.
This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 4:41 AM with the headline "New buildings to rise from vacant Fairhaven lots."