Bellevue Developer to Submit Multiple Proposals for Everett’s Silver Lake Center

Everett City Council members and Taylor Development owner Kevin C. Taylor had their first chance to publicly interact with each other at Wednesday night’s Everett City Council meeting. The Council held a public hearing on an emergency ordinance that gave Everett interim control over the property known as Silver Lake Center. Years of planning had gone into the project by former owner Alan Clark but it went into bankruptcy before it could be developed. Taylor Development is based in Bellevue and has done several projects on the east side but hasn’t yet worked in Everett. The company recently purchased the Silver Lake Center property and last night owner Kevin Taylor and members of his team addressed the Everett City Council. They advised the city that they didn’t see the need for an emergency ordinance but would instead prefer to establish a development agreement and a working partnership with the city and the neighbors in the Silver Lake area to come up with the best use for the property. “We looked at the project as previously approved but the type of mixed use product with housing above and retail below that is currently proposed just won’t work,” said Kevin Taylor. “We don’t care if it is residential or commercial but mixed use will not work.”

Three people from the Silver Lake Neighborhood testified before the council and all three mentioned their desire to have a library on the property. City Council members all talked about the importance of the property and their desire to see a quality development. After the meeting Kevin Taylor said he planned to come back to the city with a variety of plans including strictly residential and strictly commercial. He said he liked the idea of the Silver Lake neighborhood evolving in a manner similar to Seattle’s Green Lake area and was looking forward to bringing some different options for the Everett City Council to consider. “What we won’t end up with is Mr. Clark’s project,” said Taylor.