Housing Of All Types Is Coming To Everett In 2023 – Everett Is Building (Sponsored Post)

“We need more housing in Everett and we need it at all price points,” said Yorik Stevens-Wajda the Planning Director for the City of Everett, Washington. We were talking last week about how the city is working to update the Comprehensive Plan for 2035. Its a project that has to be completed by December 31st, 2024.

“We’re expected to grow from 114,000 people now to a 179,000 people by 2044, Yorik explained. “The Comprehensive Plan is the policy document which will guide the growth of the City until 2035. The Growth Management Act (GMA) requires periodic updates before the plan goes to the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Puget Sound Regional Council.”

The city is working on a project called Everett 2044. The city says the plan includes goals, policies and objectives guiding public policy decisions affecting quality of life including how land is used for housing, economic growth, transportation systems, utilities, parks, and environmental sustainability; how development regulations are interpreted by planning staff when options are available; and how public projects are designed, financed, and implemented.

There are five phases to the plan. The city has just completed phase one which was the Scoping plan that gathered public input about growth and the environmental impacts that may come. Next up is phase two which will include analyzing scoping and preparing draft alternatives, incorporating growth projects and comments from scoping.

“Capacity is a big concern as there are fewer areas of buildable land in Everett,” Yorik said. “We have to encourage more choices including duplexes, triplexes, small garden apartments and loosening regulations on accessory dwelling units.”

There are a couple of alternatives when it comes to growth. Concentrated and Dispersed

 
As far as the type of housing coming in 2023, Everett’s Planning Director tells us there are 900 residential units in the pipeline. These include all types of housing from accessory dwelling units and mother-in-law style apartments to single family homes. MyEverettNews.com took a look at the Online Permitting Portal to see some of the projects that are coming up. NOTE: Not all projects are final and some are in pre-application meetings and may change or never submit for a permit but here’s a list to give you an idea of the types of housing on the radar all across the city:

A seven-story 344 apartment building in downtown Everett offering micro-housing, one and two bedroom apartments plus live and work units

Conversion of a motel in the the Eastmont area into micro-housing

More than 80 Townhomes currently under construction on 19th Avenue SE

115 – 130 Senior apartments on Rucker between Pacific and 41st Street

260 apartments in the area of Pacific and Rockefeller in downtown Everett

28 pallet homes in two areas of central Everett one with housing for families and the other, mothers with children

74 units of a former motel in south Everett to be used for time-limited bridge housing for those experiencing homelessness

430 affordable apartments in south Everett on Evergreen Way

45 single-family detached homes off 7th Avenue SE

20 apartments in the 2300 block of Broadway

14 Live-Work Townhomes on Broadway in north Everett
 
The Pandemic brought historical turnover in the staff at the City of Everett Planning Department. Both the long-time planning director and long-range planners left in 2021 and this year two planners also left the city. While permit applications never stopped during the Pandemic there have been challenges in catching up with the number of permits submitted. Planning Director Yorik Stevens-Wajda tells MyEverettNews.com they have recently hired more staff and added two positions in the planning department which is helping them claw back through the backlog.

Other good news includes a number of grants that are helping the City of Everett attract and assist builders of all types of housing. Recently the Washington State Department of Commerce announced a grant of one million dollars was awarded to Everett that can be used to pay for water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure costs and waived connection fees for projects with affordable housing. In addition the City of Everett has authorized a multifamily housing property tax exemption for both new construction and rehabilitation of existing vacant and underutilized buildings.

Everett is Building. If you’d like to learn more about the various ways in which you can get involved you can click here to see upcoming meetings and register for updates.

MyEverettNews.com is partnering with the City of Everett Office of Economic Development to present a series of articles based on the theme “Everett Is Building”. My EverettNews.com is responsible for the editorial content of these articles.