Bellingham’s changing face
City’s future hangs in balance as downtown, waterfront evolve

Mayor Dan Pike, with Bellingham’s original City Hall in the background, is likely to preside over a changing cityscape as development downtown, in Old Town and on the waterfront takes shape.

By John Kinmonth

The words “waterfront redevelopment” are a loaded gun in Bellingham. Mention the two in the same sentence and watch the opinions fly. From the cleanup of the former Georgia-Pacific site to the future of downtown, everybody seems to have an emotional stake in redevelopment of Bellingham’s waterfront.
While much fanfare – and criticism – accompanied the Port of Bellingham’s 2005 acquisition of the 137-acre waterfront site formerly owned by Georgia-Pacific West Inc., port officials say the redevelopment of the G-P site and an additional 80 acres making up the projected “Waterfront District” is still in the planning phase, with a master plan being finished sometime in 2009. Part of the property was still occupied by the G-P tissue mill until December 2007 when the last remnant of its former operations closed its doors. Since the port acquired the site in a deal that included assuming considerable cleanup liability in exchange for the land, 35 buildings and structures have been demolished.
Although local business owners and citizens aren’t holding their breath, Mayor Dan Pike – who took office in January – is pushing for action on the industrial site. In part to secure federal transportation dollars, Pike has asked for a decision on street access from downtown to the waterfront before Oct. 31 of this year.
“There are some funds from the federal transportation budget for access into the site,” he said. “Those funds are at risk because the federal transportation budget was under funded.”
Port Executive Director Jim Darling expects the first signs of development to occur early 2009, mostly relating to access into the site. Mayor Pike said he wants the early stages of development to occur adjacent to downtown and then work its way toward the water.
“One of the commitments I feel is on my plate is to make sure the waterfront redevelopment is integrated into downtown,” he said. Port Real Estate Director Lydia Bennett agreed.
“The goal is to start the development as close to downtown as possible,” she said.
While port officials hope to pay for the significant cleanup and cost of development through land sales and leases, the proposed density for the site is still being determined.
The project’s current planning process proposes three different levels of building density at 4 million, 6 million or 7.5 million square feet of space for commercial, residential and industrial zoning. Also included in the proposals is a 350- or 450-slip marina in the former G-P wastewater treatment lagoon.
In a recent waterfront planning session, Pike requested that they focus on the lower-density option.
“I suggested we started our analysis at 4 million square feet,” he said. “I think we should start at what we feel confident in.”
Although the site’s density is still in question, Bennett said they’ve received a large amount of interest from potential developers since the port acquired the site.
“We have a list of 65 inquiries,” she said. Everyone from the local Whatcom Land Trust to the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Hilton Hotels is interested in the former pulp and paper mill. Bennett said they’re now developing criteria for the competitive process.
“[The criteria] will go out to the list of potential developers,” she said. As for developers not already on the list, she said they’re planning for a concentrated marking effort in the near future.
“At this point, we’re planning for the attraction,” she said. “I’m creating a strategic plan that defines how exactly we’re going to do it.”
“We’ll hope to get a broad spectrum of potential developers,” she added.
Darling said that they have not made any decisions yet.
“We have had a great deal of interest, however, we will not engage in any competitive selection process before we have more certainty with our long-term master plan and the regulatory specifics,” he said.
In the meantime, it seems as though local business owners and developers are forced to practice patience as the port and the city move through the time-intensive planning process and the subsequent public comment periods to see what actually becomes of the site.
“I think a lot people are waiting to see what happens,” Pike said. “Within the next couple years, I’d like to see some deals announced.”
Two potential non-commercial tenants may also find space on Bellingham’s redeveloped waterfront. Western Washington University has expressed interest in locating a satellite campus on the waterfront and is in the process of determining a potential waterfront campus master plan. The port is also hoping to attract the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Operations Center to Bellingham Bay from Seattle.

Industry prepares for ‘gentrified’ waterfront
One local businessman who has a vested interest in the outcome of the waterfront is Jay Bornstein, owner of Bornstein Seafoods, Inc. The company has operated in Bellingham since 1930 and occupied their current space on Bellingham’s waterfront between the Whatcom Waterway and the I&J Waterway since 1952.
With facilities on waterfronts from Crescent City, Calif., to Wrangell, Alaska, Bornstein is no stranger to waterfront redevelopment projects. In Astoria, Ore., he watched as the waterfront slowly converted from traditional fishing and lumber uses to mixed-use retail and residential.
“The effect is the overall gentrification of the waterfront,” he said. Bornstein has switched their Astoria operations to a new plant and are in the process of converting the old one to condos. In order to capitalize on the changes and increased tourist traffic on Astoria’s historic waterfront, Bornstein is creating an interpretive center related to the history of commercial fishing and offering tours through the plant. He compared it to the idea behind the visitor’s center at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Ore.
“You’ll be able to see all the products and all of the people,” he said.
While he expressed interest in creating some sort of added attraction at the Bellingham processing facility such as a restaurant or tours, he doesn’t think the market is ready for it.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of the curve,” he said.
Bornstein also said changes on the waterfront don’t necessarily need to be in conflict with the fishing industry.
“It doesn’t affect us as far as our access to fish,” he said. “Our business is not dependent on local waters.” However, he does worry about issues on land such as transportation.
“It affects where our trucks can go,” he said. He said he could also foresee potential problems if the waterfront was developed to the point where he was directly next to residential properties.
“If they built some condos near us and people said, ‘We don’t like looking at fish companies anymore,’ that would be the kind of conflict we’d see,” he said. Bornstein sees adaptation similar to their endeavors in Astoria as necessary.
“If we sat here like a bump on a log, over time there’d be some disfavor to it,” he said.
Still, Bornstein said that he doesn’t expect change to happen too soon.
“We’re not looking at the near horizon, more five years and beyond,” he said.

Downtown towers hoping to rise in 2008
While the waterfront receives most of the attention when talking about growth in Bellingham, two high-rise projects are in the works that would add significant residential and commercial space to the downtown skyline. With long delays related to financing and market conditions, developers are hoping to get these projects off the ground in 2008.
One project is Rick Westerop’s 18-story tower, 1010 Morse Square, on Railroad Avenue, and the other is the Bay View Tower, a 23-story mixed-use building slated for 1217 N. State St. Both projects would be taller than Bellingham’s current tallest building, the 15-story Bellingham Towers.
Although both of these towers boast scenic bay and mountain views to potential pre-buyers, the city has no ordinance in place that would prevent another tower from being built in the projects’ view corridors.
“There are no height limits in the central business district,” said Tara Sundin, Bellingham Planning Department special projects manager.
Phil Bratt, owner of Baron Telecomunications and F&H Holdings, has owned his building on Railroad Avenue for 17 years. He said Bay View Tower developers have approached him to potentially buy out his rights to build upward on his current building in order to secure views for their future tenants.
“There’s an economic advantage to securing those rights, so to be able to get more value out of those high rises,” said Bratt. He hired a professional organization from King County with experience in view rights issues to represent his interests in the matter.
Besides tower projects, Bratt said he’s been watching downtown transform.
“I secured this property in 1991 with the expectation that redevelopment would happen,” Bratt said. “I think the viability of downtown is continuing to improve.”
While the waterfront is looking to receive a complete makeover from industrial to mixed use, the existing downtown has undergone a series of projects, both private and public, that are more akin to touchups.
Drivers entering downtown on Holly Street may have noticed the new decorative crosswalk markings adorning intersections.
“Just a few months ago we completed the entry corridor to downtown,” Sundin said. She also pointed out that the city is currently working on creating “active streetscapes” throughout downtown that promote pedestrian access.
“We’re investing in areas that have a high pedestrian volume,” she said. One such project is at the intersection of Bay and Holly streets.
“We’re tightening up that intersection and making a nice plaza area with artwork,” Sundin said. “We’re doing it in such a way that Bay Street can be used as a temporary closure for events.”
Another aspect of streetscape improvement is taking place on West Champion Street near the Mount Bakery, Temple Bar, Bellingham Shoe Repair and The Black Drop coffeehouse. The city is widening the sidewalk to create room for tables and chairs from the two restaurants and the coffeehouse.
“As more people live downtown, we have to think about the public realm, meaning parks and streets,” she said.
With the widening of the sidewalk, four metered parking spaces were eliminated highlighting a problem facing much of downtown: a lack of parking.
Some cite a lack of parking as a limiting factor for downtown attracting commercial tenants.
“I think the city has lacked strong leadership in securing improved parking provisions,” Bratt said.
As parking issues face the city, problems may compound as Old Town faces development adjacent to the central business district. The city is suggesting land-use zoning changes for a high-density urban village to be put in place, and several of the properties in the area have changed hands.
In 2007, the Bellingham-based Trillium Corp. acquired the property on which the Boss Tweed restaurant formerly operated. While Boss Tweed is still running the catering business out of the building, Trillium has begun an internal planning process for the site, said Chris Benner, Trillium project manager.
“As the Old Town neighborhood plan becomes final, we will continue work to further plan for the redevelopment of the site,” he said in a recent e-mail.
From towers to waterfront, Bellingham continues to patiently sit on the edge of a slew of new development that could change the face of the town for decades to come.

An aerial view shows the waterfront home of the former Georgia-Pacific site. Inset: A rendering of the proposed redevelopment.



Jay Bornstein sees both cause for concern and opportunity in the waterfront redevelopment for his business, Bornstein Seafoods Inc.