EVERETT — On May 1, the City Council will consider allowing a property tax break to the Riverfront Development project if affordable housing is built at the new portion currently under development.
A public hearing on the proposal will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 at 3002 Wetmore Ave. The City Council will hear a briefing on the proposal at its meeting this Wednesday, April 17.
The exemption would be for the central segment of the three-part Riverfront Development, which is currently poised for development.
The plans include 1,250 residential units plus a 250-room hotel and other commercial developments. Buildings up to six stories with mixed-use commercial and residential buildings are planned.
Shelter’s leadership has told the City Council that obtaining the multi-family property tax exemption is a critical piece to moving forward. At the March 18 Lowell Neighborhood meeting, a Shelter representative was clear about plans to go fully market rate.
Even so, with the multi-family property tax exemption, Shelter Holdings would be eligible for a 12-year property tax exemption on the residential portion of the build if it maintains 20 percent of units as affordable for that period.
Twenty percent of the projected 1,250 residential units is 250 housing units.
The city’s multi-family tax exemption areas currently are along North Broadway; within the boundaries of the Metro Everett area downtown, including around Everett Station; along a part of Evergreen Way; and the waterfront.
In each area, except the waterfront, the 20 percent worth of affordable housing is defined in city code as making 10 percent of the units affordable to households living below 80 percent of the county’s median income — $76,800 a year for a family of four — and another 10 percent of the units affordable to households living below 60 percent, which would be $57,600 a year for a family of four.
The exemptions for the waterfront, and proposed for the riverfront, are that 10 percent of the units must be affordable to low-income households and another 10 percent of the units affordable to medium-income households, based on the region’s median income.
Shelter’s director of development Eric Evans said development would occur over six phases, with the first including 295 housing units.
The central segment near 38th Street and the Snohomish River is bordered by a neighborhood of 235 single-family homes to the south. On the north end, there are 190 townhomes.
The central segment would be overlaid on a former landfill. The landfill was the site of a tire fire that smoldered during fall 1984.
— Material from past Tribune reporting included in this story.
