EVERETT — The city has the Culmback Building at 3015 Colby Ave. actively for sale, but intends to pull the listing.
In a change of plans, it now intends to convert the majority of the historic bulding’s space into evidence storage and related police use.
Everett plans to earmark $400,000 of its federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars to refurbish the Culmback inside pending a Council vote this week.
The $400,000 would prepare the space for the move.
The police evidence room is currently in the basement of the Colby Tower building nearby.
Refurbishing the Culmback “would allow the city to vacate the space it is currently leasing for this purpose,” city program manager Simone Tarver said Monday, Nov. 14.
The building was on the market but “we are in the process of having the listing for the Culmback Building taken down,” Tarver said.
The city deemed the Culmback surplus in 2020.
In 2020, an appraiser told the city the Culmback Building is worth $2.275 million.
The city’s listing broker doesn’t publicize a price.
The Culmback is a mid-height brick edifice constructed in 1924. In 1988, the Culmback joined the city’s historic register.
The Courtyard Marriott hotel shadows it today.
Its listing says “the building is suitable for multiple office configurations, including single-tenant, multi-tenant, and even executive suites. This property also offers the opportunity for potential conversions and adaptive re-use, or full re-development.”
The city has sought to sell the Culmback and surrounding block before: In 2007, the city envisioned selling it to turn the block into a high-rise hotel. Developers balked.
The most prominent site included in a 2020 batch of city surplus properties was the Wood Creek forest in Valley View. The mayor backed down on selling the Wood Creek forest after neighborhood outcry.
