Port of Everett Statement on Waterfront Place Private Housing Development Fire

Yesterday, the Port of Everett alongside our community, witnessed a major loss of infrastructure at the waterfront. As you are likely aware by now, last evening, at about 5:45 p.m., a fire broke out at the south building of the new private housing development under construction at the Port of Everett’s Waterfront Place.

Most importantly, and thanks to the swift and professional multi-agency response by our neighboring fire jurisdictions and local agency partners, there were no major injuries reported and no loss of life.

This coordinated effort resulted in quick containment of the fire before it spread to the housing project’s northern building or any other structures at the Port. Unfortunately, the fire did spread across West Marine View Drive and caught some hillside homes along Grand Avenue and Rucker on fire, and shattered windows in others. During the response, there was one minor injury to a firefighter reported, and it is our understanding that he was transported to Providence and is doing well.

We are grateful that everyone is okay, and we thank this community for the outpouring of support, whether physically on-scene supporting fire response or at home, supporting with kind words and heartfelt messages. 

At this point, the cause of the fire is still unknown. The Port, the housing developer and others have met with and will continue to work with fire investigators as they work to determine the cause.

This is quite a sad day for the Port’s Waterfront Place mixed-use development, particularly for the multi-family private housing developer team SeaLevel Properties & Gracorp, who were nearing the one-year mark on construction of their 266 waterfront apartment homes project. This project is bringing housing to the waterfront for the first time in Everett’s history.

While this presents a setback to the project, the Port is resilient, and our project partners are committed to rebuild. We will continue working with private development partners to keep up momentum of the entire project, and the Port intends to move forward with the build out of restaurants and retail pads in the 2021 timeframe as planned.

2020 has thrown many curveballs, but rest assured, the Port of Everett and this community is resilient. We will come out of this year stronger together.

Lisa Lefeber
Port of Everett CEO