Project Background
The Port of Everett is leading a new waterfront development visioning effort, in partnership with the City of Mukilteo, to establish a unified vision for undeveloped Mukilteo shoreline properties, including the former NOAA site that will soon transfer back to Port ownership. The Port hired NBBJ, an architecture, planning and design firm, to begin initial planning, including data gathering and community engagement, to help inform the vision and future development planning. With 11 property owners over 26 acres, the waterfront needs a comprehensive development strategy to ensure a quality and accessible mix of uses at the waterfront. The study area stretches from Mukilteo’s Lighthouse Park to Edgewater Beach.
Why now?
In 2013, the Port acquired the former Mukilteo Tank Farm site from the U.S. Air Force after a nearly 20-year effort. In 2016, the land was conveyed to area stakeholders to begin redevelopment – most of which has not yet occurred. In 2021, NOAA announced it would not be moving forward with its research facility and with more than half of the waterfront undeveloped and inaccessible to the public, the Port is using this as an opportunity to help move the Mukilteo waterfront forward.
Waterfront Stakeholder Workgroup
In early 2022, the Port convened a diverse stakeholder workgroup representing a broad set of interests and attractions at the Mukilteo waterfront– from business, recreation and transportation to history, culture and education. A key deliverable of the group is to utilize public input to establish a vision statement and set of guiding principles for redevelopment that ensure the character and community priorities are considered with any future development.
To date, the group has had three working meetings facilitated by NBBJ Architects with exercises at each session to help the group form their feedback into a draft vision statement and draft set of guiding principles (also incorporating feedback from individual interviews with City Council members and others) to present to the greater community for input.
Once everyone has had an opportunity to weigh in, the workgroup will reconvene and make any adjustments to ensure the vision and guiding principles reflect the character and overarching wishes of the community before they are brought to the Port Commission and Mukilteo City Council for consideration.
The goal of this public outreach effort is to set the stage for informed development planning that supports a unified vision for the waterfront moving forward.