Published July 2005
Real
Estate Briefs
Preliminary plan
calls
for downtown Marysville drugstore
A Stanwood developer has submitted a preliminary application for permits
for a 13,500-square-foot drugstore in the heart of downtown Marysville.
The proposed store,
identified on the drawings as a Walgreens, would cover half the block
on the southeast corner of Fourth Street and State Avenue. It would replace
two smaller buildings that now are home to more than a half-dozen small
businesses, including a Christian bookstore, a dollar store and a restaurant.
It's not clear whether
the application represents a trial balloon or plans for a soon-to-be-built
structure. A spokeswoman for Walgreens said she could neither confirm
nor deny that the chain was interested in the location.
Marysville senior
planner Chris Holland noted that another developer had submitted plans
for a similar drugstore project at the same site in 2002, and "nothing
materialized."
City staffers planned
to meet with developer Thomas Thompson to review the preliminary application.
Arthur Weid, who
owns Dollar Plus, said he hadn't heard anything from his landlords to
suggest that the building was being sold, and noted that he signed a two-year
lease when he opened his store in November.
Developer pulls
plans
for Stanwood Wal-Mart
The Wal-Mart controversy in Stanwood was cut short in early June, when
a letter from developer Brent McKinley of Vine Street Group in Arlington
put a stop to a City Council rezone vote before it could begin.
Councilman Gil Powell
read from McKinley's letter, which arrived at City Hall the day before
the vote was to take place: "Please accept this letter as my formal withdrawal."
The council then
pulled the issue off the agenda, thereby avoiding a vote on the matter.
By pulling out, McKinley
cut short a rezone process initiated in November 2002 for a project first
presumed to be a grocery store and strip mall on 23 acres at the northeast
corner of Highway 532 and 72nd Avenue NW.
The proposal drew
strong opposition including a petition with more than 3,000 signatures
after McKinley revealed in a letter last fall that Wal-Mart was
interested in the property. Opponents feared the world's largest retailer
would drive out local businesses.
Rucker rezone sparks
lawsuit
A decision by the Everett City Council to allow taller buildings on Rucker
Avenue has prompted a lawsuit.
A group called Citizens
for a Downtown Plan Now filed a lawsuit in Snohomish County Superior Court
in late May, seeking to void the council's May 4 rezone of several blocks
of Rucker Avenue to allow buildings as tall as 170 feet.
"The Rucker Avenue
rezone is invalid, illegal, and null and void because it is a property-specific
quasi-judicial rezone masquerading as an area-wide legislative zoning
action," the lawsuit says.
The rezone granted
special benefit to the Skotdal family, which owns key properties affected
by the rezone, the lawsuit alleges.
The city is reviewing
the lawsuit, city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.
Earlier in May, the
city voted to allow high-rise buildings on part of Rucker, essentially
doubling the 80-foot height limit on the east side of Rucker between Everett
and Pacific avenues and opening the area to more downtown-style development.
Although there are
14 property owners in the four-block area, the increased building height
was requested by Mayor Ray Stephanson on behalf of local developer Skotdal
Real Estate.
Company President
Craig Skotdal earlier said the company has no specific site plans. However,
Skotdal has spoken in public meetings about a desire to build two upscale
high-rises on Rucker.
Housing market
stays hot
with prices up nearly 15 percent
Snohomish County's housing market, like much of the Puget Sound region,
showed continued strength in May, with sales and prices up and inventory
continuing to feel the squeeze of demand, according to a report from the
Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Countywide, the median
price of single-family homes and condominiums was $273,950 in May, up
nearly 15 percent from a year ago, according to the listing service.
The median price
of single-family homes alone was up almost 18 percent, to $289,174. For
condos, the median price was up almost 6 percent from a year ago, to $189,950.
The median price means that half the homes sold for more and half sold
for less.
Across the county,
the area with the highest median price for single-family homes and condos
was in the southeast, at $330,000, while the lowest median price was found
in the northeast, at $231,875, according to the listing service report.
While prices continued
to rise, listings continued to decline in May, with the number of active
home listings down almost 23 percent from a year ago, from 4,141 to 3,200.
And homes on the market sold in an average of 49 days, six days faster
than a year ago, according to the listing service.
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