Published March 2002

From top to bottom,
Everett Station is a class act the community needs

Have you seen it yet? Perhaps the most talked-about new real estate development these days is Everett Station, the new 64,000-square-foot, multi-modal transportation, job source and four-year university consortium building on Smith and Pacific in downtown Everett.

Amtrak is there. They’ll open their ticket desk in June. Greyhound, Everett Transit and Community Transit are open for business now. University classes and WorkSource Everett open in May. Coming next year, Sound Transit.

What makes Everett Station so unique is how different the experience of picking up the bus or train will be for Snohomish County travelers and commuters. This is a far cry from your standard bus stop.

The building is adorned with murals from the former Weyerhaeuser Mill in Everett depicting turn-of-the-century logging scenes.

But that's where the connection with the old mill town image ends.

Stained glass surrounds the oversize clock that is the centerpiece of the main lobby, called the “Great Hall.” And the floor is something worth checking out, too. It’s a terrazzo replica of Everett’s waterfront with the meandering Snohomish River delta passing from one end to the other.

On the fourth (top) floor, the multi-purpose room will surprise you. Views of the Cascade range are an attraction of their own. Add the cathedral ceiling and restored Callahan murals to the mix and you have one of the nicest public banquet/meeting rooms in the area.

Everett Station is more than just a transit center, as the name implies. It represents a new gateway and center of activity for Everett and should become a source of pride for citizens.

Joan Olsen, Building Manager at Everett Station, put it well when describing her first week on the job: “This building is gorgeous. I’ve been a property manager for a long time. I’ve never seen people look at a public facility with such interest. When you see it, though, you understand why. There’s something in this building for everyone.”

Kudos to the city of Everett and the mayor’s office, led by Paul Kaftanski, Executive Administrator and the project manager for Everett Station.

At a time when the city seems to be fending off attacks on the proposed arena project, it’s worth noting, as Mayor Ed Hansen did in his own remarks at the recent grand opening, that Everett Station “was delivered on time and on budget.” But perhaps Gov. Gary Locke summarized most views when he took his turn at the podium, “Wow.”

This is a building that we need and that will be used by thousands of us.

Give it time if you aren’t a commuter or college student today and you’ll find yourself catching a train to a Mariner’s game from Everett Station one day. You might take a class or pick up a friend arriving from out of town. Or maybe you’ll attend a wedding in the fourth-floor multi-purpose room. One way or another, you’ll touch Everett Station and it will touch you.

I’m not sure which quote I like best to summarize what Everett Station should mean to citizens. Gov. Locke’s is tough to beat.

But my own 7-year-old son perhaps put it best when he stepped into the Great Hall with me for the first time as the afternoon Amtrak train screamed by: “Dad, this place is awesome! It’s like an art museum, but way better.”

From the mouths of babes ...

Tom Hoban is CEO of Everett-based Coast Real Estate Services, a property management and real estate advisory company specializing in multi-family and commercial investment properties. He can be contacted by phone at 425-339-3638 or send e-mail to tomhoban@coastmgt.com.

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