Plans for future Everett stadium, where AquaSox and USL soccer would play, refined

EVERETT — The City Council moved closer last week to approving an outdoor events center downtown that will house the AquaSox minor league baseball team and a new United Soccer League (USL) franchise.
Council members received a progress report about the center and heard the first reading of an ordinance that designates $20 million toward buying properties necessary to clear land for the facility. It would sit east of Angel of the Winds Arena and replace most of the block except some buildings on Hewitt.
The properties the city would seek to remove are a mix of commercial businesses, including light industrial, distribution, retail, restaurant, and office, that lie along Pacific Avenue, Wall Street, McDougall Avenue, Smith Avenue, and Broadway.
The ordinance empowers the mayor to negotiate deals with individual businesses, though each deal must be approved separately by the council.
Project director Scott Pattison said the $20 million is a placeholder figure and hinted that the city could form partnerships to supplement that amount. Council member Scott Bader noted that earlier council discussions had mentioned $35 million — including $17 million for relocation assistance.
The ordinance gives Everett the right to exercise the power of eminent domain, if necessary, to acquire the properties. Cities can use eminent domain to obtain land deemed to be of public benefit.
Pattison assured Council that the new Outdoor Event Center fulfills that requirement.
“This is not just about sports,” he said. “This is a dynamic, multi-use venue capable of hosting concerts, cultural
festivals, markets, and other community gatherings. It will be a vibrant community hub.”
An “almost perfect” comparison project is Covenant Health Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pattison said.
Covenant Health Park hosts a minor league baseball team and USL soccer team. It is surrounded by housing, retail, and office space, as well as playgrounds and walking paths behind the outfield.
Knoxville partnered with a nonprofit facilitator to complete the project, an option Everett can explore once design and property acquisition are 60 percent completed.
The city would hand off the project to the third-party facilitator at that point, then lease the center back upon its completion.
A partnership might reduce the city’s burden on property acquisition and will significantly reduce its upfront capital costs, Pattison said. Redmond and Bothell have formed similar partnerships regarding city buildings.
The council is slated to vet nonprofit partners at its June 11 meeting, in which it will also vote on the property acquisition ordinance.
Everett is finalizing lease negotiations with the AquaSox and United Soccer League, Pattison said, and has decided on the orientation of the baseball field (Home plate will be at the corner of Broadway and Pacific).
When the project reaches the 60% design stage, the city will negotiate the construction contract.
In dealing with property acquisition, Pattison said it’s important for the city to be as transparent as possible.
“I was director of Pike Place Market during a major renovation. We literally tore down every single building over the course of three years,” he told the council. “We didn’t lose a single business. That’s my commitment to you as director of this project.
“We want to do the same thing,” Pattison said. “Businesses are a vital part of the community. We have a commitment to relocating businesses.”