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Everett panel outlines steps to reduce downtown storefront vacancies and boost activity
Summary
City staff, the Downtown Everett Association and council members discussed housing, placemaking, grants and a state creative-district application as tools to lower a 7% ground-floor vacancy rate and attract more visitors and businesses to downtown Everett.
City officials, the Downtown Everett Association and council members on June 11 discussed steps they say are reducing long-term storefront vacancies in downtown Everett and encouraging more residents and visitors to spend time and money there.
Dan Ernesi, a city economic development official, told the Parks and Built Environment Council Committee that the city has focused on housing, zoning and systems that support growth to revive the central business district. “Downtown Everett is really the heart of the business and residents life in Everett, and it deserves the attention,” Ernesi said. He estimated about 1,500 housing units built or under construction in the downtown since 2018, with roughly another 1,000 in the development pipeline.
Liz Stenning, executive director of the Downtown Everett Association, presented recent local data and said the association’s boundary covers 39 blocks. “Our ground floor vacancy rate right now is at 7%,” Stenning said, adding the association counted 78 new businesses since 2021, seven…
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