Bellingham’s Design Review Board reviewed the Boardmill Block project on May 5 to receive early design guidance. The architect, Charles Morgan & Associates LLC, proposed repurposing the existing waterfront property into a three-story hotel and a 166-unit residential building.
This proposal is a revision of a 2024 application that proposed a larger hotel, residential building and a parking garage on the site.
“The project is similar to the one reviewed by the Design Review Board in 2024, but it’s just slightly smaller in scale,” Lindsay Kershner, the city project planner, said at the meeting.
The new design decreased the number of floors within the hotel and opted for a new structural addition to the building’s north side. The parking garage was replaced by a temporary surface-level parking lot to be developed further later, Kershner said.
A drawing of the preliminary site plan for the Boardmill project; the specifics of the proposed construction of the site are color-coded. This design has not been finalized, and the details are subject to change under further review. // Photo courtesy of the Boardmill Group and Charles Morgan & Associates
The project is part of the joint effort between the City of Bellingham and the Port of Bellingham to revitalize the waterfront district into a mixed-use neighborhood with new parks to make it more inviting for residents, businesses and tourists, according to the 2019 master plan. This initiative is planned to roll out in phases over the next 40 to 50 years.
The Boardmill building itself was built in 1946 and was a production site for paperboard, but has sat empty since 2007. It was deemed eligible for listing on a historic register by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, which adds multiple layers of complexity to this early design process, said Steve Butler, the planning and policy director at the Municipal Research and Services Center.
Since the design has not been finalized, it could face multiple changes before construction begins.
“Early design, concepts, drawings are just that. They’re drawings,” Butler said.
In this early proposal, the applicant requested four departures from waterfront design standards to better preserve the existing Boardmill structure. No conclusion was reached at the meeting due to conflicting opinions among the board.
“This is such a unique part of the community, and this isn’t just a grid system block within downtown,” said Ryan Van Straten, a member of the review board.
Van Straten was one of the members who argued that the board should be more lenient in recommending allowing the departures due to the difficulty of preserving the existing building.
Janis Olson, a Bellingham resident who had the opportunity to tour the Boardmill building, believes the waterfront has the potential to be developed into a beautiful site. She said the city could model this project after Everett’s Waterfront Place. The Port of Everett spent over a decade redeveloping its waterfront into a five-district site home to restaurants, hotels, condos and more.
Developing Bellingham’s waterfront district will be a lengthier project, but the city and port’s master plan outlines approaching the redesigns in a way that will express the industrial history of the area.
“Those buildings are stunning. From a unique cultural, historical landmark perspective, they’re irreplaceable,” Olson said.
Atlanta Moss (she/her) is a city news reporter for The Front this spring. She transferred to Western this year and is excited to jump in as a third-year news/editorial journalism major. She can usually be found at the movies, the bowling alley or the Viking Union cafe. You can reach her at atlantamoss.thefront@gmail.com.
