What is The Hub @ Everett? The Hub @ Everett is the new name and design for the redeveloped Everett Mall — an outdoor walkable shopping district replacing the former indoor mall, anchored by a planned three-level Topgolf, with Ulta Beauty and At Home moving into the former Sears box. The relocated $2 million Mall Station opened in December 2025, and the broader redevelopment is targeted to open in 2026, though Topgolf’s exact opening date is on hold pending the company’s corporate restructuring.

If you have driven past the Everett Mall in the last six months, you have already noticed it: the old indoor mall is becoming something else. The interior food court is gone, the central building has been carved up, and the walls between the parking lot and the storefronts are coming down. What is going up in its place has a new name — The Hub @ Everett — and a very different idea of what a shopping center is supposed to do in 2026.

We have been watching this one for a while because it is one of the largest physical transformations happening anywhere in the city right now, and it is the rare Everett project that is changing what the south end of town actually looks like — not just adding apartments, but completely rethinking 11 acres at the corner of Everett Mall Way and the Mall Station bus loop.

Here is where things actually stand in April 2026.

The Hub @ Everett, in plain English

The Hub @ Everett is the rebrand and redesign of the former Everett Mall. The owner, Brixton Capital, announced the transformation in August 2022 and has spent the years since working through demolition, permitting, transit relocation, and tenant negotiations.

The big idea is to flip the model. Instead of an indoor mall with everything pointed inward and a parking moat around the outside, The Hub is an outdoor walkable shopping street that runs through the middle of the property. Storefronts open to the sidewalk. Restaurants get patios. The center spine becomes the front door. Brixton’s design team at AD Collaborative described it as turning the mall inside out.

The result is roughly a 20% reduction in overall retail square footage, traded for outdoor walkways, gathering space, restaurant patios, and the new entertainment anchor that is supposed to give the whole district a reason to exist after 8 p.m.

That entertainment anchor is Topgolf.

The Topgolf piece

The Topgolf at The Hub is going up on the southeast side of the property, next to the Regal Cinemas and LA Fitness. The permitted plan is a three-level, 68,000 square foot building with restaurant, bar, event space, and the chain’s signature outfield with electronic targets that golf balls embed RFID tags to score. Everett approved the building permits for the Topgolf project in January 2025.

That is the good news. The complicated news is that the opening date is no longer a sure thing.

Topgolf’s parent company has been working through a corporate restructuring since late 2024 that has affected new construction starts across the country. As of late December 2025, Brixton Capital said publicly that they look “forward to working with them further as they solidify their timing,” which is the polite way of saying nobody has a confirmed opening date for the Everett location. A Topgolf spokesperson confirmed at the same time that the company has no updates to share on the Everett project specifically.

So the permits are in. The site is ready. The financing on the broader Hub project is moving forward. The question is when Topgolf the company is in a position to actually start vertical construction on a 68,000 square foot building in south Everett. That answer has not arrived yet.

What is actually open and moving

While Topgolf waits, the rest of The Hub is not waiting on it. Two big tenant moves are reshaping the rest of the property right now.

The first is Ulta Beauty. The second is At Home. Both are relocating into the former Sears building on the north side of the mall — a 100,000-plus square foot box that has been vacant since Sears closed and that has been the single biggest empty space on the property. Putting two anchor-scale national tenants into that building is the most important leasing event the redevelopment has had to date, because it solves the dead-anchor problem that hollowed out so many American malls in the late 2010s.

The third big move is one most people have already used without thinking about it. Everett Transit’s Mall Station — the bus loop where Everett Transit and Community Transit routes meet on the south side of the property — relocated about 500 feet west of its original location and reopened in December 2025. The City of Everett funded the $2 million station relocation specifically because the old station was sitting on a piece of land that Brixton needed to redevelop. Now riders board from a rebuilt facility, and the redevelopment got the parcel back.

That is the kind of unsexy infrastructure handshake that has to happen before private redevelopment can actually move forward, and the fact that it closed cleanly is one of the reasons the rest of The Hub is on schedule.

Why this matters for Everett’s south end

The Everett Mall has been the center of gravity for retail south of 41st Street for about 45 years. When it opened in 1980, it pulled shoppers from every direction. By the late 2010s, it was doing what almost every American indoor mall has done — bleeding tenants, struggling on Saturday traffic, and watching anchor stores close and not get replaced. Sears, Macy’s, JCPenney — the cycle was familiar.

What is happening at The Hub is the bet that the cure for an old indoor mall is not a slightly nicer indoor mall but a fundamentally different kind of place: an outdoor district with food, entertainment, and walkable retail that gives people a reason to stay for hours instead of running in for one errand.

If that bet works, the practical effect for Everett residents is significant. The Hub sits at one of the most accessible spots in the city — Everett Mall Way, with direct freeway access from I-5 and SR 526, and the relocated Mall Station for transit riders. A redeveloped center with Topgolf, two new anchor tenants, restaurants, and outdoor space puts a real entertainment-and-retail destination on the south end of town for the first time since the original mall’s heyday.

If the bet does not work — if Topgolf’s restructuring drags on, if the outdoor format does not pull Saturday traffic the way Brixton expects — then south Everett gets a partially redeveloped property with empty pad sites for years. That is the version every city in the country is trying to avoid right now with mall redevelopments.

The honest read on the timeline

The original target for The Hub was a 2026 opening for the redeveloped portions, with Topgolf as part of that opening. As of April 2026, the realistic read is more nuanced:

The mall station is open. The non-Topgolf tenant moves are progressing. Ulta and At Home moving into the former Sears is real. The outdoor walkable design is being built out in the central portion of the property. The Topgolf opening is the part that has slipped, and nobody is publicly committing to a new date.

That makes The Hub one of those projects where the headlines and the ground truth are pulling in different directions. The headline version is “mall redevelopment opens in 2026.” The ground truth version is “the mall redevelopment is opening in pieces over the next 18 to 24 months, with the Topgolf piece on its own timeline that depends on a national chain’s restructuring.” Both are true.

What to watch

A few specific things will tell us where The Hub actually lands over the next year:

Watch when Ulta and At Home actually open in the former Sears box. Permits, signage, and hiring announcements are the leading indicators. Both tenants closing the gap between “moving in” and “open for business” is the most important leasing milestone for the redevelopment.

Watch for any movement on the Topgolf vertical construction. Right now the site is permitted and ready. A Topgolf groundbreaking would change the conversation about The Hub immediately. Right now there is silence.

Watch the rest of the central spine. The reason the outdoor walkable design works — or does not — is the smaller restaurants and shops that fill in between the anchors. Brixton has not announced a complete tenant lineup yet for the central walkway portion of the project. Each new lease announcement is a real signal about how attractive the redevelopment is to mid-size national and regional tenants.

We will keep watching. The Hub @ Everett is one of those projects where the version of south Everett that exists in 2030 is going to be meaningfully different depending on how this redevelopment lands. Worth paying attention to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is The Hub @ Everett located?

The Hub @ Everett is the redevelopment of the former Everett Mall at 1402 SE Everett Mall Way in south Everett, on roughly 11 acres at the intersection of Everett Mall Way and the relocated Mall Station bus loop.

Is the old Everett Mall closed?

Parts of the original indoor mall have been demolished as part of the redevelopment, including the central food court area. Some existing tenants are still operating, and others — including Ulta Beauty and At Home — are relocating to the former Sears building as the new outdoor walkable design is built out around them.

When will Topgolf in Everett open?

The City of Everett approved the building permits for the three-level, 68,000 square foot Topgolf in January 2025. As of April 2026, Topgolf has not announced a confirmed opening date. The chain’s parent company is working through a corporate restructuring that has affected new construction starts nationally, and Brixton Capital — the mall’s owner — has said publicly that the timing is still being worked out.

What is replacing the old Sears at the Everett Mall?

Ulta Beauty and At Home are relocating into the former Sears building on the north side of The Hub @ Everett. Putting two national anchor-scale tenants into that space is the biggest leasing event the redevelopment has had to date.

Why was the Mall Station moved?

Everett Transit’s Mall Station was relocated about 500 feet west of its original location to clear the parcel for Brixton Capital’s redevelopment. The new $2 million station opened in December 2025 and serves Everett Transit and Community Transit routes.

Who owns the Everett Mall?

The Everett Mall is owned by Brixton Capital, a private real estate investment firm, which announced the redevelopment plan and rebrand to The Hub @ Everett in August 2022.

What does The Hub @ Everett look like compared to the old indoor mall?

The Hub flips the indoor mall model into an outdoor walkable shopping district. A central pedestrian street runs through the property with storefronts, restaurants with patios, and gathering spaces opening directly to it. The redesign reduces overall retail square footage by about 20% in exchange for outdoor walkways, restaurant patios, and the entertainment anchor space for Topgolf.

Quick answer: The Lenora Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility is an $8.73 million water-quality project breaking ground in April 2026 on a 0.27-acre, city-owned lot at the corner of Lenora Street and S 1st Avenue in Lowell, immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park. It is funded primarily by Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement WQC-2025-EverPW-00177 in the amount of $8,733,920 — effectively the entire project cost. The facility will treat stormwater runoff from 146 acres of Lowell drainage (subbasins LW-9, LW-10, and LW-11) before it discharges into the Marshland Canal and the Snohomish River, removing total suspended solids, dissolved copper and zinc, total petroleum hydrocarbons, and total phosphorus.

Why an $8.7M Stormwater Project Is Bigger News Than It Looks

While most of Everett’s construction conversation in April 2026 has been about a $120 million stadium and 300 new waterfront apartments, an $8.73 million project is starting this month on a half-acre lot in Lowell that will quietly do more for the Snohomish River than any other capital project the city is funding right now. It is one of those projects nobody will livestream and nobody will design-render. It is also exactly the kind of work that determines whether Everett’s waterfront stays swimmable, fishable, and credible as a sustainability story over the next decade.

Where It Is and What It Does

The site is small — 11,944 square feet, 0.27 acres — at the northeast corner of S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street, immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park, on the west side of the BNSF railroad tracks. If you have ever parked at the Lowell Riverfront Trail to walk the dog, you have driven past it without noticing.

The facility’s job is to take stormwater runoff from three drainage subbasins in Lowell — known to city staff as LW-9, LW-10, and LW-11, totaling 146.10 acres — and run it through a treatment train before it reaches the Marshland Canal system, which discharges into the Snohomish River. The first phase of the facility is a five-cell Filterra Bioscape system with two of the five cells fully functional at opening, giving the city a phased path to scale up treatment capacity as the surrounding subbasins develop further.

What Gets Removed From the Runoff

The contaminants the Lenora facility is designed to capture are the standard menu of urban stormwater pollutants:

• Total suspended solids (TSS) — particulate matter that clouds water and smothers spawning gravel.
• Total petroleum hydrocarbons — oil and fuel runoff from streets, driveways, and parking lots.
• Dissolved copper — primarily from vehicle brake pads. Copper is acutely toxic to juvenile salmon at very low concentrations.
• Dissolved zinc — from tire wear, galvanized metal, and roofing.
• Total phosphorus — the driver of summer algae blooms downstream.

The Marshland Canal discharges to the Snohomish River, which means everything the facility removes is something that does not enter the river — and does not enter Possession Sound or any of the salmon habitat between Lowell and the river mouth.

The Funding Story

The project is funded primarily by the Washington State Department of Ecology under Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement WQC-2025-EverPW-00177, in the amount of $8,733,920. That is roughly the entire project cost, which is why the City of Everett can deliver an $8.7M facility without putting it on the local utility bill.

For Everett residents already absorbing the proposed $10.74-per-month utility tax hike going through council right now, the Lenora project is the rare piece of stormwater infrastructure that does not show up on your bill at all. The state Ecology grant covers it.

Why Lowell Needed This

Lowell is one of Everett’s most environmentally complex neighborhoods. It sits on a low riverfront bench between the Snohomish River and the BNSF tracks, with three small subbasins draining toward the Marshland Canal. The geography means stormwater from streets, parking lots, and roofs throughout the neighborhood concentrates fast and hits the river hard during rain events.

The 146 acres covered by the Lenora facility include a mix of residential, commercial, and rail-adjacent uses. That mix is exactly the kind of urban runoff cocktail that does the most damage to salmon habitat, because dissolved copper from brake pads and dissolved zinc from tire wear behave like concentrated toxins for juvenile fish even at very low concentrations. Removing those before they reach the river is the difference between a healthy salmon return and a steady decline.

How It Fits Everett’s Bigger Stormwater Picture

Everett operates under a state-issued NPDES Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit. Among other things, that permit requires the city to identify high-priority drainage areas and progressively install treatment infrastructure that meets state water quality standards. The Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) the city has been refining for several years identifies the Lowell subbasins as priorities precisely because they discharge directly to a salmon-bearing waterway with limited dilution. The Lenora facility is one of the more visible deliverables of that plan.

What It Means for the Lowell Riverfront Trail

The construction site is immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park, which means anyone using the Lowell Riverfront Trail this spring and summer should expect periodic construction activity, equipment staging, and possible short trail detours along the affected segment near S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street. The city’s Public Works department will post detour signage if any trail closures become necessary.

The good news for trail users: the facility is going on a small footprint at the edge of the park, not inside it. The trail itself stays intact. Once the facility opens, the only visible change at the site will be the Filterra system’s surface elements — bioretention cells, a small access path, and a city interpretive sign that the Public Works department typically installs at completed water quality projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where exactly is the Lenora Stormwater Treatment Facility?

At the northeast corner of S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street in Lowell, on a 0.27-acre city-owned lot adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park, west of the BNSF railroad tracks.

How is it funded?

Primarily by a Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement (WQC-2025-EverPW-00177) for $8,733,920 — effectively the full project cost.

Will it raise my Everett utility bill?

No. The state Ecology grant covers the project. This is structurally separate from the proposed $10.74-per-month utility tax hike currently before the City Council, which is a different revenue mechanism for general fund purposes.

What pollutants does it remove?

Total suspended solids, total petroleum hydrocarbons, dissolved copper, dissolved zinc, and total phosphorus — the contaminants most responsible for water-quality damage to juvenile salmon and downstream algae blooms.

Where does the treated water go?

The treated runoff discharges into the Marshland Canal system, which discharges into the Snohomish River.

How big is the drainage area being treated?

146.10 acres across three Lowell subbasins (LW-9, LW-10, LW-11). The treatment train uses a five-cell Filterra Bioscape system; two of the five cells will be fully functional at opening, with capacity to scale up.

Will the Lowell Riverfront Trail close?

Trail users should expect periodic construction activity and possible short detours along the segment near S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street. Public Works will post detour signage if any trail closures become necessary. The trail itself remains intact; the facility footprint is at the edge of the park, not inside it.

Related Exploring Everett Coverage

• Everett’s $14 Million 2027 Budget Decision: A Complete Guide to All Four Levers
• Waterfront Place at the Port of Everett: The Complete 2026 Guide
• Millwright District Phase 2: A Complete Guide to Everett’s New Waterfront Neighborhood

Q: What’s happening in the Everett and Snohomish County condo market in April 2026?

A: Snohomish County condo prices climbed to an average of $586,261 in April 2026, up 4.4% year over year — outpacing single-family appreciation in the same window. Inventory expanded to 2.7 months and average days on market stretched to 40 days, giving condo buyers more leverage than they have had in years. Median condo listing price across the county is $429,000. In Everett specifically, condos are moving in 22 days at 99% of original list price, but with the highest inventory of any property type in the city — meaning the most negotiating room is in the segment everybody else is ignoring.

Everyone watching the Snohomish County housing market in April 2026 is talking about single-family homes. The $735,750 median sale price (up 1.2% year over year), the 2.8-month inventory, the 99.9% sale-to-list ratio, the 35-day average time on market — those are the numbers in every neighborhood email and every Redfin link your friends keep sending you.

The condo and townhome story is doing something different, and it might be the most interesting price-segment movement of the year if you actually read it.

The county-level condo numbers

April 2026 average condo pricing for Snohomish County: $586,261, up 4.4% year over year.

That 4.4% is meaningfully ahead of the single-family resale appreciation rate of 1.2% in the same county over the same window. In a market where everyone is chasing single-family inventory at a 99.9% sale-to-list ratio, condos quietly outperformed in price growth.

At the same time:

• 2.7 months of inventory — modestly higher than single-family’s 2.0–2.8 months, depending on the slice.
• 40 days average on market for condos vs. roughly 35 days for single-family.
• $429,000 median condo listing price across Snohomish County — significantly below single-family’s median sale price of $735,750.
• 204 condos for sale on the day the county-level reports were pulled.

Translation: more inventory, more negotiating room, longer marketing windows, lower entry price — and stronger price growth than single-family. That is a combination buyers should not let pass without at least understanding what is in the listings.

What’s happening inside Everett

Zoom into Everett city limits and the condo segment behaves slightly differently than the county-wide read.

Everett condo activity is leaning slower and more price-sensitive overall, with inventory high relative to demand and buyers having plenty of options to compare. But when you look at what is actually selling, the picture is sharper than the macro suggests:

• 22 median days on market for Everett condos that close.
• 99% of original list price received by sellers.
• The most inventory of any Everett property type — which means buyers can actually shop instead of bidding blind.

That combination — fast turn for the listings that move, plenty to compare for buyers who don’t fall for the first one — is the cleanest condo buying environment Everett has produced in years. Older complexes with high HOA dues are sitting longer. Buildings with healthy reserves and reasonable dues are turning in three weeks at near-list.

The single-family contrast

Compare the condo numbers to where single-family resale sits in Snohomish County right now:

• Single-family resale prices holding near $877,000.
• Average sale at 99.8% of list.
• Inventory at 2.0 months.
• Residential resale remains the strongest lane for sellers and the tightest for buyers.

Single-family inventory in Snohomish County is still tight enough that buyers competing in that lane have very little leverage. Condos and new construction are giving buyers the room to negotiate that resale single-family does not.

The townhome wave that’s about to hit

The townhome segment is also worth watching specifically because of new product coming online. Conner Homes opens reservations on Saturday, April 25 — tomorrow as we publish this — for two new communities:

• Greenview Heights — pricing expected to start in the low $700s.
• Village Towns at Ten Trails — pricing expected to start in the mid $600s.

These are not Everett-specific projects, but they are part of the broader Snohomish County townhome and attached-housing pipeline that is expanding the entry-level product available to buyers priced out of single-family resale. Anyone shopping in the $600K–$750K range in 2026 should be evaluating new-construction townhomes against resale condos against entry-level single-family — the three lanes are converging on similar buyer profiles, and the leverage shifts depending on which lane you walk into first.

What buyers should actually do with this

If you are a buyer in Snohomish County in April 2026 and you are open to a condo or townhome:

1. Pull the inventory reports for the specific buildings you would consider. The county-level averages hide enormous variance between buildings. A condo in a building with $300/month dues, healthy reserves, and a young roof is a fundamentally different asset than a condo in a 1970s building with $700/month dues, deferred maintenance, and an upcoming special assessment. The same listing site shows you both.

2. Read the HOA financials before you write the offer. The single biggest reason condo deals fall apart in 2026 is HOA reserve studies showing a special assessment in the next 24 months. The buyer either walks or renegotiates, and either way the deal slows. Read the financials early.

3. Use the longer marketing window. Condos averaging 40 days on market means you have time to look, compare, and negotiate. Single-family at 35 days does not give you that. The condo segment in 2026 rewards patient buyers who actually shop.

4. Look at the new-construction townhome alternative. Conner Homes’ new launches and the broader new-construction townhome pipeline are explicitly competing with resale condos for the same buyer. Touring both before you decide makes the negotiation cleaner on whichever lane you choose.

What sellers should do

If you are selling a condo in Snohomish County in April 2026:

Get the reserve study and HOA financials in the listing packet. Buyers in 2026 are screening for special assessments before they tour. A clean reserve study is a price-supporting feature.

Price to your specific building, not to the county average. The 4.4% YoY county average masks huge variance. Healthy buildings are appreciating well above 4.4%. Older buildings with deferred maintenance are not. Pricing to the wrong comparable is the fastest way to add weeks to your marketing window.

If you are sitting at 60+ days on market in a healthy building, the issue is probably price, not the market. The 22-day median days on market for Everett condos that close tells you well-priced inventory still moves fast. The county average of 40 days is being pulled up by the long tail of mispriced listings.

Bottom line on Everett’s housing landscape this month

The Everett single-family story has been the lead in our housing coverage all spring, and rightly so — it is the segment most buyers are competing for and most sellers are listing. But the condo segment is producing a different opportunity that hasn’t gotten the same coverage: more inventory, longer windows, comparable closing-price discipline for the listings that move, and price appreciation that beat single-family year over year.

If you are a buyer who can be flexible on property type, April 2026 is the cleanest time to shop the condo lane in years. If you are a seller, read your HOA financials before you list and price to your actual building.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average condo price in Snohomish County in April 2026?
$586,261, up 4.4% year over year.

How does that compare to single-family homes?
Snohomish County single-family resale prices are holding near $877,000 with average sales at 99.8% of list and 2.0 months of inventory. Condos appreciated faster (4.4% YoY vs. 1.2% YoY for single-family), but with more inventory and longer marketing windows.

How long are Everett condos on market in April 2026?
22 days median for the condos that close, with sellers receiving 99% of original list price. The condo segment has the most inventory of any Everett property type, so buyers have more options.

Is now a good time to buy a condo in Snohomish County?
For buyers who are flexible on property type, April 2026 is the cleanest condo buying environment in years. More inventory, longer marketing windows, better negotiating leverage, comparable price stability for healthy buildings.

What about new-construction townhomes?
Conner Homes opens reservations Saturday, April 25 for two new communities: Greenview Heights (starting low $700s) and Village Towns at Ten Trails (starting mid $600s). Both are part of the broader Snohomish County townhome pipeline competing with resale condos for similar buyers.

What’s the biggest risk in buying a condo right now?
Special assessments. Older buildings with weak reserve studies are showing up to buyers as 24-month special assessment risks. Read the HOA financials and reserve study before you write the offer.

How many condos are for sale in Snohomish County right now?
204 condos at the time of the most recent county-level report, with a median listing price of $429,000.

Are condo prices rising faster than single-family in 2026?
Year over year, yes — Snohomish County condos appreciated 4.4% vs. single-family at 1.2%. But the condo market is also showing more inventory variance and softer activity in older buildings, so the price growth is not uniform.

Q: What is the Lenora Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility, and when does construction start?

A: It is a $8.73 million regional stormwater treatment facility being built in April 2026 on city-owned property at the corner of Lenora Street and S 1st Avenue in Lowell, adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park. Funded primarily by a Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality grant, it will treat runoff from 146 acres of Lowell drainage before it discharges into the Marshland Canal and the Snohomish River — removing total suspended solids, dissolved copper and zinc, oil and total phosphorus.

While most of Everett’s construction conversation in April 2026 has been about a $120 million stadium and 300 new waterfront apartments, an $8.73 million project starts this month on a half-acre lot in Lowell that will quietly do more for the Snohomish River than any other capital project the city is funding right now.

The Lenora Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility breaks ground in April 2026. It is one of the projects nobody will livestream and nobody will design-render, and it is exactly the kind of work that determines whether Everett’s waterfront stays swimmable, fishable, and credible as a sustainability story over the next decade.

Where it is and what it does

The site is small — 11,944 square feet, 0.27 acres — at the northeast corner of the S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street intersection, immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park, on the west side of the BNSF railroad tracks. If you have ever parked at the Lowell Riverfront Trail to walk the dog, you have driven past it without noticing.

The facility’s job is to take stormwater runoff from three drainage subbasins in Lowell — known to city staff as LW-9, LW-10 and LW-11, totaling 146.10 acres — and run it through a treatment train before it ever reaches the Marshland Canal system, which discharges into the Snohomish River.

The first phase of the facility is a five-cell Filterra Bioscape system with two of the five cells fully functional at opening. That gives the city a phased path to scale up treatment capacity as the surrounding subbasins develop further.

What gets removed from the runoff

The contaminants the Lenora facility is designed to capture are the standard menu of urban stormwater pollutants:

• Total suspended solids (TSS) — particulate matter that clouds water and smothers spawning gravel.
• Total petroleum hydrocarbons — oil and fuel runoff from streets, driveways, and parking lots.
• Dissolved copper — primarily from vehicle brake pads. Copper is acutely toxic to juvenile salmon at very low concentrations.
• Dissolved zinc — from tire wear, galvanized metal, and roofing.
• Total phosphorus — the driver of summer algae blooms downstream.

The Marshland Canal eventually discharges to the Snohomish River, which means everything the facility removes is something that does not enter the river — and does not enter Possession Sound or any of the salmon habitat between Lowell and the river mouth.

The funding story

The project is funded primarily by the Washington State Department of Ecology under Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement WQC-2025-EverPW-00177, in the amount of $8,733,920. That is roughly the entire project cost, which is why the City of Everett can deliver an $8.7M facility without putting it on the local utility bill.

For Everett residents already absorbing the proposed $10.74-per-month utility tax hike going through council right now, the Lenora project is the rare piece of stormwater infrastructure that does not show up on your bill at all. The state Ecology grant covers it.

Why Lowell needed this

Lowell is one of Everett’s most environmentally complex neighborhoods. It sits on a low riverfront bench between the Snohomish River and the BNSF tracks, with three small subbasins draining toward the Marshland Canal. The geography means stormwater from streets, parking lots, and roofs throughout the neighborhood concentrates fast and hits the river hard during rain events.

The 146 acres covered by the Lenora facility include a mix of residential, commercial, and rail-adjacent uses. That mix is exactly the kind of urban runoff cocktail that does the most damage to salmon habitat, because dissolved copper from brake pads and dissolved zinc from tire wear behave like concentrated toxins for juvenile fish even at very low concentrations. Removing those before they reach the river is the difference between a healthy salmon return and a steady decline.

What it means for the Lowell Riverfront Trail

The construction site is immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park, which means anyone using the Lowell Riverfront Trail this spring and summer should expect periodic construction activity, equipment staging, and possible short trail detours along the affected segment near S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street. The city’s Public Works department will post detour signage if any trail closures become necessary.

The good news for trail users: the facility is going on a small footprint at the edge of the park, not inside it. The trail itself stays intact. Once the facility opens, the only visible change at the site will be the Filterra system’s surface elements — bioretention cells, a small access path, and a city interpretive sign that the Public Works department typically installs at completed water quality projects.

How this fits Everett’s bigger stormwater picture

Everett operates under a state-issued NPDES Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit. Among other things, that permit requires the city to identify high-priority drainage areas and progressively install treatment infrastructure that meets state water quality standards. The Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) the city has been refining for several years identifies the Lowell subbasins as priorities precisely because they discharge directly to a salmon-bearing waterway with limited dilution.

The Lenora facility is one of the more visible deliverables of that plan. It is also a piece of evidence that the regulatory machinery — state grant funding, federal water quality standards, city capital planning — can still produce concrete infrastructure on the ground in 2026, even when the larger civic conversation is about $14 million budget gaps and $120 million stadiums.

The construction window

The city has scheduled construction to begin in April 2026. Work on the facility itself is small enough that the duration is measured in months, not years. Public Works has not published a precise opening date for the first two functional cells of the Filterra system, but the project’s small footprint and the simple construction sequence point toward a late-2026 functional opening, with the remaining three cells brought online as the surrounding subbasins develop.

Why we wrote about this one

Most of Everett’s construction tracker right now reads like a developer brochure — apartments, restaurants, a stadium, a movie theater. That coverage is real and important. But the Lenora facility is a useful counterweight: a small, technical, state-funded piece of infrastructure that does not generate Instagram content but quietly determines whether the river the rest of the waterfront story sits next to actually stays healthy.

Lowell residents in particular should know it is happening. The half-acre lot at S 1st and Lenora is going to look like a construction site for the next several months, and the trail-adjacent staging will be visible from the river. The reason for the disruption is also the reason it is worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Lenora Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility being built?
On a 0.27-acre, 11,944-square-foot city-owned lot at the northeast corner of S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street in Lowell, immediately west of the BNSF railroad tracks and adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park.

When does construction start?
April 2026.

How much does the project cost?
$8,733,920, funded primarily by a Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement (WQC-2025-EverPW-00177).

What does the facility actually do?
It treats stormwater runoff from 146.10 acres of Lowell drainage (subbasins LW-9, LW-10, LW-11) before that runoff discharges into the Marshland Canal and the Snohomish River. It removes total suspended solids, oil and total petroleum hydrocarbons, dissolved copper, dissolved zinc and total phosphorus.

Who pays for it?
Almost the entire project cost is covered by a Washington State Department of Ecology grant. Everett ratepayers do not see the project on their utility bill.

What kind of treatment system is it?
A five-cell Filterra Bioscape system, with two cells fully functional at opening and three more available for buildout as the surrounding subbasins develop.

Will the Lowell Riverfront Trail be affected?
The project site is adjacent to the trail. Trail users should expect occasional construction activity and possible short trail detours during the construction window. Permanent trail alignment will not change.

Why does this matter for the Snohomish River?
Dissolved copper and zinc from urban runoff are toxic to juvenile salmon at very low concentrations. Removing those pollutants before they hit the river is one of the highest-impact things a city can do for downstream salmon habitat.

Q: What does the Port of Everett harbor tour actually show you?

A: The 90-minute tour aboard the 45-passenger Hat Island Ferry leaves the Port of Everett Marina, glides past the Waterfront Place destination side, then pivots into the working seaport — Pier 3, Norton Terminal, and the cargo yards that load oversized Boeing parts (777, 777X, 767, KC-46) onto barges every week. It is a $10 ride that explains why the Port supports more than 40,000 regional jobs and is the No. 2 export customs district in Washington state.

Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., the Hat Island Ferry pulled away from the Port of Everett Marina with 45 of our neighbors aboard, and for the next 90 minutes we got the version of our waterfront most of us only ever drive past on Marine View Drive.

The Port of Everett’s spring Working Waterfront Harbor Tour is back. The tour ran two sessions on April 23, 2026 — one at 3:30–5 p.m. and one at 5:30–7 p.m. — and the spring add to the existing summer harbor series is doing exactly what it should: showing residents what the largest public marina on the West Coast looks like from the water side.

Why the harbor tour matters more than it sounds

If you live in Everett and your impression of the Port is the rooftop at Tapped Public House and the public boat launch, you are missing roughly 80% of the operation. The destination waterfront — Waterfront Place, Boxcar Park, the Esplanade, the slips — is the part of the Port everybody sees. The seaport is the part almost nobody sees, and it is the reason the Port’s 2026 budget came in at $70 million.

Port leadership built the harbor tour series to fix exactly that gap. The boat leaves the marina, runs north along the destination side so you get the rooftop-bar view of Waterfront Place from offshore, then crosses into the seaport where Pier 1, Pier 3, and Norton Terminal handle international cargo. That is where Boeing’s oversized parts get loaded onto barges. That is where Heidelberg Materials offloads aggregate. That is where roughly $21 billion in U.S. exports moves through every year, with combined import and export value north of $30 billion.

The Boeing connection nobody talks about enough

The Port of Everett handles 100% of the oversized aerospace parts for the 767, 777, 777X and KC-46 Tanker programs. Every wing skin, every fuselage barrel, every empennage section that comes by water on its way to the Boeing factory at Paine Field passes through the Port of Everett’s seaport facilities first.

That is a long-term contract relationship. The Port has negotiated a long-term agreement with Boeing that locks the seaport into the aerospace manufacturing supply chain, and the harbor tour goes out of its way to show you exactly which slips and which yards handle the Boeing moves. If you have spent any time around the city wondering what the relationship between the airplane factory and the waterfront actually is — this is the boat ride that answers it.

What you actually see from the water

The Hat Island Ferry’s tour route hits the highlights:

• The Sawyer and Carling apartment buildings — Waterfront Place’s residential anchors, now 95% leased, looming over the marina from the water side.
• Restaurant Row — Tapped Public House’s rooftop, Fisherman Jack’s, Rustic Cork’s deck. From the water, the buildout reads as one continuous waterfront destination instead of three separate restaurants.
• The Esplanade and Boxcar Park — including the new Bowen bronze sculpture installed this spring on the Central Marina esplanade.
• Pier 3 and the cargo yards — where the actual seaport work happens. The contrast with the destination side is striking.
• Norton Terminal — the Port’s newest cargo yard, a former mill site reclaimed under the Mills to Maritime initiative.
• The South Terminal area — the Port’s $150 million Seaport Modernization investment over the past decade is most visible here.

What the seaport actually does for the regional economy

The numbers are easy to glaze over. They are also the reason the harbor tour exists.

• 40,000+ regional jobs supported by Port operations.
• $433 million contributed to state and local taxes annually.
• #2 export customs district in Washington state.
• #5 export district on the West Coast.
• $21 billion in U.S. exports moving through annually.
• $30 billion combined import-export value.

And Norton Terminal alone — the cargo yard built on the old mill site — represents one of the most successful contaminated-site reclamations in the region. The Port spent more than a decade and $150 million modernizing and greening its maritime facilities, and the result is the newest deepwater cargo facility on the West Coast.

What the spring tour adds to the regular series

The Port already runs a Working Waterfront Harbor Tour series in summer. The April 23 dates are a new spring add — a single-day, two-session experiment that the Port introduced for 2026 to test demand outside the high-traffic summer months.

If the spring tours sell well, expect the Port to expand the spring offering in 2027. If you missed the April 23 dates, the regular summer harbor tour series and the free community bus tours both pick up later in the season. Registration for the broader harbor tour series typically opens in mid-March; bus tours have separate signup. Tour information lives at portofeverett.com/porttours.

Why this is a good first look at the working waterfront

Most Port of Everett coverage right now — including ours — has focused on the redevelopment side. Waterfront Place. The Sawyer and Carling. Millwright District Phase 2. Marina Azul opening soon. Tapped Public House drawing lines on a Saturday night. That is the visible transformation, and it deserves the coverage.

But the Port is not just a real estate developer. It is a working seaport. It moves cargo. It supports an aerospace supply chain. It runs marina operations for hundreds of pleasure-boat slips and commercial fishing boats. It is the reason aerospace parts can move from European factories to Paine Field on a barge instead of a 747 cargo plane. The harbor tour is the cleanest way to see all of that in 90 minutes.

If you have lived in Everett for years and never been on the water with a Port staffer narrating what you are looking at, this is the easiest correction to make. We came back understanding the waterfront differently than we left.

How to ride next time

The spring tour was a one-day pop-up. The regular Working Waterfront Harbor Tour series runs through summer with multiple dates, $10 per ticket, registration through portofeverett.com/porttours. The free community bus tours of the seaport are a complementary land-side option for folks who would rather not be on a 45-passenger ferry. Sign up for the Port’s email list to get registration alerts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the Port of Everett harbor tour?
The tour aboard the Hat Island Ferry runs roughly 90 minutes, with sessions at 3:30–5 p.m. and 5:30–7 p.m. on tour days.

How much does the harbor tour cost?
$10 per person.

Where does the harbor tour leave from?
The Port of Everett Marina, near the Hewitt Avenue Trestle entrance to Waterfront Place.

What does the tour show you?
The destination waterfront (Waterfront Place, Boxcar Park, the Esplanade, Restaurant Row) plus the working seaport — Pier 3, Norton Terminal, the cargo yards, and the slips that handle Boeing’s oversized aerospace parts for the 767, 777, 777X and KC-46 programs.

How many jobs does the Port of Everett support?
More than 40,000 regional jobs, contributing roughly $433 million in state and local taxes annually.

Is the Port of Everett a real port or just a marina?
Both. It operates the largest public marina on the West Coast and the No. 2 export customs district in Washington state. Roughly $21 billion in U.S. exports move through annually.

When are the next harbor tours?
The April 23 spring tour was a one-day pop-up. The regular Working Waterfront Harbor Tour series runs through summer with multiple dates. Registration and the schedule live at portofeverett.com/porttours.

What is the Hat Island Ferry?
The 45-passenger ferry that normally runs between Everett and Hat Island. The Port charters it for the Working Waterfront Harbor Tour series so visitors can see the seaport from the water.

Q: I ride Everett Transit or Community Transit today. What actually changes for me if the merger goes through?

A: If you live inside Everett city limits and use the bus, four practical things change after the Everett Transit → Community Transit annexation is approved and phased in: (1) one agency, one fare structure, one app, one schedule for every bus you ride inside the city; (2) your sales tax rate on purchases in Everett goes up by roughly 0.6 percentage points, reflecting Community Transit’s 1.2% transit tax replacing Everett Transit’s ~0.6%; (3) existing Everett Transit passes will be honored during an approximately one-year transition per public statements from both agencies; (4) route changes inside Everett will be evaluated as part of Community Transit’s regular service change cycle — potentially more coverage from the higher tax base, potentially some consolidation where Everett Transit and Community Transit routes already overlap.

The rider’s cheat sheet

Today: Two agencies. Everett Transit runs local Everett routes and some downtown circulators. Community Transit runs Swift BRT, commuter buses to Seattle and Lynnwood, and the rest of Snohomish County’s network. After the merger: One agency. Community Transit operates all of it. Your OneBusAway, your ORCA tap, your transfer from a Swift Blue Line bus to a local Everett route — all in one system.

What happens to your pass

Both agencies have publicly committed to honoring existing Everett Transit fare media during the transition. The interlocal agreement (the legal document the two agencies are drafting through summer 2026) will spell out exactly how long. Expect a unified Community Transit fare structure to phase in over approximately a year after the agreement is signed. If you buy monthly, watch for official notice before making your next annual commitment.

Your bus route, specifically

Everett Transit routes 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 18, 29, and 70 are the most likely to be reviewed for integration with neighboring Community Transit service. Some may keep their current alignment under new numbers. Some may consolidate with overlapping Community Transit routes. And some may actually expand frequency or span of service — the stated goal from both the mayor and the Community Transit CEO is to grow service using the higher sales tax revenue, not cut it. Specific route decisions happen in the interlocal agreement and the first post-merger service change cycle.

The sales tax change

Inside Everett city limits, the transit portion of sales tax would rise from ~0.6% to 1.2% — a 0.6-point increase. On a $100 purchase in Everett, that is an extra $0.60. On a $25,000 car purchase, that is an extra $150. It does not apply to groceries, prescription medication, or most services. It does apply to most retail and restaurant transactions inside the city.

Why this isn’t going to your ballot

The 2025 state law (amended in 2026) that made this pathway available treats transit annexation as a government-to-government action between two PTBAs (Public Transportation Benefit Areas). The legal trigger is a public hearing plus approval from both boards, not a voter referendum. If you want to weigh in, the public hearing(s) — expected in the September to October window at City Hall and at Community Transit board meetings — are the formal venue. Council member contact information is on everettwa.gov.

What to do now if you’re a rider

Keep riding. Nothing changes until the interlocal agreement is signed, which is targeted for late 2026, and then the phase-in takes roughly another year. Watch for official service change notices from Everett Transit and Community Transit, sign up for Community Transit’s rider alerts, and if you have strong feelings about specific Everett Transit routes, attend the public hearings when they are scheduled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Swift bus rapid transit change?

No. Swift is already Community Transit and continues as-is.

Will my commuter bus to Seattle change?

Sound Transit Express buses and future Everett Link light rail are operated by Sound Transit, a separate regional agency, and are not part of this annexation.

Will fares go up right away?

No. Existing Everett Transit fare media will be honored during transition per public statements from both agencies. A unified Community Transit fare structure will phase in over approximately one year after the agreement is signed.

Will routes inside my Everett neighborhood be cut?

Not automatically. Route decisions happen in the interlocal agreement and the first post-merger service change cycle. Both the mayor and Community Transit CEO have publicly stated the goal is service expansion funded by the higher sales tax — not cuts. The public hearings in the fall are where specific neighborhoods can weigh in.

Do I pay more in property tax?

No. This is a sales tax change inside Everett city limits only, not a property tax measure.

Related coverage

See the complete 2026 Everett Transit merger guide, our original coverage of the April 22 announcement, and our resident guide to Everett’s 2027 budget deficit.

Related Coverage From Tygart Media’s Exploring Everett Series

• The Everett Transit Merger Into Community Transit: Complete 2026 Guide
• For Boeing and Paine Field Commuters: What the 2026 Everett Transit Merger With Community Transit Means for Your Drive to Work
• Everett Transit Is Merging Into Community Transit: What Yesterday’s Announcement Actually Changes for Riders
• Boeing 777X Clears FAA Phase 4A: What Everett’s Biggest Certification Milestone in Years Actually Means

Q: What does the Everett Transit merger with Community Transit actually mean, and why is this happening now?

A: On April 22, 2026, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and Community Transit CEO Ric Ilgenfritz jointly announced the resumption of efforts to annex Everett Transit into Community Transit’s service district. Under a 2025 state law amended in 2026, that annexation no longer requires a public vote — only approval by the Everett City Council and the Community Transit Board of Directors, following a public hearing. The two agencies aim to have an interlocal agreement ready for a final vote by the end of 2026, with service changes phased in over roughly one year afterward. If approved, Community Transit’s 1.2% transit sales tax would replace Everett’s current ~0.6% rate inside city limits, roughly doubling dedicated transit revenue. The stated motivation is light rail readiness: Sound Transit’s Everett Link extension is moving toward Everett Station and Paine Field in the next decade, and a single regional operator simplifies the bus network that feeds it.

Why the Everett Transit merger matters more than a typical agency reorg

This is the biggest structural change to transit in Everett since Everett Transit became its own municipal system. Cassie Franklin and Ric Ilgenfritz didn’t pick April 22 by accident — they picked it because the political plumbing is finally in place. In 2025, the Washington State Legislature passed a law allowing Public Transportation Benefit Areas (like Community Transit) to annex city-operated transit agencies through an interlocal agreement rather than a voter referendum. That law was amended in 2026 to clarify the process. The first city in the state that can use it at scale is Everett, and the agencies want to be first.

The timeline in plain English

Summer 2026: Everett Transit and Community Transit draft the interlocal agreement, work through labor and asset transfer provisions, and hold public hearings. Fall 2026: The Everett City Council and the Community Transit Board of Directors take up the agreement for a final vote, expected before the end of the calendar year. 2027: If approved, Everett Transit becomes a service division inside Community Transit, with a phase-in period of approximately one year. The 1.2% Community Transit sales tax rate replaces Everett’s current ~0.6% Everett Transit rate inside the city. Bus routes, fare structure, driver hiring, and facilities consolidate under one roof.

What actually changes for riders

Community Transit runs the Swift bus rapid transit lines, every Snohomish County commuter bus into Seattle and Lynnwood, and a larger fleet with a broader route network than Everett Transit. For riders who already use both agencies to stitch a trip together, this is mostly good news: one fare, one app, one schedule, one customer service line. For riders who stay inside Everett’s boundaries, routes may consolidate and evolve — and that is the piece the public hearing phase is meant to surface. Advocates at Keep Everett Transit have voiced concern that a larger agency might deprioritize intra-Everett service. Franklin and Ilgenfritz have both publicly said expanded service, not cuts, is the goal — driven by the higher sales tax rate unlocking roughly 2x the dedicated transit revenue.

Why no ballot measure this time

The last serious merger conversation — around 2020 — stalled because the path forward appeared to require a public vote, and no one wanted to run that election during COVID. The 2025 law removes that barrier. Whether that is good governance is a live debate. HeraldNet’s editorial page carried a reader letter on April 23 arguing the merger should go to a ballot anyway. Proponents counter that transit annexations are technical government-to-government agreements, not policy referendums, and that the public hearing requirement plus the council vote provide sufficient democratic accountability.

The light rail context you can’t ignore

Sound Transit’s Everett Link extension is the subtext of every transit decision in this city right now. ST3 promised light rail to Everett Station by 2036; 2026 planning scenarios range from that original timeline to phased delivery reaching Paine Field first. Whichever scenario lands, the bus network that feeds light rail needs to be designed as one system, not two. A unified Community Transit handling Everett, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, and the Swift corridors is operationally simpler than coordinating across two agencies. That operational case — more than the sales tax math — is what moved this off the shelf in 2026.

What to watch next

Interlocal agreement draft (expected July–August 2026). Public hearings at Everett City Hall and Community Transit board meetings (expected September–October). Final Everett City Council vote and Community Transit Board vote (expected November–December 2026). If approved, look for a joint transition office to stand up in early 2027 and the first route changes to publish in Community Transit’s standard service change window.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my Everett Transit pass still work after the merger?

Yes. During the transition period (approximately one year after the agreements are signed), both agencies have publicly committed to honoring existing fare media while transitioning riders to a unified Community Transit fare structure. Specific fare policy will be finalized in the interlocal agreement.

Will I pay more in sales tax if the merger goes through?

Yes, inside Everett city limits. Community Transit collects 1.2% of taxable sales for transit; Everett Transit currently collects approximately 0.6%. The difference — about 0.6 percentage points — would apply to most purchases made in Everett after the transition.

Why isn’t this going to a public vote?

A 2025 state law (amended in 2026) allows Public Transportation Benefit Areas like Community Transit to annex municipal transit agencies via an interlocal agreement approved by both governing boards after a public hearing. No ballot measure is required under that statute.

What happens to Everett Transit drivers and staff?

The interlocal agreement will include labor and asset transfer provisions. Ric Ilgenfritz has publicly indicated the intent is to absorb Everett Transit’s workforce into Community Transit. Specific terms, union contract alignment, and seniority questions are the kind of detail the summer drafting phase is designed to resolve.

Does this affect Swift bus rapid transit or Sound Transit service?

Swift is operated by Community Transit and is unaffected operationally. Sound Transit Express buses and future Everett Link light rail are operated by Sound Transit, a separate regional agency, and are also unaffected by this specific annexation.

How does this connect to Sound Transit’s Everett Link light rail?

A unified bus network is easier to design as a light rail feeder than two coordinated agencies. When Everett Link opens (timelines vary by scenario but target the 2030s), buses inside Everett will need to connect riders to stations at Everett Station, Mariner, Lynnwood, and potentially Paine Field — all within Community Transit’s existing service pattern.

Can the Everett City Council still vote this down?

Yes. The interlocal agreement requires affirmative votes from both the Everett City Council and the Community Transit Board of Directors. Either body can reject the agreement, send it back for amendment, or decline to schedule a vote.

Related coverage

See our source brief on the April 22 Everett Transit merger announcement, our guide to Everett’s 2027 budget decisions, and our breakdown of Sound Transit’s Everett Link extension.

Related Coverage From Tygart Media’s Exploring Everett Series

• What Everett’s Transit Merger Means for You as a Rider: A 2026 Resident’s Guide to the Community Transit Annexation
• For Boeing and Paine Field Commuters: What the 2026 Everett Transit Merger With Community Transit Means for Your Drive to Work
• Everett Transit Is Merging Into Community Transit: What Yesterday’s Announcement Actually Changes for Riders
• Boeing 777X Clears FAA Phase 4A: What Everett’s Biggest Certification Milestone in Years Actually Means

Q: What’s happening with new construction in the Everett housing market right now?
A: New construction in Everett is sitting on more inventory than it wants to be. In April 2026, only a single new-construction home in Everett closed on market — and it sold over list price, which almost never happens in this segment in a softer market. Across Snohomish County as a whole, new-construction average pricing came in around $923,988, down 2.3% year-over-year, with inventory climbing to about 3.2 months and closed sales off 34.3%. The short version: buyers have more leverage, builders are competing harder on financing incentives than on headline prices, and the new-build segment is noticeably softer than resale.

Everett’s New Construction Market Just Showed Its Hand: Why Only One Home Closed This Month

Most of the Everett housing coverage lately has been about the resale market. Price bands. Median numbers. Neighborhoods where prices are up double digits and neighborhoods where they are underwater. Rentals softening. That’s a useful lens. It’s also hiding a quieter story that is arguably more interesting for anyone trying to understand where Everett is actually headed.

The new-construction side of the market is telling a completely different story from resale this month. We stopped by the numbers, and the gap is wider than we expected.

The Number That Jumps Off the Page

One new-construction home in Everett closed last month. One. And it went over list price — which is almost the last thing you expect in the new-build segment when inventory is elevated and rates have nudged back up. That’s not the sign of a healthy new-construction market. That’s the sign of a market where buyers are only pulling the trigger on very specific homes, and builders are holding the rest of their inventory waiting for either a rate break or a concession package that moves someone off the fence.

Zoom out one step to Snohomish County as a whole — which is how most of the new-construction data gets rolled up, because individual city-level samples get thin fast — and the story gets clearer. New-construction average pricing countywide is sitting around $923,988, down 2.3% year-over-year. Inventory is running around 3.2 months. Closed sales are off 34.3% compared to where the segment was a year ago.

Resale in Everett is not pristine either — we’ve been writing about the softening mid-market for weeks — but the new-construction picture is measurably more strained.

Why New Construction Is Softer Than Resale Right Now

Three things are happening at the same time, and they compound.

One: mortgage rates moved higher in April. That is the single biggest pressure on affordability in the market. When rates move, the monthly payment calculation on a $900,000 new build goes up faster than on a $600,000 resale, and buyers who were barely hitting the ratio on a new construction quote walk away. Resale buyers at lower price points absorb the same rate increase with less total dollar damage.

Two: new construction is a buyer’s option, not a buyer’s necessity. If you are relocating for a Boeing North Line job or a Naval Station Everett assignment and you need to close in 60 days, you are shopping the resale market. New construction buyers are usually the move-up or move-over buyer who has the luxury of waiting — and right now, “wait and see what rates do” is a real strategy.

Three: inventory. When a builder has unsold standing inventory at month-end, they are paying carrying costs — interest on construction loans, insurance, HOA dues on finished units. That pushes builders toward incentives (rate buydowns, closing cost credits, appliance packages) rather than headline price cuts. Headline prices hold, monthly payments effectively drop through financing support, and the MLS-reported median looks flatter than the actual buying experience.

What This Means If You’re Buying in Everett

If you are shopping new construction in Everett right now, you have more leverage than you have had in several seasons. That doesn’t mean builders are desperate — most of them aren’t — but the conversation you can have about rate buydowns, closing credits, or upgrade packages is genuinely a different conversation than it was a year ago.

A couple of practical notes from what we are seeing on the ground:

• Ask about financing incentives before you ask about price cuts. Builders are much more willing to subsidize a 2-1 buydown or cover points than to reduce the sticker. Your monthly payment is what matters.
• Standing inventory is where the flexibility is. Homes under construction that aren’t spec’d to a specific buyer are the ones builders want to move before carrying costs keep piling up. Ask the agent which homes are past their original target close date.
• Comps are thinner in the new-build segment. Because volume is down, each closed sale has outsized weight in the comp set. One closing at the list price shifts the reported median more than it used to.
• Pay attention to what’s included. In a softer market, builders sometimes quietly upgrade the standard package — nicer countertops, higher appliance tier — instead of cutting price. Two quotes at the same headline price may be meaningfully different products.

What This Means If You’re a Seller with a Newer Home

If you bought a new construction in Everett in 2022, 2023, or 2024 and you’re looking at selling into this market, the calculus is real. You are competing directly with builders who have financing incentives you can’t match. You can’t write a rate buydown. You can’t throw in an appliance package.

What you can do is lean into the things new construction can’t offer. Landscaping that has actually grown in. A backyard that doesn’t look like raw dirt. Window coverings. The kind of move-in readiness that makes a buyer with a two-week closing timeline choose your home over a builder’s inventory that still needs a walk-through punch list.

For anyone in a newer neighborhood where you are on market against active new construction just a few blocks away, pricing below the builder’s advertised headline is often the wrong move. Pricing to a realistic monthly payment after adjusting for the builder’s available buydown is closer to the honest comparison.

The Bigger Picture for Everett

Everett has a lot of new construction pipeline coming. The Millwright District Phase 2 will put more than 300 new units on the waterfront. Waterfront Place’s existing units at the Sawyer and Carling are 95% full, which is a strong signal on urban mid-rise demand but doesn’t tell us much about single-family new construction at the Everett city limits or out toward Silver Lake.

What April’s data actually says is that the Everett housing market is not one market. It is at least three markets running in parallel. Urban waterfront apartments are leasing. The resale middle market is softening but functional. The new-construction single-family segment is under real pressure. If you are making a decision in any one of those segments, the others are not reliable comparisons.

The next few months are going to tell us how much of this softness is rate-driven (and therefore reversible the moment rates move) and how much is a structural shift in Everett’s buyer pool. If rates break, the new-construction segment probably moves first and moves sharply. If they don’t, builders will keep leaning on incentives through the summer and some of that standing inventory will start to feel like opportunity to patient buyers.

We’ll keep watching. If you are making a real buying or selling decision, get hyperlocal. The countywide averages are useful context, but the actual number that matters is the monthly payment on a specific house in a specific neighborhood, against an honest comparison of what else you can buy at that same monthly payment right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many new construction homes closed in Everett last month?
One. That single closing went over list price, which is an unusual outcome in a segment where inventory is otherwise elevated.

What is the average price on new construction in Snohomish County right now?
Countywide, new-construction average pricing came in around $923,988, down 2.3% year-over-year.

How much new-construction inventory is on the market?
Across Snohomish County, new-construction inventory is running around 3.2 months. Closed sales are off 34.3% compared to the same period a year ago.

Why is new construction softer than resale right now?
A combination of higher mortgage rates in April, the fact that new-construction buyers can usually afford to wait, and builder carrying costs on standing inventory. Builders are competing with financing incentives rather than headline price cuts, which is a different lever than resale sellers can pull.

Should I ask for a price cut or an incentive?
For most new-construction buyers in this market, financing incentives — rate buydowns, closing cost credits, appliance packages — are a more productive conversation than asking for a straight price reduction. Builders resist cutting the sticker because it affects the comp set for their entire project. They are more willing to subsidize the payment.

Is it a good time to sell a newer home in Everett?
It’s harder than it was a year ago because you are competing directly with builders offering financing support you can’t match. Lean into what resale can offer that new construction cannot — mature landscaping, move-in-ready condition, window coverings already installed, a yard that isn’t raw dirt.

How is this different from what you’ve written about the Everett resale market?
The resale market in Everett is softer than it was but still functional, with meaningful variance by neighborhood and price band. The new-construction segment is measurably more strained than resale right now, and the dynamics — financing incentives, standing inventory, builder carrying costs — are specific to new builds.

Deeper Coverage in the Exploring Everett Series

For a more comprehensive treatment of the issues raised in this article, see:

• The Boeing 777X’s FAA Phase 4A Milestone at Paine Field: A Complete 2026 Guide to the Certification Gate, the Lufthansa Delivery, and What Comes Next