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Q: When will Eclipse Mill Park at Everett’s Riverfront actually open?

A: The park will now be built in two phases. The City of Everett’s waterside portion — the pier, floating dock, playground, and fish habitat work — starts July 2026 and wraps in November 2026 after the Washington Department of Ecology pushed the original start back for additional site-condition review. The second, larger phase, built by developer Shelter Holdings, runs from fall 2026 through spring 2028, with the full Eclipse Mill Park opening projected for spring 2028.

Eclipse Mill Park Gets a New Timeline: Why Everett’s Riverfront Signature Park Is Now a Spring 2028 Opening

We’ve been watching the Riverfront development on the west bank of the Snohomish River for years now, and if you drive past it on the way to the new Costco at I-5 and 41st, you already know the shape of the thing. Apartments are up. Retail pads are framed out. The trail along the river is there if you know where to look for it. But the piece that was supposed to tie the whole development together — Eclipse Mill Park, the 3-acre public park that’s going to be the signature green space for the new neighborhood — has a new timeline, and it’s worth understanding what changed.

Here’s where things actually stand as of late April 2026, and what it means for the Riverfront buildout.

The Short Version: A Two-Phase Park With Two Different Builders

Eclipse Mill Park isn’t being built as a single contract or by a single entity. The 3-acre park is split into two phases, with two different builders on two different timelines. That’s the first thing to understand, because the confusion over “when does the park open” has largely come from people treating it as one project when it’s really two.

Phase 1 — City of Everett’s portion. This is the waterside end. Playground. Pier. Floating dock. Fish habitat improvements along the riverbank. The City Council approved a $3.6 million construction contract last May to build this phase.

Phase 2 — Shelter Holdings’ portion. This is the upland section of the park, built by the private developer as part of their Development Agreement with the City. This is the larger portion of the park’s 3 acres.

Two builders. Two contracts. Two timelines. And two different reasons the opening keeps sliding.

Why Phase 1 Slid to July 2026

The original plan had City of Everett crews starting Phase 1 work earlier, with the waterside amenities coming online in 2026. That timeline got redrawn after the Washington Department of Ecology requested additional review of site conditions along the riverbank — a standard request for any project that touches fish habitat on a river as ecologically significant as the Snohomish.

The revised schedule now has:

• Construction mobilization: July 2026
• Waterside amenities complete: November 2026

So the pier, the floating dock (which Port officials have said could eventually be used to launch personal watercraft), the playground, and the fish habitat restoration work are all targeting a late-2026 completion on the City’s end. That’s a real, visible change Riverfront residents will see this year — crews on site by midsummer, open amenities by late fall.

Why Phase 2 Runs Fall 2026 to Spring 2028

Once the City’s portion wraps, Shelter Holdings picks up the baton. Their phase of the park is scheduled from fall 2026 through spring 2028, which puts the full-park opening at spring 2028 — about 18 months later than anyone in the neighborhood was hoping when the Riverfront plan was first approved.

Why so long? A few honest reasons. The Phase 2 work is the larger share of the 3 acres. It’s being built by the developer, not the City, which means it’s coordinated with the rest of the Shelter Holdings buildout — apartments, retail pads, parking, internal streets — and you can’t pour the signature park in the middle of active mixed-use construction without risking damaging it. So the park goes last, and it goes slow, and the opening date sits at spring 2028.

What Gets Built: The Actual Park Design

The published park program is generous for a 3-acre urban waterfront park. Here’s what the full build includes once both phases are done:

• A waterfront pier extending into the Snohomish River
• A floating dock sized for personal watercraft launch
• A playground at the City’s end of the park
• A signature open lawn and gathering space on the Shelter Holdings side
• Fish habitat improvements built into the riverbank along the full frontage
• Trails connecting the park to the broader Riverfront trail network
• Integration with the apartments and retail to the east so the park reads as the neighborhood’s front porch, not just leftover space

It’s not the acreage of Grand Avenue Park or Forest Park. But for the kind of neighborhood Riverfront is trying to become — dense, mixed-use, transit-accessible, and built on a former industrial site — a 3-acre programmed park with a working pier is a meaningful amenity.

The Bigger Picture: Riverfront’s Slow Build Continues

Eclipse Mill Park’s slip to 2028 is part of a pattern we’ve been tracking for a while. The Riverfront project was originally approved as a 40-acre, 1,250-unit mixed-use development that would include a multiplex cinema, a specialty grocer, a 250-room hotel, office space, and 3 acres of park. The cinema has since been swapped for pickleball courts (reflecting where the indoor entertainment dollar is going in 2026), the grocer has moved around on the site plan, and the timeline for each piece has shifted.

Two mixed-use apartment buildings are already up. Phase 2 housing — the piece that really fills out the neighborhood — is underway. The hotel is still a future phase. And now the park, which was supposed to open alongside Phase 2 apartments, slides to 2028.

None of this is unusual for a redevelopment of an old industrial site on a federally regulated river. Every interaction with Ecology, every seasonal fish window, every shared utility trench adds weeks. If you’ve watched any of Seattle’s waterfront projects unfold, you know the shape of it.

What Residents Will Actually See This Year

Even with the park pushed to 2028, there’s real work happening on the Riverfront waterline this year that residents can watch in real time:

• Summer 2026: City crews mobilize for Phase 1 park construction. Expect fencing, equipment staging, and in-water work during the permitted fish window.
• Fall 2026: Phase 1 waterside amenities near completion. The pier and floating dock take shape.
• November 2026: City portion hits substantial completion.
• Fall 2026 — concurrent: Shelter Holdings begins Phase 2 park construction, running through 2027.
• Through 2026-2027: Remaining Shelter Holdings residential buildings continue vertical construction.

The Riverfront trail along the Snohomish River stays open throughout, which is the piece most residents actually use day to day. If you walk the trail now, you’ll see the raw edge where the riverbank will be reshaped for fish habitat — watching that transform from fall through next year is going to be one of the more visible pieces of construction on the east side of Everett.

How the Riverfront Delay Compares to Waterfront Place

For context, the Waterfront Place development over on the Port of Everett side is running its own slipping timeline. Millwright District Phase 2 is breaking ground this year with 300+ apartments targeting tenant move-ins by late 2026, but the Class-A office buildings aren’t expected to open until as early as 2028. S3 Maritime just opened. Menchie’s and Marina Azul are in the pipeline. The flagship restaurant parcel is still in tenant search.

Both the Riverfront and the Waterfront are doing the same kind of work on different sites — converting former industrial edges into mixed-use neighborhoods, with parks, restaurants, and apartments. Both are running into the same realities: Ecology review windows, developer coordination, fish seasons, infrastructure sequencing, and the plain fact that you can’t stand up a neighborhood in 18 months.

The difference between watching these projects with frustration and watching them with curiosity is mostly about whether you understand what the timelines actually mean. An extra year on Eclipse Mill Park isn’t a failure — it’s the cost of doing riverbank restoration right, in a phased build, with a private developer stitching into a public park.

What Comes Next

The next milestone to watch is July 2026 mobilization at the park’s waterside. If that holds, the Phase 1 amenities will be open by Thanksgiving. Shelter Holdings’ Phase 2 timeline is tied to the rest of their buildout, so the next market update on Riverfront housing will be the better indicator of whether the park’s 2028 opening slips again.

We’ll be back at the Riverfront site later this summer with photos once the fencing goes up and the equipment stages in. If you’re a resident of one of the existing Riverfront buildings and you see activity before then, we want to know what you’re seeing from your windows.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will Eclipse Mill Park open in Everett?

The full 3-acre park is projected to open in spring 2028. The City of Everett’s phase (playground, pier, floating dock, fish habitat work) is scheduled to be complete by November 2026, but the full park including Shelter Holdings’ Phase 2 won’t open until spring 2028.

Why was Eclipse Mill Park delayed?

The Washington Department of Ecology requested additional review of site conditions along the riverbank, which pushed construction mobilization to July 2026. The Phase 2 timeline is tied to developer Shelter Holdings’ broader Riverfront buildout.

Who is building Eclipse Mill Park?

Two builders. The City of Everett is building Phase 1 (waterside amenities) under a $3.6 million construction contract approved by the City Council in May. Shelter Holdings, the private developer of the Riverfront project, is building Phase 2 (the larger upland portion) under their Development Agreement with the City.

What will be in Eclipse Mill Park?

A pier, floating dock for personal watercraft, playground, open lawn and gathering space, fish habitat improvements along the Snohomish riverbank, and trails connecting to the broader Riverfront trail system.

Where is the Riverfront development in Everett?

Riverfront is on the west bank of the Snohomish River, east of I-5, near the Hewitt Avenue Trestle. It’s a 40-acre former industrial site being redeveloped into a mixed-use neighborhood with housing, retail, a hotel, and parks.

How is Riverfront different from Waterfront Place?

Riverfront is on the Snohomish River on Everett’s east side, developed by Shelter Holdings. Waterfront Place is on Puget Sound on Everett’s west side, developed by the Port of Everett with various partners. Both are converting former industrial sites into mixed-use neighborhoods — they just face different waterways.

What else is happening at Riverfront in 2026?

Phase 2 residential construction continues. The cinema originally planned has been replaced with pickleball courts. Remaining apartment buildings are under vertical construction. The Riverfront trail stays open throughout construction.