County explains delays in opening Edmonds, Everett ‘New Start’ bridge housing centers

Fencing surrounds the former America’s Best Value Inn in Edmonds, which is scheduled to open as transitional housing.

Snohomish County needs more time before it can open two new emergency bridge housing facilities. 

Kari Bray, communications director for the Snohomish County Executive’s Office, said an opening date for the Edmonds and Everett New Start centers isn’t scheduled yet but the target is sometime between October and December 2025.

The My Neighborhood News Network reported in May 2024 that bridge housing is “a first step toward permanent housing for those who are unhoused.” It comes with medical and mental health assistance, job resources and other services.

Previously, the plan was to open the housing, known as “New Start” centers, at 22127 Highway 99 in Edmonds and 1602 S.E. Everett Mall Way in Everett sometime in the summer.

“The additional needs … have pushed the timeline back a bit to ensure these are resolved before the units are finished,” Bray wrote in an email. 

Crews still need to do some remodeling work at the sites, which were formerly hotels. They must reconfigure several spaces and catch rooms up to modern accessibility standards. There are also repairs, flooring, painting and sealing that need to be done. 

Crews recently completed moisture remediation at both sites. This means they addressed areas where there was excess moisture damage. But during that work, they identified additional issues. 

Crews must fix load-bearing studs and exterior wall sheathing at the Edmonds site, as well as asbestos remediation in some wall spaces at the Everett site. 

The plan is still to have 48 units at the Edmonds site and 75 units at the Everett site. The Salvation Army will operate the Everett site. The county has yet to choose the operator for the Edmonds site. 

Bray said the total budget for both new start centers is about $37 million. This includes the purchase price, remediation, pre-construction, architecture, engineering, permitting, construction, fixtures and furnishings, among other expenses.

Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and money collected from the county’s 0.1% affordable housing sales tax are paying for this project. 

On Jan. 31, the county sent a notice to local businesses around the Everett New Start Center. The notice outlined who will operate the site as well as a construction update. 

In October 2024, the Snohomish County Fleet and Facilities and Human Services met with the Everett Mall to update them on the Everett site.

“Snohomish County has committed to providing significant project updates to the surrounding businesses and residents. The last email communications that were sent out were in the first and second quarters of 2024 that described actions Snohomish County had taken to-date,” Bray wrote in the email. 

The county plans to update those surrounding the Edmonds site when it selects a service provider, Bray said. The service provider and county will also conduct neighborhood outreach before the site opens.

— By Angelica Relente

Angelica Relente is a Murrow News Fellow covering housing and related issues in South Snohomish County for the My Neighborhood News Network. Contact her at angelica@myedmondsnews.com.

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