Waterfront Revitalization

Downtown Revitalization

Development in the City of Marysville

For 130 years, the City of Marysville has prided itself as a place of progress, making critical community investments to advance its strategic initiatives. While growth throughout the city has reached unprecedented levels and the population is expected to grow from its current 71,000 to 100,000 by the next decade, community leaders are keenly focused on having its unique riverside commercial and recreational district reflecting the mature character and quality of the entire city.


The vibrant, compact mixed-use community envisioned in the 2021 Downtown Master Plan encompasses the area from Ebey Slough at I-5 on the south to 8th Street in the northwest area of Alder Avenue. In addition to planning, the City has made significant infrastructure investments to position the downtown for growth and catalyze redevelopment. Marysville’s investments represent more than $95 million in public improvements since planning started, with another $200 million planned in preparing the Riverwalk District to attract growth and success.


Downtown Revitalization

As with any established town, a strong sense of place that can only be cultivated over decades exists in Marysville. The city recognizes this and is putting substantial resources into enhancing pedestrian and vehicular connectivity, unifying streetscape elements to enhance community identity and brand and has aggregated 47 acres of land in its downtown. 

If you are an interested developer, please fill out the Ebey Waterfront Request for Qualifications.

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History

Since about 1855, loggers worked in the timber-rich hills and flats where Marysville is today. The timber industry was dependent on local creeks and waterways including the slough for transport. By 1891, when Marysville was founded, 18 logging camps were located in the area. Marysville’s first lumber mill was operational then, and mills continued to be a prominent part of local industry for nearly a century. By the 1990s, the timber industry throughout western Washington was in decline. Here in Marysville, the Interfor mill closed in 2007 and the Welco Lumber mill closed in 2008.

The City of Marysville bought the Welco site in 2008 with a long-term vision of redevelopment. Two years later, the city bought the adjacent Geddes Marina. Today, the city owns 24 parcels in the waterfront area, some of which is available for private development.

Over the past decade, the city has worked to clean up decades-old contamination in the area. The city also has made numerous investments in storm water, water and sewer infrastructure to support planned development. Currently the city is working to obtain No Further Action letters from the Department of Ecology, remediate the remaining contamination, and further prepare the site for development.

[Sources: Reflections of Marysville: A Pictorial History, The Marysville Globe]