The 1.19-acre project could become the centerpiece of a broader waterfront redevelopment effort coordinated with the Port of Everett.
City of Mukilteo
By Neetish Basnet – Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal
Jul 29, 2026
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Story Highlights
What’s This?
- Mukilteo issued a request for qualifications Wednesday to redevelop a 1.19-acre waterfront site.
- The city would lease the property to a developer for up to 80 years.
- The Mukilteo-Clinton ferry route carried 3.71 million riders in 2025.
Mukilteo has launched a search for developers to help create a new vision for its picturesque waterfront.
City officials issued a request for qualifications Wednesday for a project to redevelop a 1.19-acre city-owned site into a hospitality and recreation destination. Responses are due Sept. 9.
After the city evaluates qualifications, short-listed development teams will be invited to submit proposals describing how they would develop the property.
“We want people to come here and never want to leave,” Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said in a news release.
Stretching between the historic Lighthouse Park and one of Washington state’s busiest ferry terminals, much of the Mukilteo waterfront area remains undeveloped. The city says the RFQ presents a “rare” redevelopment opportunity along the Puget Sound shoreline.
The redevelopment effort has been years in the making.
Washington State Ferries opened the new $187 million Mukilteo ferry terminal in December 2020, replacing the seismically vulnerable circa-1957 terminal and dock. The Mukilteo-Clinton ferry route carried 3.71 million riders in 2025, accounting for 19.2% of the total 20.11 million riders served systemwide.
Seeing the potential, Mukilteo and Port of Everett began coordinating on redevelopment plans to transform the underutilized waterfront, which included parts of the former Mukilteo tank farm that the port acquired from the U.S. Air Force in 2013. In July 2022, the agencies approved a redevelopment plan for the 26-acre waterfront area.
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This February, the Port Commission unanimously approved its acquisition of a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site and a 9,637-square-foot building that houses an Ivar’s restaurant. The Ivar’s building sold earlier in June for $10 million, Snohomish County records show.
The port has also retained Seattle-based architecture firm NBBJ to lead the design of the redevelopment project.
The city’s RFQ represents the first major step of the waterfront redevelopment proposal.
Mukilteo is seeking a developer that can help turn the city into a regional draw. Under the proposal, the new destination would be anchored by a mix of restaurants, cafes, retail, lodging, public plazas and a continuous promenade along the shore.
“The city is not interested in a generic mixed-use project,” the release reads. “It is looking for a team that truly understands Mukilteo and has the creativity and experience to build something that will define this waterfront for generations.”
Mukilteo would lease the property to a developer or business for up to 80 years. The city would maintain ownership. It is also exploring potential expansion of the development footprint to adjacent parcels, if needed.
The proposed development site, currently sitting vacant, has an assessed value of $1.4 million.
“Mukilteo’s waterfront is one of our community’s greatest gifts,” Marine said. “Our vision is a place that feels genuinely like Mukilteo: walkable, welcoming, alive with activity, and deeply rooted in the maritime heritage and indigenous history of this place.”
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