LYNNWOOD — The Lynnwood Public Facilities District (The District) unveiled an ambitious master plan Monday to revitalize City Center, proposing a $570 million redevelopment of 13 acres into a mixed-use destination featuring a hotel, workforce housing, retail spaces, childcare and lush public greenspaces. The project, presented by Executive Director Janet Pope to the City Council, seeks to boost annual economic impact upward of roughly $80 million while at the same time fostering community and cultural events, job growth, and workforce housing that includes a childcare center.
“Just to summarize it all, you got your workforce housing, you got your jobs, small businesses going from gray-to-green, and then the public programming with the new hotel growing the lodging tax, and then serving as the heart of the city center,” Pope said.
Pope described the initiative as a shift from “gray-to-green,” transforming aging 1960s-era buildings—plagued by maintenance issues like failing HVAC systems and obsolete elevators—into a vibrant hub that draws visitors, supports local businesses and provides affordable living options.
If approved, the redevelopment could break ground by 2028, with full completion targeted no later than 2032, creating an estimated 800 new fulltime and part-time jobs, and generating an additional $4.4 million in annual tax revenues for the City without burdening municipal finances.
The plan builds on The District’s history of community engagement, which has ramped up since Pope took the helm in 2020. Events such as the Lynnwood Luau, now attracting 3,000 attendees annually, the sold-out Jingle Bell Breakfast and a new Summer Sounds concert series during the World Cup aim to activate the site and introduce residents to the event center.
In 2025, the district drove 5,382 hotel room nights and $10.8 million in direct local spending, with 40.6% of vendor dollars going to small or minority-owned businesses. The revamped site, including an expanded event center, 300-room hotel and 400 housing units, could multiply that impact through diversified revenues.
Formed in 1999 as Washington’s first public facilities district, the independent municipal corporation operates under state statutes allowing it to develop regional venues with sales tax revenues. Boundaries align with city limits, and while the Lynnwood City Council appoints The District’s board and shares interlocal agreements—including four free use days annually for municipal events—The District is responsible for its own finances. Pope stressed that the project’s bonds, backed solely by revenue streams like event income and parking fees, pose no debt risk to the city. A recent $15 million city-backed loan for planning will be repaid within years, she added.
The Council in October 2025 adopted a resolution to provide City of Lynnwood backing to a short-term $15 million loan between the Snohomish County Treasurer and the Lynnwood Public Facilities District contingent on the adoption of the Development Agreement between the City and the District which was approved during that meeting.
The District sought to utilize the Snohomish County Treasurer’s Community Investment Program with the issuance of up to $15 million bonds towards its economic development goals and refinancing its existing debt obligations. A similar $15 million short-term loan was utilized by the Port of Everett back in 2022, to fund its economic development at Waterfront Place.
The District’s Board of Directors approved a resolution seeking the loan at its July 8 meeting which was approved by the county later in 2025.
Challenges remain for the project, including financing and navigating public reviews.
The district has assembled a team featuring Real Retail for curation—inspired by Seattle’s University Village—and Coughlin Porter Lundeen for engineering. Schematic design begins this year, with binding site plans and a ring road developed in partnership with the City.
“So, we really feel like we’ve got a super strong team launching into getting the schematic design done and then moving forward to get our general contractor hopefully over the summer and going to the state and completing the public review process for public projects at the state, which is another big hurdle for us,” Pope said. “To get over and then moving on from that to really tackling the financing for next year and then hoping to get our bonding and move into breaking ground.”
The District’s City Center project could serve as a model for other public facilities districts statewide, echoing successes in Spokane and Tacoma. With 26 such entities in the state, Lynnwood’s approach is not just revenue base but is intended to also serve as public benefit, from nonprofit discounts—35% for local groups—to sustainability metrics tracking water use and emissions.
Author: Mario Lotmore
