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Maritime Economic Development: Everett, San Diego

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Everett: Ground Breaking for Aerospace Facility at Port’s Riverside Business Park

Latitude Development LLC has begun construction on the first of two new buildings located within the Port of Everett’s Riverside Business Park.

The Latitude Business Park development will consist of two buildings, totaling over 207,500 square feet on a 10.5-acre site. Building A with mezzanine is a 102,500-square-foot manufacturing and office facility, and is fully leased to Northwest Aerospace Technologies (NAT). Latitude Development worked closely with NAT, and signed a ground lease with the port for the development site in October 2016. Building B is available to accommodate a custom space up to 105,000 square feet with mezzanine.

Dave Kessler, managing member of Latitude Development, explains, "We evaluated several sites for NAT in the North Puget Sound Area and ultimately found that Riverside Business Park allowed us to construct the building at market rates, while offering NAT a close‐in location with excellent access and a water front setting. Both the Port of Everett and NAT have been a pleasure to deal with."

NAT, a division of Zodiac Aerospace, will be relocating approximately 200 employees from its existing downtown Everett facility in March 2018. Established in 1997, NAT specializes in commercial aircraft modification programs requiring FAA, EASA or Foreign Regulatory Agency certification.

The company’s new facility, located in Latitude Business Park, will consist of 37,000 square feet of office space and 65,500 square feet of manufacturing space.

The Port of Everett played a pivotal role in securing NAT at Latitude Business Park. After many years of environmental cleanup and infrastructure work, the site was ready for development as NAT investigated a new facility.

The port purchased the 85‐acre Riverside Business Park in 1998 from Weyerhaeuser, which operated a mill on the site from 1915 through the 1980s. The port improved the site, resolved development questions about how to build on it, and subdivided the site into nine parcels. All nine parcels are being developed or under contract for development, bringing an expected 800 jobs and contributing $700,000 in annual local tax revenue to the region, according to the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County.

"NAT’s decision to expand here in Everett and as a premier aerospace manufacturer of significance in our region, fulfils a vision for job creation and economic development the port has worked diligently to accomplish for many years," said Terrie Battuello, chief of business development for the Port of Everett. "Bringing this complicated mill site back to the tax rolls is a model demonstration of the contribution of ports as economic development agencies in the state."


San Diego: Port Launches Four ‘Blue Economy’ Pilot Projects

The Port of San Diego is entering agreements for four pilot projects that will assist in the creation, development and scaling of new business ventures on San Diego Bay that focus on aquaculture and blue technology.

The four agreements are the result of a competitive selection process of the port’s Blue Economy incubator, which was established in 2016 as part of a five-year strategic vision to build a portfolio of companies that could deliver multiple social and environmental benefits to the region. The incubator directly aligns with the port’s core mission of promoting commerce, navigation, fisheries and recreation on San Diego Bay and its surrounding tidelands.

The port’s robust shipbuilding, cruise and cargo business have long established the Port as a Blue Economy champion and catalyst in the San Diego region. The Blue Economy incubator is a launching pad for new ideas and innovative projects by providing key assets and services such as pilot project facilitation, permit-ready infrastructure, entitlements, market access, and strategic funding.

Authorized by the Board of Port Commissioners on June 20, the agreements are with San Diego Bay Aquaculture LLC, Red Lion Chem Tech LLC, RentUnder AB and Swell Advantage LTD.

San Diego Bay Aquaculture’s agreement is for a five-year pilot project to demonstrate shellfish aquaculture nursery operations and to operate a floating upweller nursery system, also known as a FLUPSY, in San Diego Bay. In this agreement, the port would invest $351,600 in a FLUPSY, which would be operated by San Diego Bay Aquaculture. The FLUPSY operations would validate whether shellfish nursery operations in San Diego Bay can support a sustainable shellfish aquaculture business.

Red Lion Chem Tech’s agreement is for a one-year pilot project to demonstrate technologies to remove dissolved copper in seawater. The agreement is for $165,000 and would allow Red Lion to conduct a small-scale demonstration of copper mitigation using absorbent media filtration technologies. Red Lion has conducted lab demonstrations of its technology using water from San Diego Bay with results showing 85 percent efficiency in removing copper. The pilot project will utilize both passive and active filtration systems to test the efficiency of the proposed technology.

RentUnder’s agreement is for a two-year demonstration of its technology for in-water boat hull cleaning using a custom-designed Drive-in Boatwash™. The Drive-in Boatwash consists of driving a vessel less than 53 feet in length into an enclosed basin, which is engineered and equipped to mechanically brush the boat’s hull to reduce copper releases into the bay. The agreement for $140,000 involves the fabrication and installation of RentUnder’s Drive-in Boatwash, as well as evaluating its performance against water quality standards.

Swell Advantage’s agreement is for a one-year pilot project to refine development of a smart marina software and smart phone app. The agreement for $100,000 is to create a mapping tool to automate and optimize dock management for marinas.  

The selection process for the four companies consisted of a competitive review process, which balance d each proposal’s potential social and environmental benefits, alignment with the port’s core mission and public trust obligations, and the potential financial return to the port.

"The port is a long-time champion and catalyst of our water-dependent economy," said Port Commissioner Marshall Merrifield. "The Blue Economy incubator will assist in piloting new technologies and attracting innovative tenants who can deliver multiple benefits to the entire port community such as fisheries enhancement, ecosystem restoration, water quality improvement, environmental monitoring, and education and outreach."  



Paula Sylvia, program manager of the port’s aquaculture & blue tech team, holding a basket of juvenile oysters
Photo/Port of San Diego
 

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