About
The Bellingham Public Development Authority (BPDA) is led by an executive director and governed by seven civic and business leaders from the community who serve as the Board of Directors. The board oversees and guides the activities of the BPDA. The BPDA reports regularly to the Bellingham City Council. Click here to learn more about BPDA Board and Staff.
The BPDA is an independent legal entity created by city ordinance for the purpose of developing public properties together with private investment, focusing on Bellingham's Waterfront, Old Town, and Downtown Districts. As a "quasi-governmental" corporation, the BPDA's structure and operations are defined by Washington State law, its Charter, and its Operating Agreement. It is the mission of the BPDA to maximize the public good by attracting sustainable development that generates capital investment, contributes to the vitality of the economy, and creates employment opportunities, while improving and preserving those historical and environmental assets that define the city's character. To carry out its mission, the BPDA may partner with profit and/or non profit entities, or undertake projects on its own, renovating, restoring, maintaining, managing, developing, owning, and/or selllng city properties.
BPDA planning and operations are currently focused on five projects for development, as outlined in the BPDA's Strategic Plan CY 2011-CY2015, Version 2.0, dated October 25, 2011. The Strategic Plan can be found on our Library Page under Operating Documents.
- Army Street Project
- 1100 Cornwall Project
- Federal Building Project
- 600 W. Holly Street
- Cornwall Beach Project
These rankings are intended to guide the preparation of BPDA work programs and annual budgets, which will require the allocation of initial seed capital by the City for feasibility studies and initial planning to support marketing, sale or future development of the properties. Additional information for these properties derived from that work will allow for a more detailed and quantifiable assessment and screening of these intial project properties in future updates of the BPDA Strategic Plan. Updates of the plan may shift the priorities of these projects as more information is derived from project research, planning and design is undertaken for these properties.
BPDA projects contribute to achieving these objectives:
- Return of invested public funds either in the form of direct return of/on invested capital, increased property tax values and tax base, and the creation of new public and private development projects meeting public demands and values embodied in area-wide planning objectives and principles.
- Infill and redevelopment with adaptive reuse of centrally-located vacant or underutilized properties, providing an example and standard for more efficient urban development patterns. These projects will serve as an effective alternative to pressures and trends leading to suburban sprawl and its attendant inefficiencies in public infrastructure and service costs.
- Preservation and enhancement of central Bellingham's position as the hub of economic activity and commercial center for the surrounding region, contributing to economic revitalization in the Downtown, the Old Town and Waterfront Districts through adaptive redevelopment of vacant, underutilized or remediated properties.
- Contribution to the recruitment and retention of downtown businesses and residents by providing additional office, retail, commercial services and residential facilities in proximity and providing additional supporting infrastructure (e.g. increases to parking supply) and amenities.
- Increased involvement and investment by the private sector in the projects and surrounding properties, contributing to economic revitalization, tax base expansion and job creation.
- Increased use of City-owned/BPDA owned assets for other public purposes, such as facilities and institutional uses, reducing the duplication of public expenditure for future acquisition of other properties for those uses.
Read more:
City/BPDA Second Operating Agreement