The Federal Building Project

The Federal Building encompasses approximately 43,100 gross rentable square feet, providing approximately 24,900 square feet of usable floor area.  This iconic building, located in downtown Bellingham at the intersection of Cornwall Avenue and West Magnolia Street, is strategically located at the "100% spot" for the Central Business District.  The building was declared surplus property by the federal government and acquired by the City of Bellingham in 2004.  The BPDA has provided asset management and owner representative services for the City since March 2010.

View a video of the BPDA's presentation on April 23, 2012 to Bellingham City Council on the Federal Building Adaptive Reuse & Re-Tenanting Plan. Click on the little white square at the bottom of the screen where the timer is and drag it to the right until the timer on the left says 150:42. This will take you right to the beginning of the presentation. Link to April 23, 2012 City Council COMMITTEE meeting video.

The Federal Building, built in 1913, is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the State Heritage Register. Building uses and proposed exterior and interior alterations are subject to review and approval by federal and state agencies for compliance with requirements of the 2005 Historic Preservation Plan and preservation covenants.  Costs of capital improvements for compliance with the plan were estimated at approximately $18,000,000 at that time.  An initial phase of building capital improvements for code compliance was completed in 2010, funded by a federal government grant.  The building's heating system was upgraded in 2011 with the installation of more energy efficient modern boilers and controls replacing the building's original boilers.  After declaring the Federal Building as surplus property, long-time federal agency tenants have been relocated from the building leaving it largely vacant for the first time in 100 years.  This provides an opportunity to repurpose the building with uses that in the long term could positively support the Central Business District and surrounding properties.

The BPDA commenced preparation of an Adaptive Reuse and Retenanting Plan (See document on Library page) for the Federal Building in late 2011 to outline a strategy for converting the building to productive uses.  This report will be released for review and discussion in First Quarter 2012, with implementation occurring over the next 1-2 years.  The plan focuses on the following fundamentals:

• Identify uses that meet existing or near term needs that could re-tenant 75% - 100% of the building in the next two years.  Uses may require the development of new enterprises, for which the building space would be compatible, which would become tenants under leases recovering City Investment and ongoing operating expenses, and not compete for tenants with vacant office and commerical properties owned by others.

• Anchor the northern end of the Central Business District with an iconic use and a regional or community wide draw related to the City's Arts District or Civic Center.

• Minimize or defer major capital expenditures to renovate and convert the building by concentrating on tenant uses able to utilize the building in its as-is condition to the maximum extent possible.

Preparation of the Adaptive Reuse and Re-Tenanting Plan included consideration of a number of alternative uses, with the recommendation that work continue to determine the feasibility and requirements of adding three complementary tenant uses:

• Development of the Bellingham Arts Business Accelerator (BABA), an arts education/business training and development facility managed under the auspices of Western Washington University (WWU).  Uses could also include continuing education programs provided by WWU and other local educational insitutions.  This use could potentially occupy the majority of the building with potential use of otherwise unproductive basement space.

• A City office annex providing efficiencies for departments and operations in City Hall, providing expansion space for future administrative functions or flex-space for ad hoc City projects, at a cost equivalent to City Hall facility operating costs.

• Office space for quasi-public entities interfacing with the general public and/or involved in implementing and managing Downtown development, marketing activities or promotional events.