Historic building once again on move

For a stationary structure, the historic Weyerhaeuser building at the Port of Everett sure gets around.

The 6,800-square-foot building is now being scheduled for its third move to a new location since it was built in 1923.

This time, developer Steve Hager — who is quickly gaining a reputation as Everett's historic-building mover — is preparing to relocate the structure from its home on West Marine View Drive to a 1-acre site near the city's redevelopment project along the Snohomish River.

The Port will sell the building to Hager for $10, and he plans to move it seven miles by barge along the Snohomish River to its new location in 2009.

As part of the deal, the Port will start negotiations with developers Stuchell/Kinzua Partnership in Everett to lease the current building site for potential commercial use.

By the time the 40-foot-tall building reaches its new home, it will have traveled about 13 miles around Everett over the years.

The building — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — has been on the move enough times that its underside is "pretty much well-prepped" for loading, Hager said.

"It's a well-traveled building," he said. "It's not as if it hasn't gone through this moving process before."

Originally built as an office showcasing Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser's local wood products, the building was first transported in 1938, by barge, from what is now the Port's south terminal to an area that is currently the Port's 78-acre riverside property.

It was moved to its present location in the South Marina in 1984 after the Port bought it from Weyerhaeuser for $1.

The token prices for the building are largely due to its historic status, said Port spokeswoman Lisa Mandt. The building was virtually donated in 1984, so the Port didn't want to profit on its sale this time.

For several years in the 1990s, the building was home to the Everett Chamber of Commerce, but it's now empty.

Hager — who nicknamed the building "The Grandfather" — plans to use it for a mix of retail, office and residential space to compliment the Everett Riverfront, the city's $400 million urban-village project.

"The best use I can see upstairs is converting it into two bedrooms," Hager said.

Hager recently relocated 11 historic Everett homes built by early developer Edward Donovan.

Providence Everett Medical Center offered them up for free to make room for expansion, and Hager spent about $30,000 apiece moving the cottage-style homes to renovate and resell on nearby property.

Hager is still working out the cost of moving the Weyerhaeuser building and would say only that "it's expensive."

While the building is used to moving, it could still pose a few transportation problems. It's weighted down by two concrete bank vaults inside, so lifting it won't be easy.

And its height might pose a difficulty in barging it under the Interstate 5 and Highway 2 bridges. Those details will be worked out over the next two years.

"We would just like to see that building in utilization," Mandt said.

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 425-745-7804 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com