BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Some of the thrill is gone from the relationship between the Port of Bellingham and the company it contracted to lead waterfront redevelopment.
Port Commissioner Michael Shepard says Harcourt’s lack of urgency has left them frustrated.
The commission voted to reduce the size of Harcourt’s development from 18.8 to 7.7 acres.
And the company based in Ireland will no longer have first right of refusal for development of other properties, which Shepard says will give local developers opportunities to join the process.
One of the first of those projects would be the transformation of a historic brick building on the waterfront into a hotel and convention center.