Groundbreaking Celebrates the Start of Affordable Housing Along the Bellingham Waterfront

May 7-13 is Affordable Housing Week, championed by the Housing Development Consortium to highlight the role affordable housing plays in stabilizing our communities. See a recent affordable housing story below and more of Aspect’s Affordable Housing work here.

Staff from Aspect’s Bellingham and Seattle offices were on hand for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the first phase of the Millworks development, which will bring affordable housing to the Bellingham waterfront.

Banners at the construction site announcing both Phases of the Millworks redevelopment

Millworks is a partnership between the Port of Bellingham, Whatcom Community Foundation, and Mercy Housing Northwest (Mercy). Phase 1 of Mercy’s development includes 83 units of workforce and family rental housing plus a YMCA early learning center. The development should be ready to welcome residents next year.

Mercy Housing Northwest’s project manager Ellen Lohe (left) emceed the groundbreaking event, and Port Commissioner Michael Shepard (right) delivered remarks.

The Millworks development sits on 2.3 acres at the corner of the larger 67-acre Georgia-Pacific West cleanup site. Once home to a pulp and tissue mill, the site has undergone massive cleanup and redevelopment over the last decade, including the City of Bellingham’s popular Waypoint Park. Aspect’s environmental, geotechnical, and stormwater teams have worked extensively within the former mill’s footprint.

The building’s foundation is in place with framing starting, only 4 months after cleanup completion. Photo courtesy of Mercy Housing NW.

For the Millworks project, Aspect completed a pre-design investigation, developed a cleanup action plan, oversaw a formal public comment period, authored the engineering design report, executed an excavation compliance monitoring plan, reviewed construction plans/specs, and provided bid support. We provided oversight on the soil removal project, which also accomplished the substantial grading and site prep needed to start work on the new building. All of this occurred within a highly expedited 12-month schedule to meet Mercy’s funding requirements.

Principal Hydrogeologist Steve Germiat, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, managed Aspect’s project team, which includes Adam Griffin, Jane Gregg, Matt Eddy, Nikolai Carroll, and Baxter Call. They worked in close coordination with the Port, RMC Architects, and the rest of the Mercy team, as well as the Washington State Department of Ecology, to reach this key milestone.

Whatcom Community Foundation’s planned Phase 2 development will include more affordable housing units and a local food campus featuring a commercial kitchen for use by food trucks and nonprofits like Meals on Wheels. Phase 2 construction is expected to begin in 2025.

Meet Crystal Lambert and Jane Gregg

Aspect recently welcomed Staff Scientist Crystal Lambert to our Seattle office and Project Geotechnical Engineer Jane Gregg, PE, to our Bellingham office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know them better.

Crystal Lambert, Staff Scientist

Crystal admiring some amazing cross-bedding in the rocks at Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park.

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I’m from North Cove, Washington, which is also known as Washaway Beach, one of the most erosive places on the West Coast. Life circumstances took me to the Midwest after high school and I ended up earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. After graduating, I was chosen for a Geoscientists-in-the-Parks internship at Timpanogos Cave National Monument studying rockfall hazards. I truly enjoyed my time there and accepted a position at the park the following year. After a season, I decided to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Washington and came back to Washington full time. I graduated in late 2020 after creating a detailed geologic map for my thesis.  

2. What inspired you to pursue geology? What made you curious about it?

I’ve always been fascinated by geologic processes. I think it comes from growing up in such a dynamic environment. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in geology!

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

I love trying to solve the puzzle. I enjoy finding a landform, sediment, or rock and trying to figure out how it got there. I also like thinking about how it might erode or change in the future.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I’m a bit of a homebody most weekends, but I do love to get out into the outdoors and go rockhounding for interesting minerals or fossils. I also adore National Parks and have spent quite a bit of time in Utah exploring the fantastic geology of their public lands.

5. Where would your dream house be located?

I like to picture my ultimate dream house somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, located on at least 10 wooded acres with a small clearing around the house itself and a view of mountains and the ocean. The house would be set far enough back that I wouldn’t have to worry about coastal erosion. I don’t think this place exists, but for me that’s the dream!

Jane Gregg, Project Geotechnical Engineer

Jane backcountry skiing in Callaghan Country, BC. If you find yourself there, she recommends Journeyman’s Lodge.

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I’m originally from Houghton, which is the fifth largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with a population of 7,384! I went to college at the University of Michigan, where I met my now husband. After we graduated, he found a tech job out here and we made the move. The choice was easy considering it was between Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City! I’ve always been interested in the Pacific Northwest.

2. What inspired you to pursue geotechnical engineering? What made you curious about it?

I always wanted to be an engineer! My father was a geologist and loved to teach us about different rocks, minerals, and formations. Choosing geotechnical engineer felt right and has been exciting. I don’t think I could have found a more fitting profession for myself.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

There’s no one thing that I like best. I love constantly learning, performing technical analyses, working with teams and clients, training junior staff, and getting outside to play in the dirt.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Mountain bike, ski (every type), bake sourdough bread, and spend time with my weird cats!

5. If you had to choose a superpower, what would it be?

My gut says teleportation - as long as I could reach anywhere on the globe, have the ability to take a few people and duffle bags with me, and arrive safely.