Finding someone who isn't enthusiastic about the Port of Bellingham's project to develop its industrial waterfront is nearly impossible. From the port to city hall to the business community, everyone, it seems, is on board. Even local environmentalists are "thrilled," says Anne-Marie Faiola, a founder of the Bellingham Bay Foundation.

And why shouldn't they all be thrilled? The Waterfront District Project promises to clean up Bellingham Bay and the waterfront, the former site of the Georgia-Pacific pulp mill; connect Bellingham's downtown to the waterfront; and create a vibrant mixed-use community of offices, residences, retail and marine businesses that'll be a powerful economic engine.

But the devil, as they say, is in the details. Underneath the enthusiasm lurk concerns, from the cleanup of the area to building heights to the cost of needed infrastructure. There are worries, too, about the port effectively collaborating with the city, its redevelopment partner. In 2005 the two entered into an agreement that, among other things, obligates the city to pay for the project's infrastructure. Given the project's expected benefits, most of the players are likely to rally around it, even as they wrestle over the details.

The port owns most of the 228 acres in the redevelopment area; the city owns the rest. The port acquired a big chunk of its property -- 137 acres -- from Georgia-Pacific in 2005. As part of this transaction, the port agreed to play a leading role in cleaning up Bellingham Bay and the waterfront, parts of which are contaminated with mercury.

Once a major Bellingham employer, Georgia-Pacific closed its waterfront pulp mill and chemical plant in 2001, eliminating 420 jobs. That closure prompted the port and city to launch the citizen-led Waterfront Futures Group, replaced in 2004 by the Waterfront Advisory Group, to create a vision for the redevelopment and provide the project with community input. Georgia-Pacific left Bellingham for good last year, shutting its last operating facility and eliminating another 200 positions.

A BUSINESS GENERATOR

Many in the business community see the Waterfront District Project as an economic driver.

"There's a desire to help us move from a resource-based economy to one extremely diverse," says Ken Oplinger, head of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce. The redevelopment certainly will generate business for local firms. "These include the marine trade, local contractors and related support services, like banking and real estate and architects," says Jim Darling, the port's executive director.

Case in point: Elizabeth Grant, president of Stewart Title of Bellingham. Her business follows the general economy of the area, she says. "So if our economy rises, as we're expecting it to do [from the project], my business will increase."

Grant also believes the project will raise the skill level of the local employee pool. "The more we enhance the place where we live, the easier it is to attract high-quality employees." Darling expects the project to generate jobs paying $18-$25 an hour. "They'll include light industrial marine up to office jobs and everything in between."

The "everything in between" will include jobs linked to Bellingham's two largest employers, Western Washington University and St. Joseph's Hospital. They've agreed to jointly operate a health research institute on the waterfront. In addition, the university, which is running out of land for expansion, may move its 500-student Huxley College of the Environment to the waterfront.

A number of developers have expressed interest in the Waterfront District Project. "We've had interest from people all over the world," says Oplinger. One interested party is Portland, Ore.'s Williams & Dame Development, which develops projects all along the West Coast. "The Waterfront District Project seems like a really unique opportunity to connect the downtown to the waterfront that hasn't been done before," says Christe White, the company's vice president of development. One challenge, she adds, is to be sure the waterfront is "connected to the downtown, so they supplement and strengthen each other ." According to Darling, the port doesn't want the waterfront project to compete with downtown retail, "so there's much less emphasis on retail than you usually see in similarly sized projects."