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From page 6 finished in another three months, said Blaine real estate agent Ron Freeman, who is representing the developers. The buildings have basements and two floors above ground.

Peace Portal condominiums City council is slated to consider six condominiums directly south of the Georgia Street triplexes, at the corner of Peace Portal Drive and Mitchell Avenue. If approved by council, the condos will include parking and utility improvements north of the property. The hearing examiner approved the project’s conditional use permit on January 4.

Semiahmoo Highlands Semiahmoo Highlands developer Wayne Swandt said he anticipates submitting the PUD and preliminary plat application to the city and Whatcom County in March. Swandt said focusing on stormwater management issues and housing market concerns delayed submitting the applications that he had intended to submit last May.

Semiahmoo Highlands is a 353-acre property on Semiahmoo Parkway, northwest of Horizon at Semiahmoo, that will have a few hundred homes with a neighborhood center. The project was originally about 480 units but Swandt said he modified the project for fewer units after the housing market and resident concerns. Construction on the 65 lots in the first phase could start at the end of the year at the earliest, Swandt said.

Over 100 people attended a Semiahmoo Highlands community meeting last March and voiced concern about stormwater management and infrastructure.

“There were a number of things we took into account based on the public meeting we had and changes in the market that made us take another look at our product mix,” Swandt said. “We pulled back to take a longer look at it and focus on stormwater issues, making sure what we’re doing is communicated to our neighbors and involving them in our analytical work.”

Horizon at Semiahmoo

About 10 homes are complete and another 16 are under construction in Horizon at Semiahmoo, said Jennifer Lang, director of marketing for HCD, the Gig Harbor-based real estate company developing the 149-acre subdivision. Two homes are already occupied and another two will have residents by April.

Horizon development spurred after years of staying idle when HCD purchased the housing development between Semiahmoo Parkway and Birch Bay Drive in July 2021. Multi-family housing allowed HCD to double the development’s previously expected residences to over 540 units, between 140 single-family homes and about 400 multi-family units in triplexes and fourplexes.

Horizon has opened its park with a bocce ball court and another park with horseshoe pits. The north gate on Semiahmoo Parkway is expected to be installed this spring and the gate off Birch Point Road will be installed later.

I grew up in Bellingham, attended public schools and graduated from Bellingham High School and then attended Western Washington University. While my profession became teaching my dream was to travel. I received a Fulbright Teacher Exchange opportunity and spent a year in an English Girls’ School in Newcastle England. I then attended Columbia University in New York City and received a master’s degree. I was offered a supervisory position with the military schools in Europe. I really enjoyed the opportunity to travel throughout Europe with that position. My desire for more education brought me back to New York where I received a doctorate degree in education and eventually taught at the City University of New York. At that time, I was invited to be an international representative (NGO) at the United Nations and participated in other organizations relating to women and children such as UNICEF. After my return to Bellingham I grew tired of cooking and housekeeping so I made a decision to move to Solstice Independent Living. After 12 years, I have made no plans to move.

HCD doesn’t have an estimate on when construction could be complete, Lang said.

Inverness

HCD is also developing Inverness, a 37-acre subdivision next to the Semiahmoo Golf Course that is slated to have 63 single-family lots. After holding a community meeting last June, HCD submitted its planned unit development and preliminary plat application to the city of Blaine. A public hearing is expected to occur in the next couple of months but hasn’t been scheduled, Pratschner said.

The gated subdivision is planned to have public utilities and a private stormwater pond. It will need traffic, wildlife and stormwater studies, among other requirements, according to the city.

Muirfield

Luxury Semiahmoo subdivision Muirfield has three of its 10 custom-designed homes under construction. Developer Denise Macris said the model home will be complete March 1 and she expects to have the remaining homes constructed at the end of 2023 or in 2024. The million-dollar homes, which are on nearly five acres on the westside of Semiahmoo Parkway, are still being sold.

Woodberry

Eleven of the 29 single-family homes in Woodberry have been constructed, developer Brady Mayson said. Woodberry is a 10acre subdivision on Semiahmoo Parkway, just south of Fire Station 62. Mayson said he hopes to have the remaining 18 lots with homes constructed and sold in the next 1.5 years. Six homes have sold since construction started last spring.

“I’m pleased about what has happened lately because there was a point when the interest rates went up when we had no sales and very little activity,” Mayson said. “We had a few sales over the last month, so it seems as though people are adjusting to the newer environment with higher interest rates and are more comfortable with the economy.”

Sea Smoke

Twenty-three homes in Sea Smoke are either finished or under construction, said Swandt, who is also developing Sea Smoke at the corner of Semiahmoo Drive and Semiahmoo Parkway.

Construction on the neighborhood’s first phase should be complete by the end of 2023. The first phase will have 40 residential units, mostly single-family homes, 12 sharedwall homes and four duplexes, Swandt said. The city is reviewing an application for eight more single-family homes.

About 120 residences are permitted in the neighborhood but Swandt said it hasn’t been decided how many will be single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes. A commercial space is also zoned for the project, but he isn’t sure what could go in there, or if it would be residential, or a mix.