Modern mixed-use building being constructed downtown

An empty lot at the corner of H and 3rd streets will soon be the site of a modern three-story building, thanks to a project from Blaine residents Jen and Pat Freeman.
Jen Freeman, a Windermere Real Estate broker, is overseeing the construction of a 6,800-square-foot mixed-use building on her downtown lot across from the Blaine police station. The three-story building will have a 1,000-square-foot commercial unit at the street level facing H Street and a residential unit on the top floors, Freeman said in an email to The Northern Light. Project renderings show the building having a rooftop deck with views of Drayton Harbor.
Freeman said she would like to see the commercial space have a small boutique or professional services such as an attorney’s office. She will start to actively advertise for a commercial tenant as construction progresses.
The building is expected to take about seven months to complete. The contractor is Lynden-based Northwest Commercial Construction, which built Blaine’s Starbucks on Peace Portal Drive, Freeman said.
Blaine resident Gary Smith, architect at Abaton Projects, designed the building, which Freeman describes as an urban loft styled as Pacific Northwest contemporary. Smith said he took inspiration from historic buildings in downtown Blaine, Seattle and Vancouver as well as Blaine’s fish packing facilities. The building is Smith’s first in Blaine.
The building was one of the first to be reviewed under the city of Blaine’s new downtown design code updated in 2018.
“We want to make it both aspirational in what Blaine wants to be, but also acknowledging the town’s history,” Smith said. “We wanted something to set a standard and we hope that’s what it does.”