Image: Point Roberts Marina. Credit: Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce.
The famously isolated Northwest “exclave” known as Point Roberts, Washington, is getting some attention from the American mainland via a Bellingham-based economic redevelopment plan. In mid-October 2025, the Port of Bellingham presented a proposal to the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRAC), seeking control of the Point Roberts Marina to make the property a more profitable hub for maritime business.
Among the upgrades being proposed, the Port would invest $20 million to buy the 135-acre marina property, plus an additional $20 million for capital improvements, such as dredging, float reconstruction, and water treatment upgrades. The plan also calls for the creation of a “Resilience Hub” with modernized broadband connections and updated sewer systems.
Tyler Schroeder, director of economic development for the Port of Bellingham, said the presentation was “well received” and is expected to lead to future meetings with the PRAC. “In the Resilience Hub, we hope to develop a community space and a business incubator,” he said. “Other potential tenants could include a commercial kitchen and studio space for radio.”
Located on the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, Point Roberts is accessible mainly by boat and plane but can be reached by land only after crossing two borders between the Unites States and Canada.
“The plan has been in the works mostly since the COVID pandemic closed the border,” Schroeder said. “But the plan has accelerated in the last year and a half,” especially once trade tariffs began brewing under the Trump Administration.
Under the plan, the Port estimated it could generate up to $34 million over a 20-year period through marina operations. For the next step in the process, Schroeder said the Port will try to meet again with the PRAC in early 2026 to discuss possible cost-benefit analyses and seek more grant funding.
