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CouvScott Sep 30, 2005 4:37 AM

Waterfront district with 10,000 residents envisioned
 
Waterfront district with 10,000 residents envisioned

Friday, September 2, 2005
By JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer

Vancouver has one final chance to reclaim its waterfront, an opportunity the city cannot afford to squander, a college professor said Thursday.

Will Macht, a Portland State University adjunct professor, presented his waterfront vision Thursday to almost 200 people at the Columbia River Economic Development Council's quarterly luncheon.

Bart Phillips, the council's president, said Macht was invited to speak because the development council has a responsibility to provide a venue for new ideas.

Decisions made in the next few years will shape Vancouver for the next 100 years, Phillips said.

"Are we going to be Bellevue?" Phillips asked, referring to the Seattle suburb that has a well-developed downtown and a significant job base. "Or are we going to be Bothell?" a much-less-defined suburb.

Macht believes Boise Cascade's decision to sell its 27 acres west of the Interstate 5 Bridge presents Vancouver with the opportunity to create a waterfront district where 10,000 people could live, a district that could surpass anything that Portland has to offer.

Macht, who was Vancouver's developer on the Officers Row restoration almost 20 years ago, has sketched out a plan for 37 blocks on the waterfront south of the BNSF Railway tracks. He envisions a bustling community with 4,800 condominiums and apartments, 300,000 square feet of waterfront restaurant and retail space and 2,300 on-street parking spaces.

He also proposes creating seven waterfront plazas, each roughly the size of Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, connected by an esplanade running the length of the district. He believes the city should extend downtown's street grid into the waterfront district and develop the area on a block-by-block basis using multiple developers to spread the risk and to increase design diversity.

To accomplish this vision, Macht argues Vancouver should purchase property from Boise Cascade and the Port of Vancouver to control the scale, pace and design of the riverfront district and to ensure the area is not underbuilt. Zoning, he said, is inadequate to control the scale of development.

Vancouver should hold onto the land and lease it to developers, he said. That way, the city could collect rent from its leases and property taxes from the buildings, he said.

"This is simply a wise investment," Macht said.

But Steve Burdick, Vancouver's economic development manager, believes the city can exert influence over the redevelopment process without purchasing the land.

"I think Will under-represented the city's leverage," Burdick said after listening to Macht's presentation. "He mentioned zoning like the correct zoning already is in place, and it's not."

Mayor Royce Pollard and other city officials also have rejected Macht's call for the city to buy the land.

"We're not going to buy that property, but we are going to have a say about what goes there," Pollard told The Columbian's editorial board earlier this week.

Transportation pieces

Macht's proposals for moving people and freight across the Columbia River also defy conventional thinking.

He proposes building a new bridge west of the existing railroad bridge that would provide four lanes for vehicles, two tracks for light rail and one track for freight, commuter rail and intercity passenger travel.

To decrease congestion on the Interstate 5 Bridge, Macht believes two lanes could be added in the 38-foot gap between the two spans. The bridge's center portion could be raised, using existing piers, to provide more clearance for river commerce and to eliminate the need for bridge lifts, he said.

Macht said downtown Vancouver, from Fourth Plain Boulevard south to the Columbia River, is roughly the same size as downtown Portland, from Interstate 405 east to the Willamette River.

While downtown Vancouver has only one bridge, downtown Portland has seven bridges, not counting the Sellwood, Ross Island and St. John's bridges, Macht said.

"How vital economically and in all other respects would downtown Portland be without six of these bridges?" he asked "I don't see anyone trying to remove them."

In contrast, traffic heading in and out of downtown Vancouver has to converge on the I-5- Bridge, which concentrates congestion, Macht said. Planning is under way for a replacement bridge that would have 10 lanes, but Macht doesn't believe that provides an adequate solution.

"A single replacement of that clogged artery, no matter how wide or how high or how beautiful, will not restore its health," he said.

Estimates indicate a new I-5 bridge could cost $1.2 billion or more. Tolls are often mentioned as a way to pay for bridge construction.

Macht said tolls not only would create political upheaval on both sides of the river, but it would cost as much as $250 million just for toll plazas and other systems to collect money from motorists.

Cool reaction

City officials and others have been cool to connecting a new bridge to Mill Plain Boulevard. Pollard earlier this week said the city extended Mill Plain to the west to move freight to the Port of Vancouver, not to provide another route for cars to cross the Columbia.

Burdick said he appreciates Macht putting forward his ideas to spur more debate on waterfront development and river-crossing issues.

"Sometimes you get good ideas from a fresh perspective," Burdick said after the luncheon. "Maybe his transportation concepts are at least worth taking a look at."

Larry Paulson, executive director for the Port of Vancouver, questioned the wisdom of placing housing so close to railroad tracks at a time when the port is discussing adding new tracks near the waterfront to serve its Columbia Gateway project.

Macht replied that housing already exists along the BNSF Railway tracks, from the Columbia Shores condominiums, where he has lived for the past five years, east to Southeast 164th Avenue.

Macht also argued the city needs to close the West Eighth Street railroad crossing, which would eliminate the need for engineers to blast their locomotive's horn as they approach the crossing.

After the luncheon, Paulson said there are ways for houses and railroads to coexist, but it needs to be carefully planned from the beginning so you don't have residents complaining about the noise and demanding action.

Phillips said he believes the luncheon "did what we wanted to do, which was to stimulate some new thinking."

"Who knows how these ideas manifest themselves?" he said. "But I do believe we need to get the maximum level of development down there, which may be more than what the market is willing to give right now."

Jeffrey Mize covers Vancouver city government for The Columbian. Reach him at 360-759-8006, or by e-mail at jeff.mize@columbian.com.


Read more about Will Macht's ideas for crossings over the Columbia River and redeveloping the Vancouver waterfront at

www.columbian.com/ images/ ColumbiaCrossing. pdf

urbanlife Sep 30, 2005 5:30 AM

I had to reread this article becuase I didnt think it was actually talking about Vancouver, WA. This is great news for the city, I hope they continue through with it. This would really make downtown vancouver feel like a downtown.

MarkDaMan Sep 30, 2005 3:40 PM

Quote:

"Are we going to be Bellevue?" Phillips asked, referring to the Seattle suburb that has a well-developed downtown and a significant job base. "Or are we going to be Bothell?" a much-less-defined suburb.
at least they finalllly realized they are always going to be a Portland suburb.

Good news though, I'd love to see a Bellevue style suburb in Portland Metro and I don't have much hope Beaverton is going to step up to the plate.

urbanlife Oct 1, 2005 2:10 AM

got that right mark.

CouvScott Jan 11, 2006 8:44 PM

Port has ideas for the Quay property

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
By JONATHAN NELSON, Columbian staff writer

Picture this for the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay property: a riverfront sidewalk lined with boutique retail shops with floors of condominiums rising above.

A dream?

Not to Port of Vancouver Commissioner Arch Miller. He could see the port buying out the Red Lion Hotel Corp. lease on the hotel, hiring a developer to demolish the 39-year-old property, building a condo-retail complex and then selling the development.

Miller's idea for the Quay's future came Tuesday during a workshop between the three-member commission and port staff. Not long ago the idea would have been taken lightly, given the port's hard-line stance on leasing its property rather than selling.

The shift in philosophy, at least with the Quay site, comes as the port embarks on a complex and ambitious growth plan, and the agency considers capitalizing on last year's announcement by the Boise Cascade Co. that it wants to sell its Vancouver operation.

Boise's 27 acres are adjacent to the Quay and run west-northwest along the Columbia River.

The swath of waterfront property is prime real estate that government leaders and developers want to transform from industrial and commercial uses to dense urban living.

Some see this as Vancouver's chance to create a dynamic city neighborhood that combines the success of downtown's redevelopment with the beauty of the Columbia River.

Before the port gets too far along with any plan, it wants to hear from the public and is scheduling a series of forums.

A spokeswoman for the Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels Corp. said the company had no comment on Tuesday's discussion by port officials. Red Lion's lease with the port expires in 2033.

The Quay property is one piece in a complex puzzle the port is assembling. Commissioners and staff are juggling several interlocked plans that hold the promise of creating thousands of new jobs.

The key piece is Columbia Gateway, 534 acres of industrial- zoned land along the Columbia River and south of the Flushing Channel that port officials are considering for auto-loading facilities and a bulk terminal.

Another 58 acres are being readied for light industrial use on land that is across the street from the port's main offices.

The port also wants to improve rail access to its tenants by creating a new entrance from the east along Eighth Street. The proposed rail line is tied into the Boise Cascade property, creating a further complication to that sale.

Newly elected Commissioner Brian Wolfe said the port could use the Quay property as a bargaining chip to get the rail access it wants.

The talk now surrounding the Quay comes after the Red Lion company spent $51 million during the past two years to renovate its chain of almost 70 hotels.

In Vancouver, that meant new pillow-top beds, triple sheets, improved pillows and updated bathrooms.

The renovation came just as the Hilton Vancouver Washington hotel was being built a few blocks away.

The Hilton's arrival fueled speculation that the port might divest the Quay.

Port commissioners see any decision on the Quay hinging on the Boise Cascade deal.

Todd Coleman, deputy executive director, said the company is under pressure to get the property on the market.

The company has rejected advances by Vancouver city officials and others to consider selling to one owner, Coleman said.

Instead, it will accept proposals from developers.

The port's public forums are to be scheduled in the coming months.

Jonathan Nelson covers the Port of Vancouver for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-759-8013 or via e-mail at jonathan.nelson@columbian.com


Update

Previously: The Red Lion Hotel Corp. of Spokane upgraded its Vancouver riverfront hotel that sits on property owned by the Port of Vancouver.

What's new: Port officials are considering selling the Quay property.

What's next: The port wants public input on what it would like to see done with the site.

CouvScott Jan 11, 2006 8:45 PM

And just East of downtown along the waterfront...
 
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Door open for 'second downtown'?

Wednesday, January 11, 2006
By GRETCHEN FEHRENBACHER Columbian staff writer

Prospects of a new owner for -Columbia Business Center on the Vancouver waterfront are stirring discussion about the future of the property, prized as a home to industry but also for its potential for higher density redevelopment that one expert said could be a "second downtown."

The news that Schnitzer Investment Corp. would sell the 220-acre business park is widely viewed as an opportunity to add a new element to Vancouver's revitalization. The center's 2.4 million square feet of building space makes it Clark County's largest business park and second in size in the metropolitan area only to Rivergate Industrial District in Portland.

Eric Fuller, of Eric Fuller & Associates commercial real estate services in Vancouver, said Tuesday it is critical that the jobs at Columbia Business Center on Southeast Columbia Way, east of Columbia House Boulevard, be saved. But, he added, the jobs could be moved -elsewhere, leaving the business center free for redevelopment as high-density residential, offices and retail.

He said one possible formula would have the Port of Vancouver buy the business park and relocate the jobs to an alternative site such as Columbia Gateway in west Vancouver.

"The community retains the jobs and gets a higher and better use of that prime waterfront property -- that is -Vancouver's second downtown," Fuller said.

Schnitzer Investment has retained Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to market the property nationwide. Seller and broker say the market will dictate the price, depending on what the buyer decides to do with it. -Holliday Fenoglio Fowler is based in Texas, but its New York office is handling the -Vancouver property.

Andrew Scandalios, one of the brokers marketing the property, said that because of the property's size and value, the buyer would probably be an institutional investor.

He described it as a "very unique" site, based on its size, location on the waterfront, and proximity to state Highway 14 and interstates 5 and 205.

Schnitzer Investment, a -privately owned real estate -investment company with ties to the Schnitzer steel family, bought the Vancouver property in 1997 for $62.2 million.

Roger Qualman of Norris Beggs & Simpson and Fuller speculates that the business center could be valued at more than $100 million in today's market.

The timing of the possible sale may be partially driven by rising interest rates, which could cause property values to decline as the cost of buying real estate goes up.

Fuller described Columbia Business Center as having five attractive attributes -- -location, uniqueness, size, a solid income stream from lease tenants, and being available for purchase.

City view

Gerald Baugh, development services manager for the city of Vancouver, said that Schnitzer had done a good job of making the center fit into the surrounding area by improving peripheral areas. He said that any thought of transforming it into a mixed-use development is lessened by the prospects of redeveloping the Boise -Cascade property west of Interstate 5 into high-density residential and related uses. That site amounts to 27 city blocks, he said.

While Schnitzer Investment is marketing the entire site, the western half -- roughly 110 acres -- is owned by the Hidden- and Van Buren families of Vancouver. Schnitzer has a ground lease on that portion with 25 years remaining. While any buyer would have control over that site for the remaining life of the lease, the two families would retain ownership.

"We haven't contemplated selling it," Monte Hidden said Tuesday. "It has been in the family over 100 years."

He said that any negotiations over the purchase of Columbia Business Center would be between the buyer and Schnitzer. He said, however, that he would like to see continued use for heavy industry.

Bart Phillips, president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, concurred.

"It is a very valuable industrial property," he said, adding that in the past two years, his group has put three new tenants into space there. Pam Neal, council staffer, said LeClede Chain Manufacturing Co., Isco Industries and the related firms of Qualawash and Quality Carriers have leased a combined 99,000 square feet there. Much of it is used for distribution, she said.

Overall, the center has about 80 tenants, according to -Holliday Fenoglio Fowler -broker Andrew Scandalios.

Critical location

Phillips said the center's -waterfront location is critical for companies such as world-class luxury yacht builder Christensen Shipyard Ltd. and metals manufacturers Universal Structures and Thompson Metal Fab, which use barges to ship their products.

"There are very few locations in the Portland area where you have water access for metals or any industrial activity using barges," he said.

Phillips said that even some of the World War II-era buildings on the west side of the property are used by manufacturers and distributors.

Qualman sees the potential for some 50 acres of underdeveloped property on the west end of the site to transition into virtually an extension of the -adjacent Columbia Shores waterfront-related development. To do that would require -rezoning the property.

He said newer construction in Columbia Business Center is too good to redevelop. Fuller said the future of the site might dictate that it be redeveloped entirely.

Peter Bechen, president of PacTrust in Portland, said his firm considered buying Columbia Business Center in 1997, but decided not to because of the portion of the property that remains under long-term lease. Still, he said, many investors would pay a premium for such a large piece of industrial land. Bechen's firm is a co-developer of 450-acre mixed-use Columbia Tech Center in east Vancouver, with more than 1 million square feet of building space.

Gretchen Fehrenbacher covers commercial and residential real estate for The Columbian. She can be reached at 360-759-8018 or via e-mail at gretchen.fehrenbacher@columbian.com.


The debate

How should Columbia Business Center be redeveloped?

On one side: Redeveloping the Columbia Business Center property could maximize use of highly valuable waterfront property in a prime location.

On another side: Maintaining an industrial center helps the city hold onto bedrock manufacturing and related jobs.

How to get involved: The public will have an opportunity to comment on any requests for rezoning the property, although none is currently proposed.

Last Chance Jan 11, 2006 9:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan
at least they finalllly realized they are always going to be a Portland suburb.

So Starbucks can now resume selling Portland mugs at their Vancouver locations without fearing that the Mayor will come to the store and smash them??? :haha:


This part from the first article just doesn't sound like it's going to work very well:

Vancouver should hold onto the land and lease it to developers, he said. That way, the city could collect rent from its leases and property taxes from the buildings, he said.

"This is simply a wise investment," Macht said.

CouvScott Jan 11, 2006 9:51 PM

Re: Smashing Mugs
 
Starbucks solution was to put Vancouver, BC mugs in the 20 or so Starbucks in Vancouver, WA. So they say "Vancouver!", but have pictures of BC place on them. That'll sell some mugs!

MarkDaMan Jan 11, 2006 9:56 PM

:haha: you're kidding right? The mayor would never put up with that. In fact, when he was smashing the mugs he was saying that they should represent America's Vancouver.

CouvScott Jan 11, 2006 9:59 PM

Sadly, I'm not kidding. Although, I have not seen it with my own eyes. The Columbian reported it as a follow up story. I'm more of a Coffee People person anyway.

CouvScott Jan 31, 2006 5:19 PM

Boise Cascade puts waterfront property on the market
 
From the Vancouver Business Journal...

Tuesday, 17 January 2006
Boise Cascade announced today that the company is formally offering its Columbia River mill-site property in downtown Vancouver for sale. The 29-acre property is open for bid by any interested developers through March 17, 2006. The Boise, Idaho-based company said it intends to accept the best offer that calls for no conditions precedent to closing, with the buyer having completed all due diligence prior to making an offer to purchase. Company spokesperson Linda Alden said Boise would like to close the deal by the end of the second quarter.


“(Boise) would like to move expeditiously on this,” she said.


The company first announced intentions to sell the property in June 2005. Since then, speculation has circulated about the potential interest in the property by the city and the Port of Vancouver.


The company said the property is “at the epicenter of economic activity built at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.” In a release, Miles Hewitt, senior vice president and general manager Boise Paper said, “We recognized that the property had greater value as a development site and that the sale of this property would complement the Vancouver City Center Vision Plan, which calls for the redevelopment of our site as a mixed-use, urban, in-fill community.”


The property was initially developed in 1928 as a site for the Columbia River paper mill, and the operation was purchased by Boise Cascade in 1962. In 1996, Boise Cascade stopped manufacturing paper at the site and began using it as a paper converting plant.


Boise Cascade completed a Phase II environmental assessment and completed remediation of issues discovered in the assessment, according to the company.


An offering price has not been established.

Chinook Feb 1, 2006 4:56 PM

Vancouver has an identity crisis that it should rid itself of once and for all. Rename yourselves Fort Vancouver (you do have a fort remember) and designate yourselves apart from the much bigger city up north. We in Washington already live with the explanation to anyone outside the PNW that its "washington state" so they don't confuse us with the US capitol. Add the Vancouver confusion and its any wonder people in Vancouver, Wa don't go postal and call themselves "smallville" or "that place with no name."

Ok, I'm rambling a bit. Does anyone else see this?

MarkDaMan Feb 1, 2006 6:49 PM

Actually, Mayor Pollard almost always refers to it as America's Vancouver every time he says the name in public.

Last Chance Feb 2, 2006 5:41 PM

^ Just call it all Kelso and be done with it.

Just a suggestion. I know you hate it though.

James Bond Agent 007 Feb 2, 2006 6:40 PM

Wow, how'd I miss this thread?

This sure would be big!

CouvScott Feb 20, 2006 2:45 PM

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...tocs/BCVAN.jpg

Open house features Boise site

Friday, February 17, 2006
JONATHAN NELSON Columbian staff writer

For sale: Twenty-nine acres in Vancouver that represents a rare opportunity to transform land along the Columbia River, the Pacific Northwest's great waterway.

The lucky buyer will scrub away an industrial footprint and sculpt the property into a vibrant neighborhood of condominiums, restaurants, boutique stores and offices.

Seller is not interested in dealing with the curious or tire kickers.

So who is going to buy the Boise Cascade property and take on the city's grand vision to tie downtown to the river?

The answer might come from among the representatives of 49 potential purchasers who attended an open house at the site Wednesday. This, however, was not an ordinary tour. Developers from across the country needed to show genuine interest in the project and the financial ability to pay for the transformation.

Linda Alden, Boise communications manager, declined to name those attending the open house or say what the criteria was to qualify for the event. Boise announced in June it would sell the property, but took the unusual marketing tact of offering the site, as is, through a bidding process, which closes March 17.

The Boise sale is the second industrial site along the river to go on the market in the past year.

Portland's Schnitzer Investment Group wants to sell the 226-acre Columbia Business Center complex about a mile upriver. The business park is expected to remain a site for a mix of businesses, including industrial tenants.

Boise's all-day event gave possible buyers a detailed financial outlook for the property; a look at environmental issues tied to the site; and information from city, the Port of Vancouver and transportation agencies.

Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard gave a short presentation to the group as it met at the Hilton Vancouver Washington. He said he recognized a few faces in the group. He was not surprised at the number of people that came for the tour.

"This is a big opportunity," he said.

Pollard said he went to the back of the room after his comments and watched a lot of notes being taken.

While the city can't directly influence the direction of the Boise project, it made its wishes known in 2005 when it adopted a development plan for the Main Street corridor and along the riverfront, west of the Interstate 5 Bridge.

The conceptual design included much of the Boise property, but sale of the company's land was nothing more than a dream.

Boise wanted to go to market with the property in June, but a rail line that runs through the site caused a delay. Enough progress has been made on a solution to the rail link issue that Boise decided last month to move ahead.

The land's industrial history began in 1905 when it was home to a sawmill and later a paper mill.

Boise bought the property in 1962, eventually closing its papermaking operation in 1996, a move that eliminated 200 workers.

Production was retooled for a work force of 50 people who have made a variety of coated security papers, primarily for the banking industry.

Jonathan Nelson covers the Port of Vancouver. He can be reached 360-759-8013 or via e-mail at jonathan.nelson@columbian.com.


Update

Previously: Boise Cascade said in June it would sell its Columbia River waterfront property.

What's new: Prospective buyers toured the site Wednesday.

What's next: Bidding remains open until March 17.

mSeattle Feb 20, 2006 5:01 PM

If the city does its job right, it could become a proper gateway city into the state for northbound travelers. Crossing fingers.

How tall can they build?

CouvScott Feb 20, 2006 7:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mSeattle
If the city does its job right, it could become a proper gateway city into the state for northbound travelers. Crossing fingers.

How tall can they build?

From my understanding, and I think it was due to someone's reasearch in this forum, that the height limits are 300' for the West end of Downtown Vancouver. This waterfront area might be a little more in line with Pearson Airpark's flight path though.

CouvScott Feb 20, 2006 7:22 PM

I can't remember if I posted this article as well...
 
Columbia Crossing(s) & Quayside:
Portcouver’s 2nd Waterfront Downtown
By Will Macht

Quayside can be a vital mixed-use downtown Vancouver waterfront district larger than the new Portland South Waterfront, on the largest river in the West, in a downtown as large as Portland’s. It has the capacity to house over 4,800 units, over 300,000 SF of waterfront restaurant/retail space and 2,300 on-street parking spaces on 37 developable blocks focused on 7 urban waterfront plazas as large as Pioneer Square. It can increase the tax base from $40 million to about $1.2 billion.

Its residents could walk to the historic station to take commuter rail to reach Union Station or light rail to the airport in 15 minutes, an intercity Talgo train to Seattle in 3 hours or an air taxi there from nearby Pearson to Boeing Field in 45 minutes. Or they can walk to board a cruise ship or take a car on adjoining arterials or freeway.

A twin arterial/rail Columbia Crossing in the rail corridor, coupled with selected improvements to the I-5 Bridge, can relieve freeway, rail and navigation congestion, without tolls, at a cost of about $200 million, about a $1 billion less than the 10-lane overhead replacement bridge proposal under study currently.

Quayside’s residents will pay lower housing prices, no income tax, lower property taxes and have better schools like Vancouver School for Arts & Academics less than 25 blocks away. A full-service grocery topped by a medical clinic will serve the district, as will a fitness center, jazz club, winebar and brewpub in a rehabilitated waterfront hotel.

These are the conclusions of an urban development workshop I taught at PSU on development planning for the downtown Vancouver waterfront and the Columbia Crossing(s) intended to expand bridge transportation planning with that for land use, urban and economic development.

The focus of the workshop was on the 90 acres between the I-5 and rail bridges south of the rail berm in downtown Vancouver. However, the twin arterial/rail Columbia Crossing in the rail corridor would also stimulate mixed-use development of the 1,106-acre Columbia Gateway project owned by the Port of Vancouver, the 741-acre west end of Hayden Island owned by the Port of Portland and the 350-acre center portion of Hayden Island.

Earlier I-5 Partnership research showed that more than a third of all bridge traffic both entered and exited I-5 between SR-500 and Columbia Boulevard, so that two of the six current lanes serve arterial functions. Moreover, a principal source of congestion is not the capacity of the freeway bridge, but rather its location. All traffic from the MLK, I-5, Interstate, and N. Portland Road corridors must funnel to a single point to cross the only river bridge.

Downtown Vancouver [I-5 to BNSF rail; 4 th Plain to the Columbia] and downtown Portland [I405 to the Willamette] are the same size, about 380 blocks, yet downtown Portland has seven bridges serving it in that span alone, plus four more nearby. How vital would it be if the Fremont, Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison and Hawthorne bridges were eliminated and all traffic must traverse the Marquam Bridge alone?

Portland-Vancouver is a single urban entity and its economic health suffers from a single clogged artery. Replacing that with a single artery, no matter how wide or high or beautiful, will not restore its health. Imposing tariff barriers at its heart in the form of tolls at both I-5 and I-205 bridges, as contemplated, will reduce needed circulation, raising the costs of its goods and services. Congestive economic heart failure will return.

A twin arterial/rail Columbia Crossing in the rail corridor could have 4 arterial/freight lanes connecting Mill Plain Extension with N. Portland Road, Marine Drive and Columbia Boulevard, a third heavy rail track for intercity passenger rail and commuter rail and two light rail tracks connecting the Yellow Line MAX with downtown Vancouver. Commuter rail could make the Vancouver-Portland trip in 15 minutes while the light rail would stop close to the historic Vancouver intercity rail station and stimulate dense urban development on the west side of downtown Vancouver and its waterfront.

Because it carries rail, it could not be an expensive high bridge, but rather would be built as a twin to the BNSF rail bridge. However, it would solve the major navigation problem of I-5 bridge lifts, which are not caused by the height of that bridge but by the fact that navigation spans in the two bridges are not aligned. Barges must now use the 267’ high span south of the 531’ long I-5 span then turn rapidly to the north near shore in a reverse “S” movement to align with the narrow, half-open swing span of the rail bridge. That is dangerous, cannot be used in higher wind, water or current periods and puts both bridges at risk of catastrophic losses. The swing span opening of about 175’ would be replaced with a 300’ long lift span aligned with the 531’ long I-5 span.

Nor is the high 10-lane overhead bridge necessary or cost effective to reach the I-5 Partnership goal of 6 through lanes. Currently there are 6 lanes but the 2 outer lanes function as merge lanes for the northbound Hayden Island and southbound Vancouver on-ramps. The 38’ between the two existing bridges [documented by ABAM Engineers in 1984] could be used to add two center, through lanes, matching Slough bridge capacity. The existing east span of the bridge is 38 feet wide and carries 3 lanes, while the existing west bridge is 40 feet wide and also carries 3 lanes, with no shoulders. However, even if 38 feet is deemed insufficient for two opposing through lanes, they could be two reversible lanes. Increased clearance, lift elimination and seismic reinforcement can be included.

Using Washington DOT bridge design estimates, the order of magnitude cost estimate for these four projects is approximately $200 million, or about $1 billion less than the $1.2 billion 10-lane, long, high overhead replacement toll bridge with multiple additional benefits. It:

• Opens a second corridor to disperse freight and local traffic;
• Preserves existing infrastructure and reduces system disturbances;
• Phases sub-projects more quickly than alternatives;
• Improves freight rail and commuter rail mobility;
• Improves navigation safety and homeland security;
• Stimulates mixed-use, transit-oriented development on over 2,200 acres;
• Opens additional financing methods through Ports of Portland and Vancouver;
• Eliminates need, delay, opposition, space, negative impacts and costs of tolling.

To realize these multiple benefits, the City of Vancouver should follow these key development strategies:

1. Extend the downtown street grid and avoid superblocks. The grid preserves view corridors to the river both to the south and the west, increasing the value of the internal blocks. It provides low-cost, on-street parking reducing the cost impediments of structured parking. It disperses public parking throughout the district. It increases both pedestrian and vehicular accessibility especially at the waterfront, supporting waterfront restaurants and retail services. It creates a public realm and a more urban character than Tidewater Cove or Columbia Shores. It ameliorates the railroad berm and connects downtown to its waterfront.

2. Maximize on-street parking. Especially in the early development period, land values and sales prices will make it economically difficult to justify adequate quantities of structured parking. On-street parking is not only relatively inexpensive surface parking, it is also shared parking that can support a variety of uses with maximal efficiency. It can make accessible almost a mile of waterfront in a benign fashion. Double diagonal parking can provide over 2,300 parking spaces in Quayside, a value of about $58 million for structured equivalents. Parking supplies of this quantity can permit lower onsite parking ratios of one per unit.

3. Close 8 St. & BNSF rail crossing and divert traffic along the grid to Harney, Ingalls, Jefferson and the 6 th, 5th, and Grant underpasses. Elimination of the train horns and whistles is vital to develop waterfront housing. Doing so relieves rail traffic congestion, improves train stacking alternatives and adds nine blocks to the waterfront district. The closure will be a major benefit for BNSF and the City should use this as leverage to acquire under-utilized properties and rights-of-way nearby in the district.

4. Use multiple developers. It is critical for the City to ensure that there will be multiple developers in Quayside. This will spread the risk, speed the development pace, diversify the type, size, scale and design of the projects and ensure local participation. Experience and history in other cities show that so-called master developers are more likely out-oftown developers who are not as responsive to local markets and who defer development pace when other, richer opportunities in larger markets appear. Development is still a local business, especially in smaller markets.

5. Develop block by block and do not underbuild. The greatest danger for Quayside is that it will be underbuilt, to less dense standards and in areas too large to preclude suburban-style development. While that might have been acceptable for Tidewater Cove and Columbia Shores, it is not for downtown Vancouver’s only chance to reclaim its waterfront. Vancouver and Portland usually grew only by quarter blocks within the 200’ by 200’ grid. When a single block can easily contain more than 250 units, it would be extremely shortsighted to use about 7 blocks to equal Columbia Shores’ densities and more than 42 blocks to equal Tidewater Cove’s less than 6 units per acre. In coming years, Vancouver needs more units, at lower prices than Portland’s Pearl and South Waterfront districts, to attract its share of downsizing empty nester baby boomers and their children, the creative class echo boomers, the two largest growth markets. It cannot achieve this at lower densities that would need to be high-priced enclaves to cover costs.

Developers will likely try to replicate the unit sizes, types and densities that have worked in Columbia Shores and Tidewater Cove. The City will need to make a concerted effort to increase densities in Quayside, impose high minimums and stimulate development of smaller, lower-priced lofts, live-work options, incubator spaces and spinoff opportunities from the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival, indoor Farmers’ Market, amphitheater and other waterfront attractions.

6. Negotiate public-private partnerships that maximize ground leasing. While the City currently has limited development funds, it should use its leverage to aggregate and acquire land in the Quayside district and then ground lease it to control development location, pace, scale, type and design, as well as to participate in land value increases to repay public improvements. Because much of the land needs environmental remediation, the City does have significant leverage if it can interpose itself in the liability chain and relieve the developer of those risks. It also has access to governmental brownfield remediation funds.

Another major element in its leverage is the removal of substantial carrying costs during the long development periods to complete buildout over what could be a 20-year period. Moreover, by ground leasing, the City can reduce the amounts the developer needs to finance, thereby lowering its development costs, and the resulting breakeven price points. Yet because the City is a long-term investor, with low carrying costs, it can afford to defer large repayments until ground rents rise with escalation in land values over the development period. While ground leasing is less extensive in the West, it has a long history in the East and can work to the advantage of the landowner, developer and building purchasers, deferring costs until land values rise to meet them.

7. Implement a creative class economic development strategy. With no personal or corporate income taxes, lower property prices and taxes and better schools, Vancouver has attracted its share of higher income, college-educated professionals as well as empty nester baby boomers and retirees. However, it has not yet attracted the metro area’s disproportionate share of the so-called “creative class”, who are college-educated echo boomers, aged 25-34. Portland is one of the fastest growing cities in this cohort enjoying a 12% increase against an 8% national decline, adding over 60,000 net cohort in-migrants in the last decade.

Job creation for, and new business formation by, this group is particularly high. Attracting the creative class should be an important economic development strategy that can help revitalize Main Street and activate Quayside. They can start jazz clubs, winebars, brewpubs, restaurants and shops in vacant storefronts and along the waterfront that will attract these two fastest growing groups who control two-thirds of all consumer spending – baby boomers and their children, the echo boomers.

Priced out of the Pearl District, creative class members have moved closer to Vancouver in north and northeast Portland but have not yet crossed the river. Yet Vancouver has significant comparative economic advantage over Portland to attract them. To test this hypothesis, we compared equivalent top-floor, one-bedroom waterfront units overlooking the river at Columbia Shores and McCormick Pier at prices of $210,000 and $295,000 respectively. Because of the significant differences in prices, mortgage amounts, property taxes and income taxes, the creative class person with a $40,000 income could afford the Vancouver unit but would need to earn more than double, $85,000, to afford the Portland unit.

Beside its economic advantages for the creative class, Vancouver needs to build on its comparative advantage in magnet schools in arts, science, technology and others. For example, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics is one of only five schools in the nation to receive to receive a multi-year research grant from the College Board and Getty Center for Education in the Arts, even as arts programs at Jefferson School in Portland have been decimated. Like Vancouver, B.C., and unlike Portland, Vancouver, can attract single parents with children and small families.

8. Rehabilitate and reuse Red Lion Inn at the Quay. Development of Quayside could get a jump start by rehabilitating and reusing the Red Lion Inn at the Quay. With its ground lessor Port concentrated on industrial development and the new 226-room Hilton Hotel and Vancouver Convention Center owned by the City, parochial interests might suggest that the older inn should be removed. Demolition would be extremely shortsighted since no new building would ever be permitted to occupy such a prominent location on and over the water. Conversely, rehabilitating and reusing the 150-room hotel, restaurant and conference center as a specialty waterfront hotel, full-service fitness center, jazz club opening onto the amphitheater, bistro café with outdoor dining over the water, winebar and brewpub could provide special amenities and services for new waterfront condominiums and apartments built around the amphitheater blocks as the first phase of Quayside, as well as other attractions and services to the convention center hotel.

9. Focus on seven urban waterfront plazas defined by streets terminating in decks, docks, piers and overlooks. The character of Quayside will be defined by its accessibility to the water and the urbanity of its urban waterfront plazas. Rather than the Portland model of buildings separated from the water by green parkland, Vancouver should continue the model it set with restaurants, offices, hotels and housing on the waterfront. Furthermore, each street should terminate at the waterfront with accessible decks, docks, piers and overlooks. Large urban plazas between them should create a variety of public spaces around which the restaurants, shops, offices, hotel and housing focus. The urban esplanade from the east should continue on a cantilevered walkway around the Inn at the Quay and through the series of seven urban plazas.

These development strategies will create a special and different urbane character for the largest downtown waterfront in the largest downtown on the largest river in the West. Vancouver needs live up to its location. With a new crossing at its west side and an underdeveloped waterfront at its heart, downtown Vancouver, the equal of Portland’s in size, can be the second urban hub of a dynamic bi-state metro area in itself reducing the bi-diurnal, unidirectional commute.

But Governors Kulongoski and Gregoire must lead ODOT and WDOT away from the single mega-project overhead replacement bridge to these cost-effective, smart-growth twin bridge alternatives. And the City of Vancouver must take the lead to creatively acquire and control redevelopment of both Boise Cascade and Port properties, the largest holdings in the Quayside district.

Will Macht is an Adjunct Professor in the College or Urban & Public Affairs at Portland State University teaching courses in real estate development planning.

CouvScott May 2, 2006 2:03 PM

Residences, offices are likely for Vancouver riverfront
 
Mill site - City and Port officials get an idea of what's to come on Boise Cascade's 29-acre tract
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
ALLAN BRETTMAN
VANCOUVER -- Some day, expect to see 3,000 condominiums, town houses and apartments on the Columbia River where a paper mill once stood.

And expect 500,000 square feet of office space as well as a new 200-room hotel. Maybe a streetcar or trolley will be built to connect the site to the rest of downtown Vancouver. An additional road or two are likely to be built into the property.

That and more can be anticipated at the 29-acre Boise Cascade riverfront property west of the Interstate Bridge, city officials said Monday in a joint meeting of the Vancouver City Council and Port of Vancouver commissioners. The two sides met to hear planners' preliminary visions about what the Boise site could look like in five to 20 years.

First, however, property owner Boise needs to negotiate a sales price with a potential buyer, a process that is expected to be completed by summer.

Boise announced in January that the property was for sale and set a March 17 deadline for offers. The company also said it anticipated selling the property by midyear.

No action was taken at the two-hour work session.

For their part, Port commissioners remained silent and Commissioner Arch Miller explained why.

"We're ahead of you," Miller told the council.

He said commissioners had acted on rearranging riverfront rail access to the Port as well as eliminating a rail spur that would have jutted into the anticipated riverfront housing development.

Council members told Steve Burdick, the city's director of economic development, that they support the existing development path, though they are not comfortable with the idea of not knowing how much city money -- in actual dollars or property tax breaks -- could be expected.

Nevertheless, "If you like Esther Short Park and what the city did there," Mayor Royce E. Pollard said of the downtown park that was refurbished as a centerpiece of the city's urban renaissance, "you're going to love this."

But Pollard conceded he wasn't entirely sure that could be expected at the riverfront site.

Matt Ransom, a city transportation planner, displayed a preliminary street plan that would extend Jefferson Street -- about two blocks west of Esther Short Park -- through an existing BNSF Railway trestle for another access point to the riverfront.

The drawing showed improved access to Mill Plain Boulevard, which would be expected to have even greater importance as a feeder to Interstate 5, Ransom said.

Officials said they believe Boise is negotiating with one potential buyer, but they do not know the buyer's identity.

Also, Burdick said the city expects the sale to unfold in one of two ways:

The buyer retains and develops all of the land.

The buyer creates a master development plan and sells property in parcels to other developers.

Under either scenario, Burdick said the city could wield some authority through its local government role.


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