[MarkDaMan]

When it comes to commercial real estate, Vancouver is emerging from Portland’s shadow
Lana Baldock and Cole Farris weigh in on how the Rose City's neighbor to the north has become a major CRE player
Aug 2, 2016, 6:06am PDT
Portland Business Journal
Lana Baldock and Cole Farris

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...193&j=75297772

Although Portland’s downtown and close-in eastside office submarkets have been receiving a lot of attention lately, the Vancouver office market is performing well and is on the verge of breaking out of Portland’s shadow.

Leading the way is Gramor Development’s 32-acre master-planned $1.5 billion public/private partnership known as The Waterfront. The project will deliver approximately 5 million square feet in the coming years, including 1.25 million square feet of creative office space, 250,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, and 3,300 housing units along the Columbia River, just northwest of the Interstate Bridge.

Construction is now underway on Grant Street Pier, a cable stay pier that extends out over the Columbia River. It broke ground this month as part of the half-mile long riverfront experience. Twiggs Bistro & Martini Bar and WildFin American Grill have committed as the first two restaurants and Hotel Indigo and M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust will be notable additions.

With the first 70,000-square-foot Class A office forecast to break ground shortly, there will undoubtedly be more exciting announcements soon. The rise of the waterfront development is no coincidence as Vancouver’s office market fundamentals have been steadily improving year-over-year.

Gramor isn’t the only developer taking notice of Vancouver’s office market emergence. Killian Pacific is behind The Hudson, downtown Vancouver’s first new office development in years. The 48,000-square-foot, three-story building was delivered first quarter of this year with well over half of the building pre-leased. The building was designed to attract “creative” tenants. Banfield Pet Hospital is also making a significant investment in east Vancouver with a 17.5 acre, $23.3 million corporate campus under construction. It is scheduled to deliver the third quarter of 2016 and the campus is forecast to result in 600-plus jobs moving from Portland to Vancouver...(continues)