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Vancouver's Pearl project
Huge development edges closer
Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer
Gramor Development's efforts to build up the Vancouver waterfront cleared a significant hurdle this month when the developer completed a $19 million purchase of Boise Cascade's former Columbia River property.
The deal secured 29 acres from Boise Cascade and a long-term lease for 3 additional acres from the Port of Vancouver, giving Gramor 32 acres of waterfront real estate on which to build.
Tualatin-based Gramor, which specializes in mixed-used development, envisions a project that extends downtown Vancouver to the edge of the Columbia River. In scale, it will resemble Portland's Pearl District, with buildings of varying heights, an urban pedestrian environment and stores that front sidewalks.
Buildings will likely range from six to as many as 20 stories, with the highest levels reserved for the area farthest from the river. There are no plans for big-box retailers.
Gramor President Barry Cain emphasized it will be built on a human scale.
"This is not South Waterfront," he said.
By mid-2008 Gramor will seek city approval for its master plan. Initial construction could begin as early as 2010 and the total project could take a decade to complete. The effort will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars. By comparison, Portland's South Waterfront represents a $2 billion-plus investment.
As conceived by Ankrom Moisan Architecture, the Columbia Waterfront neighborhood will have a 200-room hotel on the east end, about 2,500 residential units on the west end and 800,000 square feet of office space, plus restaurants and stores sandwiched in the middle. Plans also call for public spaces, health care facilities and places of worship.
The residential plans call for a mix of units for sale and rent, as well as affordable housing and senior housing. Gramor will build a portion of the project but will likely enlist partners on the housing elements.
Gramor officials say they're not concerned the housing downturn will weaken the overall effort. It's the nature of real estate markets to expand and contract, Cain said.
"And the market for housing has always done that."
The land was used for more than a century for industrial purposes, most recently by Boise Cascade as a paper plant. In 2006, Boise Cascade solicited offers from developers and Gramor submitted the winning bid.
Before the sale closed, Boise Cascade demolished its buildings and cleaned up areas where it found contamination. Today, the property is separated from a neighboring hotel by chain-link fence and consists largely of asphalt and cement.
The deal was no cakewalk, according to Cain and David Copenhaver, Gramor's vice president of development. Both agreed it was one of the most challenging real estate closings they've encountered.
A rail spur serving LaFarge and Albina bisects the property and must be relocated before development can start.
Before Gramor could buy the Boise Cascade property, the port, Boise Cascade and the BSNSF Railway Co. worked out a three-way land exchange that will allow the rail spur to be rebuilt to the north, add more street crossings and set the stage for another rail project to help freight and passenger trains move through the area faster, according to Nelson Holmberg, spokesman for the port.
The stars aligned, Cain said, when local, state and federal officials realized they all had a stake in relocating some railways and upgrading others.
Thanks to state and federal grants, the port is preparing to move the rail spur and new street crossings at Esther and Grant streets.
Gramor formed more than 20 years ago and has completed about 60 retail and mixed-use projects in the Portland area valued at more than $700 million. Columbia Waterfront will be its first project on the water.
Some of its more recent projects are Lake Oswego's Lake View Village, West Linn Central Village and Happy Valley Town Center.
wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415
http://portland.bizjournals.com/port...ml?t=printable