Vancouver and Clark County

[CouvScott]

Wednesday, June 17 | 9:36 p.m.
THE COLUMBIAN

The new Angelo Building is nearing completion at 400 E. Mill Plain Blvd. in downtown Vancouver. (Julia Anderson/The Columbian)

Crews are on track to finish work early next month on the first of two buildings in The Al Angelo Co.'s $57 million 400 Mill Plain Center in downtown Vancouver.

On the block between Mill Plain and 15th at D Street, the five-story, $18 million building greets Interstate 5 traffic exiting west into downtown. The revitalized location once was the site of a Denny's restaurant.

The Angelo Co. expects to move into the building's top floor in September and is working to lease the rest of the building to other office and retail users, said Craig Angelo, a principal in the family-controlled business.

The new building will eventually face a companion structure, planned to occupy the block directly to the west. No date has been set for construction to start on the second building, Angelo said.

Picture in this link...

http://www.columbian.com/article/200...IZ01/706189986

[360Rich]

Bigger pic from today's Columbian:

[CouvScott]

Since my company cut off photo storage sites, I rely on you.

[CouvScott]

Tuesday, June 23 | 9:50 p.m.

Port of Vancouver commissioners agreed Tuesday to delay installing a new rail bridge that will allow downtown car traffic to access the proposed Columbia Waterfront development.

Port contractor Nutter Corp. has already installed support columns for the bridge at Sixth and Grant streets as part of the West Vancouver freight project to reduce rail traffic congestion near the port. Finishing the bridge, however, will interfere with the city’s nearby project to build a temporary rail line, said Thayer Rorabaugh, the city’s manager of transportation services.

The city will pay the port $123,000 to fulfill its existing obligation with Nutter and a new contract will be issued when the city’s project is complete in 2011.

[CouvScott]

http://service.govdelivery.com/servi...ode=WAVANC_185

see the link at the bottom of this page

[CouvScott]

Event set for August 14; new downtown branch set to open in 2011
Sunday, July 26 | 10:09 p.m.

BY HOWARD BUCK
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER


Battle Ground's new library opened in May.

Work continues on a new Cascade Park library branch, due to open by early next year.

And with a splash of fanfare on Aug. 14, the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District will formally break ground on its centerpiece: A new Vancouver Community Library.

Nearly three years after voters approved a $43 million construction bond measure in September 2006, speeches, refreshments and glitzy design sketches will usher in work on the system's flagship branch in downtown Vancouver.

The public is invited to the event, set for 1 to 2:30 p.m. on the building footprint, at the southeast corner of East Evergreen Boulevard and C Street.

The 83,000-square-foot library is part of a larger, mixed-used Riverwest development proposed where several old homes and the Carr Auto Group dealership formerly stood.

It will be first to spring forth from patches of remnant flowers and weeds and huge rubble piles that now cover several acres.

Given the unpaved, rough ground, event guests should wear appropriate shoes and dress.

There is no on-site parking for the event.

When the building opens sometime in 2011, there will be a surface parking lot for patrons just off Evergreen Boulevard, east of the library and close to Interstate 5.

The lot is planned to be a temporary substitute for an underground parking garage for library patrons and other Riverwest tenants. Due to the recession, the garage is shelved for now, as are office towers and condominiums proposed by developer, Killian Pacific.

Value engineering cutbacks aside, the four-story library promises to impress.

Clad in glass and terra cotta brick, the building will feature a rooftop garden terrace with southern exposure, a towering art sculpture rising through a glassy atrium and an innovative LED lighting system to run a changeable message board facing the street.

Floor plans call for separate teen and children's areas, community and quiet study rooms, plus space for a volunteer book resale outlet.

Killian Pacific supplied the library site and an anonymous donor gave $5 million toward the estimated $37 million building.

It will offer nearly twice the public floor space as the current main library a few blocks east, which opened in 1963. The library district currently plans to keep that building for administrative use.

[CouvScott]

Monday, September 21 | 9:03 p.m.

BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER


Vancouver's proposed development agreement for the Columbia River waterfront essentially spells out who does what and when.

The city council spent almost two hours Monday hearing about those details in preparation for an Oct. 19 public hearing on what amounts to a business deal between Vancouver and Columbia Waterfront LLC, consisting of Gramor Development of Tualatin, Ore., and its local investors.

Council members generally liked what they see in the agreement, which was reached following more than a year of negotiations.

Columbia Waterfront has started inching away from earlier depictions of a high-rise community with buildings soaring more than 20 floors above the Columbia River at the former Boise Cascade industrial site west of the Interstate 5 Bridge.

But even a midrise project is expected to represent more than $1 billion in private investment and provide homes for 5,000 people and permanent jobs for 3,500 workers.

Under the proposed agreement, developers would be required to:

• Build at least 2,500 apartments, condominiums and other residential units, 400,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space using sustainable development practices.

• Provide 10 acres of parks, trails and open space, including extending the waterfront trail throughout the project and grading and planting grass for a waterfront park.

• Install streets, sidewalks, utilities and street lights inside the 32-acre site, at an estimated cost of $31 million, and deed the completed infrastructure to the city.

• Contribute $8 million to a city-coordinated project for road and other off-site improvements to open up the site for intensive redevelopment.

In return, the city would:

• Complete the off-site improvements, including extending Esther and Grant streets underneath railroad tracks, at an estimated cost of $44.6 million, before the end of 2011.

• Lock in development rules and regulations for 20 years, along with reserving road capacity, to provide developers with certainty as to what they can build and under what standards.

• Maintain the waterfront park and other open space for perpetuity following an initial two-year maintenance commitment by developers.

• Move to establish a quiet zone by closing Eighth and Jefferson streets before the railroad tracks, thereby eliminating the need for engineers to blast their horns every time a train rolls over the street.

Council members will continue reviewing the proposed agreement in the coming weeks, but there is every indication they will approve the deal later next month.

"This is a great opportunity," Councilwoman Jeanne Harris said. "Cities don't get an opportunity very often to create a waterfront from scratch."

Mayor Royce Pollard said he believes the community will recognize what he called a "historic" event.

"Not only are we going to recapture our waterfront," Pollard said. "We're going to recapture it in a very grand way."

Even Councilman Pat Campbell, who announced he was opposed to the waterfront project during his first month on the council almost two years ago, said Monday that he now supports "an excellent project" after examining geological and other reports.

"I have dug into this pretty deep," he said. "I know I might have irritated some people, but I think it was necessary to do that."

[Okstate]

Vancouver will be hands down the first suburb to offer an urban lifestyle. That feels funny even just typing it.

[CouvScott]

Feds to provide $2 million for new rail underpasses
BY PAUL LEONARD of the VBJ
September 25th, 2009


Downtown Vancouver will get $2 million in federal funding for the creation of two new rail under-crossings, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced last week.


The construction of the new access points will clear the way for the proposed $1.3 billion Waterfront Redevelopment project, set to include hotels, housing and retail outlets.

"The opportunity to connect and in some ways reconnect, our community to our waterfront is unmatched in size and potential," said Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard. "This project will forever change the face of Vancouver and the state of Washington."

The waterfront project has become the cornerstone of Pollard's economic agenda for the city, and if it gets built, could well define the three-term mayor's legacy for decades to come.

Unlike the controversial Columbia River Crossing project, mayoral challenger Tim Leavitt has said he wholeheartedly supports efforts to revitalize the city's waterfront.

The city council is currently reviewing an agreement for the riverfront project. A vote is likely to take place next month.

[CouvScott]

My company is working on this project, but it is not one of my projects. Just curious how it looks from above.

[davehogan]

If nobody's looked in a bit, they've made a lot of progress on this. http://www.fvrl.org/aboutus/Main_Library_Project.htm has a time lapse of construction.

I just drove by on I-5 the other week, and it looks awesome so far. Since I was driving no pictures, but if anyone's up that way it'd be worth stopping to get a few. I'll be taking a trip up to check it out for the grand opening I'm sure.

[360Rich]

Sorry, I've been meaning to take some pics for a long time. Finally got out and took these this morning.

[CouvScott]

I have been walking by it quite a bit this last month. It is really progressing quickly.

[Okstate]

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/09/03...ere-from-here/


Vancouver’s waterfront: You can’t get there from here
POSTED: Friday, September 3, 2010 at 01:29 PM PT
BY: Nick Bjork
Tags: Gramor Development, Vancouver
(Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)

Before beginning the Vancouver waterfront redevelopment project, Gramor Development, BNSF Railway and a team of government agencies will raise train tracks, that currently block downtown from the site. They will also extend Esther Road and Grant Road down to the site. The access project is expected to cost $44 million. (Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)
Vancouver, Wash., waterfront development groundbreaking

What: Vancouver waterfront redevelopment access project groundbreaking
When: Wednesday, Sept. 8 from 4-6 p.m. Formal program begins at 5:15 p.m.
Where: The waterfront redevelopment site, located just west of Vancouver Landing and the Red Lion Inn at the Quay
Who: Speakers will include Gramor President Barry Cain, Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, Washington Senator Patty Murray and Washington Representative Brian Baird.

The city of Vancouver, Wash., and Gramor Development will break ground tomorrow on the first phase of a long-anticipated $1.3 billion Vancouver waterfront redevelopment project.

But before the public-private team transforms the 31-acre former Boise Cascade site into waterfront parks, downtown restaurants and corporate headquarters, the team has to build a way to get there.

Right now, most of the site is separated from downtown Vancouver by railroad tracks. Gramor, BNSF Railway and various government agencies will spend a total of $44 million to raise the tracks and build roads under them.

“We got into the visioning process for what we wanted to see on the land, and then we realized there wasn’t a convenient way to get to the waterfront from downtown,” said Barry Cain, president of the Tualatin-based Gramor Development. “It’s funny because downtown is so close to the water, but you can’t get there from it.

“We’re going to change that.”

Gramor will put $8 million down on the access project, the railroad will pay $2.5 million and the rest will come from a mix of city, state and federal sources.

Once the access project is done, Gramor will begin redeveloping the 22 city blocks it bought in early 2008. The first phase of work will include building a public park and esplanade stretching a half mile along the waterfront. It will also include a hotel, two restaurants and office space that Cain thinks would be a perfect fit for high-level corporate tenants.

“This is very much on the scale of the Pearl District,” said Cain. “This project is a game changer for both Vancouver and the region.”

When Gramor is done with redevelopment work on the site, 21 buildings there will boast 800,000 square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of retail space and 3,000 housing units, said Mark Brown, government relations coordinator for the city of Vancouver.

“The scope and scale of this project is unprecedented,” Brown said. “It’s literally going to be a city within a city.”

Despite the sluggish economy, Gramor has been hitting pay dirt when it comes to finding financing for its projects.

Last month, the development firm broke ground on three development projects around the region: a Costco-anchored development in East Vancouver known as Lacamas Crossing, a $60 million retail and office development at Progress Ridge in Beaverton and a Fred Meyer-anchored development in Wilsonville.

The waterfront project is the latest job opportunity with Gramor. The project to raise the tracks along the Boise Cascade site alone will create between 600 and 700 construction jobs, Brown said. The city estimates another 10,000 long-term construction jobs could be created once work on the park, esplanade and buildings begins, he said.

The project is expected to leverage $30 in private investments for every $1 spent by the public. The project is estimated to cost $1.3 billion. The entire scope of the project will take 10 to 15 years to complete.

[philopdx]

Update 11-28-2010:

[urbanlife]

wow, I am really liking this building.

[zilfondel]

This is Miller Hull? I really loved their 1310 Union residential building.

[Shilo Rune 96]

I was in Vancouver over the weekend and noticed this project:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...09967&t=h&z=17


Although, I didn't get any pictures I did notice a sign saying something about the Army Corps of Engineers, etc. etc. It's just off Fourth Plain Blvd heading East towards Hockinson.

Quite the big project for such an empty field! I actually thought it was a large school or church at first. This was actually a site for Walmart but has sense seen legal troubles, I believe. From my understanding Walmart was supposed to fund a road connecting with NE 162nd ave but only wanted to pay for a two lane road, while the city wanted a two lane road with a center lane.

[CouvScott]

Meet Vancouver’s soon-to-be tallest structure
June 10, 2011
By Christy Lochrie
A new landmark is on the horizon for Vancouver.

United Grain Corporation (UGC) began the first phase of a $72 million building operation this week with the continuous pour concrete construction of a 340-foot tall building at the Port of Vancouver. The building, used for grain cleaning and shipping, is part of an overall project that will add 24 storage silos, with a capacity of 60,000 metric tons of storage for wheat, corn and soybean.

To get a sense of the building’s final height, imagine the 50-foot tall clock tower at Esther Short Park, then picture seven of them, placed end on end, towering along Vancouver’s shoreline. The entire project will use 20,000 cubic yards of concrete.

Construction is expected to be completed next summer, according to Anthony Flagg, vice president for UGC, a subsidiary of Japan-based Mitsui. However,m the first portion of the project, which is under way now, is expected to finish by Thursday or Friday of next week with a continuous, around-the-clock concrete pour.

“You can look up every morning and you’ll see (the skyline) change,” said Flagg, adding that this pour will result in Vancouver’s tallest structure.

Port spokeswoman Theresa Wagner said UGC currently exports about three million tons of wheat from the terminal, which accounts for 16 percent of the nation’s total exports. The expansion will add another two million tons of annual export capacity and add corn and soybean to the mix. The food is transported to the site via train car from silos in Montana, the Dakotas, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Flagg said two key factors influenced the company’s decision to expand: The Columbia River dredging project, which finished in December, and emerging middle classes in Asia and the Middle East.

With the dredging project, which took 20 years and cost $190 million, larger ships are able to dock at the Port of Vancouver and other Columbia River ports. These larger ships have a greater storage capacity, reducing shipping costs.

“The whole key is trying to get as much volume through there as you possibly can,” Flagg explained.

In Asia and the Middle East, Flagg said more people in growing middle class ranks are eating meat and buying corn, soybeans and white bread – a trend he expects to continue.

Meanwhile, UGC recently relocated their corporate offices from Portland to Vancouver, a move that gets more of the company’s 60 employees closer to their Vancouver homes and closer to the company’s operations.

For the port, UGC’s ongoing grain project is good news, with more expansions on the horizon.

“We’re looking at tripling our exports in the next five to 10 year,” Wagner said.

[65MAX]

Was this in the Columbian newspaper? Any renderings of the 340' tower?