Vancouver and Clark County

[MarkDaMan]

In a separate development, Opus Northwest officials also said they are trying to sign a major retailer for a four-block development on Portland's east side. Company leaders, who in 2005 won the right to develop the area, have said they want to sign an anchor tenant before construction begins on that $260 million project.

I'm utterly confused by that statement. Does 'major retailer' mean big box? Didn't the design Opus submit HAVE TO remove the big box retailer from their plan? Wasn't it clear there was not to be a big box in the Burnside Bridgehead development?

These guys are fucking pricks!

[360Rich]

Tuesday, July 24, 2007
By CAMI JONER, Columbian Staff Writer

Redevelopment plans for the former Evergreen Airport site in east Vancouver have crashed.

Opus Northwest, the project’s developer has backed out of the proposed $215 million deal after a Whole Foods grocery store as an anchor tenant as well as the project’s residential component.

The Landing at Evergreen, planned on 59 acres north of Mill Plain Boulevard between Northeast 136th and Hearthwood avenues, was to include housing, office and high-end retail space similar what Opus had developed at Bridgeport Village in Tigard, Ore. The Evergreen project was first announced in 2005.

Now the deal is off, said John Bartell, vice president of the Portland office of Seattle-based Opus Northwest. His company won’t likely proceed with plans to purchase the property from the Wally Olson family.

“You need anchor tenants to make a retail project of that magnitude go,” Bartell said.

A number of factors combined to undermine the plan:

* Texas,-based Whole Foods backed out of the project after announcing its $565 million plan to acquire rival organic grocer Wild Oats, already doing business nearby in the Mill Plain corridor.

* Housing developer Matrix Development cancelled its pre-arrangement with Opus to develop 221 townhouses on the site’s western tract, presumably because of slowing home sales and higher mortgage interest rates.

* A second anchor tenant and national bookseller also backed out, leaving the project with only one anchor tenant, a national health club.

Eastside equivalent

City officials had hoped the development would become east Vancouver’s equivalent to downtown redevelopment, said Gerald Baugh, the city’s business development director.

“Now that its fallen through, it’s disappointing,” he said, adding that the city had not yet heard from the Olson family.

“We’ll welcome the opportunity to work with them to find something that would be good for that area and the city,” Baugh said.

Nearby residents had hoped for a complex similar to Bridgeport, filled with popular boutiques such as Mario’s, Chico’s and Crate & Barrel.

“I’m heartbroken, not only for the neighborhood, but also for the Olson family,” said Ross Montgomery, president of the Airport Green Neighborhood Association.

He called developers from Opus and Matrix, “receptive to our concerns. We were actually looking forward to their vision,” Montgomery said.

Still waiting

According to people familiar with the deal, the property sale would have meant an estimated $15 million for the Olson family, heirs of Evergreen Airport founder, the late Wally Olson.

But a number of factors, including the weakening housing market, contributed to the project’s demise, Bartell said.

Bartell said the softening market likely caused Portland-based Matrix to cancel its 221-townhome development. Second quarter home sales are down by 18.8 percent in Clark County.

“That left us with the option of either purchasing the residential property and proceeding, or not,” Bartell said, adding that his company would incur further costs by holding the site.

“We made a business decision not to sign”, he said.

A hard sell

The former airport site wasn’t without development problems, among them, traffic access from the north and south, said Roger Qualman, executive vice president of NAI Norris Beggs & Simpson commercial real estate firm.

“That had become a bit of a hard sell for retailers,” said Qualman, whose firm was marketing the project’s second building phase of 181,500 square feet of office space.

He called the office and hotel uses still viable, though dependent on retailers that finally land on the site.

“All said, it’s still one of the best retail/development sites left in the city,” Qualman said. “I’m sure there will be others who are interested.”

Meanwhile, Opus Northwest told the Seattle-Times on Monday that it plans to begin construction on another office tower in downtown Seattle. The 204,000-square-foot tower will rise nine stories at the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and Madison Street, across Interstate 5 from the central business district.

http://www.columbian.com/news/localN...news172794.cfm

[CouvScott]

The downtown Carr Auto Group dealership has submitted city planning documents for its new Vancouver Auto Mall site, moving forward with plans to relocate the business there next May.

Oregon-based Carr, which bought Bill Copps Motors in 2005, has applied to build a 28,837-square-foot, two-story dealership building on the northeast corner of Northeast 66th Avenue and Fourth Plain Boulevard.

The dealership's cross-town move will open a key downtown lot for the $160 million Riverwest redevelopment project. Local developer Killian Pacific intends to transform the dealership's 3.75-acre site into a complex with a new public library, condos, offices, shops and a hotel.

[360Rich]

Proposed street closure draws fire

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
BY CAMI JONER, Columbian staff writer

A longtime Vancouver developer envisions a campuslike atmosphere for a two-block redevelopment project that includes the former downtown Denny's restaurant.

But to create that ambience, the Vancouver-based Al Angelo Co. would have to close a section of D Street between Mill Plain Boulevard and 15th Street, a move neighbors argue would block an important link to downtown and Interstate 5.

The Vancouver City Council gets to decide which side has a more compelling argument after the Vancouver City Center Redevelopment Authority Board Monday approved the $17 million development being planned by Angelo. The board also reduced the amount Angelo would pay for the street vacation, from $360,000 to between $180,000 and $240,000.

The former restaurant would be replaced with a five-story office building with parking on a section of D Street. The Al Angelo Co. wants the street closure to accommodate future plans to take land he owns west of the old Denny's and replace the strip retail center with a companion, 90,000-square-foot building.

Neighbors opposed

City officials are comfortable with the street vacation as long as the development creates a campus-like atmosphere, said Gerald Baugh, the city's business development director.

But residents in the Arnada Neighborhood just north of the project say D Street provides a vital connection to Interstate 5 and a pedestrian link to the downtown core.

"I feel like it's within my right as a citizen and representative of more than 450 households to ask why the city is giving away our property," said Seanette Corkill, chairwoman of the Arnada Neighborhood Association.

Without D Street, "we'll have to travel west to find a southern route to take us back east on Mill Plain," because 15th Street is a west-bound street, Corkill said. She added that D Street is an important pedestrian route.

Southbound pedestrians would be faced with the choice of walking around the development or walking through its private parking lot, Corkill said.

"You would feel like you're trespassing," she said.

Larry Wilson, the project's designer from Wilson & Associates Architects in Vancouver, said Angelo's proposal would create "a much more pedestrian friendly development with courtyards, terraces and pedestrian-oriented walkways."

Proven track record

The redevelopment board agreed Monday to give Angelo up to 10 years to reshape the lot west of Denny's with ground-floor retail space, parking on three floors and upper-floor offices.

Baugh said The Al Angelo Co. has a proven track record as a city redevelopment partner. The company built the two-block Heritage Place Condominium project, which borders the north side of Esther Short Park.

That project involved vacating a section of Daniels Street, which became the public plaza, Katheryn Commons, named for the wife of the late Al Angelo, a former Vancouver mayor and founder of the Al Angelo Co.

http://www.columbian.com/business/bu...news176106.cfm

[CouvScott]

[360Rich]

No doubt - what a bunch of whiners.

The pedestrian argument is moot - what's the difference between walking down what is now a one block long public sidewalk, and walking across a one block long private lot. It's not even a heavily walked are now.

[PuyoPiyo]

Originally Posted by CouvScott

Does a 5 story build need whole of that redline area?

[360Rich]

Oregon developer eyes airport site

Thursday, August 02, 2007
BY CAMI JONER, Columbian staff writer

The developer of shops near Portland International Airport has turned his attention to a former airfield on the Washington side of the river.

Vancouver's former Evergreen Airport could become his company's next lifestyle-oriented retail development, said Fred Bruning, president of Tigard, Ore.-based CenterCal Properties, developer of the IKEA-anchored Cascade Station near PDX. Bruning called Vancouver officials last week after learning that a $215 million development plan had fallen through for the old Evergreen airstrip on East Mill Plain Boulevard. Bruning is intrigued by the site.

"I think it could be a unique mixed-use project with retail and office components. It's hard to say without having talked to the city," he said.

Bruning said his company has not approached the site's owners, the family of the late Wally Olson, the airport's founder and longtime operator. The facility closed in July 2006, earmarked for shops, offices and housing called The Landing at Evergreen.

That project was proposed by Seattle-based Opus Northwest, which announced it was backing out of those plans last week, after losing planned anchor tenants Whole Foods and a major bookstore. Opus Northwest's project housing partner, Matrix Development, also pulled out of an agreement to purchase the western tract of the 60-acre parcel for a 221-townhome development.

Vancouver's business development director, Gerald Baugh, sees CenterCal's interest as a chance to bring already formulated plans forward.

"If they ask for a similar concept, there may not be a lot for us to do," Baugh said.

More homework

After a yearlong process to iron out a development agreement between the city and Opus Northwest, "I would study how it was all put together if I was CenterCal," Baugh said.

On the other hand, he said CenterCal's plans could differ dramatically from the Opus proposal.

"There's a lot of homework to be done in order for them to come up with their vision," Baugh said.

He expected to meet with developers later this month, and said city planners would hold an internal meeting beforehand.

Bruning said Vancouver lacks newer retail projects such as those being developed by CenterCal, a real estate investment firm backed by the wealthy pension plan of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or CalSTRS. The entity controls more than $171 billion in assets, according to its Web site.

"Our goal is to build a portfolio of shopping centers and mixed-use projects," Bruning said.

In addition to Cascade Station, CenterCal owns Bridgeport Village in Tigard, Ore., home to trendy retailers such as Crate & Barrel, Ann Taylor Loft, Chicos and J Crew. CenterCal co-developed Bridgeport with Opus Northwest.

"We bought Opus' interest out of the project," Bruning said, adding that his company is not likely to partner with Opus to develop the former Evergreen Airport site.

Calls to the Portland and Seattle offices of Opus Northwest were not returned.

CenterCal has recently launched construction on a host of large - 250,000 square feet and larger - Portland-area developments called "lifestyle" retail centers. Development costs range between $215 million and $250 million for upscale centers which include: Nyberg Woods, near the Tigard-area Bridgeport Village, The Rivers at Oregon City, and Gresham Station.

The company is also developing experience-oriented shopping centers in California, Utah, Idaho and Montana, which are developments that are poised to attract trend-setting boutiques like those at Bridgeport, Bruning said.

CenterCal's Web site lists population statistics and a range of income and age data about the areas surrounding each newly proposed development, but when asked, Bruning said very little about the households within the radius of the former Evergreen Airport.

"I wouldn't be looking at it if I didn't see the potential," he said.

Those familiar with the deal between Opus Northwest and the Olson family said the property sale would have been an estimated $15 million.

Bruning said he contacted the city first, rather than the Olsons, to discuss how his company's plans might fit in with previous agreements.

"I didn't want to interfere with anything the city had going on," he said. "If the city feels it's appropriate, we'd be happy to enter into discussions with the family."

Update

Previously: Opus Northwest said last week it was canceling plans to purchase the former Evergreen Airport site for a $215 million retail, office, hotel and housing development.

What's new: An official from Oregon-based developer CenterCal Properties said he sees potential in the site and has contacted the city of Vancouver about pre-arranged development plans.

What's next: If the city agrees with the new development plan, CenterCal could approach the property owners about purchasing the site.

http://www.columbian.com/business/bu...news177166.cfm

[CouvScott]

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
BY JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer

Every weekday, about 10,000 passengers ride Portland's brightly colored streetcars in and near the city's downtown.

In mid-September, members of the Vancouver City Council will be a tiny addition to that daily ridership as they take a trip south for a firsthand look at what could be part of their city's future.

City Manager Pat McDonnell said the city needs to consider what type of transit could be used to promote movement within Vancouver and Clark County.

"This is just getting the council some education and bringing them some understanding of how one system works over there," he said about the Sept. 17 council excursion. "Whether we can emulate it, I don't know."

City officials want to answer that question. McDonnell said the city has asked Gramor Development to include streetcars or some other form of transit in its plans for redeveloping the former Boise Cascade industrial site on the Columbia River near downtown.

The waterfront is separated from downtown by a railroad berm and has relatively few roads leading in and out.

"What more clear opportunity could you have?" McDonnell said. "Not in a landlocked area, but a very difficult in and out."

Streetcars once were common but were phased out decades ago as the automobile became king. As far back as 1892, electric streetcars moved up and down lower Main Street. By 1910, a streetcar line extended east to Orchards.

For a short time, streetcars shuttled passengers across the Interstate 5 Bridge, which opened in 1917. Charles Edward Moors, on the eve of his 107th birthday in September 1997, recounted how he would ride the streetcar to Hayden Island for a nickel in the early 1920s. Moors, believed to be Clark County's oldest resident at the time, died three years later in Bend, Ore.

Vancouver's streetcars were used only until 1926.

Six years ago, Portland turned back the clock and reintroduced streetcars that today share the road with cars that caused them to vanish.

Portland Streetcar, owed by the city of Portland and managed by a nonprofit organization, operates a loop system from Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in northwest Portland through the Pearl District, south on 10th and 11th avenues to Portland State University and east to the Willamette River. On Friday, an extension of the line will open, providing service to the South Waterfront area and creating an eight-mile loop.

How much of that loop the Vancouver City Council will see next month hasn't been determined.

"We're maybe going to take the light rail down," McDonnell said. "I don't have the final agenda yet, but the idea is to see how people can transfer."

Officials are planning to bring a form of high-capacity transit, either light rail or bus rapid transit, as part of the Columbia River Crossing project to build a new I-5 bridge. McDonnell sees a streetcar system as a way to move people around the community, not as a conduit for commuters heading into Portland.

"I really see the streetcar as being our community connector," he said. "Obviously, you have to have a major investment in your buses."

The Vancouver chapter of the American Institute of Architects is undertaking a study of how streetcars could fit into the city's future.

"It's a study to kind of educate folks to the history of streetcars here in Vancouver and then to look at the feasibility," said Ralph Willson, an owner of LSW Architects in Vancouver. "Does it make sense to bring them back as an alternative way to move people around?"

Willson said results from the study will be presented during a symposium, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 6.

"My personal view is that it would be really neat if streetcars can play a role in helping to alleviate some downtown traffic," he said.



Did you know?

Portland Streetcar began operating in July 2001 and shares road space with cars, trucks and buses in and near downtown Portland.

The streetcars carry up to 140 passengers in disabled-accessible, air-conditioned cars manufactured in the Czech Republic.

The Portland streetcars make 42 stops, one every three to four blocks, and run on 13-minute intervals during most of the time Mondays through Saturdays.

[CouvScott]

Monday, August 20, 2007
BY CAMI JONER, Columbian staff writer

The Vancouver City Council will be faced with making a controversial decision tonight on whether to close a downtown section of D Street for a two-block office development.

Proposed by the Al Angelo Co., the vacated street would create parking space and a future courtyard for a $17 million project of multistory office buildings on a two-block site that includes the former Denny's restaurant, wedged between East 15th Street and Mill Plain Boulevard on the west side of Interstate 5.

The council will receive public testimony before considering a development agreement that would allow the street vacation. Residents in the Arnada Neighborhood to the north have already said they don't like the idea of losing D Street as a route to the downtown core. It doesn't appeal to the owner of a business site on the south side, either.

Without D Street, vehicles traveling west on East 15th Street from the freeway will have to continue two blocks west before finding a southern route, said Dave Christensen, owner of the Black Angus restaurant property at East 13th Street, which could lose business if the city makes the change.

"It will make it much harder for people to get there from the freeway," said Christensen, also the owner of Christensen Yachts.

However, Christensen also appears eager to change the use of his site. The city received a proposal this week to remove the existing Black Angus restaurant and construct a three-story office building with 53 parking stalls.

Christensen has organized a group called "Friends of D Street" representing area business and property owners opposed to the project.

The group questions the conclusions found in a traffic study submitted by the Angelo Co., said James Howsley, the group's Vancouver attorney.

"We are in the process of recruiting our own traffic consultant to study the project's potential impact, specifically to the businesses on the south side of Mill Plain," Howsley said.

Long term, the Angelo Co. plans to build a companion building on an adjacent block the company owns to the west of the Denny's site. That site now is home to an older retail complex with businesses that include a FedEx Kinko's.

[360Rich]

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
BY JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian staff writer

Plans to close a section of D Street and build a two-block plaza at the gateway to downtown Vancouver could be back before the city council next month for approval.

The council, after hearing considerable testimony from neighborhood representatives and nearby property owners, decided late Monday night to delay approving a development agreement for 400 Mill Plain Center, proposed for the former Denny's restaurant site between Mill Plain Boulevard and 15th Street just west of Interstate 5.

The Al Angelo Co. wants to build a five-story office building at the Denny's site that would provide 60,000 square feet of office space. The Vancouver company also has long-term plans to build a companion office and retail building of 90,000 square feet west of D Street, which is now home to a FedEx Kinko's and several other small retail businesses.

The first phase of the project, valued at $17 million, would have surface parking for 80 vehicles. The second phase would have ground-floor retail, parking for 350 vehicles on three lower floors and office space on higher floors.

Several council members praised the Angelo Co. for its track record and supported the company's plan to redevelop the Denny's property.

"We can wait another 10 years," Mayor Royce Pollard said, "and we aren't going to get a project as good as this project."

The Angelo Co. proposes to close the stretch of D Street between Mill Plain Boulevard and 15th Street, a plan that has generated concern among nearby residents and property owners who worry about losing a route into downtown and a convenient way for motorists traveling west on 15th Street to reverse direction and head east on Mill Plain.

The Vancouver City Center Redevelopment Authority board of directors, a seven-member group charged with helping guide downtown revitalization, recommended the city charge $240,000 to turn over the one-block stretch of D Street to the project's developers.

However, the redevelopment authority also recommended waiving that payment if the developer builds the second phase of the project within the 10-year life of the development agreement before the city council.

Sept. 10 action

Council members, after hearing public testimony Monday, decided to postpone action until meetings on Sept. 10 or Sept. 24 to allow more time to work and refine some issues, including the possibility that C Street could be converted to two-way traffic.

Councilman Dan Tonkovich said his gut instinct was the council wasn't ready to move forward Monday. He rattled off a list of issues that could require additional refinement, including what the developer will pay for the closure of D Street, the timing for paying that compensation, parking and other transportation issues.

Gerald Baugh, Vancouver's business development manager, said the possibility of converting C Street, now one way northbound, to two-way traffic is one of the issues that city officials will work on in coming weeks.

Providing for two-way traffic would be welcomed by the Arnada neighborhood and could also enhance other downtown projects, including the $160 million Riverwest project south of The Academy that will include a new headquarters library, he said.

"I think everybody wants something that is quality, that is a signature," Baugh said.

The city considers the Angelo project critical because of its location at the entrance to downtown. Because of that significance, the proposed development agreement includes a provision for the city to spend up to $75,000 on landscaping, paving, lighting and other largely aesthetic touches.

http://www.columbian.com/business/bu...news186921.cfm

[CouvScott]

Monday, August 27, 2007
BY CAMI JONER, Columbian staff writer

A California firm plans to break ground next spring on a $50 million complex of upscale retail, restaurant, office and residential space in Orchards.

The Village at Old Trolley Square will also be the area's first church-centered European-style village. Planned by San Diego-based Harper Communities, project plans call for several three- and four-story buildings surrounding a central plaza, said Dan George, a principal with Planning Solutions Inc. The Vancouver firm helped design the 13.8-acre complex, planned for the north side of Fourth Plain Road between Northeast 127th and 131st avenues.

He said developers chose the site to be near the growing residential communities of northeast Vancouver, Brush Prairie, Hockinson and Battle Ground.

"It's also designed to be a destination for people from all over the region, including Portland," George said.


No large anchor tenant

Envisioned as a "streetscape" community, plans for The Village at Old Trolley Square call for building-lined streets with ground-floor retail shops and restaurants, George said.

"We're not looking to anchor it with a large grocery or other type of store. It will be smaller to mid-sized specialty shops and possibly cultural markets," George said.

He said Harper Communities could be ready next month to announce some of the project's first tenants, which he expects will move in by late 2008. The project could reach full build-out over the next two or three years, depending on tenant interest.


City Harvest Church

Developer Ron Harper called the project unique to the Clark County-Portland area for its 50,000-square-foot church, planned for the congregation of City Harvest Church, now at 8100 N.W. Ninth Ave. in Vancouver.

As part of the center's more than 350,000 square feet of building space, the church "is a very European concept as a cornerstone of the community," Harper said.

"We want to make this a community and churches can be a great part of that," said Harper, president of Harper Communities.

The San Diego-based developer has been involved in more than $200 million in mixed use projects, many of which tap into the demographic of church-going consumers. Harper Communities' counts the $1 billion San Diego redevelopment project Liberty Station among its largest projects. The company partnered with development firm Corky McMillin and the city of San Diego on the mixed-use development, which includes The Rock, a 3,500-seat nondenominational church.

With sanctuary seating for a congregation of 1,200, the church within the Village at Old Trolley Square could draw after-church patrons to stroll, shop and dine and provide extra parking during peak shopping hours.

"It will also allow for shared parking in what would otherwise be off times," George said.

[360Rich]

Since the Columbian Headquarters building project has been lumped into this thread for RiverWest, I'll post it here.

Building green, saving green
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
BY CAMI JONER, Columbian staff writer


photo TROY WAYRYNEN/The Columbian

One could say Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell cares about the environment. He also cares about his newspaper company's bottom line.

Luckily, Campbell wasn't forced to choose favorites when it came to constructing The Columbian's new $30 million headquarters building in downtown Vancouver. The six-story structure is being built to Earth-friendly standards that will save dollars and cents over time. It will also be a healthier environment for employees, set to move into the building's first four floors in mid-October.

The 118,000-square-foot building is on track to earn Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Rated on a point system, Gold is the program's second-highest rating, said Keith Skille, project manager with GBD Architects, the building's Portland-based designer.

"Platinum is the highest. We're shooting for Gold," said Skille, who will submit the building to the council for rating this fall.

Campbell said he was open to the higher green rating from the outset, as long as it was fiscally practical.

"I said, 'I'm willing to spend more if we can recover the cost,' " Campbell said.

That's when Skille introduced a series of design features that offered high-energy savings. Among them:

- An Earth-friendly "ground-source" heating and cooling system that will draw water from an underground aquifer to circulate through the building's mechanical system and return to the earth.

- An "occupancy sensored" lighting system that shuts off by itself with the absence of users.

- Sun shades over south-facing windows to prevent direct sunlight from overheating and taxing the building's cooling system.

- Extra insulation that goes beyond required standards.

- A design that maximizes the use of natural lighting to conserve energy for overhead lighting.

"We estimate the building will use 60 percent less energy than a typical (nongreen) building," Skille said.

It is also built with about 20 percent recycled materials, including steel for framing, wood for cabinetry and carpeting made from reusable fibers.

Tough choices

Campbell said he is pleased with his decision to "go green," despite some tough choices along the way. For example, the heating and cooling system cost about $1 million extra, "but we expect to recoup that in 10 or 12 years," he said.

But he ruled out the higher expense of raised flooring. Recommended for better air circulation, the concept didn't pencil out, Campbell said.

Each decision was based on the company's short-term needs and the building's long-term real estate value.

"We're going to own this building for more than 10 years. It's value is not in being a newspaper building only," Campbell said.

Leasable space

The building's top two floors will be leased out to tenants, initially, said Campbell, who also considered his company's personnel in the LEED-rating process.

The building will earn extra points for interior finishes that emit fewer pollutants; for including showers for bicycle commuters; and for affording natural lighting and views to 90 percent of its occupants.

"I hope it will add to our ability to retain and attract the best and the brightest," said Campbell, who sees a continuing role for his newspaper.

http://www.columbian.com/business/bu...news189768.cfm
"We need to be flexible and adaptive," Campbell said. "This building suits our purpose for that."

[360Rich]

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By JONATHAN NELSON, Columbian Staff Writer

IQ Credit Union expects to close Wednesday on its $3.2 million purchase of two buildings owned by the city of Vancouver that will become the company's new corporate headquarters.

The design phase of the new offices should take up to three months and construction would start by the end of this year, according to the company.

The credit union is buying the former Citizens Service Center at 1313 Main St. and the Eberle Building at 110 East 13th St. IQ's business lending, business services and the existing downtown branch will eventually be moved to the new location. The credit union has 40,335 members, eight branches and $374.2 million in assets.

http://www.columbian.com/business/bu...news189816.cfm

[PuyoPiyo]

^^^Well that's nice to have another new building, but... Downtown Vancouver have too many banks, don't you think?

[CouvScott]

Local planners work with national developers to create a community
BY MEGAN PATRICK VBJ Staff Reporter
August 31st, 2007


Within the next year, Vancouver could see the emergence of a new urban village.

With the help of Vancouver-based Planning Solutions Inc., California developer Harper Communities Inc. is gearing up for the final design phase of The Village at Old Trolley Square, 353,360-square-foot, mixed-use urban village near Sifton.

The 12-building project on 13.86 acres will be a mix of more than 90,000 square feet of retail space, 102,500 square feet of office, as many as 75 condominiums and a 50,000-square-foot church – all built around a central plaza and fountain.

The $50 million project will rise from now-vacant land on the north side of Fourth Plain Road between Northeast 127th and Northeast 131st avenues.

Creating a community

Developers envision a central, pedestrian-focused urban streetscape where residents, shoppers and tenants can mingle, lingering at sidewalk cafes and boutiques that open directly onto the sidewalk.

Planners have designed it to create a community and bring the outside community together, rather than encouraging a strip-mall mentality of driving from destination to destination.

“We’re hoping for more of a series of events – people coming after work for a drink during happy hour, having dinner at a restaurant then maybe seeing some live music in the plaza,” said Dan George, a principal with Planning Solutions. “A place where you park once and can spend an evening or a Saturday afternoon.”

The three- and four-level buildings will have different aesthetics to give the feeling of an older development and avoid feeling like Disneyland – although George said Harper Communities has developed at the theme park in the past.

The corridors between buildings were highly scrutinized to maintain a view of Mt. Hood, and painstaking attention was paid to wind-reducing landscaping and maximization of light, an important detail in soggy Southwest Washington, George said.

“With lighting, we can encourage people to stay and extend their day,” he said.

Meeting market demands

Harper Communities designed the concept and Planning Solutions helped refine the vision through the project’s theme. The layout and design will definitely fit in the Northwest, George said.

Planners employed Eric Hovee, principal of E.D. Hovee & Co., a Vancouver-based economic research and development firm, to further tune the project to local market demands.

The streetscape will be centered on Kerr Road, a planned private street that will cut diagonally across the northern half of the development and connect with the county’s existing road network.

In the past, this road has been a hindrance to development at the site, George said. The developers scored points with the county for integrating it into the project design.

Krys Ochia, a team leader for the county’s Community Development Department, said the county quickly grew to like the project because the developers came to the table with the community’s interests in mind and were willing to work with the county regarding design elements.

Both sides compromised on the privatization of Kerr Road, the presence of arched entryways on both ends of Kerr Road and sidewalk widths.

No development process is smooth, Ochia said, but the developers and county planners were both open, communicated well and worked cohesively.

“We appreciate the ability of the developer to come up with something different and the willingness to exceed the minimums,” he said.

The project itself is not unusual in Southwest Washington, but the level of awareness regarding how it would impact the community and willingness to compromise was different, Ochia added.

Harper Communities is looking to make it a regional project, attracting folks from Battle Ground, Camas, Fishers Landing and Northeast Portland.

“We’re hoping to reach across the mythical divide of the Columbia River,” George said.

Vancouver’s growth during the last few years has come to the attention of most national developers, he said.

“This area accepts this kind of development,” he said.

The developers bought some of the land from WinCo Foods and private landowners. To the west is undeveloped land with higher density to the north, light industrial to the east, commercial development to the south and a lumberyard to the southeast.

George said the hope is for Old Trolley Square to become the nucleus of the area.

Connectivity at the forefront

The development’s sidewalk system and roadways will connect with those of the surrounding area, and will encourage people close by to walk or bike to their destinations.

The final design will incorporate sustainable features, and planners are aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Features such as multi-level buildings that utilize land and energy efficiently and a streetscape design that incorporates a bus stop, numerous benches and bike racks help to reduce the project’s impact on the environment.

Planners also paid close attention to the positioning of 877 onsite parking spaces. George said the parking was uniquely designed so that different uses will use the spaces at different times throughout the day.

This way, less land had to be devoted to parking, he said.

[CouvScott]

2 p.m. PRJ2007-01570/PAC2007-00124 Clark County Title
Applicant: Pioneer Building Company
Description: Remove existing Black Angus Restaurant and construct 30,000-square-foot, three-story office building with 53 parking stalls.
Location: 415 E. 13th Street
Assessed Parcel Size: 39,805 square feet
Zoning Designation: CX
Neighborhood Association: Esther Short
Case Manager: Bryan Monroe (360) 487-7889

[PuyoPiyo]

Wow can't wait to see the final design!

[CouvScott]

[PuyoPiyo]

^^^Awesome! Don't you mind to share the Ankrom Moisan's website link?