Developer envisions 5,000 residents on former industrial site
Wednesday, June 10 | 7:27 p.m.
BY JEFFREY MIZE AND JULIA ANDERSON
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITERS
Twist Architecture and Design This rendering released Wednesday is the latest depiction of a high-rise waterfront community that could be built west of the Interstate 5 Bridge.
A formal plan to build a Vancouver waterfront community with almost 5,000 residents and 3,500 workers was submitted Wednesday to city planners.
Gramor Development of Tualatin, Ore., and its local investors, doing business as Columbia Waterfront LLC, filed a master plan for redeveloping the former Boise Cascade paper mill site along the Columbia River.
Gramor President Barry Cain called the project "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect the community with the river."
The waterfront project could represent almost $1.3 billion worth of construction and create 12,000 construction jobs over its development timeline, set to start in 2011.
Cain and David Copenhaver, Gramor's vice president of development, acknowledged that obstacles remain, including signing up development partners who can secure construction financing, experiencing a turnaround in the housing and office markets and winning continued support from the city of Vancouver for parks and other amenities.
"The economy is starting to turn, so we feel that by the time we are ready to begin construction, things will be on the upswing," Cain said. "Financial markets are not where they need to be, but they are going in the right direction. We're confident about the Northwest (economy) and about Vancouver."
The master plan was filed with the city Wednesday afternoon. City officials have long coveted the waterfront project, not only for its potential to create jobs and generate taxes, but also for the prestige of having a prominent project on the West's mightiest river.
The overall project would include:
n More than 1 million square feet of office space.
n 250,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
n 3,000 to 3,300 residential units.
n A 160-room hotel.
n Ten acres of trails, parks and other open space.
Residential units would be a mix of condominiums, apartments, senior housing and so-called "affordable" work force housing for people earning modest wages.
Cain said the first phase of construction likely would include five or six buildings offering 1 million square feet focusing on affordable and senior housing, a reflection of a sour market for luxury condominiums.
"No one is going to plan on … regular condos right now," he said. "We are probably a few years away."
The city intends to extend Esther and Grant streets south though the railroad berm to open up the 32-acre site, just west of the Interstate 5 Bridge. The land has been cleared of the old paper mill and is now fenced off from the public.
The developer and the city both want to see a waterfront park along the length of the project.
Gramor intends to create a "festival" street along a section of the waterfront that could be closed for street fairs and other events. It's all part of fostering an environment that encourages restaurants, shops, nightlife and pedestrian-oriented development.
"The waterfront can't be the sole attraction," Copenhaver said. "This project really is an extension of downtown offering a diversity of uses. The waterfront is an amenity, but this can't be a standalone development. It's got to connect with the rest of downtown."
Buildings in the first phase likely would be five to seven stories tall. As construction progresses farther to the west, away from Pearson Field, buildings could rise to 20 stories, which would make them the tallest in Clark County.
"It will completely transform the downtown," Cain said. "That's what we want to do."
Gramor has developed more than 40 retail projects valued in excess of $700 million throughout the Portland-Vancouver area.
Down economy
Gramor officials say they are talking with development partners who would take on pieces of the project within the overall master plan submitted Wednesday.
George Diamond, with Real Estate Investment Group of Portland, is handling the sales and leasing. Diamond is also an investor in Columbia Waterfront.
Gramor officials say now, during a lousy economy, is precisely the time to lay the foundation for a major project that can proceed when the economy rebounds.
"Just as sure as there are down times, there are up times," Cain said. "This is the best site in the world. You look back in a few years, you aren't going to be thinking about the bad times."
Vancouver already has spent $4.4 million on land and engineering to promote waterfront redevelopment and has lobbied state and federal officials to provide millions more.
The city, however, still has not signed a development agreement with Columbia Waterfront to ensure developers deliver on their project.
The agreement has been delayed for months as the different parties sort though final details. The latest plan calls for the city council to approve the agreement in early July.
The agreement would last for 20 years and require developers to hit minimum densities to ensure the city doesn't build infrastructure to support a high-rise waterfront community but end up with a low-density enclave.
Binding restriction
The city council last November agreed to spend $15.5 million toward more than $44 million in rail, road and utility improvements. Columbia Waterfront has pledged $8 million to this off-site infrastructure work, in addition to the $31 million the developer expects to spend on streets, street lights and utilities inside the 32-acre site.
Even if Gramor and its investors walk away from the project and sell the land, the agreement's conditions would be a deed restriction on the waterfront site that would obligate future owners.
For an additional layer of financial certainty, the development agreement would require Columbia Waterfront's investors to provide personal guarantees for the $8 million commitment.
That means that even if the limited liability company folds, the city could go to court to pry the $8 million loose from Gramor and its investors.
http://www.columbian.com/article/200...nt+plan+filed+