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  #501  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 5:55 AM
Mr. Walch Mr. Walch is offline
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You are right. Vancouver, while having an okay small downtown is probable not able to support a collection of high rises any time soon. This especially true when Portland is fluch with big development sites (SoWa, Conway, Post Office, Lloyd, North Peral) and is only building 6 story buildings, even on SoWa waterfront.
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  #502  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 2:08 AM
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Nice video

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  #503  
Old Posted May 1, 2013, 2:37 AM
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Well, at least they included an underpass for Amtrak and freight trains. Something I wish downtown Portland had on Naito.



I'd be surprised to see 3-4 of those building actually built, let alone the entire project.




Edit: That video was very well done.
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  #504  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2014, 3:16 AM
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The anti-oil terminal crowd, which includes developers behind a $1.3 billion Vancouver waterfront project, has been pushing the council to join the opposition. Port of Vancouver officials maintain that an oil terminal and waterfront development can coexist along the Columbia River.

Barry Cain, president of Tualatin, Ore.-based Gramor Development, has said there's zero chance the development project will happen if the oil terminal gets built.
http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/f...rminal-permit/
Well it looks like this waterfront project could be derailed by an oil terminal. I really hope that an agreement of some kind can be reached because this would be such a great move forward for downtown Vancouver.

With how much that city has grown, I hope that one day soon they realize how much a part of the Portland metro they are and look at things like light rail realistically. I also think if Vancouver added any form of light rail, Portland might have to look into some sort of an express line so that those from Vancouver wouldn't have to make local stops the entire distance.
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  #505  
Old Posted May 2, 2014, 2:44 PM
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Q&A: Gramor’s Barry Cain talks waterfront plans, proposed oil terminal

From the Vancouver Business Journal...

Redeveloping downtown Vancouver’s 32-acre waterfront has long been a top priority for city leaders, and with improved access to the property, developers are now inching closer to construction.

Working closely with the city, Tualatin-based Gramor Development (an investor in Columbia Waterfront LLC) is tasked with transforming the property into a destination – one that’s home to jobs, restaurants, shops, a hotel and a park.

Barry Cain, Gramor president and vocal opponent of the proposed Tesoro-Savage oil export terminal at the Port of Vancouver, sat down with the Vancouver Business Journal to discuss the waterfront project’s latest developments.

Q: How do you feel about where Vancouver’s waterfront project sits today?

Cain: It’s a real positive time. There’s one negative thing happening, but for the most part there are a lot of really positive things happening. The economy is where it should be for us to be able to [move forward] and some of the big infrastructure issues have been settled. It has come a long way in the eight-plus years we’ve been involved with it.

We would like to have been where we are now a couple years ago, but there’s a limit to how far we could be at this point because the access project the city marshaled is really just finishing. We’re only just now able to get into the site and do things.

Q: Has the scope of the project changed since it was originally envisioned nearly a decade ago?

Cain: It’s back to where it was when we were initially involved with it, but we can’t be too [overconfident] because you don’t know how long these times are going to last. We need to move forward now and we don’t need anything delaying it because you don’t know when the stars will align again. I think this economy will continue to improve for a few years.

Q: What is happening now at the site?

Cain: Right now we are in the process of designing a road. The plan is to go out to bid for it in early May, start construction in August and have it complete by the first of the year. At that point we’d have a traffic light at Columbia Street [and] a beautiful entrance into the project … It’s going to be a big deal because by the end of the year you’ll be able to drive in and see it; you’ll see the quality it’s going to be.

Q: When will construction of the waterfront park begin?

Cain: The hope is we’ll have all the permits within this year and then be building it next year. That’s the plan.

It’s the city’s job to finish the drawings and get the permit on it. They ended up using the same consultants we had – PWL Partnership Inc. out of Vancouver B.C. They’ve done some really beautiful parks up there. They did the Olympic Village … We thought they were perfect because they’re really high quality, they put a lot of effort into the details and their parks also have the feel of the Northwest.

Q: What about buildings and tenants?

Cain: We’ve got a hotel, probably 180 rooms, which I think is complimentary (to the Hilton).When this all gets done its going to completely change the demand for hotel space downtown. This will compete with other hotels in downtown Portland.

We’re moving forward with residential and office building designs now. We’re not sure which ones we will [construct] ourselves … We’ve already had some office tenants that are interested. We want to be in a position to start buildings next year.

Q: Two of the more prominent buildings in your designs are tailored for large restaurants. What can you tell us about those buildings?

Cain: We have the ability to put a ground-floor 8,000-square-foot restaurant in one building, and in the other building it’s about 12,000 square feet on the first level.

We’re just now finishing [the design of] these buildings so we can go out and talk to people. I know [interest] is going to be really strong. Local people will be all over it.

I’m sure we’ll have the best of local restaurants, and we would like to get one from outside of the area that would [build] maybe one restaurant in the Portland area – a Roy’s or a Duke’s or something that would make a statement.

Q: What has your experience been like working with the city of Vancouver on this project?

Cain: There has been some change at the city, but the important people have stayed. It has been great having [City Manager] Eric Holmes there. Right from the beginning, it has been important to him. Eric and the rest of the city council are all very supportive of it.
Everyone knows how important it is. It’s going to have a huge effect on the future of Vancouver.

Q: How has the uniqueness of downtown Vancouver’s waterfront property guided development plans?

Cain: This should compete well with any waterfront project anywhere. Nothing like this exists in the Portland metro area. It’s a half-mile of south facing waterfront along the Columbia River right off of I-5. It’s a perfect piece of property and there are so many things you can do with it; it’ so important. It’s going to get so much attention it has just got to be done right.

We don’t want to plop down buildings or a park that could go anywhere. We’re all really keyed in to what this particular site is and where it is. We want to fit it uniquely. Everyone will feel better about Vancouver and Clark County because this is here.

Q: You’ve come out publicly against the proposed oil export terminal at the Port of Vancouver. Do you feel this is an “either/or” scenario where we can’t have both projects?

Cain: You can see the quality we’re talking about. We’re talking about a park where everyone will go to take pictures and to show their guests. We think this will be a top five destination in the Portland area when we are done. If oil trains are coming through all the time it’s hard to imagine that not distracting from that. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly how much [an oil terminal would affect the project], but my best guess is a whole lot.

We always knew and were okay with the numbers [of trains]. I don’t love it, but I think we can get by. You’ve got the jets going by, the boats going, all of those things. But these oil trains are different. They’re actually blowing up. They’re very dangerous.

Half of our project is within 100 feet of that rail line. You can deal with the noise and the rail traffic, but when you’ve got however many hours a day of those going by and then on top of that having the inherent risk of them going by … I don’t know if we’ll be able to build on any of those back blocks [near the rail line]. I really just don’t know.

That’s why I’ve said just stop the oil project. Stop it right now because it’s obviously going to affect [the waterfront project] a lot and there’s nothing obvious in the economics that says we’ve got to have that. What is in it for anybody in Clark County to have an oil depot?
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  #506  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2014, 3:56 PM
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Vancouver Waterfront

http://www.vbjusa.com/news/top-stori...-new-rendering

A new rendering of Vancouver’s waterfront development is providing new details about what the 32-acre project along the Columbia River may look like.

The image, provided to the Vancouver Business Journal by project developer Gramor Development, depicts a portion of a planned 7.3 acre waterfront park, a pier and dock, as well as several buildings.

As illustrated above, the two buildings with glass exteriors that run alongside the park will be marketed to restaurants, according to Gramor President and CEO Barry Cain.

“We have the ability to put a ground-floor 8,000-square-foot restaurant in one building, and in the other building it’s about 12,000 square feet on the first level,” Cain told the VBJ during an interview last month.

“I’m sure we’ll have the best of local restaurants, and we would like to get one from outside of the area that would [build] maybe one restaurant in the Portland area – a Roy’s or a Duke’s or something that would make a statement,” he said.

Construction of the park and the buildings is expected to begin next year.

Terminal talk

Publicly opposed to the proposed Tesoro-Savage oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver, Cain called the Vancouver City Council’s resolution this month to formally oppose the port project “super positive.”

“I’m confident in the end that the right thing is going to happen there,” Cain said. “So we’re moving forward and I think as people see the waterfront development starting to become more real it will add to how everybody’s agreeing on what’s right and what’s wrong for downtown Vancouver.”
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  #507  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2014, 8:41 PM
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Very cool looking, would be fantastic for Vancouver to have an urban waterfront.
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  #508  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2014, 12:10 AM
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This has been in proposal for years, it will be nice if Vancouver ever builds this. Would be nice if they included light rail to this project. Something Vancouver is really missing out on.
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  #509  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2014, 2:05 AM
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Yeah, I don't have much confidence this will ever happen.
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  #510  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2014, 6:49 AM
davehogan davehogan is offline
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Originally Posted by bvpcvm View Post
Yeah, I don't have much confidence this will ever happen.
The road access has already been under construction for a while. The fairly outdated Google Maps views show the work underway, and that was probably 18-24 months ago.

They've been doing work to clean up the soil since I think 2010. The project is well underway, and is actually more invested in already than it may seem. Enough has been spent on the street access and site cleanup already that I'm sure it'll happen at some kind of pace. It may be glacial, but there are enough sunk costs that it should keep moving at some pace.
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  #511  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2014, 2:50 AM
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Originally Posted by davehogan View Post
The road access has already been under construction for a while. The fairly outdated Google Maps views show the work underway, and that was probably 18-24 months ago.

They've been doing work to clean up the soil since I think 2010. The project is well underway, and is actually more invested in already than it may seem. Enough has been spent on the street access and site cleanup already that I'm sure it'll happen at some kind of pace. It may be glacial, but there are enough sunk costs that it should keep moving at some pace.
That is good to know, I imagine it will come more as a surprise to me one day when I am crossing the Columbia and see their waterfront under construction with buildings going up.
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  #512  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2014, 5:15 PM
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Happy to hear some progress is being made, but hard to imagine this really thriving -- it's tucked away at the far end of Vancouver where nobody goes. (Although DT itself is tucked away from the city's main population areas and they have successfully redeveloped Esther Short Park with nearby condos etc...) so who knows, hopefully they have a workable vision.
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  #513  
Old Posted Jun 28, 2014, 8:54 AM
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Originally Posted by urbanlife View Post
That is good to know, I imagine it will come more as a surprise to me one day when I am crossing the Columbia and see their waterfront under construction with buildings going up.
It may be sooner than you think. I rarely cross the Columbia, but if this gets built maybe I'll finally have a reason to.
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  #514  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:45 AM
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I have some friends who live near Downtown Vancouver, and despite my initial skepticism, it's a much more interesting place than people this side of the Columbia give it credit for. It's not there yet, but it has a lot going for it. A traditional street pattern. Walkable. Relatively good public transportation. A mix of fabric buildings, and good new development (the library, Esther Short Park). Some decent bars. Proximity to Portland. So yeah, I like this guy's vision. He's easy on the eyes too.

Quote:
Sparks building transforming: Former home furnishings store is Hurley's newest renovation project downtown



As developer Ryan Hurley walked through his latest downtown Vancouver acquisition on a recent July morning, he spoke of a vision beyond the gutted former home of Sparks Home Furnishings.

“This building has great bones,” he said, while workers in hard hats yanked aging insulation from the rafters and dropped it in dirty mounds on the naked concrete below. “It’s pedestrian friendly; the new library has given us a connection to the park. This area of downtown used to be dingy. We want it to come alive.”

Halfway through its remodeling project, the 40,000-square-foot store that for more than 50 years sold loveseats, patio sets and armoires has been stripped of its finishing and fixtures. Dimly lit, it looks closer to “dingy” than “alive.”

But those who’ve watched Hurley remodel four previous downtown buildings in less than five years say they have faith in the vision he’s bringing to the city block between Broadway and C Street along Evergreen Boulevard.
...continues at the Columbian.
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  #515  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2014, 6:25 PM
NewUrbanist NewUrbanist is offline
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Originally Posted by maccoinnich View Post
I have some friends who live near Downtown Vancouver, and despite my initial skepticism, it's a much more interesting place than people this side of the Columbia give it credit for. It's not there yet, but it has a lot going for it. A traditional street pattern. Walkable. Relatively good public transportation. A mix of fabric buildings, and good new development (the library, Esther Short Park). Some decent bars. Proximity to Portland. So yeah, I like this guy's vision. He's easy on the eyes too.



...continues at the Columbian.
Whoa. When did developers become so handsome? He should hang with Jordan Menashe and Jonathan Malsin - that'd make one good looking developer's forum at the MAC Club.
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  #516  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2014, 6:49 PM
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Sometimes this forum really needs a "like" button.
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  #517  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2014, 7:31 PM
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Whoa. When did developers become so handsome?
I'm dying to crack a handsome criminal joke here, but I wouldn't want to imply that developers are criminals.

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  #518  
Old Posted Sep 18, 2014, 7:23 PM
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Vancouver oil train plan calls Gramor's waterfront plans into question
Sep 18, 2014, 11:22am PDT Updated: Sep 18, 2014, 11:50am PDT
Wendy Culverwell
Staff Reporter- Portland Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...T&t=1411067669

Quote:
A consultant hired by Vancouver Energy to study the impact of oil trains on waterfront developer has reached a surprising conclusion.

Seattle-based Heartland LLC says Gramor Development's ambitious plans to construct office, residential, recreational and retail amenities on nearly 30 acres fronting the Columbia River "isn't viable" in part because it depends on above-market rents.

The market assessment, which is contained in a preliminary draft Environmental Impact Statement submitted by Vancouver Energy to the Washington Energy Facilities Siting Council, said concerns the oil terminal will harm Gramor's Vancouver Waterfront project are moot.

Vancouver Energy, a joint venture between Tesoro and Savage Energy, wants to transport oil by train to Vancouver, where it would transfer it to ships that would transport it to refineries on the West Coast. It commissioned the report in response to concerns raised by Tualatin-based Gramor, which has teamed with the city of Vancouver to create a Pearl District-like community on a former industrial site for nearly a decade.

A Gramor study concluded the oil terminal project would negatively impact the waterfront development by making it less attractive to prospective tenants. A study by Johnson Economics estimated the terminal will impact the waterfront project by 30 percent.

Check back for updates and a response from Gramor.

Wendy Culverwell covers sustainable business, manufacturing and law.
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  #519  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2014, 11:35 PM
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Trash talk envelops Vancouver's waterfront plans, oil terminal proposal
Sep 19, 2014, 10:57am PDT Updated: Sep 19, 2014, 3:41pm PDT
Wendy Culverwell
Staff Reporter- Portland Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...s.html?s=print

Quote:
Barry Cain has spent the better part of a decade working to transform a mill site at Vancouver’s Columbia River waterfront into a top flight destination.

He is, needless to say, less than thrilled that a Seattle consultant says his Vancouver Waterfront plan is “not viable”.

“I don’t read trash literature,” said Cain, president of Tualatin-based Gramor Development, referring to a report commissioned by backers of the Vancouver Energy oil terminal in response to concerns oil trains will devalue the costly waterfront project.

Gramor purchased the 30-acre former Boise mill site and is working closely with the city of Vancouver and other agencies to improve access so the waterfront can spout parks, Class A offices, upscale restaurants, stores and even hotels.

The dust-up arrives courtesy Vancouver Energy, which wants to construct an oil terminal on Port of Vancouver USA property to facilitate oil shipments to West Coast refineries from Midwestern sites.

Gramor objected to the plan. Having oil-filled trains pass on nearby train tracks by will make Vancouver Waterfront less attractive to would-be tenants — 30 percent less attractive, specifically.

...

Heartland didn't just say the project isn't viable. It went a step further and suggested Gramor replace high-end waterfront amenities with lower-priced ones.

"As a path to Project viability, we recommend the Developer structure a development program that minimizes structured parking (especially below-grade), allows for at least interim surface parking, and targets economical construction methods that don't require achievement of top-of-class rents to be financially feasible. A successful initial phase of this magnitude, developed along the waterfront, might set the stage for a more intense level of development on the more inland portion of the Project."

For its part, Vancouver Energy is distancing itself from Heartland.

...

Gramor, with funding from the city and state, will begin construction of a major road through the site this year. By 2015, between four and six buildings, including a hotel and restaurants, will be under construction.

“We won’t have to wait long to prove them wrong,” he said.
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  #520  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2014, 11:35 PM
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Four to six building going up in 2015? Anybody see any early renderings or proposals?
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