sorry about all the posts, the big O had an incredible section in this weeks Sunday edition. I'm posting all the stories for each city in this one thread.
Beaverton looks beyond 'burb role
AS THE WESTSIDE CITY BECOMES AN URBAN CENTER OF ITS OWN, LEADERS SEE MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR A RENAISSANCE THROUGH REDEVELOPMENT
Saturday, April 21, 2007
DAVID R. ANDERSON
The Oregonian
BEAVERTON -- From his third-floor office in City Hall, Mayor Rob Drake can't help but see blocks and blocks begging for redevelopment.
In one direction, a garbage hauler fills land that city leaders would like to recast as a new light-rail station and gateway to the city. In another direction, the former Greenwood Inn's rubble fills prime land just off busy Oregon 217. A third shows a horseradish plant's former home.
In the jargon of economic development experts, the city is rich with "opportunity sites."
Beaverton is an inner-ring city, an older suburb close to an urban center that is largely built out. But Drake is convinced the city is nearing a renaissance.
It's difficult to know what Beaverton will look like in 20 years, but several planned developments offer clues to the city's future shape.
Developers of the Round at Beaverton Central have started construction on a fifth building, with the eight-building project along the MAX light-rail line scheduled for completion next year. And city officials are soon to start choosing a developer for the adjacent Westgate Theatre property, where they hope to build more multistory buildings with housing and offices above ground-floor retail and parking garages.
"The Round is sort of a precursor," Drake said. "I think you'll see a domino effect."
The Peterkort family has proposed $1 billion in high-density offices, retail stores and apartments along Southwest Barnes Road, stretching north and west from U.S. 26 and Oregon 217.
But those expecting dramatic and sudden change are likely to be disappointed.
"It's going to be incremental," Drake said. "If money was no object, it would be block-by-block."
However, City Councilor Bruce Dalrymple says city leaders should think bigger. He points to Bellevue, Wash., as a potential model for Beaverton's future. Once a suburban bedroom community to Seattle, it has literally grown up, with 20- to 30-story office buildings.
Dalrymple says Beaverton hasn't decided what it wants to be. He says the city set its sights too low with only five-story buildings at the Round, for example.
"We need to set a vision for the future, otherwise it's not going to be any different from today," he said. "There's a lot more that could be done, in my mind."
Like Bellevue, Beaverton has become its own city with an identity distinct from Portland, said Jonathan Schlueter, executive director of the Westside Economic Alliance. It's not a bedroom community, as more Portland-area residents commute to jobs in Washington County than commute out of the county, according to WorkSource Oregon.
Also, the county is growing at a rate of more than 1,000 residents a month, Schlueter said. But that could reveal one of Beaverton's weaknesses as it tries to reinvent itself: transportation.
The city is the nexus of major transportation routes. It is served by U.S. 26, Oregon 217 and westside light rail. Next year, a commuter rail line should connect with cities as far south as Wilsonville. But anyone who has tried to drive through the city at rush hour knows getting around is tough and only going to get worse.
Drake acknowledges that Beaverton lacks the street grid that has served Portland so well. And no one seems to have an easy solution.
Some see the car dealerships -- with their vast parking lots -- that stretch along Southwest Canyon Road as another obstacle to redevelopment.
After a bad experience two decades ago, the city's charter prohibits urban renewal districts. But Drake said he wouldn't rule out reconsidering the zones that can divert increased property taxes from climbing assessed values into local improvements such as parking garages or street projects.
But where some see challenges, many view opportunities.
The former Frito-Lay plant, vacated two years ago, was recently leased by a property owner who is considering adding an even larger building next door. Talk is swirling about redevelopment on the Greenwood Inn site, about 17 acres just off Oregon 217.
Also, one of the few areas with essentially vacant fields available for development is the Peterkort family properties along Southwest Barnes Road.
Unlike Hillsboro, any future growth in Beaverton is likely to be residential. Beaverton has little room to add commercial or industrial land. Redevelopment will key the city's growth. For example, blocks with older single-family houses between Southwest Farmington Road and Fifth Street, which have been converted to businesses, could be torn down and built up.
The landlocked city's economic development staff is focusing on growing businesses that are already in town, said Rob Pochert, the city's economic development program manager. One exception is the city's high-tech business incubator, which is now full.
Other initiatives include a private consultant working on a downtown parking strategy for Beaverton and Hillsboro.
Those efforts will all help. But Lorraine Clarno, president of the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce, agrees with Dalrymple that community members need to step back and figure out what they want the city to be.
"Small, baby steps are being made," she said. "I think we're getting smarter and a little more focused in our strategies."
With those efforts and a strong economy, Beaverton could further shape its identity.
"Beaverton could become the downtown of the west side," Pochert said.
David R. Anderson: 503-294-5199; davidanderson@ news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/special/ou...980.xml&coll=7