Vancouver and Clark County

[maccoinnich]

Vancouver puts best foot forward as waterfront opening nears



Earlier this year, Vancouver's tourism bureau dropped $300,000 on an ad campaign right across the Columbia River, in Portland.

Visit Vancouver USA wouldn't usually spend so much effort on prospective visitors from a bordering city that's -- at least on weekends, if not during the weekday rush hour -- just minutes away.

But this year's different, because Vancouver thinks it has something new that Portlanders are going to want to see: its new waterfront district, which has its grand opening next week. The ads featured the landmark V-shaped Grant Street Pier, dramatically suspended 90 feet over the Columbia river.

The development includes a waterfront park, with the pier as its centerpiece. Nearby, three restaurants are set to open within weeks, and high-rise developments are underway just beyond.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.columbian.com/news/2018/...1-story-tower/

Developer unveils timeline for downtown Vancouver grocery, 11-story tower
Block 10 construction could finish by October 2021, Gramor Development's Barry Cain tells Vancouver City Council
The Columbian
Published: September 24, 2018, 7:08 PM

Gramor Development President Barry Cain announced a projected timeline Monday for the Block 10 project, a proposed 11-story multi-use tower that would bring apartments and a full-service grocery store to the heart of downtown Vancouver.

In a presentation to the Vancouver City Council, Cain outlined a schedule that would see a grocery tenant signed to a lease next May, and the tower completed in October 2021.

“If anyone has a favorite grocery store, now is a good time to call them and tell them you want them downtown,” he said.

The presentation was intended to give the council an overview of the city’s draft Disposition and Development Agreement with Gramor, which fulfills the city’s foremost requirement for the site: a full grocery store to serve the downtown area.

...(continues)

[cab]

Hmmm, and why can't south waterfront get a tower over 6 stories and a Grocery store again? Glad this is happening, but makes me question whats going on with our own waterfront neighborhood.

[Rob Nob]

Originally Posted by cab

Hmmm, and why can't south waterfront get a tower over 6 stories and a Grocery store again? Glad this is happening, but makes me question whats going on with our own waterfront neighborhood.

Maybe inclusionary zoning, SDC's, and other development costs?

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...velopment.html

Vancouver waterfront attracts major apartment, office development
Updated 12:29 PM; Posted 12:29 PM


Kirkland Development of Vancouver plans a 350,000-square-foot apartment and office development on a site just east of the Interstate Bridge. (Otak Inc.)

By Elliot Njus enjus@oregonian.com

A building boom along the bank of the Columbia River in Vancouver has jumped to the other side of the Interstate Bridge.

Kirkland Development, a Vancouver firm, announced it had bought the site of two restaurants, Joe’s Crab Shack and Who Song & Larry’s, at 101 and 111 S.E. Columbia Way. It didn’t disclose the price, and the sale wasn’t yet reflected in county records.

Kirkland said it plans a 350,000-square-foot development on the site, including offices and residential units, though it said the development could ultimately include a hotel, retail and restaurants as well.

The Portland-based architecture firm Otak will design the project.

...(continues)

[DCRes]

Hi everyone, my business is looking to make some multi-family investments in the greater Portland area (nothing huge that would get this forum excited, just acquiring some older properties between 50-100 units and renovating the units). I am a fairly regular contributor on many of the Utah pages and I've learned that nobody has a better sense for what is going on development wise locally than member of Skyscraper Forum.

Regarding Vancouver and Clark County in general, what would you say are the most up and coming (or will be) areas? Vancouver seems to have some big time projects coming on line, especially near the waterfront. Just trying to figure out if there are particular areas where you could see growth really taking off and if there are particular areas you would avoid.

Any local insight would be much appreciated. If you had money to invest in a particular neighborhood, where would it be?

[CouvScott]

Picture included on the vbjusa.com site

Q&A with The Springs Living CEO Fee Stubblefield
Sep 20, 2019



One of the latest developers to make its way into Vancouver is The Springs Living, an Oregon-based family owned company that has developed 17 full-service senior living facilities in Oregon and Montana. A pre-application packet for the proposed senior housing development was submitted by GBD Architects to the City of Vancouver in July on behalf of Gramor Development and The Springs Living for a 12-story complex on Block 18 that will bring nearly 300 seniors to the waterfront.
Barry Cain, president and CEO of Gramor Development, said a senior living facility has always been in the plan for the Vancouver Waterfront, and he has “been after The Springs Living for a couple, three years” to sign on with one of their signature housing projects. “I just think they do the kind of development we want to do there.” He added, “There’s a huge demand for urban living of all types in Vancouver.”
We caught up with founder and CEO of The Springs Living Fee Stubblefield about his perspective on the Vancouver Waterfront, moving into Southwest Washington and partnering up with premier developer Gramor.
VBJ: Tell me about the decision to bring The Springs Living to the Vancouver Waterfront.

Fee Stubblefield
Fee Stubblefield: We see Vancouver as a great city that has purposely focused on keeping strong community values, while proactively reinventing itself for the future. The result is a wonderful community for people to call home. The Springs Living (TSL) was founded in Oregon and has grown very slowly and purposefully, focusing on the Northwest and in particular the Portland Metro area. This geographical concentration allows us the resources to maintain the highest quality operations for our residents and employees. For all of these reasons, The Springs Living growing into Vancouver was a natural one.
VBJ: What about the market in Southwest Washington fits TSL’s development mission and vision?
Stubblefield: We look for special locations, like the Vancouver Waterfront, where people want to live and families want to visit. The Vancouver Waterfront is one of those special locations you don’t often find. We will be the only retirement community located directly on the Columbia River. That’s special. We believe there is a winning combination of the Waterfront being a destination location where people want to live and our record of creating dynamic communities for residents to live and thrive. Can you imagine how exciting it will be to wake up each day looking at the Columbia River or walking to Vancouver’s vibrant downtown?
VBJ: What was particularly attractive about the Vancouver Waterfront?
Stubblefield: We’re a local, family owned company that works hard to provide the very highest quality. Specific to the Vancouver Waterfront site, we enjoy partnering with quality developers like Barry Cain and Gramor. What Gramor has created in Vancouver is significant. The thoughtful design, the public spaces, the connection to history and environment all create an ideal environment for a Springs Living community. The Springs Living waterfront location will appeal to those who are looking for quality and want to live where the action is.
VBJ: Did you scout other locations in Southwest Washington?
Stubblefield: We have been looking for the right location in the Vancouver area for many years. We are a patient organization and waited for the right location. We believe this is that location.
VBJ: How does The Springs Living stand out in the Southwest Washington market?
Stubblefield: Our family came to the Northwest as pioneers seven generations ago, so we have deep roots in this area. We are a family-run business that has been providing quality care for our neighbors in Oregon and Montana for many years. Southwest Washington is a natural extension of our backyard, where we will provide quality housing, care and lifestyle options for more of our neighbors.
VBJ: Please provide details such as a proposed development and construction timeline, interesting features of the project, tenant capacity and leasing rates.
Stubblefield: The project is still in design, and we are working with the City of Vancouver to come up with the right building that will meet the needs of the Waterfront community and the people who live there. While we do not have all the details set, we expect to build 12 stories that will include underground parking and over 200 units of independent living, assisted living and some memory care support. Nearly 300 seniors will call this community home.
Prices have not been set, as we are still working to fine tune the financial feasibility of the project. Our study of the market shows we will be building to meet the current need in the area. When this project is complete, the market will be in balance for the coming wave of seniors looking for living options that make life just a little easier and also very exciting.
Vancouver Waterfront Block 18: The Springs Living
A senior housing project by Oregon-based developer The Springs Living is proposed for Block 18 of the Vancouver Waterfront. The development, which will be a mix of independent living, assisted living and memory care, carries a strong sense of place in its new home on the Columbia. According to the pre-application packet filed by GBS Architects, components of the site design include: building arrival courtyard with specialty paving, pedestrian walkways on the east and west sides of the building, a pedestrian space along the south of the property between the building and waterfront park and stormwater facilities. A public art sculpture and plaza with seating and an overhead shade structure will give the building a strong presence at the intersection of Waterfront and Columbia Ways. Benches with integrated wind screens are located through the eastern pedestrian mews along with various sizes of circular planters with trees. A water feature at the corner of the arrival courtyard connects, through specialty paving that meanders through the pedestrian mews, with another pool at the southeastern corner of the site, where the site intersects with the waterfront park.
Block 18 Project Team
The Springs Living, GDB Architects, KPFF, Lango Hansen Landscape Architects, HHPR, Howard S. Wright Construction.
The Springs Living by the numbers
12 stories, 200 senior housing units, 300 seniors served, 378,293 gross square feet (GSF), 100,000 GSF parking, 219 parking stalls, 3 landscaped roofs , 1 rooftop terrace with wine bar. $5,626,200 market value in 2019

[CouvScott]

A riverside public market house has always been the centerpiece of the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1 redevelopment project, but the early designs for the area’s other blocks are also aiming high when it comes to creating distinctive public spaces.
A two-story set of steps and terraced seating areas could become the visual centerpiece at the area’s northern end.
Representatives from developer Lincoln Property Co. and the architecture firms West of West and DLR Group attended a Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners workshop on Tuesday to outline their preliminary plans for blocks A and C, which together comprise the northern half of the 10-acre Terminal 1 property.
The team’s proposal calls for a pair of seven-story mixed-use buildings: a multi-family residential building on the western block and an office building on the eastern block. The buildings would feature ground floor retail on the south side opening out on to Columbia Way. The first two stories of both buildings would be a shared internal parking garage.

Port says it's extending lease for WareHouse '23
The Port of Vancouver on Tuesday announced it is extending a lease agreement with WareHouse '23, a restaurant that occupies the former Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay restaurant building at Terminal 1.

The end-date agreement changed from Dec. 31, 2020, to Feb. 15, 2021, according to the Port of Vancouver. It will allow the restaurant to run through the end of 2020 and give it almost two months to vacate before the building is demolished in 2021.
WareHouse '23, owned by Mark Matthias, who also owns Beaches restaurant, has not secured a spot at Terminal 1 after it's developed. Matthias and the port are in talks about WareHouse '23 coming back, but plans are not likely to be made soon.
Heather Stebbings, spokeswoman for the Port of Vancouver, said that Matthias has been a reliable tenant and that the Port would like to have him back.
"We would love to have him there, but we don't have any current agreements in place," she said.
Julianna Marler, Port of Vancouver CEO, said in a news release that "Mark's partnership and his vision to revitalize this space has helped create the energy and excitement for the future of Terminal 1."
Block D update
Port commissioners voted to extend the lease during a meeting on Tuesday morning. The meeting also included an update on the progress of ground stabilization efforts at Terminal 1's block D, the future site of the AC Hotel by Marriott.
A drilling rig has been working its way around the site to install a series of deep soil mixing columns by drilling down and injecting the cement mix for concrete. The process is about 60 percent complete, according to port project delivery manager Mark Newell.
Crews have also installed a temporary shoring wall and begun work to excavate the site. The excavated material is being trucked to a temporary stockpile at the west end of the port's Terminal 5, he said, where it will be saved for use in a future project.
The garage entrances would all be on the north side, according to Lincoln Property Company executive vice president Patrick Gilligan, in order to draw traffic away from Columbia Way and onto the access road between the buildings and the BNSF railway berm.
The retail uses on the south side of the buildings would conceal the garage from view, with the goal of creating an open and pedestrian-friendly space connecting the north blocks to the rest of Terminal 1.
The design of the buildings is intended to highlight Terminal 1’s legacy as an industrial area by featuring warehouse-style glass cladding on the office building and various metal surfaces incorporated into the public areas along the retail section. The goal is also to give the building a distinct look that sets it apart from other nearby mixed-use projects at The Waterfront Vancouver.
“We think this kind of breaks up some of the homogeneity,” Gilligan said.
Gilligan didn’t announce any specific retail tenants, but he said the partners plan to select tenants carefully in order to land the kind of experiential retail that tends to succeed better than traditional retail in today’s market. Restaurant uses will be a major component, he said, and the partners will try to search for local tenants.

The central feature of the proposed design is a raised pedestrian area on top of the garage between the two buildings, with an elaborate set of stairs and terraced platforms leading down to the ground level on the south side.
Gilligan described the structure as “Spanish Steps”-inspired — referencing a famous outdoor stairway between two plazas in Italy — with lots of landscaping and places for visitors to meet and sit down. The stairs and mezzanine would be public, Gilligan said, with access to upper-floor portions of the buildings from the plaza.
The original Terminal 1 plans had called for a flat pedestrian route between the buildings at ground level, but Gilligan said that route became a dead-end “pathway into the rail berm,” which would have made it harder to find retail tenants for the rear spaces.
The elevated pedestrian area creates a more distinctive space with more daylight and better views, he said, and it raises a future possibility: a pedestrian bridge above the BNSF line that could connect to the mezzanine.

The bridge isn’t being proposed as part of this project, Gilligan said, but the mezzanine design would allow for such a bridge to be built at some point in the future, possibly as a way to connect Terminal 1 with a future development on the other side of the berm.
“We’re sort of setting the stage for that to happen someday,” he said. “If it doesn’t, we’ve still got this great raised pedestrian platform that the buildings can share.”
The garage levels are all above ground, and Gilligan said that was a deliberate choice so they can be repurposed later. Demand for parking is currently very high, he said, but the developers are trying to be mindful of potential transportation changes such as the arrival self-driving cars. If the demand for parking ever decreases, all or part of the garage could be converted into additional office or retail space.
Bridge concerns
Port CEO Julianna Marler asked about the impact of a potential future replacement for the Interstate 5 Bridge, and Gilligan said the building was designed with that project in mind. The retail and residential uses are almost all on the south and west sides of the block, he said, and the eastern side of the office building is angled to keep it outside of the likely footprint of a replacement bridge.

“We’re really trying to push much of the ground floor activity away from those bridge structures,” he said.
Marler and the port commissioners all reacted positively to the design ideas. Gilligan said the team’s next step will be to get input from the city before heading into the permitting process. The project is currently on track to break ground in the first quarter of 2021.

[cityscapes]

[urbanlife]

That actually looks really great, I really wish there would be a light rail stop there to add to it and make it so they could connect the waterfront with the rest of downtown with a few light rail stops.

[CouvScott]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Ro...ature=youtu.be

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by CouvScott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Ro...ature=youtu.be

It looks great and I'm happy to see the transformation from what it once was. Am I alone in feeling they really missed some opportunity with all of that surface parking though? Looks like what you'd see outside of a store like Target instead of a high density area like this.

[davebettin]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

It looks great and I'm happy to see the transformation from what it once was. Am I alone in feeling they really missed some opportunity with all of that surface parking though? Looks like what you'd see outside of a store like Target instead of a high density area like this.

All of these blocks will be developed. In fact one of them is being developed with an above-ground parking structure with retail on the floor.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by davebettin

All of these blocks will be developed. In fact one of them is being developed with an above-ground parking structure with retail on the floor.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[uncommon.name]

All-new ilani hotel tower set for 2023 completion in S.W. Washington

A new hotel tower is on the way for ilani in Washington and should finish in 2023.

The Ridgefield, Washington-area casino and entertainment complex, which opened in 2017, celebrates its fourth anniversary this year. A groundbreaking for the new hotel was held on Friday morning.

The hotel will rise 14 stories and hold almost 300 rooms, according to ilani.

Continued here...

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Continued here...

That's some good news that will make Ilani more enticing for a quick weekend getaway to a casino.

[green_man]

This looks pretty nice, but no indication of how it might conflict with a potential replacement of the Interstate Bridge:


https://www.kgw.com/article/news/loc...d-46e2b32bc3e7

Port of Vancouver's Terminal 1 waterfront projects move ahead

Tim Gordon | KGW News | April 27, 2021

Vancouver's waterfront continues to be rebuilt with community and tourism in mind. Commissioners with the Port of Vancouver USA recently approved a lease agreement adding two more buildings.

[green_man]

The very first West Coast location for this chain - looks more than worth messing up my glucose level


https://www.columbian.com/news/2021/...ont-vancouver/

Artisan milkshake bar The Yard coming to The Waterfront Vancouver

Will Campbell | The Columbian | April 5, 2021

A new artisan milkshake bar is coming to The Waterfront Vancouver this summer.

The Yard, an Alabama-based milkshake company, offers customers a dazzling display of Instagram-worthy milkshakes with ingredients nearly spilling from Mason jars.

[AcmeGreg]

Port of Vancouver's Terminal 1 waterfront projects move ahead

Tim Gordon | KGW News | April 27, 2021[/QUOTE]

You have to admire how Vancouver is moving ahead with this ambitious development - including an impressively-scaled public market. Meanwhile over the past 20-some years Portland has gotten absolutely nowhere with its own James Beard Market and our downtown core continues to be boarded up and held hostage by homeless camps and several hundred anarchists. But hey, we're constructing a tall & shiny "transformational" hotel/home/spa for the wealthy! Hmmm.

[davebettin]

Port, city (Washougal/Camas) give OK to waterfront development plan

https://www.camaspostrecord.com/news...elopment-plan/

Impressive Village'esque waterfront development.

This is in addition to the new Ninebark apartments which will be developed right next to the above waterfront development. - https://www.liveatninebark.com/.