b2b logo clark county's business to business magazine
Saturday, October 11, 2008   [archives]
  leading topic snapshots stockwatch what's happening in their own words cc stats 'n facts contact us  HOME PAGE
FEATURES:  2007 Economic Forecast Tax Tips Bird Brained Idea? Walking The Line Building Our Future Changing Oil

Retail will continue to be a main theme for development in Clark County this year as a host of national store chains and restaurants enter or expand in the area’s growing consumer market.

The three largest construction projects expected to get under way here in 2007 all have a retail component and will add a total of more than 400,000 square feet of new space worth $580 million. Plans call for the county’s fourth Wal-Mart Supercenter in east Vancouver and a new Fred Meyer store near downtown Vancouver. The Landing in east Vancouver is expected to bring new players to the county’s retail mix.

Other Top 10 construction projects will accommodate students at Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver, while new space opens up for patients of Southwest Washington Medical Center in the eight-story Firstenburg Tower.

At least one local contractor, Ron Frederiksen, called Clark County’s construction scene healthy, though still vulnerable to tightened land supplies and the rising cost of materials.

“It’s not like the phone is ringing off the hook and we’re making deals left and right,” said Frederiksen, president and chief executive officer of RSV Construction Services in Vancouver. “But it’s a very healthy market.”

In 2005, builders won more than 400 permits for commercial construction projects worth $160.1 million. The numbers were down in 2006, mostly because several major health care projects that got started in 2005 were either completed or nearly completed in 2006.

Here’s a list of the largest Clark County construction projects either under way or on the horizon for 2007.

1. The Landing

Location: Former Evergreen Airport site on Mill Plain Boulevard east of 136th Avenue.
Commercial Developer: Opus Northwest, Minneapolis, Minn.
Residential Developer: Legend Homes/Matrix Development, Portland.
Scope: Mixed-use development of retail, dining, hotel and office space and housing on 60 acres.
Cost: $215 million
Timing: Spring ground breaking.

3. Riverwest

Location: Four downtown Vancouver city blocks on the west side of Interstate 5 at Evergreen Boulevard.
Developer: Killian Pacific, Vancouver.
Scope: A 90,000-square-foot public library, 200 apartment units, 120,000 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of retail space, a central plaza and underground parking.
Cost: $165 million.
Timing: Project planning begins this year with ground breaking in 2008.

5. Eastgate Plaza (Wal-Mart anchor)

Location: A 47-acre tract on the south side of Fourth Plain Boulevard between Northeast 140th and 147th avenues in east Vancouver.
Developer: Alexandria Investment Co., Bellevue.
Scope: 452,000 square feet of shop, service and restaurant space, including a 209,000-square-foot Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
Cost: $80 million.
Timing: Project is stalled because of transportation issues. Developers say construction could start in 2008.

7. The Columbian Office Building

Location: East Sixth and Esther streets.
Developer: Downtown Vitality Partners LLC.
Scope: 112,000 square feet of office space on six floors and 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space facing the park. Newspaper staff will fill four floors, with the fifth and sixth floors available for lease.
Cost: $30 million.
Timing: Completion by fall.

9. Hazel Dell Square

Location: A four-block site west of Interstate 5 at Northeast 78th Street and Hazel Dell Avenue.
Developer: Gramor Development, Tualatin, Ore., C.E. John Co., Vancouver.
Scope: A redevelopment project that includes a 42,000-square-foot LA Fitness, a free-standing restaurant, and three multi-tenant retail buildings to eventually replace the 78th Street Marketplace.
Cost: $28 million.
Timing: Completion by August.

2. Battle Ground Center

Location: A 108-acre parcel in Battle Ground, southeast of the city center.
Commercial Developer: The Gold Medal Group, Vancouver.
Residential Developer: New Tradition Homes, Vancouver.
Scope: Mixed-use development to will include a $7 million public library, nine retail buildings, 70,000 square feet of office space, a three-story building for live-work units and the Sixth Street Station, a 169-unit development of single-family homes and duplexes.
Cost: $200 million.
Timing: Construction continues.

4. Southwest Washington Medical Center Campus Expansion

Location: Off Mill Plain Boulevard at 400 N.E. Mother Joseph Place in Vancouver.
Developer: Southwest Washington Medical Center, Vancouver.
Scope: Eight-story, 152-bed Firstenburg Tower.
Cost: $150 million.
Timing: First patient beds open Feb. 19, with build-out planned over the next two years.

6. Grand Central

Location: East of Interstate 5 at Grand and Columbia House boulevards, off state Highway 14 in Vancouver.
Developer: Killian Pacific, Vancouver.
Scope: A 135,000-square-foot Fred Meyer store and nine retail buildings.
Cost: $40 million.
Timing: Ground breaking this year.

8. Washington State University Vancouver Undergraduate Student Classroom Building

Location: Salmon Creek campus, 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Avenue.
Developer: Washington State University, Pullman.
Scope: The 60,000-square-foot building is expected to open in 2009 and will house classes for freshmen and sophomore students, which WSUV began admitting in 2006.
Cost: $28 million.
Timing: Summer.

10. The Vancouver Clinic

Project:New 87th Avenue medical office building to replace existing facility.
Location: 700 N.E. 87th Ave.
Developer: The Vancouver Clinic.
Scope: The 138,000 square-foot project more than double space of the clinic’s existing offices near Southwest Washington Medical Center. Existing clinic will remain open during construction.
Cost: $30 million.
Timing: Construction by spring.