$360 Million in redevelopment WILL redefine vancouver’s downtown landscape

If completion of the Hilton Vancouver Washington hotel and conference center in 2005 meant the end of downtown Vancouver’s first wave of redevelopment, the opening of the six-story Columbian office building marks the beginning of a powerful second wave.

By the most recent tally 12 projects worth a total of more than $360 million are earmarked for construction over the next three years in an 80-block area in the downtown core. These projects do not include long-planned redevelopment of the 29-acre Boise Cascade industrial waterfront site, which will add millions more dollars in new construction.

While city officials and developers are excited about the new round of capital investment, at least two issues could slow the revitalization – the cost of street realignment and downtown’s still weak residential component. Without more residents, experts say, downtown can not be the 24-hour-a-day activity hub necessary to support retail and restaurant businesses. Those businesses in turn create the ambiance and livability so attractive to an urban lifestyle.

“Once the hotel was done people felt like they’d reached a real milestone,” said Steve Burdick, who until this year worked for the city of Vancouver as its development manager. “People said ‘whew, we’re done.’ That’s not accurate, there’s still a lot to be done, particularly with residential.”

Burdick now works for Killian Pacific, the Vancouver development company poised to begin construction next year on Riverwest, a $160 million combination retail, office and residential project that includes a new main library at Evergreen Boulevard and C Street. Riverwest is designed with 200 condominiums.

Burdick sees additional residential develop­ment in the pipeline and the other sites in the downtown core where residential projects might make sense. Block C north of Heritage Place, between Evergreen and Ninth Street, and along Mill Plain and McLoughlin boulevards, for instance. “You need a variety of choices,” Burdick said. “The priority has got to be residential.”

Ideally, projects would come on line “one right after another,” Burdick said. Street access presents the most obvious barrier.

Transportation conundrum

Where will the money for streets come from? Burdick thinks everyone – the city, the developers, the state and the feds need to step up. Downtown’s second-wave projects will bring an additional 5,000 to 6,000 car trips a day through the sector, said Thayer Rorabaugh, Vancouver’s transportation manager. He expects the 29-acre Boise waterfront site to generate another 18,000 to 20,000 vehicle trips daily, at build-out.

“We’re going to exper­ience some significant congestion,” Rorabaugh said. He linked downtown road work to the ongoing planning for a new Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River, a project complicated by needs for new waterfront access routes, a new rail line to the Port of Vancouver and a new mass transit system to serve urban growth.

“It’s all interrelated in a sense,” Rorabaugh said. But access road work to the former Boise site can’t start until the city comes up with about $42 million, a problem because federal and state resources have dwindled, Rorabaugh said. “Funding is getting more difficult to come by.” And while downtown developers have said they’ll help foot the bill, “We’re still determining what the number would be. It’s in the millions,” he said. Rorabaugh’s budget is already short the $8.5 million needed for long-standing plans to revamp Main Street north from Fifth to 15th streets. The city will also spend $300,000 to convert C Street into a two-way arterial. Rorabaugh said citizens may be asked to help pay for a mass transit component to serve downtown, whether in the form of a “bus-rapid” system or a Vancouver connection to MAX, the Portland-based light-rail line. “In all likelihood, it will go to the voters.”

Some say public investment in light rail could spur additional private development. For example, Portland-based Tri-Met has spent $1.65 billion on its 44-mile MAX line since 1986, generating more than $6 billion in projects near light-rail stations. “You’ll see business and housing developments all along the line. That’s really because it’s a pedestrian-friendly environment,” said Mary Fetsch, director of communications for Tri-Met.

In the meantime, Clark County’s public transportation agency, C-Tran, will close its Seventh Street bus mall later this year, opening a three-block section of Seventh between Washington and C streets to regular two-way traffic. Removing the transit terminal will create new opportunity to redevelop an area long isolated from circulation, said Craig Angelo, of The Al Angelo Co. The Vancouver-based real estate and development firm owns the majority of two blocks within the sector. “We’re just sitting on the sidelines,” waiting for the transit center to close, Angelo said. “I would love to see some new retail and maybe a couple of good restaurants.”

24-hour downtown

However, before vacant buildings sprout nightclubs, cafes and boutiques, most stakeholders agree downtown needs more residents. The first wave of redevelopment brought more than 525 housing units on line at Heritage Place, Vancouvercenter and Esther Short Commons. “But we’re still trying to get to that critical mass” of downtown residents, said Gerald Baugh, the city’s business development director. “We’re basically at the doorstep of that opportunity.”

Of the 12 second-wave projects so far planned for construction, at least five have a residential component, which could add more than 340 housing units to the downtown core over the next three years. Key residential projects include Riverwest, with 200 units, and plans submitted by a California developer to build between 120 and 126 condo units in a 10-story addition atop the parking structure of the Murdock Building at 770 C Street.

This year’s slower housing market could delay those projects, along with tightened credit for real estate development, said Roger Qualman, executive vice president of NAI Norris Beggs & Simpson commercial real estate firm.

“The underwriting or quality standards would be more stringent than they were a year ago,” Qualman said. Bankers say that may be true of large speculative proposals, or projects without pre-signed tenants. “The difficulty with a large project is once you start the engine, it’s difficult to turn back,” said Wayne Kepfer, senior vice president of commercial lending for Bay Bank in Vancouver. Kepfer agreed that commercial lending has become more conservative. Still, he and others say financially sound commercial development will continue to go forward. “The fact is, if you’re well qualified and you’re putting an appropriate down payment on the project, you’re not going to have any trouble,” said Tami Nesburg, a senior vice president at Vancouver-based Regents Bank.

“Time them correctly”

The trick for new projects right now is to “time them correctly,” Qualman said. Though demand for office space has slowed through 2007, Qualman expects development will continue for projects with end users in mind. These projects include The Columbian’s new Sixth Street offices, iQ Credit Union’s plan to redevelop the city’s former Citizens Service Center into company headquarters, and The Al Angelo Co.’s plans to relocate its offices in a new five-story office building it wants to put up as part of 400 Mill Plain Center on the former Denny’s restaurant site. The site is a major gateway off Interstate 5 into downtown Vancouver.

“It (the Mill Plain exit) is going to become even more important once they figure out what they’ll do with the I-5 (bridge) crossing,” said Craig Angelo. “It’s always been a huge entrance to downtown.” The Angelo project is one of five second-wave developments planned near the exit, an area that has seen few improvements since the 1970s.

It didn’t help, say some, that the city this year moved 150 of its employees out of downtown to space near Westfield Vancouver mall. The shift “sent the wrong message to all of us who have businesses downtown,” Nesburg said. City officials expect to return the workers within five years. “At least that’s the intention,” said Jan Bader, the city’s program and policy development manager. As the city’s representative for the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, Bader said she also hopes new projects respect the nearby reserve. “I would like to see Main Street redevelop in a way that we can keep the historic buildings,” Bader said. “I would hope, in the rush to build new, that we also take care to maintain our sense of history.”

Burdick said Killian Pacific wants to break ground on Riverwest by summer 2008. “The design is wonderful, the costs are affordable and the benefits are in line with market return,” he said.

Downtown Vancouver construction projects under way or planned - Estimated total value: More than $360.75 million - Estimated total square footage: 1 million - Number of residential units: 340 THE SECOND WAVE Development on the Horizon in Downtown Vancouver THE COLUMBIAN BUILDING -Scope: Six-story office building with street-level retail, four floors for newspaper staff, and two floors for lease. -Location: 415 W. Sixth St. -Size: 118,000 square feet. -Cost: $30 million. -Developer: Downtown Vitality Partners Inc., Vancouver. -Architect: GBD Architects, Portland. -Time line: Move in late Fall 2007. GRAND CENTRAL -Scope: A community shopping center, anchored by a 139,000-square-foot Fred Meyer, a Columbia Credit Union, a restaurant and six other retail buildings. -Location: A 14.5-acre site at Grand and Columbia House boulevards, off state Highway 14. -Size: 196,000 square feet. -Cost: $40 million. -Developer: Killian Pacific, Vancouver. -Architect: Tiland/Schmidt Architects PC, Portland. -Time line: Opening in April 2008. THE LUXE -Scope: Six-story mixed-use project with ground-floor retail, four floors of office condos and five sixth-floor residential condo units. -Location: 412 E. 13th St., west of Interstate 5 -Size: 52,000 square feet. -Cost: $17 million. -Developer: Prestige Development, Vancouver. -Architect: Tiland/Schmidt Architects PC, Portland. -Time line: Breaking ground in October, opening mid-2009. iQ CREDIT UNION HEADQUARTERS -Scope: Redesign Vancouver’s former Citizens Service Center to create new headquarters offices and a branch for iQ Credit Union. -Location: 1313 Main St., north of 13th and south of Mill Plain Boulevard. -Size: Approximately 28,000 square feet. -Developer: iQ Credit Union., Vancouver. -Architect: EHS Design, Seattle. -Completion: December 2008. VANCOUVERCENTER -Scope: A nine-story office building and final piece of a four-tower mixed-use office, residential and retail project on the east side of Esther Short Park. -Location: Northwest corner of Sixth and Broadway streets. -Size: 67,000 square feet. -Project cost: $25 million. -Developer: Vandevco, a division of The Belbadi Group. -Architect: Otak Inc., Lake Oswego, OR. -Time line: Ground breaking, April 2008. RIVERWEST -Scope: Mixed-use project with a public library, 100,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail space, 200 condo units, a 65-room hotel and underground parking. -Location: South of Evergreen Boulevard and west of Interstate 5. -Size: More than 300,000 square feet. -Cost: $160 million. -Developer: Killian Pacific, Vancouver. -Architect: Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, Portland. -Time line: Breaking ground in mid-2008 with completion in late 2010. 400 MILL PLAIN CENTER -Scope: A campus of two multi-story buildings to be built in two phases; a five-story office tower and a six-story office building with ground-floor retail and parking. -Location: West of Interstate 5 on two blocks between Mill Plain Boulevard and W. 15th Street. -Size: 152,200 square feet. -Cost: $57 million, including $17 million for five-story building and $40 million for six-story project. -Developer: The Al Angelo Co., Vancouver. -Architect: Wilson Associates AIA, Vancouver. -Time line: First building to break ground in 2008 with second building planned in 2010. PRESTIGE PLAZA -Scope: A six-story building with ground-floor retail and upper floors developed as 70 percent office condos and 30 percent residential units approximately 14 units. -Location: 300 E. 13th St., to replace the former Vancouver police station. -Size: 90,000 square feet. -Cost: $30 million. -Developer: Prestige Development, Vancouver. -Architect: Not yet selected. -Time line: Groundbreaking, mid-2009. MURDOCK CONDO DEVELOPMENT -Scope: Proposal to build 10 floors with up to 126 residential condo units atop the parking facility of the Murdock Building. -Location: 770 C Street. -Cost: Undetermined. -Developer: DevSmart Inc., Woodland Hills, CA. -Architect: Myhre Group Architects, Portland. -Time line: Undetermined. NINTH & DANIELS BUILDING -Scope: Three-story office building for Greenen & Greenen PLLC, with ground-floor lobby, retail and parking. -Location: Northeast corner of Ninth and Daniels streets. -Size: 12,000 square feet. -Project cost: $1.5 million to $1.75 million. -Developer: Sedona Development, Vancouver. -Architect: Wilson Associates AIA, Vancouver. -Time line: Completion in 2009. FRONTIER BUILDING -Scope: Four-story retail-office building on site of former Monterey Hotel and Frontier Card Room. -Location: Block fronting Main and Sixth streets. -Size: 63,000 square feet. -Cost: Undetermined. -Developer: Killian Pacific, Vancouver. -Architect: Not selected. -Time line: To be announced later this year. BLACK ANGUS REDEVELOPMENT -Scope: Proposal to convert existing Black Angus restaurant site to three-story office building with parking. -Location: 413 E. 13th St. -Size: 36,000 square feet. -Cost: Undetermined. -Developer: Pioneer Building Co. LLC., Vancouver. -Architect: Glenn Wells Architect, Olympia. -Time line: Project in pre-application stage. COLUMBIA WEST RENAISSANCE DISTRICT -Scope: 29-acre, former Boise Cascade waterfront property planned for 3,000 residential condo units, a 200-room hotel, mid-rise office buildings and convenience and service retail space. -Location: Shoreline property west of Interstate 5 and south of BNSF railroad berm. -Size: More than 3.25 million square feet. -Project cost: Undetermined. -Developer: Gramor Development Inc., Tualatin and local private investors. -Time line: Undetermined. -Architect: Callison, Seattle.