Battle Ground's future motivates developer Pavlina

Sunday, February 6, 2005
JULIA ANDERSON Columbian business editor

Several things about Battle Ground excite developer Dennis Pavlina.

For a start, the city's projected population growth over the next five years calls for 1,000 new residents per year. Another plus is Battle Ground's higher-than-average retail spending statistics, thanks to its north-central Clark County location.

And city leaders, Pavlina says, "have a great vision for their community and aren't allowing it to happen by chance."

This year, doing business as The Gold Medal Co., Pavlina is poised to launch construction inside Battle Ground Center, his 108-acre multiphase development southeast of city center. The project, first announced last summer, includes housing, commercial and retail development and an industrial park.

Pavlina is spending $1.8 million on roads, water and other services on 25 acres inside the project. The site's design calls for pedestrian walkways, parks and outdoor covered areas as well as 190,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in as many as 22 buildings.

A new city library is proposed as part of the mix.

Backed by financing from First Independent Bank, construction could get started in August or September on the first buildings in the village, being called Battle Ground Village.

Pavlina and a bank will occupy a multistory 14,000-square-foot structure on the site.

He also plans two spec buildings for light-industrial use in a separate business park, just east of the commercial-retail project.

Trail Tech, a manufacturer and marketer of RV accessories, is joining Old Castle Glass and Ideal Foods in the park.

And through an agreement with New Tradition Homes, co-owned by Chris Helmes, construction of single-family residences on a 169-lot subdivision will get started on property just north of the commercial-retail project. That project is being called Sixth Street Station.

When built completely out, the project will have an estimated worth of about $200 million.

"We're getting the opportunity to do some things we'd not been able to do elsewhere," Pavlina said. "The size of our project and a better master plan developed with city input have been helpful."