Sunday, April 16, 2006
By CAMI JONER Columbian staff writer

Husband and wife developers Dennis Pavlina and Carmen Villarma met at a Clark County homebuilders and Realtors dinner in the early 1990s.

    "She was in real estate and I was building homes," said Pavlina, 49, chief executive officer and owner of Vancouver-based development firm The Gold Medal Group. "We arrived with separate dates."

    "And we each left with our dates," added Villarma, 48, president and owner of The Management Group.

    The chance meeting led to a relationship, marriage and the merging of two business minds.

    "It's amazing what our brainstorming comes up with," Villarma said.

    Those ideas are changing the face of Battle Ground as the couple moves forward with the $200 million Battle Ground Center southeast of city center. The Gold Medal Group is planning and developing the cone-shaped, 108-acre parcel. The Management Group will manage and lease buildings inside the project.

    Crews are set to break ground in June on the development's infrastructure -- roads, utilities, streetlights. By August work will get started on phase one of a central commercial area, Battle Ground Village. Envisioned as a European-style township, the project includes more than 50,000 square feet of retail and office space with plans for a new public library, shops, offices and live-work units. Phase one includes the library and 15,000 square feet of retail.

    The area will differ dramatically from the city's strip malls and time-worn buildings along Main Street-state Highway 502.

    Enhancing business

    Business leaders say the new development will enhance the town's older business sector.

    "I see it as a very positive development," said Terri Tweedell, president of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce.

    As a destination for residents, shoppers and employees, the eastside project stands to bring traffic through Battle Ground's old downtown core, Tweedell said.

    "The new library will also draw people to that part of the city," she said.

    The Fort Vancouver Regional Library District and the Gold Medal Group are co-developing a new 13,000-square-foot library to replace Battle Ground's existing library built in 1959 at 12 W. Main. The old site is too small to serve the 400 to 800 patrons who visit daily, said Jackie Spurloch, Battle Ground's librarian.

    "It's standing room only in here," Spurloch said.

    Library traffic will add to the overall "village" development, which has already sparked interest among potential tenants, Villarma said.

    "I meet with at least three interested businesses a week," said Villarma. Her company, The Management Group, manages 17 apartment complexes, 8,000 homeowners' association units and more than 820 single-family homes.

    Linked venture

    "Marketing is my focus while Dennis focuses on land acquisition and new projects," Villarma said.

    Pavlina started building homes in the late 1970s with his own residential company called Oak Tree Construction. The general contractor's work grew from building one or two homes at a time to developing large subdivisions.

    "He was the initial builder for about 300 homes in Fisher's Landing in the 1990s," Villarma said.

    That east Vancouver project "helped us get bigger and better at what we do," she explained.

    A subsequent 123-acre residential project in Albany, Ore., gave Pavlina his first taste of total site development.

    "He bought the bare land and developed the lots and the roads," Villarma said. "It really gave him a full understanding of a project from the dirt all the way through sales."

    New business model

    The knowledge helped Pavlina break away from construction and move into planned development. He launched The Gold Medal Group in 2001, initiating a new business model for the couple's partnership firms. They've now completed or nearly completed several large-scale residential projects in Washington and Oregon.

    "We've turned from being a for-sale builder to a developer that actually holds the properties," Villarma said, a model aimed at building assets through long-term real estate holdings. "The amount of equity we have in our property is significant and comes from our own cash investment."

    The business model gave The Gold Medal Group the opportunity to build Battle Ground Village without pre-leasing.

    "We operate on the 'if you build it they will come' model," said Pavlina, who has already invested more than $10 million in project planning and infrastructure.

    "Still, we've done the due diligence," Villarma quickly added. "I feel very comfortable that people will lease when they see the actual project."

    As private developers, the practices of Pavlina and Villarma differ from corporate developers who typically won't tie up their finances in long-term commitments, said Deborah Ewing, a commercial real estate expert and vice president with Eric Fuller & Associates Inc. in Vancouver.

    "They'll get their return on investment over time," Ewing said of Pavlina and Villarma. "As more homes develop in Battle Ground, the demand for retail will continue."

    In the meantime, the city's planning commission will hear an annexation proposal this spring, considering whether to bring an additional 284 acres inside the city limits. The site, zoned for residential, commercial and light industrial development, is adjacent to Battle Ground Center,

    Homes and jobs

    Pavlina sold the development's northern residential area to New Tradition Homes last year. The homebuilder has already developed model homes for the development of 169 single-family homes and duplex units, called Sixth Street Station for its proximity to the rail line. The line runs north and south along the site's western border, an added amenity for established and potential tenants of the project's southern tract, earmarked for light industrial development. Two businesses -- Old Castle Glass and Ideal Foods -- already operate on the site.

    Ewing said demand for industrial space is increasing for Clark County companies looking to expand.

    Once considered miles off the beaten path, Battle Ground now seems reasonably local to Vancouver and Portland, Ewing said.

    "Especially with the proposed interchange at (Interstate) 5 and 219th," she said.

    The exit would provide a direct east-west route between the freeway and Battle Ground.

    Planned outing

    Villarma predicted freeway travelers will also be drawn to the pedestrian-friendly Battle Ground Village, with its steep-roofed stone structures. She expects the library and first two buildings to open early next year. The project's first retail tenants could be announced in June.

    "Maybe people will be coming to the library or dinner," she said. "This is not a quick stop. We want people to linger and enjoy the experience."

    Cami Joner covers commercial real estate. Contact her at 360-759-8018 or cami.joner@columbian.com.

   Keeping Companies

    The Gold Medal Group

    Owner: Dennis Pavlina, chief executive officer.

    Employees: Four.

    Business: Property acquisition and development, from the permitting process to building structures for The Management Group to lease.

    Established: 2001.

    Address: 7710 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive.

    The Management Group

    Owner: Carmen Villarma, president.

    Employees: 93.

    Business: Property and homeowners association management; rentals; real estate sales; maintenance and repairs.

    Established: 1985.

    Address: 7710 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive.