A Shoulder to Lean On

Sunday, January 7, 2005
By Cami Joner, Columbian staff writer

We count down the county's top construction projects, from retail havens to health care facilities

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

Of the three largest construction projects getting started here this year, all have a retail component. Together, they will add more than 400,000 square feet of mixed-use space worth $580 million to the market.

Plans call for a new Fred Meyer store at Grand Central, a $40 million project in west Vancouver, as well as continued expansion by Wal-Mart possibly in east Vancouver and in Woodland.

The Landing, coming to the old Evergreen Airport site on Mill Plain Boulevard, is expected to bring new players to the county's retail mix in a $215 million project. Other projects on the horizon are the expansion of Washington State University Vancouver and work on several health care facilities. Southwest Washington Medical Center is near completion of its $150 million expansion, while The Vancouver Clinic gets started on a $30 million medical office building nearby.

At least one local contractor, Ron Frederiksen, called Clark County's commercial construction scene healthy, though still vulnerable to tightened land supplies and the rising cost of building 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, contractors were issued more than 400 permits for commercial projects valued at a total of $160.1 million. The numbers were down in 2006, mostly because several major health care developments 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 groundbreaking.

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 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: Commercial and library construction could begin by midyear. 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 groundbreaking in 2008.

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.

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 on hold because of transportation issues. Developers say construction could start in 2008.

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: Groundbreaking this year.

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.

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 freshman and sophomore students, whom WSUV began admitting in 2006.

Cost: $28 million.

Timing: Summer.

9. The Vancouver Clinic

Project: 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 building, which more than doubles 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.

10. Hazel Dell Square

Location: A four-block site west of Interstate 5 at Northeast 78th Street and Hazel Dell Avenue.

Developers: 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.