Virtually recession proof, the development boom along Southeast 192nd Avenue continues to play out with a fully-leased, $12 million retail complex under construction near Vancouver’s east-side border with Camas.
Aptly named the 192nd Avenue Plaza, the 35,000-square-foot retail center is expected to open this summer on the southeast quadrant of 192nd’s busy intersection with Southeast 20th Street. The street is poised to become a major entrance for the planned $30 million Camas office building being developed for Fisher Investments. The first of two buildings proposed for Fisher’s campus on the south side of Southeast 20th Street and Northeast 38th Street in Camas is expected to break ground this year.
California-based Fisher’s plans to expand here fueled interest in the center, said Dean Kirkland, who is co-developer of 192nd Avenue Plaza with business partner Tom Files.
“There’s no question 20th will go through (from 192nd Avenue east toward Bybee Road). That will make it a major corridor for commerce,” Kirkland said.
In the meantime, some 20,000 vehicles already pass by the retail site daily on the busiest stretch of 192nd Avenue, from state Highway 14 to Southeast First Street, where Costco plans to break ground this summer on its second Clark County warehouse store.
Beyond Fisher, there are a multitude of other projects planned for the area. SEH America Inc. has pledged to make a $1 billion capital investment and create 1,000 new jobs on the former Hewlett-Packard Co. site. Also, Linear Technology in Camas is considering a second, identical wafer fabrication plant at its campus at 4200 N.W. Pacific Rim Blvd., where it would double production.
In addition, there are more than $495 million worth of projects poised to be developed along the corridor including medical offices for Southwest Washington Health System and Providence Medical Group.
Retail lineup
Kirkland and Files say the corridor’s ongoing growth has helped them secure tenants and raise interest in a planned companion project, 192nd Avenue Station, proposed for the north side of Southeast 20th.
The first phase of 192nd Avenue Plaza, a 6,000-square-foot building, is expected to open in July, while the center’s 29,000-square-foot building is set for an August completion. Tenants in the smaller building include the first satellite location for Lily Atelier, a downtown Camas women’s boutique. It also will house convenience grocer First Choice Market; a drive-through auto licensing business and Ditazza Gourmet Coffee, a coffee and pastry shop.
The larger building’s eight tenants include: mortgage company Pinnacle Capital; east-side locations for Applewood Restaurant & Catering and Hula Boy Char Broil Restaurant; Regada Jewelers; a yogurt shop featuring the YoCream brand; and salon locations for Sandy Beaches Tanning and Happy Nails.
Most were attracted by the center’s location and some even plan to pull up stakes elsewhere just to benefit from traffic on 192nd Avenue corridor, said Files.
“There are a lot of businesses that have been conducting their business in an environment of mediocrity,” he said.
Since the downturn, some shops find themselves situated in retail centers without anchor businesses that drive consumers into the complex.
“Now that those tenants are gone … the remaining tenants are looking at their short-term and long-term goals,” Files said.
