An exterior face-lift and new business tenants could be part of the future for Vancouver’s Garrison Square, which sold recently to real estate developer Killian Pacific.
The Vancouver-based firm paid $3.5 million to purchase the 1970s-era shopping center from Kimco Realty Corp. of New York. Killian Pacific plans to renovate the complex, situated at the corner of East Mill Plain Boulevard and North Garrison Road. The center’s new owners also hope to attract tenants to at least two empty storefronts. New occupants could be anything from a restaurant to a dental clinic or a traditional retailer, said Mert Meeker, a marketer of the retail project.
“Killian can improve the value by adding their expertise on the improvements and upgrading the tenant mix,” he said.
Meeker acknowledged that Killian Pacific is not as well known for redevelopment work as it is for developing new buildings from the ground up.
The company’s local developments include the Fred Meyer-anchored Grand Central center off state Highway 14 at Grand Boulevard and Bowyer’s Marketplace, which opened in 2010 and features a WinCo Foods grocery store at Northeast 119th Street and 117th Avenue.
Meeker declined to comment on the cost of renovating Garrison Square. He expects the work will start this summer.
Killian Pacific will recover its project costs by filling vacancies within the center.
“It’s about 20 percent vacant,” said Meeker, whose work for Killian Pacific is through his employer, MBM Properties Inc. in Portland.
Empty spaces include the former Ron’s Sports Page restaurant and a medical supply and equipment store vacated when the company switched locations last year.
Garrison Square’s remaining tenants include Planet Fitness, Starbucks, Manning Academy Beauty School and Spa, Mexico Lindo Restaurant, Haircuts Now and an Ace Hardware store.
The center also is home to the Peachtree Restaurant & Pie House, which opened in August in the former Shari’s Restaurant building.
The property’s assessed value in January 2010 was $8.7 million, county records show.
