Construction is moving along on a new Vancouver office building for the state Department of Social and Health Services, which plans to consolidate its local programs under one centrally located roof.
The two-story building is nearing an Oct. 31 completion date at the busy corner of Northeast 136th Avenue and Ninth Street, just 10 blocks north of Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard and about nine blocks south of Northeast 18th Street, the area’s two main east-west arterials. Developed by Arlington-based Vine Street Group, the 73,654-square-foot office development will include approximately 233 parking stalls. The building will house DSHS programs for community, child support, senior and aging services, along with vocational rehabilitation and juvenile rehabilitation services, said Dianne Segura, senior director of public affairs for the department.
Many of the soon-to-br-relocated workers now report to offices at 5411 E. Mill Plain Blvd. in the Tower Mall office complex. Segura called the new location more accessible to citizens than the old site.
“DSHS is constantly seeking ways to improve and have our services as accessible as possible,” she said.
The site’s accessibility might also be enhanced by a new half-diamond interchange planned at Interstate 205 and Northeast 18th Street. The project, a joint venture planned by the Washington State Department of Transportation and Vancouver, would add a southbound freeway onramp and a northbound freeway offramp at 18th Street. The first phase of the project — the I-205 to 112th Avenue connection — was completed in 2010 and work on the second phase is scheduled to start this year, according to the agency’s website.
Vine Street’s owners believe the infrastructure could trigger more interest in their site, which includes three retail spaces in front of the DSHS office, said Cameron McKinley, a spokesman.
Vine Street would not disclose the cost of building the office. The company paid $3.75 million to purchase the 6.6-acre site in 2013 from Haagen Properties LLC, owned by Vancouver developer Dale Haagen.
McKinley said his company has not yet secured retail tenants, but the space can be built to accommodate all kinds of retailers.
“We don’t have anything planned yet,” he said. “It could be anything from a bank branch to a coffee shop or sandwich shop.”
