With development underway at a Vancouver shopping center anchored by Trader Joe’s, one of Clark County’s busiest intersections may get even busier.
A nearly 8,000-square-foot building is under construction at the shopping center at 305 S.E. Chkalov Drive where Chkalov and Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard intersect. Property manager Mike Thrift said the building should be finished in October and the tenants moved in by the new year. The building will have four spaces, with the units at either end occupied by two fast-casual restaurants: MOD Pizza, a Bellevue-based pizza chain, and Eugene, Ore.-based Cafe Yumm, which focuses on healthy bean and rice bowls. Cafe Yumm will face Chkalov and have a drive-thru.
MOD Pizza has an east Vancouver store, a store opening in Battle Ground and one planned at Hazel Dell Marketplace. Cafe Yumm has an east Vancouver store.
In 2014, about 79,000 vehicles entered the intersection of Mill Plain Boulevard and Chkalov Drive on a typical weekday, according to the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council. That was more than any other intersection in Clark County. It’s possible that the new interchange to Northeast 18th Street has relieved some congestion and reshuffled the ranking of busiest intersections.
The Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard Improvement Project includes removing a traffic signal at 105th Avenue and lengthening onramps to Interstate 205 to reduce congestion. Construction is anticipated to start in 2018. The section of Mill Plain in front of the shopping center is slated to be repaved and restriped as part of the improvements.
Thrift said his family has owned the shopping center at the southeast corner of this intersection, called Cascade Park Plaza, for decades and has been slowly developing it. Mill Plain and Chkalov is “the hottest intersection in Clark County,” he said.
In addition to the new building, Thrift said, a Black Rock Coffee Bar will be built next to Shari’s, which was remodeled in 2014. The coffee shop will have a drive-thru and indoor seating. Black Rock has eight coffee bars in Clark County, according to its website. There are plans to open another Black Rock at Northeast Fourth Plain and Andresen Road. The regional company has 31 coffee bars; its first opened in Beaverton, Ore., in February 2008.
The Cascade Park Plaza is anchored by Trader Joe’s, which will expand by about 2,450 square feet at the back of the building (the east side), said Patti McEllrath, senior planner with the city of Vancouver. When the expasion is done, the often-crowded grocery store — the only Trader Joe’s in Clark County — will have around 12,000 square feet.
Trader Joe’s declined to comment on the project. McEllrath said the grocery store hasn’t finalized the building plan.
