New purpose proposed for Vancouver’s Igloo Restaurant

Precision Air owner plans to turn building into office space

By Anthony Macuk, Columbian business reporter

Published: February 19, 2021, 6:03am

2 Photos

The former Igloo Restaurant building is undergoing a renovation. According to county records, it was purchased last summer by Precision Air owner Paul Vynar, who has submitted a plan to convert it to an office building. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Nearly three years after the closure of the iconic Igloo Restaurant in Vancouver’s Edgewood Park neighborhood, a plan has finally emerged to repurpose it as office space.

The two-story, 2,000-square-foot drive-in at 3128 E. Evergreen Blvd. has sat empty since 2018. But drivers passing the site in recent weeks have likely noticed fencing around the perimeter and Tyvek wrap on some of the building’s formerly stainless steel exterior walls.

The property was purchased in August for $700,000, according to county records, and is now owned by Paul Vynar Properties. Vynar is the owner of Vancouver-based Precision Air, which provides commercial and residential heating and air conditioning system installation and repair services in the Vancouver and Portland areas.

According to Debbie Brenner at the city of Vancouver’s planning department, Vynar has applied for a permit to convert the building into an office for Precision Air. The application was submitted in late December and is still going through the review process.

Vynar could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Igloo Restaurant was a longtime Vancouver mainstay known for its shakes and burgers, but the eatery struggled in its final years.

The final restaurateurs, Jorge and Andrea Estrada, opted not to renew their lease in 2018. Then-property manager Judi Hickman told The Columbian that the building hadn’t been successful as a restaurant for 15 years, and that the property’s location — near Mill Plain Boulevard, but not quite in the corridor — had contributed to its financial difficulties.

The unusual building dates to 1950, according to the Clark County assessor’s office. The second-floor apartment was damaged in a fire in March 2017, although flames did not spread to the restaurant below.

When the restaurant closed the following year, Hickman told The Columbian that the company that owned the property was weighing whether to try to find a new restaurant tenant or pursue a conversion to office space. The building’s second floor had already been converted to an office at that point, according to The Columbian story.

That initial office conversion plan never materialized — Google Street View imagery from 2019 shows the empty building with the restaurant amenities still in place and a For Sale sign out front.

Anthony Macuk

Columbian business reporter

@anthonymacuk

(360) 735-4547

anthony.macuk@columbian.com

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