Tuesday,  February 11 , 2025

Linkedin Pinterest
News / Business / Clark County Business

Washougal residents will see some disruptions during work on Hyas Point on the waterfront

Project leaders hope to work with community on traffic and parking

By Doug Flanagan, Columbian staff writer
Published: January 25, 2025, 6:11am
3 Photos
Construction on the Hyas Point waterfront development site started in November but project leaders say for now, residents won’t see much in the way of disruptions.
Construction on the Hyas Point waterfront development site started in November but project leaders say for now, residents won’t see much in the way of disruptions. (Doug Flanagan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

WASHOUGAL — With work on the Hyas Point development along the Washougal waterfront underway, residents have had questions about impacts to the nearby Port of Camas-Washougal’s marina and Washougal Waterfront Park and riverside walking trail.

Kelly Flynn, senior project manager for Central Bethany Construction, said he and his team realize residents may have issues with aspects of the construction work in the near future.

At an open house earlier this month, Flynn said the company wanted to get ahead of any issues and develop relationships with the community so communication will be easier.

“It’s going to happen,” Flynn said. “Once we go vertical, once we start drilling piers, those kinds of things, (it is) going to start to disrupt people.”

So far, however, the project has generated more questions than complaints, Flynn said.

“We get a ton of foot traffic walking by, people talking to us through the fence. And, so far, everyone’s been overwhelmingly excited,” Flynn said. However, once construction starts on all four of the mixed-use buildings, Flynn said, disruptions may become more noticeable.

“We’ll be digging piers for the next 2½ months, so that’ll be a little bit, I wouldn’t say disruptive, but loud,” he said. “This project will have two tower cranes, and they’re big ones, and those kinds of things start to make people in small towns uncomfortable.”

Portland-based Central Bethany Construction began work on the Washougal waterfront project on 23 acres in November.

The first phase will build several new streets, including a thoroughfare along the Columbia River, and four mixed-use buildings that will house 276 apartments and 56,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Later this year, crews will build a temporary parking lot at the northeast corner of the site near the Ninebark Apartments for the 300 to 350 construction workers expected to be working at the site. Project leaders hope the parking lot will alleviate pressure on those at the Best Western Hotel, the Black Pearl Event Center, the Washougal Waterfront Park and Parker’s Landing Marina.

Construction crews will build another temporary parking lot on the site’s northwest corner, near South Second Street and Marina Way, to accommodate visitors accessing American Cruise Line ships at the nearby port dock. That parking lot will be built before the first American Cruise Line ship docks in April, according to Central Bethany Construction Senior Superintendent Mike Wilson.

At the open house, Flynn and Wilson said they hoped to ease the community’s initial concerns.

Port of Camas-Washougal Commissioner Larry Keister said the residents he’s talked to about Hyas Point have told him they are looking forward to it.

“At the beginning of the development discussion, traffic and parking were a concern,” Keister said.

But that will be addressed by a planned parking structure, a roundabout and well-planned traffic flow, he said.

Flynn said the project has encountered some minor obstacles but is mostly going according to plan.

“At a site like that, it’s very common,” Flynn said.

The site had been Hambleton’s Lumber sawmill, which closed in 2010 after decades of operation.

Stay informed on what is happening in Clark County, WA and beyond for only
$99/year

“We ran into some foundations that we didn’t know existed … The contamination pool was a little larger than we originally thought,” Flynn said.

The first phase will feature a mix of residential, medical, office, retail and restaurant spaces.

Phase two will include a senior living center and a full-service athletic club.

Loading...