Washington State Development Thread

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New Washington Port?
Port of Camas-Washougal prepares for future investment with infrastructure plans


BY MEGAN PATRICK-VAUGHN of the VBJ (Vancouver Business Journal)
image hosted on flickr

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


May 1st, 2009

As it is today, the Port of Camas-Washougal is a small but active port. Both its 350-slip recreational marina and 79-hangar airport are full with waiting lists, and the port is looking to build out its industrial park to the east.

Although the port has been the target of some criticism following the demise of waterfront development plans with Riverwalk on the Columbia LLC in 2007, it is forging ahead to make improvements and develop land to create jobs – which is ultimately a port’s job, said Scot Walstra, director of planning and development.

Creating industrial draw

Working with Berger Abam and MacKay and Sposito Inc., both of Vancouver, a master development plan is underway for the 122 acres of undeveloped land in the port’s 430-acre industrial park. It started with a zoning review, which determined that the land’s heavy industrial zone is appropriate and flexible for future development, Walstra said.

The public process is now focused on what design options should be applied to the park.

The port is gathering feedback on design features regarding loading docks, solid waste and recycling, building materials, parking lots, public frontages, screening and buffers, signage and pedestrian amenities and stormwater.

Public comments so far have emphasized the need to honor and preserve the natural beauty of the area and make future development attractive and sustainable.

An open house is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on May 27 at the port offices to review and gain comment on the draft alternative plans.

For the last few years, Clark County has had low industrial vacancy but in recent months, vacancy has entered the double digits. But Walstra said he doesn’t expect demand to dwindle. Out-of-state companies are looking to relocate to take advantage of the area’s tremendous capacity for electricity and quality of life, he said.

The port’s 310 acres of developed industrial property are 93 percent occupied, down from 98 percent. The decrease is directly related to the drop in residential new construction, Walstra said.

The port has had several offers for development in the park, including three recent bona fide proposals to buy and develop fairly large single cluster projects, Walstra said. Industries that have expressed interest include biofuel, forest products, technology manufacturing and aquatic sciences development.

Airport plans take off

There are about 4,000 registered pilots in Clark County, but Walstra said because of Grove Field’s limited scope, the port is missing out on a big opportunity for jobs and dollars.

The port is in the midst of a $480,000 environmental assessment and public process to clear the way for realigning and expanding the 2,620-foot-long runway and adding needed hangars.

The goal is to increase safety and make the recreational airport fully compliant with Federal Aviation Administration design standards to position the port to take advantage of FAA funding.

“FAA certification opens the door for funding to make improvements that it would otherwise take the port decades to complete,” Walstra said. “It essentially fast tracks the ability to do economic development for the community.”

The project would realign the runway to the south and extend it to the west about 350 feet, which would require the relocation of Delp Road.

Alaska-based WHPacific and JLA Public Involvement, which has offices in Vancouver and Portland, are working with the port to conduct the assessment and public outreach.

A Draft Environmental Assessment is expected for public review in the fall, with an environmental finding expected from the FAA in late 2009. Construction could begin in 2010.

The air field now generates 24 jobs and about $1.4 million, but it has no fixed-base operators at the airport. Improved facilities and 17 new hangars are expected, but Walstra said the field could use another 100 hangars on top of that.

On the waterfront

The port recently finished two marina repair projects and dredging, which removed silt and sediment from the marina.

Older wood components were replaced on the 1,300-foot breakwater, which serves as a dock for visiting boats and reduces wave action inside the marina.

In-house, the port rebuilt and installed launch ramps. Together, the projects cost about $434,000.

Future plans include adding slips for boats larger than 40 feet – which the marina can’t now accommodate – that could attract a different group of boaters, Walstra said.

Megan Patrick-Vaughn can be reached at mpatrick@vbjusa.com.

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Heritage Center vision fading
Capitol Campus: $221 million plan on hold
ADAM WILSON; The Olympian | • Published May 27, 2009
Building Photo

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


OLYMPIA – After spending $10 million during four years of planning, the vision of state officials for a majestic state Heritage Center is fading and its future existence in doubt.


When completed in 2012, the project was expected to be the biggest and boldest thing built on the Capitol Campus since the Legislative Building went up in 1928.

But hard economic times forced reconsideration of what the state needs from the Heritage Center.

“It’s in trouble under its current design,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire, who this month signed a construction budget that delays the project for at least two years.

Although she says the campus would benefit from the center, she is less optimistic about the $221 million, two-building project than other local supporters. The project includes the $141 million Heritage Center and the $80 million Executive Office Building.

New fees are key to paying for the Heritage Center: a $2 charge on filing real estate transactions and a $5 fee on incorporation filings by businesses. The recession that drove lawmakers to cut more than $4 billion in program funding over the next two years also hit those fees, slowing both real estate and business activity.

Gregoire suggested spending $28 million to make up the difference, but as the economy worsened, lawmakers backed away from the project.

“They sold it to be financed by the fee; I think that’s how the Legislature bought into the financing plan,” said Gregoire’s budget director, Victor Moore.

Sen. Karen Fraser, a Thurston County Democrat, has championed the project from the beginning, along with Secretary of State Sam Reed. As recently as December, the buildings were expected to be a centerpiece for the public experience on campus, where schoolchildren would see the original state Constitution and attend a lecture, as well as visit the state Library and Archives.

“The vision is still there. But what we need is for the economy to come around and then the fee revenue will come around,” said Fraser.

She agreed to the delay as the lead construction budget writer in the Senate.

While the engineers literally go back to the drawing board, money will continue to accrue in the Heritage Center account, said assistant secretary of state Steve Excell.

With a store of cash and an improved economy, the project could be “somewhat like the original Heritage Center vision,” he said.

The Legislature included money in the budget to reconsider the building plans and make sure they match the amount of fee money coming in, Excell said.

“We’ve got some summer homework to do,” he said.

Much of the money spent so far has been on work that will be useful for any project, notably a study of the bluff above Capitol Lake, which has slumped before, he added.

The second building in the project, the $80-million Executive Office Building, would be paid for with rent charged to the state agencies in the space. Together, the two would look like one big building perched on the north end of the campus.

Although its future is uncertain, Gregoire downplayed any second-guessing of the way the project has been handled so far.

“I think the campus needs and it and deserves it. It will serve the public well. It just happened to be hit in these economic times,” she said.

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Leaders search for common ground at county consolidation summit

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 11:33 PM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
TDN.com
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Once again a group of local leaders charged with cutting government costs didn’t discuss merging Longview and Kelso, but that didn’t stop the Sandbaggers from staging a mock protest Tuesday.

The jokester group — with signs both supporting and opposing a merger — also christened the new town “So Long” on signs and in comments as people entered the meeting. The loosely organized group exists mainly to poke fun at government institutions and members said they couldn’t resist Tuesday’s Government Summit meeting.

Inside the meeting, representatives from Cowlitz County and each of its cities gave progress reports on subcommittee meetings about consolidating services and cutting costs.

Members said they’ve hit some road blocks but are making progress.

All agreed their purpose is to reduce costs and provide the same service — such as consolidating purchasing between all the cities and the county — or improve service for the same price. Some ideas wouldn’t save any money, officials said, but they could make things such as obtaining building permits easier.

Cowlitz County Commissioner George Raiter warned that the decisions may not be easy, in part because it means changing the way things have been done for decades.

Kelso Mayor David Futcher said he already found some resistance on the building and planning committee.

“It is frustrating running up against folks who say, ‘It can’t be done,’ before we even look at it,” Futcher said, though he declined to elaborate. “I’m hoping for a little more flexibility as we move forward.”

Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson, who heads up the building group, said they knew they would hit a point of hard decisions and compromises. Swanson said he’s optimistic some common ground can be found, though, especially when it comes to aligning building codes and permitting procedures.

Raiter urged each subcommittee to continue, saying the end goal was worth any “angst” or challenges.

Suggestions mentioned during the meeting included creating a regional library district as well as a regional parks taxing district. Neither suggestion has been finalized and both would require public votes.

Castle Rock City Councilman Mike Mask heads up the parks subcommittee. He fears for the future of parks in budget-strapped cities and counties and wants the people to have a say about a special fund to support them.

State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, warned the committee about consolidations that could cut costs in the cities but raise taxes for rural county residents like him. Decisions on parks or library districts have to be made very carefully, he said.

The large group meets next on Sept. 23, and some subcommittees may have formal proposals to present.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 9:15am PDT
Seattle stays U.S.’s sixth-fittest city
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

Boston ranks fourth on fittest cities list
Miami ranks 31st on fittest cities list
St. Louis 32nd in nation for fitness
Twin Cities 2nd ‘fittest’ metro nationwide
Seattle remains the U.S.’s sixth-most fittest city of America’s most populous metropolitan areas, according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s American Fitness Index.

image hosted on flickr


The index report reflects a composite of preventive health behaviors, levels of chronic disease conditions, health care access, as well as community resources and policies that support physical activity. Seattle held the same spot on the 2008 report.

In addition to a data report, American Fitness Index is a program designed to help communities identify opportunities to improve the health of their residents and expand community assets to better support active, healthy lifestyles.

Based on figures related to healthy lifestyles and physical activity, the Washington D.C. Metro scored 74.4 to achieve the top ranking. Metro areas completing the top five were Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Boston and San Francisco, which also finished at the top of the inaugural rankings in 2008.

The Western United States dominated the top 10, with only three cities lying east of the Mississippi River. The nation’s largest cities finished in the middle of the pack with New York City at 22nd, Chicago at 25th and Los Angeles at 30th.

Seattle scored much higher than the rest of the nation in categories such as residents participating in any physical activities in the last 30 days (84.3 percent compared with national average of around 77 percent); percent of residents who smoke (15.3 percent compared with national average of major cities of 18.7 percent); and percent of residents who use public transportation to get to work (8 percent compared with major city average of 4.2 percent).

The American College of Sports Medicine unveiled the 2009 rankings and released the AFI data report, “Health and Community Fitness Status of the 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas,“ during the organization’s annual meeting in Seattle.

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Wednesday, May. 27, 2009

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

Pasco, Franklin OK partnership


(Franklin County Courthouse. AJM STUDIOS Northwest Photo Journey Photo.)

By Joe Chapman, Tri-City Herald staff writer


The city of Pasco and Franklin County have agreed in concept to a partnership to build a jail and courts building together, if voters in November approve a sales tax increase to pay for it.

But just how long such a partnership should last was up for discussion at the city council meeting Tuesday.

The city recently agreed to join the county in going to the voters for a tax increase to pay for the criminal justice projects, including the jail, municipal court space and a new police station. A specific tax plan hasn't been proposed, but officials have contemplated a 0.3 percent sales tax increase.

A proposed joint resolution outlining the agreement indicates the city would lease space at the jail/courts building indefinitely.

"I wrote it, of course, from the city's perspective that ... we should be there as long as the building stands," City Manager Gary Crutchfield told the council. "From a practical standpoint, maybe that's not totally practical."

He acknowledged the city and county would need to spend the next week finding a compromise on the length of time.

City Councilman Mike Garrison said he would prefer for the agreement to entitle the city to at least a 70-year lease.

"Forty years, I think, is way too short. We found that out already," he said.

The city is in the position of needing new court space because its lease for space at the Franklin County Courthouse is a 40-year agreement that runs out in 2012.

The agreement could be structured to give the county an option to buy out the city's share at a depreciated rate after the principle term expired, Crutchfield said.

Also Tuesday:

Pasco staff recommended the council approve $163,000 in community development federal stimulus money for two Boys & Girls Club projects.

One would replace 55-year-old light fixtures at the club with modern, energy-efficient lighting and make other improvements. The other would rebuild the club's parking lot, which has cracks, tripping hazards and conditions that impede people with disabilities.

w Joe Chapman: 582-1512; jchapman@tricityherald.com

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Pacific Medical Centers signs 30,000 square-foot lease
Snohomish County Business Journal

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Seattle-based Pacific Medical Centers has leased 30,000 square-feet in Building One of the four-building Woodlands Technology Center (WTC) at Canyon Park Business Center in Bothell.

The lease tops off occupancy in the new Class A building owned by TIAA-CREF, a financial services organization and one of the largest institutional real estate investors in the United States. CB Richard Ellis is the on-site development manager and exclusive leasing agent for WTC.

Woodlands Technology Campus is a 700,000 square-foot urban Class A development situated on 35 acres of meadows, trees, ponds, and streams. In addition to its natural setting, WTC includes state-of-the-art telecommunication and data services, easy freeway access, plentiful parking and close proximity to Seattle, Bellevue and Everett.

Pacific Medical Centers is a network of outpatient clinics that provides a broad range of healthcare services to the greater Seattle area.

During the last five year period, real estate transactions involving biotech and biomedical companies in the region accounted for over four million square feet. Biotechnology and medical technology companies in Washington State directly employ more than 20,000 people with indirect employment exceeding 46,000, the majority of which are located in Bothell.

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Mountlake Terrace puts old city hall in the past

By Chris Fyall
The Everett Herald Writer


Mountlake Terrace Photos from the NWPJ.


AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE -- The slow abandonment of City Hall has begun here, nearly a year after an overnight ceiling collapse exposed hidden asbestos and caused a temporary building closure.

The walls are now mostly bare. Desks and chairs are being moved out. Piles of trash have been tossed.

"Think of what your garage looks like after you've been in a place for five years -- we've been here for 50," said Ken Courtmanch, parks and facilities superintendent for the city.

Rooms that once were stacked floor to ceiling with important documents are being carefully sorted through and cleaned. The records room downstairs that recently was a jumble of overloaded shelves now instead looks like a Soviet-era grocery store with only a meager assortment of boxes.

By the end of June or early July, the city's retreat from its 48-year-old City Hall should be complete.

About 50 city employees are moving across town into a temporary home at the Redstone Building at 6100 219th St. SW. The city has signed a five-year, $2.2 million lease for the property.

Talks about a safer and more permanent home for City Hall have been brewing for years -- since architects said in 1991 that replacing the aging City Hall would be cheaper and smarter than renovating a building. Nearly 20 years later, the building suffers regular power outages from overloaded circuits, and has major heating and cooling problems.

The ceiling collapse forced the city's hand, Councilman John Zambrano said. Since the same type of ceiling is found throughout City Hall, moving was a public safety necessity, he said.

"It is like trying to protect against the next earthquake," Zambrano said. "People's safety is more important than bricks and mortar."

Plans for a new City Hall don't include bricks or mortar. However, architectural drawings outline a brand new complex for city government where City Hall now stands.

A $40 million project that would help anchor the city's downtown was endorsed by a city task force in December.

It would incorporate open green spaces with three new buildings: a new City Hall, a new police station, and a new community center that could also house a senior center. The new complex would retain the existing library and fire stations and turn the existing police station into an emergency operations center.

Voters would need to approve the those plans. Some city officials worry whether that can happen in this economy.

"There's a difference between a dream and a plan," Zambrano said. "I want to remain optimistic, but I have to be a realist, too."

Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.

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May 28, 2009
City wants to turn Bell Street into the first 'park boulevard'
By KATIE ZEMTSEFF
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce Staff Reporter



AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

The Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation wants to turn five blocks of Bell Street into a “park boulevard” by shrinking the area dedicated to cars and giving space back to pedestrians.

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Published: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Take a tour of (old) Lynnwood

The Enterprise staff

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Finding the history in Lynnwood just got a lot easier, thanks to a Historic Walking Tour brochure the city put out as part of its yearlong 50th Anniversary Celebration.

On May 21, 12 people walked a shortened version of the tour, beginning at Veterans Park just off 44th Avenue West and Veterans Way.

The tour includes 14 major sites, some of which may soon end up as officially recognized historic sites, and three side tours.

First stop on the tour, which started with a prayer led by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1040 member George Janicke, was the Valentine/McClane house along 191st Place Southwest at 36th Avenue West. F.C. McClane was a superintendent at the old Alderwood Manor Demonstration Farm.

Next stop on the tour was the former site of Manor Hardware, at 19500 36th Ave. W. Built in 1915 by the Puget Mill Co., it was used as a school until a permanent school was built two blocks away.

Once, a post office was also part of the store, which has been relocated. Manor Hardware is eligible for the state historic register.

Just east of the old hardware store is the Vietnamese Alliance Church of Lynnwood, formerly the Masonic Temple.

"It was where everybody met for the arts," said Betty Lou Gaeng, a member of the Alderwood Manor Heritage Association.

By 1939, the nearby Alderwood Manor Grade School, and its new auditorium, became the arts hub for residents.

For more information about the historical tour or to get a tour brochure, call the city of Lynnwood at 425-670-5000.

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May 28, 2009
Construction starts on veterans housing
By SEATTLE DAILY JOURNAL OF COMMERCE STAFF

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center




Image courtesy Joseph Lantz
On Friday, the Compass Center will break ground on a veteran's housing complex in Renton. The $18 million project will have 54 apartment units for homeless veterans and their families.

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May 28, 2009
Designers collaborate on huge Yakima infill project
Yakima’s derelict Mill Pond District will be redeveloped into 212 acres of mixed uses, including retail, recreation, office and housing.
By DANIEL STETTLER, RAY JOHNSTON and MARK WARD
First Broken on The AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

Image from The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce and Urbanadd

The Mill Pond District would be one of the first in the state to be part of the LEED for Neighborhood Development program.
Stettler Design, Johnston Architects and Urbanadd are collaborating on the master plan for the Yakima Mill Pond District, a 212-acre urban infill project in Yakima. The design team is aiming to create one of the first sustainable neighborhoods in the state to be part of the LEED for Neighborhood Development program. The plan integrates multiple uses in a non-zoning-based strategy that encourages diversity and capitalizes on the social equity of adjacent neighborhoods.

The team’s vision also maintains that pedestrians, bicyclists and automobiles must be able to use the site simultaneously; the site’s circulation scheme doesn’t serve one mode at the expense of the others. As a distinctive neighborhood centered on the historic flow of water through the site, the Mill Pond District will accommodate public amenities that draw visitors to downtown Yakima and contribute to the health of hotels, restaurants, small businesses and other private enterprises such as the historic Capitol Theatre.

Rare opportunity

In 2005, Boise Cascade closed its plywood mill at the northern entrance to Yakima along Interstate 82. This caused hundreds of local workers to lose their jobs and left a 212-acre blight in the urban fabric of the city. The site, adjacent to the Northeast Yakima neighborhood, has since been purchased by a private development group from Oregon and represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the image and economic competitiveness of the Yakima Valley.

The planning team intends to create a sustainable economic driver on the vacant site that will shape the future for generations of Yakima Valley residents. The project’s market analysis suggests that new residential and commercial uses over the next 50 years would increase the city’s property tax base by $500 million, generate $68 million in local sales tax revenues and create 3,900 permanent jobs. This will be most beneficial to adjacent neighborhoods whose residents were considerably affected by the mill’s closure.

The city, along with the current ownership group and countless civic supporters, jointly won the state’s Local Infrastructure Financing Tool, or LIFT program. The project will receive a $10 million award, which will be matched by city and other public sources.

The LIFT program helps municipalities attract private development by deferring an amount equal to the property and sales taxes generated in the district to pay for infrastructure improvements, such as roads and utilities. Further, the brownfield status of portions of the site provides a strong motive for urban improvements and positions the project favorably for federal support.

The valley’s gateway

Yakima lies just across the Cascade Mountains at the confluence of the Naches and Yakima rivers. The Yakima Valley’s agricultural industry flourishes by producing and processing tree fruits, hops, mint, vegetables, livestock, dairy and wine.

Yakima has long been a trading center for the east slope of the Cascades, providing a distribution point between east-west freight routes along Interstate 90 and north-south routes along Interstate 97. The geographic position of Yakima made it an ideal location for distribution of wood products, fruits and other agricultural products.

In recent years the wine industry has gained an important foothold and the valley is now home to more than 40 wineries and more than a third of the state’s vineyards. The sunny slopes and extended growing season of the valley’s foothills provide ideal conditions for producing world-class wines.

Yakima is also a renowned regional, national and international producer of hops. Brewmasters from Munich to Capetown are well aware of this renown.

While Yakima is acknowledged professionally for its superior raw agricultural products, it has yet to fulfill its potential as a recognized international center for exquisite beers and wines. Given these realities, Yakima is in a unique position.

As was typical for numerous small cities during middle and latter decades of the 20th century, many residents left the downtown areas of Yakima for new suburban homes. This flight led to a neglected urban core, now pleading for revitalization. Fortunately, the city was not the beneficiary of any misguided federal urban renewal efforts, and is still receptive to new, inspired planning and development strategies. It also possesses the economic drive and capital to create a new and vibrant gateway to the Yakima Valley.

The site

The Mill Pond site dominates the northeast quadrant of Yakima. Often referred to as “The Gateway to Yakima,” it is just less than a mile long and a half-mile wide. It is bordered on the east by the elevated Interstate 82, which also separates the site from the Yakima River Greenbelt and the Terrace Heights neighborhood. The west and north borders are the serrated edge of a mixed-use/residential neighborhood suffering from poverty and gang activity. To the south, larger-scale commercial uses are mixed with typical downtown businesses.

The site has the potential to infuse Yakima with substantial retail and occupancy power due to its large number of close-to-downtown neighborhoods.

Yakima traffic patterns are blocked by the blight of the site, but will be eased and redirected in the new plan. Circum-city traffic will flow at a surface level through the site and will provide substantial economic development potential. The site is also bisected by a failing railway spur, which the design team and the city agree should be expanded into a new roadway and I-82 interchange.

As if its position in the urban fabric were not enough, the site also provides a gateway to the Yakima River through portals beneath I-82. It offers views of the nearby topographic gap through which the Yakima River flows, along with views of the Cascade Mountains, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier.

100-year vision

The redevelopment of the Mill Pond District is a true urban infill project that will use and build upon existing urban infrastructure within the city’s core area. It will focus on land uses that are fiscally responsible yet responsive to the borders of the site, including: space for the wine and food industries, medium- and high-density housing, large-scale retail, a lifestyle center, incubator office space for research and development groups, automotive dealerships, medical offices and other mixed uses.

The site has also emerged as a prime location for a proposed aquatic center and YMCA facility.

Guiding the design is the concept of a “sustainable community” and the broad range of uses proposed for the site is geared toward this potential. The planning team has focused on “stitching” old and new urban fabrics in order to replace the existing brownfield with a vibrant, multi-faceted commercial and residential district.

Key to the master plan was the site’s inherited water rights from the Yakima River — originally used to fill the mill’s log ponds. The old log flume will traverse the middle of the site to serve as an urban walkway bordered by small businesses and restaurants. This log-flume cum urban-walkway zone will integrate vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic in a deliberate attempt to merge transportation modes that are commonly separated.

The scale of new buildings on the site decreases gradually from east to west, beginning with a band of coarse grain, large-scale uses against I-82. The medium-grain walking district along the water channel will house a variety of shops, restaurants, wineries and an outdoor market. The fine-grain multifamily housing and stand-alone retail will stitch the new development with the existing residential neighborhood to the west. The planned aquatic center and YMCA facility will reconnect the site with the Yakima River Greenway.

Overall, the project is a concerted effort to reinvigorate growth in the blighted urban environment of the Yakima Valley. We see in it an ideal opportunity to infuse downtown Yakima with a new vision. This new vision transcends the creation of new areas of high density or traditional retail delivery. It integrates the needs of a sustainable community with the realities of our auto-centric culture. It creates a sense of community and a focus for emerging industries while enhancing housing and economic opportunities in a city poised to evolve with the needs of the 21st century.

Daniel Stettler, principal of Stettler Design, has more than 15 years of experience in architecture and development, and has taught architecture at the University of Washington since 2004. Ray Johnston, founding partner of Johnston Architects, has been exploring the concept of sustainable communities through architecture for 30 years. Mark Ward is a founding principal of Urbanadd, where he focuses on complex urban design projects and the capacity of architecture to shapeshift between form and performance.

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Friday, May. 29, 2009

First phase of Riverfront Business Park begins

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center
By Pratik Joshi, Tri City Herald staff writer
PASCO -- The Port of Pasco launched Thursday the first phase of its Riverfront Business Park with plans for a port-owned $5 million building.

It's the first time the port is developing a nonwarehouse-type building with the hopes of attracting new tenants and private capital for future growth.

The port hopes the business park, with its unusual business setting near the river and close to warehouses, manufacturing space, good transportation access and recreational opportunities at nearby Sacajawea State Park, will help generate $90 million in investments and provide 1,700 jobs over the years.

Todd Wolf, project manager with the Tacoma-based architecture and engineering firm BCRA, said the proposed 20,000-square-foot, two-story building will be built about 350 feet from the shoreline in the 110-acre business park near Oregon and Ainsworth avenues.

The design includes great views of the river and environmentally friendly landscaping, he said.

And there'll be no stormwater runoffs as proposed rain gardens will collect the water to be treated and reused, Wolf told a group of community members, civic officials and city leaders at Thursday's announcement.

The proposed building will set the design standards for the business park and also promote development there, said Jim Toomey, port's executive director.

"If it wasn't done by us, it was not going to be done," he said. The port plans to use money from an insurance settlement to pay for the project.

About 10 acres in the central part of the business park will be developed in the first phase, and the rest of the park is expected to develop over next 15 years.

The port already has signed an agreement with the city of Pasco to help smooth the way for developers by making sure development standards and land use and other requirements won't change for 15 years.

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Saving a historic hotel in Index

The Bush House makes a list of state landmarks to save.

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

By Debra Smith
The Everett Herald Writer

image hosted on flickr

INDEX -- Waylon Robert remembers a time when the Bush House hummed with activity.

In the space of a few years, the pioneer-era hotel at the heart of this mountain town has fallen into disrepair.

The owner shut the hotel down a few years ago and vandals and weather quickly took their toll.

Now the building's roof is leaking, and broken windows are boarded over.

The sight so disturbed 12-year-old Waylon that he decided to do something about it.

Thanks to his efforts, the hotel is getting some attention as part of a statewide list of endangered historic properties.

"I want to try and help the historical society save this place," said Waylon, a sixth-grader who lives in Seattle. "If it's not saved now it will be gone forever. That would be a terrible loss."

The nonprofit Washington Trust for Historic Preservation brings attention to historic properties with its annual list. This year 13 properties made the list, including the Libbey House in Coupeville, a historic home whose owners want to take it down to build a new, larger house on their property.

Waylon nominated the Bush House for inclusion on the list. His nomination form included ghost stories he had heard and his own line drawings of what he remembers of the place from earlier in his childhood. He said his parents took him there frequently and he remembers the warm, bustling atmosphere at the hotel's restaurant.

The Bush House was built in 1898 to serve the many people traveling over Stevens Pass by train, said Louise Lindgren, the director of the Index-Pickett Museum. She also nominated the Bush House for the Washington Trust list.

At one time Index had five hotels, but the Bush House is the only one that remains.

Clarence Bush and his wife initially ran the property. A popular story tells of Mrs. Bush greeting travelers at the train, ringing a bell and calling out "Bush House Hotel."

A decade ago, the Bush House served as a hub for the town, and it was the only place large enough to accommodate sizeable gatherings, she said. It shut down when Snohomish County revoked the hotel's occupancy permit because of structural and public safety concerns.

"It was a very vibrant hotel with beautifully appointed antique-furnished rooms and a good restaurant," she said.

The Bush House is for sale and the hope is the owner will either rehabilitate the property or let someone else purchase it, Lindgren said.

"It's a beloved building," she said. "All of us have memories of heart-warming events in that building."

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.

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Grain elevator deal expected Monday
Monday, June 1, 2009 12:13 AM PDT
By Erik Olson

TDN.com

(Looking upriver from Berth 8 at the Port of Longview, the undeveloped Berth 9 property borders Longview Fibre property east of the port. Bill Wagner / Daily News file photo)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Port of Longview commissioners are expected to sign a lease agreement Monday with EGT Development LLC for the construction of a $150 million privately financed grain terminal, port officials said Friday.

Port and EGT officials will work out final details of the agreement over the weekend, but the port felt confident enough to post the authorization of the agreement on its agenda released Friday, said Ken O’Hollaren, director of the Port of Longview.

“This represents the final approval of the project and the conclusion of long negotiations and a series of agreements. It clearly is a huge proposal for the port,” O’Hollaren said.

The grain terminal project would be among the largest in the port’s history, port Commissioner Darold Dietz said.

“Barring any major unforeseen things, it looks like this is going forward,” Dietz said.

With a lease agreement in place, EGT would likely start construction this year, which would bring about 150 jobs to the area, O’Hollaren said. He doesn’t know if EGT plans to hire a local contractor.

EGT is the company formed by St. Louis-based Bunge North America and Japan-based Itochu Corporation for the purpose of building the grain terminal, which is expected to make the port a major West Coast player in the grain export business.

The port plans to start construction of a $6 million Berth 9 this fall to service the terminal.

Negotiations between port and EGT officials started about three years ago. Last year, port commissioners voted to force Kalama-based RSG Forest Products to sell six acres of land abutting the grain terminal site via eminent domain. After a superior court judge upheld the port’s move, RSG agreed to sell the parcel for $2.87 million.

On Monday, port commissioners will vote to complete the purchase of the RSG land. The port will also hold a public hearing because of changes to the port’s comprehensive plan.

[USAPatriot]

$6M city hall key to
revitalizing Snoqualmie

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center



The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce

By KATIE ZEMTSEFF
June 2, 2009.

Snoqualmie Falls is one of the most visited attractions in the state, but after seeing it, most tourists head straight back to the highway.

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Follow up on this article.

Port commissioners OK grain terminal lease; construction to begin in late June
Monday, June 1, 2009 6:16 PM PDT
By Erik Olson

TDN.com

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

image hosted on flickr

(Port of Longview.)


Construction of a $200 million privately financed grain terminal at the Port of Longview will begin at the end of this month, but how many of the 200 jobs will go to local construction workers is unclear, project officials said Monday.

EGT Development LLC, which is financing the terminal, will pay the port about $11,300 per month in lease fees during construction, which is supposed to last about three years. Lease payments on the 38-acre parcel will nearly triple to about $32,000 a month once the terminal starts operation in 2011.

Port of Longview commissioners approved the final terms of the 80-year lease Monday. The revenue from lease payments could eliminate the port’s need for a general operations tax, port Commissioner Bob Bagaason said.

The owner of a $150,000 home now pays $60 a year in port taxes.

EGT is the company formed by St. Louis-based Bunge North America and Japanese company Itochu. The port announced Monday a third company, Korean shipper STX Pan Ocean, joined the venture as a minority partner.

EGT has hired Minnesota-based T.E. Ibberson Co. as general contractor, and the company has received bids from 44 subcontractors within a 100-mile radius of Longview, said Bailey Ragan, general manager of Bunge, the majority partner.

T.E. Ibberson will likely announce who received bids when all have been awarded later this month, Ragan said.

The Port of Longview also will build a $6 million Berth 9 this fall to service the terminal.

The two construction projects will give the local economy a much-needed boost, said Ken O’Hollaren, port director.

“We’re very hopeful that the economic impact that’s assumed with construction is as great as it can be,” O’Hollaren said.

Once the grain elevator is complete, EGT will hire 50 full-time workers. The terminal will support an additional 20 ancillary jobs, according to?

The project has undergone notable hiccups during three years of negotiations — most notably when port commissioners voted last year to force Kalama-based RSG Forest Products to sell six acres of land through eminent domain to complete the project. RSG agreed to sell after a Cowlitz Superior Court judge determined early this year the port had the right to force the sale.

Commissioners approved the sale Monday for $2.87 million, with the port’s share at $1.2 million.

Ragan said he was concerned the project would not materialize. But Bunge, which operates three grain terminals nationwide, felt like foreign demand for U.S. grain was growing, he said.

“We feel like with better diets across the globe, there’s going to be more demand for grain.”

With EGT coming to town, the port has no more empty space on the waterfront. The port is now looking to redevelop its Berth 4 property, where a grain terminal operated for 60 years before shutting down in 1988, O’Hollaren said.

[USAPatriot]

June 3, 2009
Soccer complex latest project in Yakima to run into trouble
A proposed aquatic center looks politically untenable, Riverpointe Landing shopping center is on hold and Capitol Theatre is slowing expansion plans.
By CHRIS BRISTOL
Yakima Herald-Republic Redistributed on Seattle DJC

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


YAKIMA — Just like a large aquatic park and a new shopping center, plans for a soccer complex in Yakima intended to attract players from across the region are on hold — or worse.

The proposal for a 35-acre complex featuring a dozen soccer fields, concessions and other facilities is now in doubt not because of the $3 million price tag, but uncertainty about the city-owned site next to Interstate 82.

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June 3, 2009
$200M terminal construction starts soon at Longview port


(A port operating engineer clears debris in preparation for the new Berth 9 dock. Old creosote pilings will be removed and vegetation planted to improve environmental habitat.)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center

LONGVIEW (AP) — Port of Longview commissioners have approved an 80-year lease for a new grain terminal on the Columbia River.

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Tuesday, Jun. 02, 2009

Herald Building sold to local investors, newspaper offices to remain
DAVE GALLAGHER - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

image hosted on flickr

(Bellingham Herald Building.)
AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


BELLINGHAM - Two local investors have purchased the Herald Building for $2.35 million from The McClatchy Co., owner of The Bellingham Herald.
The six-story building was purchased Tuesday, June 2, by Herald Building LLC, operated by developers Bob Hall and David Johnston. Hall, who is now the majority owner of the building, has extensive experience restoring and remodeling landmark buildings in downtown Bellingham.
The sale includes the building and its three parking lots with approximately 100 parking spaces. It also includes the iconic Herald neon sign a top of the building that Hall said will remain a part of Bellingham's skyline. The building also has a basement and a partial seventh-floor office space.

DANNY GAWLOWSKI | THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Herald Building sold
Herald Building retains landmark status through decades

In total, Hall now owns about 500,000 square feet of building space in downtown Bellingham, including the Daylight Building on North State Street and the Bellingham Hardware Building on Holly Street. He also has a minority ownership in the Leopold Building.
Hall said they plan to re-glaze the terra cotta façade and renovate the interior of the 80,000-square-foot Herald Building during the next five or six years as vacancies occur. The building currently has 37 tenants. He believes the building needs cosmetic improvements, something he'll be working on with the help of Johnston. Hall is currently finishing up renovation work on a similar building in Chehalis.
"It really fits well with my plans," Hall said. "It's a nice project that will keep me busy."
There will be no noticeable changes for the employees of The Bellingham Herald as a result of the sale, said Glen Nardi, president and publisher of Whatcom County's daily newspaper.
The company signed a five-year lease with the new owners, and employees will continue to occupy the first and second floors of the building. In addition, the company will lease 5,000 square feet of basement space for its distribution center. Later this summer The Bellingham Herald will start having its newspaper printed in Mount Vernon, at the Skagit Valley Herald's new printing facility.
Selling the building had been discussed for about five years, Nardi said. Originally the plan was to build a new building because the current structure is inefficient for the paper's strategy of being a multimedia company.
"Our plans changed when we learned Skagit was building a state-of-the-art facility," Nardi said. "Once we began talking, we found a partnership was in the best interests for both companies."
As discussions began on a printing agreement with Skagit, a decision was made to continue to look for a buyer for the building.
"Operating an office building is not one of our core competencies, so this is consistent with our long-term strategy to grow our print and online readership," Nardi said. "My impression of the new owners of the building is they have experience managing large commercial buildings. This building is beloved by many people in this community, and I think they will be good stewards."
Along with renovating the building, Hall's property management company, Daylight Properties, will be moving into the Herald Building later this year.
Hall has been interested in the building for some time and approached Nardi about it three years ago. He lives about a mile away from the building and has a large stained-glass window that was originally a part of the Herald Building that he hopes to put back in. With its neo-gothic motif, the structure is modeled after the Chicago Tribune building, Hall said.
For Hall, the attraction of the Herald Building and other older downtown buildings he's bought and remodeled over the last 21 years is how well constructed they are and how much staying power they have in this community.
"I'm in the fortunate position of being able to do something I philosophically believe is the right thing to do," Hall said. "I don't want to see these buildings torn down. Today most buildings built with modern construction will be gone in 100 years; these older buildings will still be around because they are so well-constructed from an engineering point of view."

Reach DAVE GALLAGHER at 715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com.

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 9:17am PDT
Washington has third-highest internet use in U.S.
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

AJM STUDIOS.NET Northwest Development News Center


Washington state’s internet use is the third highest in the U.S., behind only Alaska and New Hampshire, according to information released Wednesday by the U.S. Census.

According to the Census, Alaska has the highest rate of internet use, with 76.1 percent of its residents having access to the internet at any location, followed by New Hampshire (74.6 percent) and Washington (73.4 percent).

Mississippi has the lowest internet-usage rate (51.5 percent), followed by West Virginia (52.9 percent). The national average is 62.4 percent

The Census said that 75.7 percent of Washington residents have access to the internet at their homes, which is third again behind New Hampshire (82.6) and Alaska (78.5) percent, and well above the national average of 67.1 percent.

“As access to high-speed connections have become more prevalent, so too have the number of people that connect to the internet at home,” Thom File, a statistician with the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said in a statement Wednesday.

Nationwide, internet use strongly corresponds to education. Eighty-seven percent of people 25 and older with a college bachelor’s degree used the internet in 2007, versus 74 percent for those with only some college, 49 percent for those with only a high school diploma and 19 percent for those who didn't finish high school.

Among age groups nationwide, 73 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds use the internet, 56 percent of people 3 to 17, and 35 percent of people 65 and older.

Among ethnic groups nationwide, 73 percent of Asian Americans used the internet in 2007, 69 percent of whites, 51 percent of blacks and 48 percent of Hispanics.