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Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood is continuing to grow. With the delivery of both The Matisse and The Mirabella, the former industrial site along the Willamette River now has eight residential high-rises totaling nearly 1,800 units.

As the neighborhood begins to fill up – it’s at 75 percent residential occupancy – retailers and service providers are beginning to follow. But even with recent activity, residents say the neighborhood has some gaping holes.

At present, 57 percent of the 61,117 square feet of leasable retail space in the South Waterfront sits vacant, with another 10,200 square feet of retail space available for sale. Aside from restaurants, services are limited to a bank and a dry cleaner.

People living in the neighborhood know how they would like to see the gaps filled.

“The most obvious thing we need is a grocery store,” said Dan Durkin, an Atwater Place resident. “And it would be nice if it was full service so we could get our basic stuff done, like filling prescriptions.”

South Waterfront residents presently must venture into downtown or along Southwest Barbur Boulevard to reach a grocery store.

“When I’m on the elevator and talking with people, they say that the only thing that is inconvenient about this place is not having a grocery store,” said Dr. Todd Beck, a dentist who has lived in the John Ross condo tower for nearly a year.

But Bert Hambleton, a Sammamish, Wash.-based grocery consultant, said South Waterfront has a long way to go before getting a grocery store.

The neighborhood’s present population is estimated at 2,749. Taking into account surrounding competition, that density is only about one quarter what the neighborhood needs to get a small grocer, Hambleton said.

“If you take the standard urban competitive situation, it’s going to take 10,000 people for a 20,000-square-foot store,” he said. “You look at a place like that and it just seems like it would be able to support a grocery store.

“It just doesn’t work like that.”

Smaller service providers, however, are beginning to notice opportunities in South Waterfront.

After living in the neighborhood for a year, Beck will be opening his second dental office in the John Ross building in November.

“I wasn’t even looking to open a second practice before I moved to the area,” Beck said. “But since living down here I’ve noticed that there’s a definite need, and there are favorable lease rates.”

Beck has heard talk of a chiropractor and an alternative medicine clinic joining the neighborhood. But nothing has come to fruition yet.

From a retail perspective, there are plans in the works for a Subway restaurant, a contrast to the neighborhood’s more upscale dining options.

“It hasn’t been as hard to attract retailers from the area to the neighborhood,” said Kia Hartley, an associate broker with Urban Works Real Estate, the firm handling retail leasing in South Waterfront. “But it’s been hard to sell the area (to) national retailers who base their store openings on numbers.

“Fortunately they are starting to come around, though.”

The real estate firm is also targeting some brew pubs and wine bars, as well.

“Other than a grocery store, we really need some more social gathering spots,” Beck said. “The towers are so big, and there are so many now. We need some places that we can all come together.”
Durkin agreed.

“We moved down here because we wanted to be in the city without the hustle and bustle of downtown,” he said.