91ÊÓƵ

An influx of retail development is coming to suburbs southwest of Portland.

In the months ahead, developers will break ground on two projects totaling approximately 490,000 square feet. With roughly $150 million being invested and major national tenants set to settle in, Tualatin and Sherwood are expected benefit from an immediate injection of economic activity.

There is potential for future development too.

“I think that suburban Portland, as well as downtown Portland, is under retailed,” said Fred Bruning, the CEO of CenterCal Properties LLC. “The greater Portland MSA is still the least retailed metropolitan statistical area in the country as far as square footage per capita.”

He’s hoping ground will be broken soon on Nyberg Rivers, a 300,000-square-foot development in Tualatin.

Last week, CenterCal announced that outdoor outfitter Cabela’s would anchor the shopping center; it’s planning to operate a $20 million, 110,000-square-foot store in the heart of the 32-acre site. A grocer, a home supplier, a fitness gym and multiple restaurants will follow. Bruning said CenterCal has tenants lined up, but it was too early to identify them by name.

Meanwhile, Gramor Development announced Tuesday that Walmart will anchor its 190,000-square-foot Sherwood Town Center on Southwest Tualatin Sherwood Road, about four miles west of Nyberg Rivers. The city is expected to gain 600 jobs after the $50 million project is completed.

What does it say about the state of the retail marketplace?

“How about, ‘It’s back?’ ” said Barry Cain, Gramor’s president. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand … Retailers are feeling confident about the future and this area, and the growth potential of this area. So we’re seeing quite a bit of interest. It’s nice to be back in business.”

Cain first floated the concept in 2006. He expected to be under construction by 2008, but the project was put on hold when the economy went south.

A variety of retailers expressed interest in the site, but they came and went. Then Walmart came along. Cain wasn’t quite sure what to expect, because he hadn’t ever dealt with the massive retailer before; however, he said the company was accommodating.

Now, Gramor plans to break ground in June, and soon will seek competitive bids from general contractors. The project – in Sherwood’s downtown urban renewal area – will also involve performing significant street improvements, creating public plaza space and planting a four-acre wetland area.

CenterCal is planning to play up the natural environment as well. The Nyberg Rivers site is bordered on the north by the Tualatin River, so CenterCal plans to weave a network of trails throughout to promote pedestrian travel. Bruning is working with Cabela’s to create opportunities for things like kayaking, boating, fishing and stand-up paddle boarding classes.

Additionally, the development will feature public plazas, fountains and a life-size, bronze mastodon sculpture (in honor of a fossilized skeleton found nearby) to create a sense of place.

“To me that’s the future of what retail should be,” Bruning said. “It’s not the old, tired mall concept where you go there because you have to – because you need a T-shirt. You can buy that online … Projects of the future should be places where people want to be.”

For example, CenterCal’s Bridgeport Village, a successful retail complex in Tigard, has garnered the interest of multifamily developers. Mill Creek Residential Trust is building a 367-unit housing project nearby.

Sam Rodriguez, managing director of Mill Creek’s Oregon office, said the presence of Bridgeport Village gave the apartment project a walk score close to the one for downtown Portland. He doesn’t doubt that the Tualatin and Sherwood developments will spur additional housing nearby – Mill Creek is looking for land deals, and Rodriguez said he wouldn’t hesitate to locate near another CenterCal development.

“If there is land available around them, people will build around them,” he said, “and we would too if we could find an opportunity.”