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The goats are going to need to find a new place to graze.

Killian Pacific has filed for a pre-application conference with the city of Portland for development of the “goat blocks” – a popular nickname for a 92,000-square-foot superblock bound by Southeast Belmont and Taylor streets, and 10th and 11th avenues. The grass-filled lot has been the occasional chomping grounds for a herd of goats for many years.

Noel Johnson, vice president of Killian Pacific, said the company purchased the property about 13 years ago and has been waiting for the right time to develop it. Killian Pacific’s holdings include a 41,000-square-foot parcel on the east side of Southeast 11th Avenue.

“As a company, we’re focused on trying to do something that is, I guess enduring may be the word,” Johnson said. “So, having the timing being right is really difficult because sometimes it’s good to do retail, and then other times it’s good to do housing. This is a site that wanted both, but you have to execute it in the right way.”

Designs are still preliminary, but the plan is to build a mixed-use development with approximately 200 residential units. The initial concept calls for three or four separate buildings similar to Trammell Crow Residential‘s Tupelo Alley on North Mississippi Avenue. That development has three buildings and incorporates community plazas and walkways.

The amount of ground-floor retail space at the Killian Pacific development will depend on the massing, but Johnson said it would be significant.

“It’s going to be a pretty big chunk of retail and should be enough to activate (the area) and provide a real catalyst of energy,” he said.

Killian Pacific has a large anchor tenant lined up for the site, but Johnson couldn’t name it yet.

He said he thought the project would help complement the Grand Central Building two blocks west. Foresight Development in 2008 restored that 45,000-square-foot building’s historic facade, and reintroduced a hip bowling alley, restaurant and bar. The recession curtailed development of much more in the area, but Johnson said retailers are becoming aggressive again.

“So, when we come in and build additional retail it will really start to get an interesting node of energy to that area,” he said.