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Working on high-profile projects is nothing new for Walker Macy. But even the landscape architecture firm knew it had been handed an opportunity of a lifetime when it was hired last year to handle master planning for the Willamette Falls site in Oregon City.

The effort consists of a plan to redevelop the 23-acre former Blue Heron paper mill as well as create green space and provide public access to a massive waterfall. Making that happen, however, required a firm that could work with multiple partners: Oregon City, Metro regional government, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon are all involved – and have a stake – in the success of the plan.

Walker Macy is accustomed to working on large, complex projects. The firm has a history of success on a range of projects: waterfronts, campuses, mixed-use downtown areas.

“We’re prime consultants on about half of our work,” Walker Macy principal Mike Zilis said. “We know how to run these kinds of projects. … Everyone on our team knew there’s no other project like this, with the level of history and dynamics.”

But the Willamette Falls site has some unique challenges, both for Walker Macy and project stakeholders.

Finding a developer able to turn the paper mill portion of the site into something more than an empty shell of a building has been tough. At least two companies have had to walk away from the property for a variety of reasons.

But Walker Macy and others involved in the project believe the steps they’re taking now will help attract the right developer.

A request to change the site’s zoning from industrial to mixed use is headed to councilors in Oregon City, which Zilis said will help create a sense of certainty for developers eyeing the paper mill portion of the site.

The project’s public partners also are gearing up to find money and resources to create the public portion of the project, which will allow people to view the falls up close.

“We’re completely convinced if we get the citizens out to those falls, there will be a groundswell of support,” Zilis said.