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A host of projects at the Port of Hood River are transforming the city’s waterfront.

Development is being driven by pent-up demand for industrial space, said Jeff Pickhardt, president of Key Development. It has completed several projects in the area, including a 33,000-square-foot processing facility for Turtle Island Foods and a 40,000-square-foot facility for outdoor clothier Dakine.

Increased development is significant in Hood River because it’s part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Pickhardt said.

“We’re seeing a substantial amount of development in a short amount of time,” he said. “We are working in a community that has a lot of public interest. It has been difficult to move projects at the waterfront for the last 20-plus years.”

Key Development now is planning an $18 million redevelopment of the former Hood River Expo Center to provide warehouse space for Turtle Island Foods. Construction is set to start this fall on two other commercial buildings, Pickhardt said.

“They’re intended to be flexible and angled toward a commercial user,” he said. “(They) will be suited toward businesses that walk the line between commercial and industrial – companies that do their prototyping here, but manufacture elsewhere.”

Just to the north of Key Development’s construction, the Port of Hood River is planning a $28 million mixed-use development on a 140,000-square-foot property facing Nichols Boat Basin. The port is working with Portland firm Walker Macy to produce construction drawings for the project on a larger site along the basin where Portland-based architectural firm Mackenzie has plans, said Michael McElwee, executive director at the Port of Hood River.

The port is in line to get a $500,000 grant that would allow it to start construction later this year on beach and waterfront improvements – including a trail along the basin for pedestrians and cyclists, McElwee said.

“That whole edge is important because in Hood River, you need to address the recreational and habitat needs of the river along with upland development,” he said.

Portland developer Bob Naito has proposed building an $18 million, 88-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel along with a commercial building on the western edge of the basin, but is still waiting for land use approval. The project has twice received Hood River City Council approval and twice been remanded by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. The city is set to vote on the project again on July 7, Naito said.

“There’s substantial increase in recreational tourism and consequently there’s an explosion of vacation rental properties in Hood River,” he said. “The result of that is literally the housing stock is being taken off the permanent housing market. Because of the summer rental business, there is a shortage of affordable housing.”

Meanwhile, Friends of the Hood River Waterfront is keeping a close eye on development, Executive Director Linda Maddox said.

“We’re watching it,” she said. “They’re doing the access down there. We’re concerned about everything from the Expo Center to the Nichols Basin.”