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Completion of Vancouver Waterfront Park is still a couple of years away, but work may begin before the end of the year on the first adjoining structures 鈥� a couple of two-story buildings to house retail and restaurants.

Gramor Development earlier this month requested a pre-application conference for the buildings. Review by Vancouver, Wash., staff and Gramor is scheduled for June 24, said Greg Turner, the city’s lead planner.

Dianne Danowski Smith, speaking for Gramor, said plans for the waterfront also include a hotel, but the pre-application is a big first step because it’s the first time details are being included.

鈥淭his is the first time deadlines have been made public and exactly what plans and what these first initial blocks will be built out to reflect,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is the unveiling of phase one of building of the project. Up until now there’s been quite a lot of information, but in terms of specifics, this is the first time that has happened.鈥�

Gramor would like to see construction start in early 2016, she said.

The application calls for a 15,000-square-foot building on Block 9 and a 27,000-square-foot building on Block 12. The plans call for restaurants on both buildings’ ground level and retail space on their second floors. A temporary surface parking lot with 204 spaces on blocks 11 and 15 is also proposed. The lot would be used until a structured parking facility is built nearby, according to the application.

Turner said the plans could change during staff review, and the next step is for Gramor to complete the pre-application for staff approval. Then it will go before the Vancouver City Council.

Plans call for the park to open in 2017 as part of the Waterfront District 鈥� a $1.3 billion residential and commercial development on 21 blocks of 32 acres of waterfront formerly used for industrial purposes.

The city has lined up $7 million in grants for the $17 million park, with plans to make up the balance via additional grants, private donations and other sources.

will reconnect it to the city, according to the city’s website. It states, 鈥淰ancouver’s historic waterfront will soon be home to jobs, restaurants, shops, housing, a hotel and a park as new development reconnects 35 acres along the Columbia River to the city’s historic core.鈥�

The city has been looking at ways to develop the property for about 10 years, Turner said, and the two buildings would be the first construction on the waterfront site.

鈥淲e’re real excited about these first couple of buildings going in and what it could lead to in the future,鈥� he said.

The architectural design concept behind the two buildings will set the tone for future buildings in the waterfront development, according to the application plans. The building on Block 9 will have a distinctive look with 鈥減rominent steel roof supports set as a counterpoint to the catenary pier design.鈥� The building on Block 12 is intended to recall a riverfront boathouse, according to the application, and will have a decidedly modern feel 鈥渨ith simple horizontal roof lines and expressed structure, punched openings with sliding doors and an expansive second-floor water view deck.鈥�

Provisions for outdoor uses are incorporated in the overall design 鈥渢o enliven the streetscape and Grant Street Pier,鈥� according to the application, via large outdoor covered areas.

The main feature of the park will be a triangular pier that juts 90 feet over the Columbia River and is suspended by cables rather than supported by pilings, according to the city’s website.

The park is just part of the overall plan for the area. In 2012 the city began work to punch through the BNSF Railway berm just south of City Hall. Access to the area had been blocked by railroad tracks for more than 100 years, but work to extend Esther and Grant streets to the park area is almost complete, Turner said.

鈥淲e’re getting pretty close to pouring sidewalks along with landscaping and extensions,鈥� he said.

The master plan for the waterfront, approved in 2009, 鈥渨ill be a catalyst for Vancouver’s growth,鈥� it states, and calls for a maximum of 3,300 residential units, 1 million square feet of office and retail space for restaurants, specialty shops and services.

The was developed by the city, Gramor, the Port of Vancouver USA and local residents, the website states.

鈥淭his coming together at the waterfront embodies the dream Vancouver residents and leader Esther Short had when she dedicated the land 150 years ago,鈥� the site states. 鈥淚t’s time to realize this exciting vision.鈥�