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Beaverton is offering matching grants of up to $25,000 for predevelopment costs incurred building in the city.

The program aims to spur development in Old Town and other areas of central Beaverton. City officials are particularly interested in mixed-use projects that include housing.

鈥淲e’re trying to take Beaverton to the next level that Beaverton should be,鈥� said Cheryl Twete, the city’s community development director.

The $100,000 program, known as Development Opportunity Strategies, or DOS, was approved last fall by the City Council. This spring is the first time the program has a real budget to work with, said Tyler Ryerson, senior development project manager for the city of Beaverton.

Costs eligible for matching grants include site planning, architectural studies, feasibility studies, financial analysis, transportation studies, engineering studies, environmental assessments and building inspections. The city will match 50 percent of such costs, up to $25,000 per site.

The pilot program draws funding from the city’s general fund. There is no application deadline, but money must be awarded to projects by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

City officials pitched the program Tuesday at a forum for developers held at City Council chambers. The forum drew developers, but also architects, engineers and environmental consultants who are interested in Beaverton development opportunities.

鈥淭here’s a lot of opportunity,鈥� said Jon McGrew, an architect with Portland’s Hennebery Eddy Architects. 鈥淲ith everything happening in Portland, (Beaverton) is the next link, the next expansion.鈥�

Hennebery Eddy recently designed refurbishment of a 1970s Beaverton apartment building with about 180 units. The project also improved the apartment community’s amenities and landscaping on behalf of owner NSW Corp. of California.

Peter Grimm, an architect with Scott | Edwards Architecture, said the program lowers barriers to entry by reducing predevelopment costs. Scott | Edwards has completed six Portland projects using a similar program run by the Portland Development Commission.

鈥淚t just makes it easier for a stakeholder to come in and say, 鈥榊eah, we’ll take a look,’ 鈥� he said. Of 18 projects Scott | Edwards has considered under the program, the firm has moved forward with six, Grimm said.

鈥淭hat one-third metric 鈥� tells me that DOS works, and it works well,鈥� he said.

Grimm showed a slide show of some of his firm’s projects completed with the help of PDC money, including a mixed-use building on Northeast Portland’s Alberta Street, and another on Southeast Foster Road near Lents.

Separate from the incentives program, Beaverton officials are working to develop several large projects near The Round 鈥� the area anchored by city government offices, MAX light rail and some retail, office and residential space.

A five-story hotel with 147 units is planned for the nearby Westgate property. City officials are negotiating a development agreement with O’Reilly Hospitality Management of Springfield, Mo.

Also, Rembold Properties is negotiating with the city to construct mixed-use buildings with apartment units on the Westgate property.

Twete said construction crews could break ground on the hotel project by the end of 2016, and work on the apartments could follow shortly thereafter.

More broadly, the city is trying to bring together Old Town, Broadway and the Creekside district into an urban core. That’s made difficult by historic highways 鈥� such as Canyon Road and Farmington Road 鈥� that act as barriers.

鈥淲hat we’re trying to do is knit these three areas into one downtown,鈥� Twete said.

The city of Beaverton has other programs that use financial incentives to encourage vertical housing projects and storefront improvements. The city’s core will continue to go vertical, Twete said.

鈥淲e know our destiny is to grow up, to become more urban with multistory development,鈥� she said.

Janiene Lambert, the city’s senior development project manager, said guidelines to apply for the Development Opportunity Strategies pilot program are intentionally loose as the city seeks to understand what developers need, and what they can deliver.

She said city planners 鈥渨ould like to see a conversation鈥� regarding sites and potential uses.

鈥淭his year, it’s pretty flexible,鈥� she said.