91视频

The city of Tigard has a message for its downtown revitalization: Developers wanted.

City officials will be looking for a developer for what they鈥檙e calling the Saxony property. For the Main Street lot in downtown Tigard, they鈥檝e modeled a six-story multiuse building with ground-floor retail and either office or residential use above.

鈥淪o if you know any developers 鈥� , 鈥� Sean Farrelly, the city鈥檚 redevelopment project manager, said during a March 29 event for business leaders.

The property is part of Tigard鈥檚 broader effort to revitalize downtown. Business leaders and city officials are pushing for a more walkable downtown, with so-called 鈥渟trolling sidewalks,鈥� welcoming storefronts and more residential uses downtown.

City officials last week invited 鈥渂ankers, brokers, builders and business people,鈥� as Economic Development Manager Lloyd Purdy said, to see what鈥檚 changed in Tigard. About 40 took part in a walking tour of downtown.

The Saxony property encompasses a 0.44-acre lot. City officials have applied for a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up soil and groundwater that has been contaminated with trichloroethylene, a degreasing agent.聽 The existing building, which would be torn down, has been a car repair shop and a blacksmith shop, among other uses.

After the city learns in May whether its grant application has been successful, it will move forward with cleaning and entitling the site, Farrelly said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to get this site developer-ready,鈥� he said.

The proposed building would stand next to Fanno Creek. The city also wants the development to include a public plaza of about 1,600 square feet.

Tigard is seeing some new development. Capstone Partners is building 167 market-rate apartments in two, four-story buildings at Southwest Ash Avenue and Burnham Street. Two retail spaces will total 2,000 square feet.

On Tuesday, workers were pouring 120 yards of concrete at the site.

The retail component is scheduled for completion in the fall, followed by the apartment units in February.

The city is encouraging more residential uses downtown. 鈥淢ore people living downtown means more people take advantage of our Main Street businesses,鈥� Farrelly said.

There are other signs of life in downtown Tigard. Mike Miller, a local web designer, is looking to open a tap house on Burnham Street just off of Main. He plans to add a large patio onto an existing house and serve 30 beers on tap. The property is owned by Dan Dolan, who said he and Miller were close to an agreement. The tap house is tentatively named Absolute Gravity.

Dolan, a significant property owner in downtown Tigard, also has a vacant lot that he said he鈥檚 looking to develop, and he鈥檚 open to hearing ideas.

Close by at 12492 Main St., Gina Schlatter opened Bailey鈥檚 Burger Shop in March in a modern 820-square-foot space.聽 The restaurant serves grass-fed beef.

At 12230 Southwest Main St., Paddle Palace has moved into a space formerly occupied by Crown Carpets. The retailer sells high-end ping-pong tables and accessories.

The Main Street streetscape looks half-unfinished, divided by train tracks and Commercial Street. To the southwest, the area is largely transformed through a street improvement plan, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and new businesses. But northeast of Commercial, Main Street has fewer improvements and remains dominated by older strip-mall construction.

Finishing the street improvement project would require $3 million, Purdy said.

Tigard is also working on a project to 鈥渞e-meander鈥� Fanno Creek, which was straightened in the 1970s, Purdy said. Over time, that has caused erosion. The project will also plant native plants to shore up the creek banks.

Some of the land near Fanno Creek is unsuitable for development because it lies in the floodplain, Purdy said.

Some participants in Tigard鈥檚 tour said downtown has a pressing need for more parking. The area has about 1,000 parking spaces, and 90 percent are privately owned, Farrelly said.

Farrelly said the city is looking to develop a concept for a parking structure, and to identify possible sites. But, he added, parking structures are expensive to build, making it a 15-to-20-year project.

City boosters are pitching a business-friendly environment. Mike Stevenson, who owns a commercial printing business and takes part in the Tigard Downtown Alliance, said the business atmosphere has greatly improved.

鈥淭he city is working with businesses (and) property owners, compared to what it used to be,鈥� Stevenson said.