91视频

Developers are increasingly finding attractive opportunities in Beaverton, where city officials are banking on a new round of projects to spur growth.

As in Portland, multifamily development in Beaverton has been brisk, and interest has picked up as developers have broadened their scope. Meanwhile, a hotel project that has languished could finally be on the way to The Round, and the Westgate area and Old Town are seeing some of the mixed-use buildings that have transformed Portland neighborhoods east of the Willamette River.

Beaverton officials are in exclusive negotiations with a local developer, Canterbury Hotel Group, to build a 120-125 room hotel on the southeast corner of the Westgate property, near City Hall 鈥� where city officials have long sought to attract development. Canterbury has built several business-class hotels near Portland International Airport. The sides have until June 30 to ink a deal before the exclusive negotiation agreement expires.

Rembold is expected to break ground in May or June on a 230-unit, two-building multifamily development at Westgate, with ground-floor retail space and office space. The east building will be six stories, while the west building will be five stories.

In February, Rembold completed The Rise Old Town, an 87-unit apartment building along Southwest Farmington Road just east of Beaverton High School. The apartments are 30 percent leased, said Kira Cador, Rembold’s president.

The Westgate project is also likely to be named The Rise, with a geographic modifier to be decided.

鈥淭here’s not a lot of urban, mixed-use type of product in Beaverton,鈥� Cador said. 鈥淎 lot of the apartments are older or out toward the Hillsboro area. There’s a lot of employment, and Beaverton is a very diverse community.鈥�

Workers at Nike or Intel may find it more convenient to live in Beaverton than Portland or Hillsboro if there’s housing that meets their needs, Cador said.

While other developers were pursuing increasingly expensive properties in Portland, Rembold invested in Beaverton.

鈥淏ecause so many big, well-funded entities were competing for property (in) Portland, (and) because we’re here and knew the area, we felt there was an opportunity,鈥� Cador said. 鈥淲e’re more opportunity driven and really get excited by finding some of those other spaces that people aren’t considering.鈥�

Other multifamily developers have been moving in on Beaverton. Last year, developer Roy Kim opened the 47-unit La Scala at Southwest First Street and Lombard Avenue. The units are a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The building also has 5,000 square feet of retail space. Kim did not return messages seeking comment.

The recent multifamily developments have been located within walking distance of MAX light-rail stations.

Like Portland, Beaverton is pursuing denser multifamily development and ground-floor uses that activate the streetscape.

La Scala offers a window into the possibilities for Beaverton. The ground floor has three locally owned eateries as tenants: Batter Up Waffles and Waffle Sundaes, Sonia’s Mixed Grill and Bennett Coffee Roasting Co. and Bennett Urban Farm Store. Also, La Scala has a ground-floor bar for which a liquor license is in the works.

More restaurants could be coming to Old Town. Food and beverage operators have expressed interest in the vacant retail spaces at The Rise, Cador said.

Rene Bennett, who co-owns with her husband, Mark, the coffee roaster in La Scala, said she’s seen good foot traffic at the location since opening in December and is excited for the prospect of growth in Old Town.

鈥淚 would love to see this side of town get more small businesses,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are so many small business owners looking for spaces to go into.鈥�

Bennett said they’re leaving the La Scala space to take advantage of the busy farmers markets in the southwest Portland suburbs. Still, she praised the idea of gathering locally owned eateries in La Scala.

鈥淚t’s almost like a business incubator,鈥� she said.

Residents are excited for the prospect of more restaurants in Old Town, Bennett said.

Directly adjacent to La Scala is The Barcelona, an affordable housing project with 47 units in four stories. The project from Community Partners for Affordable Housing was designed by Carleton Hart Architecture and built by LMC Construction.

The hotel planned on the Westgate property has been a stop-and-go project. The city earlier entered into negotiations with O’Reilly Hospitality Management of Springfield, Missouri, but those negotiations came to an end without a development agreement.

The city received two proposals, and Canterbury was selected, said Cheryl Twete, community development director for the city of Beaverton.

鈥淲e felt that a hotel is still a use for this site and this growing neighborhood,鈥� she said.

A ground-floor restaurant and bar is envisioned to activate the area, she said.

Beaverton is also poised to see increased multifamily development as middle-income workers flee Portland’s high home prices and rents.

Rent growth in Beaverton has been relatively modest: 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, and 7 percent for the year, according to Portland State University’s Center for Real Estate.

The occupancy rate was 94.5 percent during the fourth quarter.

Beaverton also doesn’t have inclusionary zoning requirements, which developers say has made multifamily projects in Portland infeasible in some cases.

Portland remains the only municipality in Oregon to go forward with inclusionary zoning, which requires developers to build affordable units or pay a hefty fee in lieu.

鈥淚’ve had several conversations with developers that primarily work in Portland, and yes, we have been asked if we have an inclusionary zoning program,鈥� Twete said. 鈥淪ince it’s such a new tool in the state right now, we are watching how Portland is rolling it out and will learn from their experience, but it’s not something we’re working on in our community at this time.鈥�

Beaverton officials are pushing for affordable units in new projects. Rembold’s Westgate project will include 15 rent-restricted units that Rembold agreed to as part of negotiations with the city. LCG Pence Construction is the project’s general contractor.

Directly south of The Barcelona is a 2.5-acre vacant lot that is targeted for development. The property is for sale by a Bend-based owner. At the moment, there’s only a boarded-up house and overgrown grass on the parcel. In winter, the parcel has hosted a Christmas-tree lot.

鈥淚 know several developers are looking at it,鈥� Twete said. 鈥淚t’s a great piece of property.鈥�

The city is eager for the property to be developed.

鈥淲e would love to see that get into the hands of a developer who could continue this new wave of development to create place-making and community-making in Old Town,鈥� Twete said.