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Vancouver’s waterfront and downtown are due for a transformation unlike any the Southwest Washington city has seen in decades.

Barry Cain, owner and president of Gramor Development, is responsible for The Waterfront 鈥� a sprawling, $1.5 billion development 12 years in the making. He’s also negotiating with the city of Vancouver to build a seven-story mixed-use building on Block 10, in the heart of downtown. It would hold a grocery store and 250 apartments.

Meanwhile, The Waterfront is fast attracting commercial tenants, and other developers are beginning to ride its coattails.

To Cain, it’s a matter of making up for lost time.

Vancouver 鈥渟hould have seen a lot of urban development during the same time that Portland had urban development, but it didn’t because of the industrial use of the waterfront,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people turn their noses up.鈥�

Previously, a Boise Cascade paper mill dominated the north shore of the Columbia River, foreclosing any possibility of development in the area. As part of Boise Cascade’s sale agreement with Cain, the paper manufacturer agreed to tear down the mill.

鈥淭hat helped right at the outset,鈥� Cain said. 鈥淛ust getting rid of what was there, getting rid of the obstacle, made a huge difference.鈥�

Downtown in particular appears ripe for redevelopment. Cain believes the mixed-use building will be only the beginning.

鈥淎s our (Waterfront) development progresses, we’re going to see more things happening downtown as a result,鈥� he said.

That’s beginning to happen: 600 multifamily units are in the downtown Vancouver pipeline.

鈥淭he biggest projects that we’re seeing right now are multifamily,鈥� said Teresa Brum, the city’s economic development manager.

Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver, has approximately one-fifth of the Portland-metro area’s population. Yet development has lagged population growth.

Vancouver has a pent-up demand for urban living, Cain said. Interest in The Waterfront’s condominium units has been intense, he added. So far, 1,100 people have asked for more information via the project’s website.

鈥淭here are a lot of people in Clark County who want to live urban, but don’t want to live in Portland,鈥� Cain said.

Also, Washington does not have a state income tax, which attracts some people from across the river.

Market research points to greater potential, Cain said. Gramor looked at including the grocery store within The Waterfront, but a market study it commissioned revealed the potential for a downtown grocery store was too strong to ignore.

鈥淚t’s the best location to hit the largest market,鈥� he said. 鈥淔rankly, we were surprised how good the studies came out. It’s very, very strong even without the new development 鈥� and our development is coming on.鈥�

The mixed-use building with the grocery store is planned on property formerly occupied by a Lucky Lager brewery and acquired by the city of Vancouver in 1994. Block 10 is bordered by Washington and Columbia streets and West Eighth and Ninth streets. The 41,681-square-foot parcel, adjacent to Esther Short Park, was the last vacant block remaining from the five-block Lucky Lager site.

A request for interest issued in 2014 drew no formal offers. This time around, Gramor bid on the property and was selected to enter exclusive negotiations with the city.

The project, which LRS Architects is designing, also calls for 277 underground parking spaces. Cain said he is pursuing an operator for the grocery store.

Other developers are taking notice.

The Uptown, a 167-unit building rising on a full block at 1700 Main St., is the largest multifamily development now under construction in downtown. The project from Cascadia Development Partners will feature 8,110 square feet of retail space as well as 167 parking stalls. A liquor store formerly occupied the lot.

Cascadia Development Partners is also behind The Esther, a 110-unit project proposed at Sixth and Esther streets in downtown Vancouver. The six-story proposal, which is undergoing preliminary land-use review, would have 128 parking stalls. No commercial space is proposed.

Several smaller projects have been proposed as well.

Vancouver had the highest occupancy rate in the Portland-metro area during the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Portland State University Real Estate Quarterly. Vancouver had a 96.2 percent occupancy rate, above the 94.6 percent average for the region.

Rising rents have come along with the scarce vacancies. Vancouver saw effective rent growth of 7.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2016 and is forecast to experience 3.7 percent rent growth from 2017 to 2020, behind only East Gresham as the strongest forecast among metro-area submarkets.

鈥淕enerally speaking, the Southwest Washington market is healthy,鈥� said Lance Killian, president of Killian Pacific, a developer based in downtown Vancouver.

Killian Pacific is considering office, retail and housing developments, but it’s too early to discuss those possibilities publicly, he said.

Activity downtown is coinciding with the beginning of construction at The Waterfront 鈥� Gramor’s effort to develop 20 blocks in south Vancouver. In total, plans call for 3,300 multifamily residential units, 250,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space and 1.25 million square feet of office space.

Last month, ground was broken on two restaurant buildings. WildFin American Grill will lease 7,500 square feet of ground-floor space in the building known as Grant Street Pier 鈥� 9.

In the other restaurant building, known as Grant Street Pier 鈥� 12, Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar will occupy 8,500 square feet on the ground floor. Ghost Runners Brewery, a local brewery founded in 2012, will open a 5,300-square-foot restaurant and a 10-barrel brewpub on the second floor.

Also, two new hotels are proposed for Vancouver. Vesta Hospitality is developing a 150-room AC Hotel by Marriott at the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1 property. And InterContinental Hotels Group has signed on to open a 12-room Hotel Indigo in spring 2018 as part of The Waterfront’s first phase.

The Port of Vancouver also received a record amount of shipping tonnage last year, supporting local industrial jobs.

Cain said he’s optimistic that development partners will continue to look to Vancouver as a viable alternative to Portland.

鈥淚f you tried to deliver a block in downtown Portland, you’d be lucky to get a block, let alone one you can start construction on next year like you can here,鈥� he said.