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Demand for office space will drive the pace of development at Zidell Yards, executives of Zidell Cos. said Wednesday.

Office tenants are needed to lure a grocery store 鈥� an amenity that South Waterfront residents have demanded for years.

鈥淭he office market is going to be a big driver of that, but yes, we do have grocery store operators that are interested,鈥� said Jay Zidell, president of Zidell Cos.

The Zidells are pushing for redevelopment of the 33-acre Zidell Yards property in the South Waterfront. A master plan calls for 5 million square feet of space. That breaks down to 2.3 million square feet of residential units, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 200,000 square feet of retail space and 1 million square feet of parking.

Three parks will add life to the site, and two docks will provide access to the Willamette River, Zidell Cos. officials said.

The Zidells went public with their master plan in December 2016, and new details continue to emerge. Zidell Cos. officials spoke at a breakfast meeting Wednesday hosted by the Mittleman Jewish Community Center at Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland.

Cambridge Innovation Center, a co-working company that is looking for space in Portland, is one potential tenant at Zidell Yards.

鈥淭hey’re very interested in coming to Portland and being part of this,鈥� said Charlene Zidell, director of corporate relations and communications for Zidell Cos.

Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon State University also have expressed interest, she said.

At one time, Nike seriously considered the Zidell properties for a corporate expansion.

鈥淣ike was interested in the entire site,鈥� Jay Zidell said.

Instead, the shoe and apparel company expanded its existing headquarters in Washington County.

The Zidells, Charlene in particular, had qualms about turning over a large tract in the South Waterfront for a corporate campus, Jay Zidell said. Though he would welcome Amazon as a potential tenant, he said, Zidell Yards is not a good fit for a big corporate headquarters such as Amazon’s HQ2 proposal.

鈥淲e do not have the capacity to offer 8 million square feet of office or anything else,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s not consistent with the family’s vision for the site.鈥�

Zidell Yards is likely to include some affordable housing, Charlene Zidell said. She’s had discussions with EngAGE Inc., a nonprofit group based in Burbank, California, that provides arts programming for senior housing, she added.

The family wants to learn the community’s ideas for how best to use the property, Charlene Zidell said.

鈥淲e’re not going to sit in a back room and decide what is best for Portland and build it and hope we like it,鈥� she said.

The Zidells are also wrestling with how much parking to include on the site. It’s difficult for developers today to predict how transportation may change in the near future, Jay Zidell said. For now, most people drive their own cars, but that may soon change, he said.

鈥淚t’s a really challenging issue,鈥� he said.

The developer cannot build underground parking on some lots because of environmental contamination. Yet the Zidells still plan to build plenty of parking.

鈥淲e plan to build as many parking spaces as we are allowed to build,鈥� Charlene Zidell said.

The Zidells have decided to keep the existing barge building, although it will likely look much different after redevelopment, with only the shell left intact.

Redevelopment of the site became possible after the Zidells completed environmental remediation in the Willamette River in 2011, following prods from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The Zidells installed an 8-acre sand cap in the river and cleaned up the shoreline, where vegetation has begun to regrow.

The river and west riverbank were contaminated after decades of building and dismantling barges on the site.

The Zidells had long considered redeveloping the property. In recent years, the Zidell Marine shipyard had become increasingly constrained by development on three sides.

鈥淚t was becoming much more difficult to conduct our business on the site,鈥� Jay Zidell said.

On Sept. 21, 2016, Zidell told employees the barge they were building would be the company’s last.

The redevelopment of Zidell Yards comes as other large master-planned developments are growing closer to fruition, including the Broadway Corridor, The Waterfront in Vancouver, Washington and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry campus.

鈥淲e have a truly unique, remarkable and maybe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,鈥� Jay Zidell said, 鈥渁nd our real challenge is to not screw it up.鈥�