The start of a long-planned project to create public access to Willamette Falls has been delayed as stakeholders go back to the drawing board to explore routing visitors along the river instead of through the former Blue Heron paper mill site.

The Willamette Falls Legacy Project – a collaboration of stakeholders including Metro, the city of Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon – announced Thursday it is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which purchased the mill site last year, to consider design alternatives for the riverwalk.

A yearslong design process led by acclaimed Norwegian firm Snohetta, and including Mayer/Reed and Canadian firm DIALOG, resulted in concept plans for a riverwalk passing through the shuttered mill site, with some of the former industrial buildings being transformed and incorporated into the design.

Now, according to the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, a ground-breaking event anticipated for this year has been put on hold pending exploration of design alternatives. Project partners began working this past summer to refine plans after cost estimates revealed that available funding would be insufficient to cover the scope of work.

Legacy Project staff began working last year with design and engineering firm Otak Inc. and contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis to rein in the project cost. Snohetta projected that its designs would cost $12.6 million to build, but estimates last year by Otak and Lease Crutcher Lewis pegged the price tag at between $17 million and $33 million. The project’s budget is $12.5 million.

The Grande Ronde purchased the site while potential costs were being researched and subsequently requested that the possibility of a riverside path be explored. The cost of such an amenity is still being evaluated, and the project partners will consider additional funding options if that cost is higher than proposed originally.

The riverwalk is the first phase of a larger project estimated to cost $150 million over 20 years.

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Metro is considering whether to refer to voters a parks bond renewal that may include $20 million to kick-start the first phase of construction at Willamette Falls.

The total bond package is estimated to total $400 million to $450 million, including a slew of other parks-related spending. The measure would renew existing bonds and leave current tax rates unchanged.

The entire Willamette Falls Legacy Project is expected to cost approximately $150 million over 20 years, said Jon Blasher, Metro’s parks and nature director. Metro is planning to tackle restoration of the waterfall area in several phases; the first will be the Riverwalk to create public access. A master plan for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project was completed last year.

“This could help to be the catalyst,” Blasher said.

Plans for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project have forged ahead since the Metro-led government coalition and property owner George Heidgerken reached an agreement in March 2018 to apply for permit applications. Metro has issued a request for proposals for a construction manager-general contractor for the first phase of Riverwalk construction. The RFP will close at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

The $20 million infusion would follow $5 million from a 2006 bond that was used for planning. Snohetta, an international design firm based in Norway and New York City, crafted a master plan for Metro and its partner agencies in Willamette Falls: Clackamas County, the city of Oregon City and Oregon State Parks.

The initial phase of construction would include a public viewing platform, access to the falls and restoration of natural areas. Construction could begin in 2020.

The massive waterfall has been closed to public view from the ex-Blue Heron paper mill property for decades. The site is culturally important to several Native American tribes, who have continued to be consulted on the project.

Separately, Heidgerken is investigating a number of possible private-sector development scenarios for the land he owns at Willamette Falls.

Otak Inc. is now tasked with bringing designs from concept to the first phase of construction, including design and engineering work for federal permit applications. Otak is working with Mayer/Reed, Snohetta, KPFF, Pacific Habitat Services and others on the project.

The project is also receiving support from a nonprofit organization, Willamette Falls Trust, which was set up to help work advance. The trust received a $5 million donation from Connie Ballmer, who grew up in Oregon City and is the wife of NBA owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; and $2 million from the Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust, a legacy of a prominent Oregon timber family.

Willamette Falls Trust Executive Director Andrew Mason said the public-sector agencies recognized a need to have a more nimble, private nonprofit partner.

“We’re here to help support fundraising and community engagement for the Riverwalk,” Mason said.

The decision to refer the parks bond package lies with the Metro Council, which is expected to vote on the matter later this month. If approved, it would appear on November ballots. The bond would focus on water quality, fish and wildlife habitat and racial equity.

“One program area that we’re looking at is how to leverage large-scale community visions, and one of those has been the Willamette Falls Legacy Project,” Blasher said.

According to Metro, the bond would include $130 million to $140 million to protect and restore land, particularly river and stream banks, and culturally significant sites; $100 million to $105 million to maintain and improve facilities at existing Metro parks such as Oxbow and Blue Lake; $25 million to $30 million for community grants; $65 million to $70 million to support local parks projects overseen by city and county governments; $40 million to $55 million to create walking and biking trails; and $40 million to $55 million to advance large-scale initiatives relating to job opportunities, affordable housing and transportation.

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Two projects in the Portland-metro area – the proposed Willamette Falls Riverwalk and the completed Yard – received honor awards recently from the American Society of Landscape Architects as part of the .

The Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon City was one of four projects to receive an honor award in the analysis and planning category. The Interstate 25 Conservation Corridor Master Plan in Douglas County, Colorado, received the category’s award of excellence.

The Riverwalk, designed by Snohetta, is the anticipated first phase of a plan to remake Oregon City’s frontage of Willamette Falls. The waterfall, blocked for decades by a paper mill, is considered a potential tourist attraction.

“Here we see the combining of public access, habitat, historic and cultural interpretation, and economic development in a project that’s very tangible in terms of its potential to being implemented,” the awards jury wrote.

Snohetta is an international design firm with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and U.S. operations based in New York City. The design firm’s client is Metro and a coalition of government agencies. The landscape architects are Mayer/Reed and Dialog Design.

Yard, a 21-story mixed-use building with a landscaped podium at the east end of the Burnside Bridge, was one of two projects to receive an honor award in the residential design category. 2.ink Studio was the landscape architect for Yard. The Balcones Residence in Austin, Texas, received the category’s award of excellence.

Yard “sets itself apart from a competitive marketplace, and the market has responded positively to it,” the awards jury wrote.

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A coalition of government agencies led by Metro on Monday applied for a construction permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the first stage of the Willamette Falls Legacy Project in a major milestone for the long-gestating public-private development.

The move came after the property’s owner, George Heidgerken, signed permit documents and settled payments he owed to Clackamas County and Oregon City, government officials said, lifting a monthslong impasse between the two sides.

The project had stalled amid Heidgerken’s concerns the agencies were trying to sideline his options for private development at the waterfall site. Then a promising sign came in March, when Heidgerken signed permit applications to allow the project to move forward and signaled he would pay about $280,000 in tax and utility bills.

Those payments have been made.

“He’s completely caught up,” said Tony Konkol, city manager of Oregon City.

The city has received a check from Heidgerken for more than $63,000 to settle a previously unpaid utilities balance, Konkol said.

The Willamette Falls Legacy Project promises to showcase the falls – the second-largest waterfall by volume in the United States – and build a noteworthy attraction that local officials believe could inject economic vitality into downtown Oregon City and remake a defunct industrial site.

“We have this opportunity to really engage with the river again and re-establish multiple blocks of our downtown,” Konkol said. “So we really couldn’t be more excited to get this project going over the next couple of years.”

Heidgerken said the permit application was a positive sign.

“I think everything’s great,” he said Tuesday. “That’s all I’ve got to say – I’m glad they’re moving forward.”

Control of the project has long been an issue dividing Heidgerken and the partner agencies. Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Washington-based developer, swooped in to purchase the property in 2014. The site’s previous tenant, the Blue Heron Paper Co., had ceased operations three years earlier.

Metro partnered with Clackamas County, Oregon City and the state of Oregon for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project. The governments commissioned an ambitious design from international firm Snohetta, along with Mayer/Reed�����Ի���Dialog, for a public river walk. Heidgerken negotiated a public easement for the river walk. But he held out the possibility of developing multifamily buildings and amenities such as restaurants and brewpubs – either by himself or with a partner.

“There’s a whole lot of neat things that fit on that site, and they’ll happen when the right players step up to do them,” Heidgerken said Tuesday.

Heidgerken earlier rejected a purchase offer from the government agencies. Now the two sides are proceeding with an uneasy partnership that would allow the river walk to proceed while he controls the rest of the 22-acre site.

“This project is a big and complex project,” said Brian Moore, project manager for Metro. “When the partners elected not to purchase the property and when their (subsequent offer to Heidgerken) was rejected, it put us in a position where we had a partner we didn’t select, but we’re figuring out how to work with him and how to move this forward.”

In a reflection of the increasing optimism for development, the Legacy Project group will host public tours of the site on June 1-2. The tours quickly filled up.

The Section 106 permit, if granted by the Army Corps of Engineers, would allow in-water and above-water work to begin. Moore cautioned it will be about two years before any construction occurs.

“It takes quite some time,” he said. “We’ve got to be patient while we work through this process and we’ll get to construction as soon as we feasibly can.”

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Developer George Heidgerken and a coalition of government partners may have broken an impasse that has stalled the Willamette Falls Legacy Project for months.

Heidgerken has signed multiple permit applications that may allow the project’s initial phase to proceed into permitting, the government partners announced, saying they are “cautiously optimistic.”

“Falls Legacy has signed permits, and we’re very appreciative,” said Laura Terway, Oregon City’s community development director.

The project has been stuck since September, when the government partners said Heidgerken, who purchased the property in 2014, would neither sign permit applications nor submit various payments of more than $200,000 to allow the project to go forward.

Heidgerken said Wednesday he’s signed permit applications for phase one, which would allow public viewing of the massive Oregon City waterfall.

“We’ve agreed with Metro that there’s certain things we’ll let them do, and it’s called phase one,” he said. “My understanding of phase one is it gets the public access to the falls.”

The government partners are ready to apply for permits and will do so as soon as Heidgerken comes through with various payments, including tax and utility bills, that total about $280,000, Terway said.

“A strong public-private partnership requires trust, and because being a good steward of public money is a top priority, the project partners group asked the staff to wait on permit applications until after Falls Legacy follows through on their commitment to make payments to the project this spring,” she said.

Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Washington-based developer, acquired the site, the former Blue Heron paper mill, in 2014 after it had sat unused for years. He soon agreed to an easement with the government partners to construct a walkway.

Metro, along with Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon, last year unveiled an ambitious site design by Snohetta, a major international design firm based in Oslo, Norway. Heidgerken objected, saying Metro and the other government partners were trying to elbow him out of the project. Instead of a mixed-use area with a hotel, multifamily housing and restaurants, the Metro-led design process had essentially resulted in a park, he said.

“Metro is really good at one thing – building parks,” Heidgerken said. “I don’t think the city, the people that live there, are so interested in a 25-acre park. We want jobs. We want a park. We want to support tourism, and anyone who wants to put a business there. … That project is no good unless we have apartments, condos, people – and that means breweries, a pizza parlor.”

The government partners offered this past fall to buy the site from Heidgerken, but he declined to sell. He also refused to sign the permit applications, saying they were overly broad and would essentially allow Metro to do whatever it wanted without his input.

Metro officials have said they designed the public portions of the project, and left Heidgerken to design the remaining areas. One of the core principles of the project’s master plan is economic redevelopment. Zoning at the site was changed in 2014 from industrial to mixed-use, allowing for a range of development options.

But first comes the public walkway, known as the Riverwalk.

“This plan is for the Riverwalk portion,” Terway said. “We do see it as being very catalytic for the economic redevelopment of the private side.”

Heidgerken said he’s willing to play ball as long as Metro and its partners don’t interfere with his plans for the site.

“I’m prepared to sign whatever fits that project with Metro as long as it fits the realm of whatever’s best for the project, best for Metro and best for me,” he said.

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Metro is moving toward approving a master plan for the Willamette Falls Riverwalk, even as the agency and its partners remain at an impasse with the landowner who controls the site.

The Riverwalk is intended to spur further development at the site overlooking the nation’s second-largest waterfall by volume.

The Metro Council heard an update on the master plan Nov. 21. The council agreed to release the plan for public comment.

Metro, along with Clackamas County, Oregon City and the state of Oregon, has identified $19 million to pay for the first phase of development at Willamette Falls. That includes $12.5 million in state lottery bonds allotted by the Legislature, $5 million in Metro bonds, $1.5 million in city, county and landowner contributions and approximately $8 million in private money expected to be raised by 2022.

In the master plan released by Metro, the partner agencies make it a priority to establish a public viewing area for the falls as soon as possible. Snohetta, a design firm based in Oslo, Norway, led the design process.

Access to the site from U.S. Route 99E remains in question. Alex Gilbertson, Metro’s senior parks planner, said the project agencies want to get a design-build firm under contract before determining the best way to provide access to the falls from the highway.

The government agencies and property owner George Heidgerken have offered different visions for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project. Heidgerken complained Metro and partner agencies want to build “a park” at the site. Heidgerken, a Tacoma-based developer who purchased the ex-Blue Heron paper mill site in 2014, said he’s interested in building a hotel, condos, restaurants and other amenities.

Heidgerken agreed to an easement with the government representatives in December 2014. A dispute arose earlier this year, and the government agencies went public with a letter on Sept. 22, 2017, saying Heidgerken would not sign an application for permits from the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needed to move the project forward. Heidgerken also has not submitted a $200,000 payment that was due in January.

Heidgerken said he was in active discussions with Metro to resolve the impasse.

“Metro has gone way overboard,” he said. “They don’t have the authority they think they do in designing what they want.”

Heidgerken said he was optimistic the two sides would reach an agreement. “We’re at a crossroads with Metro right now, but I think we’ll get that straightened out,” he said.

Brian Moore, Metro’s project manager for Willamette Falls, said he could not discuss the ongoing real-estate negotiation with Heidgerken.

“The partners are very committed to moving the project forward and excited about the future,” Moore said.

Metro Council President Tom Hughes said the council had had no recent updates on the negotiations.

“We hope they have that worked out soon,” he said.

Heidgerken owns the entire 22-acre site, except for Portland General Electric’s dam. PGE has provided the agencies an easement for the Riverwalk across the top of the dam.

Heidgerken said Willamette Falls could be a special project.

“These projects, if you do them right, they can be real winners,” he said. “And if you don’t, you wish you’d never seen them.”

The master plan is expected to be adopted at a Jan. 4, 2018 Metro Council meeting, and by the City Council of Oregon City shortly thereafter.

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Government agencies backing the Willamette Falls Legacy Project are pressuring property owner George Heidgerken to allow the Riverwalk portion to go forward.

Heidgerken has refused to sign permit applications needed for the project to proceed. He has also declined to make a $200,000 payment that was due in January, according to both sides.

Heidgerken said Metro, which has taken a leadership role in the project, has come forward with park-like designs. Heidgerken has different ideas, proposing a hotel, restaurants, apartments and condos.

“We’re at odds only from the standpoint of they don’t listen to us,” Heidgerken said in an interview Tuesday.

The government agencies publicly released a Sept. 22 letter to Heidgerken detailing the impasse.
The disagreement is already delaying the high-stakes Willamette Falls Legacy Project, and risking its $5 million in state funding.

The $60 million project aims to turn the waterfall – the second-largest by volume in the U.S. – into a destination for locals and visitors and a landmark attraction for Oregon City. For decades, the falls have been blocked by industrial development. Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Washington-based developer, purchased the former Blue Heron paper mill property at a bankruptcy auction.

Metro has joined with Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state to build the project. The partner agencies brought in Snohetta, a major international architecture firm based in Oslo, Norway, to design the Riverwalk.

Heidgerken donated an easement to pave the way for the Riverwalk. He said Metro and the other government agencies have not incorporated his plans for private development into their designs.

“We’re not going to let them cut us out and where we’re going with all of our plans,” Heidgerken said. “They totally ignored us. Being ignored, I took offense to it, because I spent $2.5 million buying it.”

A Metro official said he was perplexed at the impasse. Brian Moore, Metro’s project manager for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, said the agencies have tried to accommodate Heidgerken’s plans and have repeatedly presented him with updated designs.

“He has identified some concerns with the alignment of the Riverwalk, which we changed in order to accommodate his concerns,” Moore said.

The easement requires Heidgerken to sign off on the designs before work can proceed. Metro is preparing to apply for permits needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other regulators.

Metro’s designs don’t include Heidgerken’s planned developments, Moore said, because it’s not Metro’s job to design his projects. The agency also provided Heidgerken with a $500,000 grant to commission his own design work.

“It’s not our role as public agencies to design his private development,” Moore said. “We did the best we could to design the Riverwalk and provide him flexibility in the future.”

The design advanced by Metro and its partners does not preclude a future hotel or other development, Moore said.

“We offered an agreement to George that would have allowed him to build a hotel or apartment buildings or anything else on or near the Riverwalk whenever he’s ready to build that,” Moore said. “He rejected that.”

If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, the matter may end up in court. The agencies’ letter to Heidgerken says “we are considering all of our options for responsibly moving the project forward,” and asks Heidgerken to “fulfill your obligation” to sign permit applications.

The partner agencies share a commitment to move forward, said Tony Konkol, city manager of Oregon City.

“The partners have been in this together the whole time,” he said. “We speak with one voice.”

Heidgerken made an initial payment to Metro and its partner agencies, but has not made a second $200,000 installment that was due in January.

Heidgerken said he still has hopes for a resolution to the impasse.

“It’s hard to be the player in the pack that says no,” he said. “We’re not saying no to nothing – not at all. All we’re doing is addressing our concerns on that project, because it’s a major project. What we do will affect what goes on there for a long time.”

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