*** The waterfront: A new vision ***

Wenatchee, Washington -- 05/25/2004
~~~~~~~~~~
It's the right time and the right place for
upscale shoreline development, many believe
- but will investors step up?
~~~~~~~~~~
When Brian Vincent of Pacific Appraisal Associates needs
a break from the often desk-bound rigors of appraising real
estate, he has only to walk out onto the office's narrow
second-floor balcony to enter another world.

From this vantage point near Riverfront Park, just south of the
boat launch, he can hear the soft ticking of a mountain bike as
a rider coasts along the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail.
He can see song birds rustle the branches of the cottonwoods,
elms, alders and willows that frame the gray, lazy motion of the
Columbia River and the stark East Wenatchee hills beyond.

"We like being close to the park to use the trail and see the wildlife"
said Vincent, whose bosses, including company founder and current
Wenatchee Mayor Dennis Johnson, enjoy the same view from their
desks. "And it's so close to downtown. My wife and kids have come
down and we've had picnics at lunchtime."

Johnson built the office building at 135 S. Worthen St. in 1992,
more than a decade before the city he now leads would develop
an ambitious waterfront-development plan whose success hinges
on private-sector investment - an estimated $239 million of it
- to make it all happen.

Wenatchee-area investors say they're eager to launch some
smaller-scale office and condominium projects, but they agree
that much of the plan's larger-scale, high-density commercial
and housing space will require the deep pockets of developers
from outside the area.

Allison Williams, a community planner with the city of Wenatchee,
said officials are working on winning grants and other financing to
come up with the estimated $15 million to $23 million they need to
improve traffic flow and pump up infrastructure to lure such an
investor.

Williams said preliminary discussions are underway with a
development company who could get the job done. She declined,
for now, to reveal its name.

Local experts say the waterfront plan, itself, which establishes
a common vision in steering area development, may be the city's
most appealing bargaining chip in attracting outside investment.

Approved in February, the 20-year Waterfront Development
Plan is designed to better exploit the 2.5-mile-long sector's vistas,
recreational opportunities and ambience by creating space for
specialty shops, restaurants, condominiums and offices that
compliment the hugely popular trail and park system started
in the 1980s by the Chelan County PUD.

Stakes for the city are high.

According to an economic-impact study conducted by Seattle
-based consulting firm Berk & Associates, a developed waterfront
could support as many as 1,440 new housing units, could create
1,430 new jobs and as much as $716,000 in additional property
tax revenues per year and $35 million in additional taxable retail
sales per year.

Rezoning from former industrial uses to commercial, residential
and recreational uses took effect in March. Areas around the
Riverfront Park boat launch and between Fifth and Ninth streets
are targeted for the most concentrated development.

"A developed waterfront would be a huge boon to downtown,"
said Kathy Allen, executive director of the Wenatchee Downtown
Association. "It would attract lots of new businesses and housing
and lead to an expansion of our city in every way. It would have
more an economic impact than any single business."

Interest from local developers

Wenatchee attorney Bob Parlette is ready to build luxury
condominiums on the 3.75 acres he bought nine years ago
near the expansive lawns, sports courts and prime river views
of Walla Walla Point Park.

He and his developer, GG Richardson Inc. of Wenatchee,
are working with owners of parcels adjacent to Parlette's
land to create a residential-and-commercial complex that
could cover six to seven acres.

Rick Cozzalio, an owner of GG Richardson, said the project is
still in its conceptual stage, but could cost $15 million to $20
million.

"We've had 25 to 35 people express interest in buying a condo,"
said Parlette, co-founder of the Complete the Loop Coalition,
which raised private funds to extend the trail system along the
East Wenatchee side of the river. "There's enough demand,
and we're going ahead."

The attorney said he's not sure when construction will begin,
but he trusts his developer on the timing.

"I'm just going to toss my property in and let those guys run with it,"
he said.

No plans currently exist to redevelop the 9th Street Trailer Court,
a few blocks to the south, said Bill Terhaar, property manager for
the park's owner, Goodcamp Co. Since early March, as many as
20 manufactured homes have been moved from the waterfront
property or demolished.

But at the foot of Fifth Street, developer John McQuaig
is looking forward to building a new building - his second.

McQuaig's Riverfront Center stands about as close to the
Columbia as it can get without getting wet. The three-story,
28,000 square-foot building houses offices and ground-floor
commercial space right on the loop trail.

The building stands on the former site of Wenatchee's old
waterworks building - scene of the Hollywood flick, "Surviving
the Game," starring rapper Ice T.

"We wanted to fit Riverfront Center to the site, with big windows
with views of the river and park," McQuaig said of the site's now
upscale feel with brick plaza, leafy green areas and the nearby
Riverfront Park Ice Arena.

He plans to build another 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot
building on property he owns just to the south.

He said he's only waiting for city planners to first determine where
a proposed new road, Riverside Drive, will go to increase vehicle
access to the river.

The proposed Riverside Drive would combine Worthen Street
and Walla Walla Avenue into a single, relatively straight thoroughfare.
Farther north, Hawley Street also could connect to the new route.

City investment needed

"The city will definitely have to encourage this," McQuaig said.
"If the riverfront has a cohesive plan, it can get some cohesive
development. From the city to the port districts, it takes everybody
working together to steer development in that direction."

Mayor Johnson and planner Williams say they know the city
needs to actively court potential investors with actions, as well
as words. And they're determined to do it.

"The first step is for the city to remove itself from the waterfront,
so we can sell to a developer," said Johnson of the city's 3.5-acre
Public Works Department compound situated on prime real estate
off Worthen Street.

"We have to show that we're doing it," he said. "We feel these are
the kinds of things that provide the impetus the plan needs to keep
moving."

Johnson said he'll meet with department heads late this month to
consider alternative sites. He'll then take suggestions from the
meeting to the City Council.

The estimated $40 million cost of moving the city's adjacent
water-treatment plant will keep it on the waterfront, Johnson
has said.

Williams identified moving the public works compound, building
Riverside Drive and extending Orondo Avenue to the waterfront
as three priority projects that will account for much of the city's
anticipated infrastructure expenses.

Williams' boss, community development director David Stalheim,
said the city expects to get grant money for most of the road and
park improvements. Sale of the public works property could help
fund the plant's move.

He doesn't rule out going to voters with a bond measure,
but said it may not be necessary.

Projects such as Riverside Drive and expanding the boat
launch are too preliminary to have quantifiable price tags, he said.

The city has already devised three potential routes for the
proposed Riverside Drive and expects to make a final decision
on a still unspecified date this month.

Other waterfront improvement projects are underway.

The city secured $600,000 in grant money to overhaul the
Thurston Street overpass, an odd, two-level "T" intersection
that provides one of the city's only two waterfront access points
that aren't affected by passing trains. The city will provide matching
funds of $150,000. Construction should begin this year.

With another $45,000 in grants, the city is planning, designing
and getting permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
the state Department of Ecology and a host of others to expand
day-use moorage at the boat launch.

Williams knows a lot is riding on decisions the city's making now.

"People have seen many plans come about only to be shelved,"
she said. "They're looking for the city to take the lead and make
changes happen before they jump in whole hog. They want to be
sure we'll follow the vision."

Johnson remembers the anxiety he felt when pioneering
one of the south waterfront's first commercial properties.

No other office buildings then existed along that stretch of
Worthen Street, which at the time was a two-lane road with
no curbs, gutters or sidewalks, he recalled. Big brick fruit-packing
and shipping warehouses were the closest neighbors.

"Quite frankly I was enamored with the waterfront," Johnson said.
"We were taking a risk at the time. We didn't want to be the only
ones there. We built the first building and the others came."

"It's a big challenge," he said of the new waterfront plan.
"But I think we're at the right time and place. The community
is ready for it."

The path to private investment

Phase 1 (2004-2005): Includes many land-use policy changes
for the waterfront and begins some traffic circulation and street
improvements. Relatively little private investment is expected
during this phase.

Phase 2 (2006-2010): Includes the majority of traffic circulation
and street improvements and some parks and environmental
investments. Some private investment is expected in this phase.

Phase 3 (2011 and beyond): Would bring
the majority of private investment.

Source: Wenatchee Waterfront Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis

__________

Public meeting

What: City's plans for the proposed Riverside Drive

When: 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday

Where: Riverfront Park Ice Arena

Why: View and comment on the three options
for joining Worthen and Walla Walla streets

__________

Advice from Portland developer: Keep it real

By Christine Pratt, World staff writer

The developer of one of Portland's most successful waterfront
projects says the local energy already generated by a Wenatchee
waterfront plan could appeal to outside investors.

"If local investors are moving forward, that's an excellent sign,"
said Larry Dully, who was instrumental some 30 years ago in
developing RiverPlace, a community of homes and shops on the
west bank of the Willamette River, just south of downtown.

"The city can build momentum by having excitement about it,
but they have to keep it going with good communication and
results," said the founder and principal investor of Portland-based
The Dully Co.

Dully, who's never been to Wenatchee, said
a big developer will likely mull the following prior to jumping in:

Are public goals clear and accepted?

Does the city have the capacity to finance the
public investment, or is it just a paper plan?

Are those who control the land willing
to participate and for what price?

Are efforts being made with neighbors and
downtown businesses to bring everyone on board?

If the city can provide the right answers to those questions,
large-scale developers will more likely view more opportunity
than risk and move forward, he said.

George Rolfe, associate professor of urban design
and planning at the University of Washington, agrees.

"There's lots of interest on the part of cities large and
small to remake their waterfronts," Rolfe said. "It's a hot topic."

He added, "Small cities may lack the capital and demand to do
a splashy project, but they can do very good quality projects that
ultimately benefit the community more."

And not everything has to ride on one big developer.

"As long as a clear, central plan exists, smaller projects can
produce a better long-term product," Rolfe said. "The key is
a public infrastructure that is consistently well done so people
can plug into it with individual projects. If you can prove there's
demand, you'll find a developer."

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