The Napa Auto Parts store in Battle Ground moved to a new building more than two years ago. The old building, on the northeast corner of East Main Street and Parkway, was partially torn down about a year ago. We wonder what the deal is with this partial building, which is quite an eyesore.
— John and Roxie
The sluggish economy has stalled the owners’s plans for a new mixed-use office and retail development. Now, plans are moving slowly along and may see completion this summer.
That’s according to Darrell Rafferty, the owner of the property (and the owner and pharmacist at Battle Ground Pharmacy on West Main).
Rafferty said he knows it’s an eyesore. “We’re looking to make quite an improvement, so keep watching,” he said. “There’s a lot of curiosity about it, and I like hearing that.”
The building was actually two separate structures that had been joined together, Rafferty said. The older one, built in 1945, has been torn down and will be replaced with a larger space, while the newer section that dates to the late 1970s is being remodeled — slowly. That’s why the whole shebang looks like a half-done demolition.
The addresses in question are 11 North Parkway and 100 East Main.
“The plan is mostly offices,” Rafferty said — somewhere between two and four in the new section. The older section could be several storefronts — or perhaps a sizable restaurant, Rafferty said.
“We are building in some flexibility so it could be one restaurant, about 6,000 square feet, or broken down into three or four smaller spaces.”
Rafferty said a loan fell through that would have seen the project already completed; he’s eager to see it finished this summer.
“We’ve got the engineering and surveying done, but you still have to wade through six different levels of stuff,” he said.
