Gramor Development President Barry Cain announced a projected timeline Monday for the Block 10 project, a proposed 11-story multi-use tower that would bring apartments and a full-service grocery store to the heart of downtown Vancouver.
In a presentation to the Vancouver City Council, Cain outlined a schedule that would see a grocery tenant signed to a lease next May, and the tower completed in October 2021.
“If anyone has a favorite grocery store, now is a good time to call them and tell them you want them downtown,” he said.
The presentation was intended to give the council an overview of the city’s draft Disposition and Development Agreement with Gramor, which fulfills the city’s foremost requirement for the site: a full-service grocery store to serve the downtown area.
“Especially people who are downtown residents feel strongly that that’s what’s needed,” said Steve Becker, executive director of Vancouver’s Downtown Association. “I think there’s a lot of appreciation that the city government has recognized the importance of that and made it a requirement.”
The agreement has been in the works for approximately 18 months, according to Chad Eiken, Vancouver’s community economic development director. The council has received updates on the process, but Monday’s workshop gave officials an opportunity for a deeper dive.
“This is the first time we’re getting into some of the nuts and bolts,” Eiken said. “We’re hoping to get the council’s nod of approval that they’re OK with the direction negotiations are taking.”
11-story building
The draft agreement outlines the plan for a 150-foot tall, 11-story building with the 15,000- to 30,000-square-foot grocery store on the ground floor. Gramor’s original proposal — made two years ago — was for a six- or seven-story tower with underground parking.
But the latest proposal calls for parking to be located above ground — perhaps as many as three levels of parking.
“That will save on a lot of their construction costs,” Eiken said.
The levels above the garage would include 200 to 275 market-rate apartments. According to Cain, the design technically exceeds the height limit for the area, but matches the heights of the Vancouvercenter and Riverview Tower buildings on either side. Cain said after a presentation to the city council that he was confident the city would support the proposed height.
The proposed building would feature street-level retail on the sides facing Columbia, Eighth and Washington streets, while the Ninth Street side would include the loading dock and parking garage entrance. The project would also improve the sidewalks around the perimeter of the block and move all the utility lines underground.
The city owns Block 10, purchased in the early 1990s. The development agreement calls for Gramor to pay the city $3.33 million for the property, when the sale closes. Gramor is required to pay $160,000 in earnest money, parts of which are tied to various development milestones such as the signing of the grocery lease.
Gramor is expected to submit an architectural rendering of the building to the city in the next three weeks, Eiken said.
Store key condition
The development doesn’t yet have a specific grocery tenant lined up yet, according to the tentative schedule outlined at the workshop. Gramor expects to have a grocery lease signed by May 5, 2019, and the agreement gives the city the ability to consent to the choice of lease holder.
The draft DDA specifies that any grocery tenant must operate 10 hours per day, seven days a week, although Cain said that figure was a minimum and the store would likely be open 12 to 14 hours on most days.
The grocery use has been a longtime part of the city’s vision for the site, according to Eiken, and was one of the key conditions for any potential sale agreement.
The announcement received universal praise from the city councilors at the workshop.
“It is so amazing that we have a private developer who wants to bring the amenity of grocery to our downtown,” said Councilor Alishia Topper.
Eiken said the city’s next step will be to work with Gramor to finalize the draft, then bring it back to the council for a public hearing. The development and approval of a site plan is scheduled to take place in 2019, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in the spring of 2020 and conclude in October 2021.
“If we can keep everything on track, we’re hoping to get back to the council for a public hearing by the end of November,” Eiken said.
The 41,681-square-foot Block 10 was purchased by the city in the early 1990s with an eye toward future redevelopment, but progress has been slow, and the site now holds the distinction of being the last of the former downtown “brewery blocks” to enter development. The site is across the street from the Vancouvercenter, which is built on the former site of the Lucky Lager brewery.
Best site candidate
Gramor Development was one of three respondents to the city’s 2016 request for development proposals. The Portland-area real estate developer is known for mixed-use retail and office projects, including more than two dozen grocery stores, and is also the primary developer for The Waterfront Vancouver.
According to Cain, Gramor sought to develop a full grocery store to support its waterfront development, but quickly determined that the actual waterfront zone would be too constricted to handle a grocery store’s traffic. Block 10 was the best site candidate, he said, due to its central downtown location and proximity to both the waterfront and Interstate 5.
The Block 10 site is also scheduled to serve as the staging area for the upcoming Vancouvercenter tower 4 project during the next two years, before the Gramor tower breaks ground.
“It looks like the timing will line up pretty well for both of those,” Eiken said.
