Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Vincent Do’s last name, listed an outdated square footage for the proposed expansion building, and did not mention that the Minnehaha Business Park project was later renamed Velendo Industrial Park.
The owners of Evergreen Plastic Container Inc. are working on a plan to expand their Minnehaha-area bottle manufacturing plant, along with a longer-term vision to develop several surrounding parcels as part of a project called Velendo Industrial Park.
The project would begin with an addition to the Northeast 47th Avenue plastics facility on an adjacent parcel to the east. Subsequent stages would develop three additional parcels to the east, north and south, creating a 16.3-acre area that stretches from Northeast Minnehaha Street up to Northeast 68th Street.
Vancouver engineering firm 2G Associates, Inc., submitted the application on behalf of Evergreen Plastic Container owners Vincent and Helen Do, who also own the surrounding parcels either directly or through a separate company called Velendo Real Estate LLC, according to Clark County records.
Evergreen Plastic Container manufactures polyethylene terephthalate plastic containers, which are primarily used as packaging for bottled beverages, condiments and cooking oils. The company also makes plastic “closure” pieces — caps for soda and water bottles with the attached plastic ring to indicate when a bottle has been opened for the first time.
The Dos moved the company from Portland to Vancouver in 2014 and purchased a 5-acre section of an undeveloped business park area for $1.24 million, according to a 2014 Columbian story, with the intention of building an initial new facility and leaving room for future expansion.
According to the project’s pre-application packet, the business park plans predate the arrival of Evergreen Plastic. The park was originally proposed in 2003 by then-owner Robert Erickson, and approved by Clark County in 2004 with a master plan for development under the title Minnehaha Business Park.
The plan called for six prefab metal or concrete “tilt-up” style warehouse and manufacturing buildings, totaling about 166,000 square feet, to be built over a period of about three to five years depending on tenant demand.
None of the buildings were built in the first five years, according to a 2008 extension from the county, although the site did receive a number of improvements including an extension of Northeast 47th Avenue, frontage improvements on Minnehaha and 68th Streets, wetland enhancement and mass grading.
No further development took place until the Dos bought the property in 2014, although their pre-application packet says the original project plan received additional extensions in 2010 and 2012.
The 2014 Columbian story says the Dos bought the property from Marty Rifkin and Kate Jones, the former owners of gummi vitamin maker Northwest Natural Products. It’s unclear when the property passed to them from Erickson.
The Dos built the 52,000-square-foot Evergreen Plastic Container warehouse in 2014 on the western end of the property using a modified version of the original master plan, but the county’s approval for the plan expired in 2016. The Evergreen Plastic Container warehouse and surrounding area is now known as Velendo Industrial Park.
The Dos submitted a preliminary request last year to re-apply to develop the whole site, with construction of the plastics facility expansion to begin as soon as possible. the latest architectural plans show the expansion would be an approximately 55,000-square-foot building that would connect with the east side of the existing building and add another loading dock.
The expansion of the plant would be considered “phase 2” of the project, according to Evergreen Plastic Container maintenance supervisor Stashia Barnes, with the original building being considered phase 1. Subsequent phases would build out the rest of the site.
The current plans show another building on the eastern parcel, a row of three buildings on the southern parcel and a set of three buildings on the northern parcel, with new parking lots and driveway connections throughout the site.
The southern parcel is the largest of the five, but the buildings would all be in the southwest corner near the intersection of Northeast 47th Avenue and Northeast Minnehaha Street. Most of the rest of the parcel is covered by wetlands and an easement for a set of power transmission lines that run overhead.
Despite the full site diagram in the pre-application packet, Barnes said the developers are still working out the details and timeline for the project beyond phase 2, and it’s not yet known whether the additional buildings and parcels would become further expansions of Evergreen Plastic Container or a business park with separate tenants.
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