A developer has submitted preliminary plans for a pair of industrial buildings at 15710 N.E. 65th St. in east Vancouver, south of Orchards.
The pre-application packet describes a plan to divide the 1.45-acre site into two plats, each with a 6,000-square-foot building equipped with a parking lot and contractor yard area. The buildings would likely not exceed the 45-foot height limit for industrial zones.
Andrew Gunther of PLS Engineering submitted the pre-application on behalf of property owner J & L Investments, which is headed by Larry Bonife. A pre-application conference with city planning staff took place Feb. 21.
The packet refers to the project as the 157th Center. The use of each building is not yet known, according to the pre-application packet narrative, but Bonife said the site would likely be used by a manufacturing or construction tenant.
“I’m developing a light industrial commercial center, and I’m putting in about 16,000 square feet of buildings with some storage yard (space),” said Bonife.
The site is vacant, but was previously slated to be developed in 2007 and made it as far as obtaining a building permit from the city. Street frontages along both sides of the site have already been improved due to that prior project.
The original project envisioned 24,000 square feet of office space, according to Bonife, but the project was halted by the 2008 financial crash. Bonife said he got the permit extended multiple times, but ultimately let it lapse once it became clear that it wouldn’t be feasible to build the project during the recession.
Bonife owns a masonry contracting company, so he’s familiar with construction. But developing his own building is new territory for him. He bought the site in late 2007 at a time when it was still in unincorporated Clark County, he said, but the area was annexed into Vancouver partway through the development stage, which made the planning process more complex.
The idea to switch the project to light industrial came about a few years ago, Bonife said, at a time when he was looking for a new building for his masonry business but had a hard time finding an appropriately sized space to lease.
He eventually found one, but speculated that other would-be tenants were probably having a similarly hard time finding small facilities to lease, and realized that there might be a market for small industrial spaces in Clark County.
Bonife said he’s financially well-positioned to resume work on the project and began to restart the planning process last year. But a consulting realtor told him that the original office plan no longer seemed to be the best use for the site, so he opted to switch to light industrial.
“The market has changed,” Bonife said. “The availability for small, light industrial properties is extremely limited in Vancouver. I’m really hoping it fits a need in Clark County.”
Bonife said he hopes to have the project approved by July and begin construction, with the goal of having the building finished by October.
“I want to have it up pretty quick,” he said.
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