The Vancouver City Council this week gave the green light to hash out agreements with four developers to work on the planned Heights District project to bring housing, offices and retail to central Vancouver. Construction could begin as soon as 2026.
City staff and a committee of Heights residents and businesses presented their list of recommendations to the council during a Monday work session. The four developers selected will build on the first three city-owned sites, which total about 5 acres of the whole 205-acre Heights District.
“Each development team has confirmed that they can proceed expeditiously on this project,” Amy Zoltie, Heights District project manager for the city of Vancouver, said in a statement Wednesday. “All three teams have said in their proposals that they would be in a position to start construction in 2026, subject to securing financing.”
The city selected Portland-based developer Edlen & Co. for Site B, which is 1.95 acres. It lies west of Devine Road between Mill Plain Boulevard and North Loop, the northern section of the city’s planned Grand Loop that will in effect extend Blandford Drive east through the Heights District neighborhood.
Another Portland developer, Palindrome, was chosen to lead the effort at Site C, a 1.29-acre parcel that sits immediately to the west of Devine Road and east of Site B.
Related Northwest, a Portland-based division of Related California, is joining the Vancouver Housing Authority to develop Site P, a 1.84-acre parcel south of Mill Plain Boulevard and east of Devine Road.
Each developer has worked on similar scale mixed-use or affordable housing projects in the Portland metro area, according to the city.
Zoltie called the city council’s go-ahead vital to implementing the Heights District project.
The city received $17.5 million in federal funding for the Heights District earlier this summer. The money will go toward the construction of two segments of the Height’s proposed Grand Loop, a two-way street expected to circle the neighborhood.
The city owns about half of the sites planned to become what it hopes will be a walkable and affordable 20-minute neighborhood — that is, where residents can walk, bike or take transit to meet their daily needs. Vancouver’s first shopping mall, Tower Mall, and a number of other smaller retailers formerly occupied the land.
The city anticipates wrapping up negotiations with the development teams by the end of the year before staff present agreements to the city council for approval in early 2025.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the acres of each site.
