Fifteen acres purchased in the Sifton Commerce Center
As the City of Vancouver considers pursuing a large annexation of land within its urban growth area north of city limits, it is taking steps to bolster service provided to the area. The city purchased 15 acres of land to house an operations center and public works yard.
The land is part of the Sifton Commerce Center, an approximately 25-acre undeveloped light-industrial center near Fourth Plain Boulevard and 162nd Avenue. The property sits on the fringes of the pending 823-acre Burnt Bridge Creek annexation, which the city is considering expanding.
Scott Moss, city director of procurement, risk management and property services, said the property was purchased for $4.2 million “so we can better serve the east side of town.”
The city already provides water, sewer and fire services to much of the area within the urban growth area surrounding the site. Moss said the property provides great access, as it is centrally located in the eastern part of the city’s service area.
The area is now served out of the city’s central operations center on Fourth Plain Boulevard and General Anderson Road. Moss said the center reduces “windshield time” for workers servicing the area.
“It puts us closer to the neighborhoods and gives us a faster response time and improved efficiencies,” he said.
The operation center will include an 18,000- to 20,000-sqaure-foot administration building, 16,000 square feet of warehousing and a fuel station.
Equipment, supplies and vehicles will be stored at the site. About 100 employees, including administrative and maintenance workers, will initially be housed at the operations center, which is being built for growth, said Moss.
Three acres will be set aside for future city expansion or private development.
Moss estimates construction costs at $12 million. The city will request bids from architects later this month, said Moss, and construction could begin by spring 2007, with construction lasting about a year.
Sifton Commerce Center LLC was represented by Eric Fuller & Associates in the deal.
A significant amount of development is planned for the Sifton neighborhood area. The Sifton Commerce Center is situated in an L-shape around the Heritage Shopping Center on the corner of Fourth Plain and 162nd Avenue. The shopping center is anchored by a Safeway built in 2000. The first building in the Sifton Commerce Center will be a quick lube and car wash.
Dan George, principal of Planning Solutions Inc., which master-planned the site, said negations are underway for two other pads in the development. Sifton Commerce Center was planned for 325,000 square feet of building area, said George.
The greater impact to the area, however, will be the Birtcher Business Center on more than 170 acres south of Fourth Plain and Ward Road and immediately east of Sifton Commerce Center. Construction is expected to begin on a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Eastgate Plaza adjacent the Birtcher Development, where infrastructure improvements have paved the way for development.
Buildable land in East Vancouver is disappearing as fast as the need for expanded city services is increasing.
“City needs are growing and it creates efficiencies to move ahead while the property is available now,” said Moss.
