Pending approval from the city of Vancouver, construction of the Uptown Apartments, a 235,000-square-foot proposed mixed-use development in Vancouver’s Uptown Village, is scheduled to begin in early 2015, according to developer David Copenhaver.
Construction of the six-story, 167-unit complex with ground floor retail space was originally supposed to begin this year. Copenhaver said the $32 million project was delayed due to “a variety of reasons,” but that things are progressing now.
“We received all of our land-use decisions about a week-and-a-half ago and everything is good,” he said. “Now we have to go in for a building permit, which is a little bit more cumbersome because it’s a big project.”
If approved, the Uptown Apartments would be downtown Vancouver’s largest development project in some time, involving the transformation of an entire city block – along Main and Washington streets between West 17th and Mcloughlin Boulevard.
Copenhaver said the next step in the project’s approval process is building permits, though he admitted that those plans have not been submitted yet.
“We need to get a few ducks in a row before we finish up the drawings,” he said. “I don’t anticipate the permit process will take more than a couple months.”
Despite the delay, Copenhaver said the original vision of the project hasn’t changed. Construction plans call for retail and a lobby entrance on Main Street, with LEED Certified, brownstone-style apartments facing Washington Street, 17th Street and Mcloughlin Blvd. Underground parking would serve residents, with ground floor parking on the interior. New walkways and landscaping would also be included.
Above street level, plans call for a second-floor courtyard and a rooftop terrace with outdoor seating and fire pits. Each unit would include a balcony, providing upper level tenants with views of downtown Vancouver, Mount St. Helens and Mt. Hood.
“There seems to be a lot of support [for this project],” Copenhaver said. “The Vancouver City Council seems to support this, [city] staff supports it, the neighborhood and the merchant’s association generally supports it, so it seems to be a project that will be well-received.”
Esther Short Building update
The Uptown Apartments isn’t the only downtown Vancouver project keeping Copenhaver busy these days. He’s also the lead developer on the remodel of the Esther Short Building (610 Esther Street). That project, he said, is in the final phase of construction and should be complete by mid-September.
“I think everyone is going to be surprised [when we’re done],” he said. “We took it down to the bare bones; the mechanical, the bathrooms, the common areas, the landscaping – everything is brand new. The only thing we kept is the glass and the shell.”
As soon as the remodel is finished, the building is set to be at 100 percent occupancy; it will house the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, Davidson and Associates Insurance Agency, First Pacific Associates, LSW Architects, Robertson Engineering and White Stone Development.
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