As a kid, Warren Neth and his family would often pile in the car and take a ride from their home in rural Ridgefield to Hazel Dell, where they would eat, shop or simply have some fun.
“WinCo Foods, Fred Meyer, Totem Pole restaurant … or even putt-putt golf,” Neth said. “Hazel Dell was the place where a kid from Ridgefield could go for a little bit of urban life.”
Neth then pauses.
“I feel like we’ve lost some of those places,” he added.
Neth would like to change that, and as project manager for the Hazel Dell Commons, a 7,400-square-foot commercial space, he’s doing his part to provide the community with a gathering spot the community can call its own.
Hazel Dell Commons, which sits off the Southeast corner of 99th Street and Highway 99, already has two tenants: Brothers Cascadia Brewing, which is set to open later this year, as well as the popular CrossFit Untamed.
There’s a third space, covering 2,200 square feet, that’s still available. Neth would like to have a commissary kitchen of sorts to sell food to help round out what Neth feels can eventually be a true “neighborhood center” and a step toward revitalizing the urban area.
In other words: so long dated hotel strip, hello progress.
Truth be told, this place and this project are special to Neth for many reasons.
There was an auto body shop on the site where Hazel Dell Commons currently sits, built in the 1960s. It was owned by Neth’s grandfather and his brother.
Neth said the location of Hazel Dell Commons makes it an ideal fit for the growing region – with the steady stream of people going to and from work as well as the foot traffic that populates the area.
“There’s a lot of history in Hazel Dell – different pushes to create a city, but that never happened. There’s no real center point, a meeting place. We’d like to create that,” Neth said.
Neth’s plans also include the addition of a pocket park, where events and concerts can be held, as well as a children’s area and a farmer’s market, which will pop with flowers from the adjacent 6,000-square-foot field where Fair Shake Farms grows specialty flowers.
Neth’s passion for the Hazel Dell project won over Sherman Gore, who with his partners Jason Bos and Richard Tiffany, are the brains behind Brothers Cascadia Brewing, a 10-barrel system that promises “clean and funky” beers, Gore said.
Gore, who said he’s been searching for the right fit for the space for a brewery for four years, found what he was looking for at Hazel Dell Commons – and in Neth.
“It was meeting Warren and just hearing his enthusiasm for the place, his passion and also the uniqueness of the building that sold us,” Gore said. “We found nothing that had the character and potential this place does.”
Gore said that Brothers Cascadia will make “classic clean-style American beers,” with a focus on IPA’s, Kolsch’s and Pilsners, but will also offer an aggressive barrel-aged program.
CrossFit Untamed was first to anchor at Hazel Dell Commons after moving from its location in Salmon Creek.
But the move wasn’t made without some amount of trepidation.
“We originally were a little bit skeptical about moving here,” said Brittney Sarkela, the owner of CrossFit Untamed. “But for our business, we wanted to have that street visibility. Where most CrossFit gyms are in warehouses and tucked away somewhere, this [location] was street front, so it was like, ‘Let’s do this.’”
And now Sarkela couldn’t imagine a better fit – and not just because of the increased visibility or space, which is twice as big as the Salmon Creek facility was.
“We feel we’re bringing something good to the area,” Sarkela said. “I know Warren [Neth] wants to make something good out of it. So if we can bring something good to the area … maybe it will bring the area up.”
Ben Anderson, a local farmer and co-owner of Fair Shake Farms with his wife, Crystal, have put an organic twist on their operation, which is devoid of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
“People are starting to care about where their flowers come from,” Anderson said.
Fair Shake Farms, which figures to be a part of the farmer’s market Neth has planned, isn’t hard to miss, as it’s currently cheery and bright with Ranunculus and, come August, will be filled with Dahlias as far as the eye can see.
“I’m excited,” Anderson said. “There are a lot of things happening here.”
That’s how Gore feels, and he can’t wait to pour his first beer at Hazel Dell Commons. And he’s thrilled that others will soon see what Hazel Dell Commons has to offer.
“It’s really a unique spot,” he said.
