It’s an amenity that residents in Hazel Dell have wanted for some time: a locally-owned, full-service restaurant and bar. Thanks to a Vancouver-based real estate developer and a local restaurant owner, that amenity is finally on its way.
Debbie Belden, the owner of Farrar’s Bistro in Felida, plans to open a second Farrar’s next spring at Hazel Dell Marketplace – the redeveloped Safeway-anchored shopping center located along NE 78th Street and NE Hazel Dell Avenue in Vancouver.
The center is owned by C.E. John, a local real estate development, construction and management company.
“It’s going to be a 3,000-square-foot restaurant and bar with about 1,500 square feet of outdoor patio space, which is going to be really exciting because everyone in Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek is like, ‘Why can’t we get a good sit-down restaurant?’” said Mark Osborne, C.E. John board member. “We worked with Deb [Belden] and she knows what she’s doing. She’s been really successful where she’s at and she said, ‘Yep, this is going to work well.’”
Belden opened Farrar’s Bistro in 2007, and while the Felida eatery has remained popular over the years, she said its lack of size (even with a significant expansion) has always been a limiting factor. That won’t be the case in Hazel Dell.
“Our bistro is so small and we have so many ideas and so many things we would like to do,” said Belden. “Now we’ll have a new kitchen where we can try new items. We’ll have a whole new menu.”
Like the Felida location, the Hazel Dell restaurant (which is yet to be built and has not officially been named) will feature locally-sourced meats and produce, and will include space to grow herbs.
Belden, who plans to hire approximately 30 new employees, said the new building will have an “atmosphere of comfort” and she hopes to incorporate many of the same materials used at the Felida location – wood, granite and fabric – into its design.
Osborne described the restaurant concept as “first-class.”
“It’s going to be beautiful,” he added. “I think people will initially think it doesn’t fit in Hazel Dell. You could pick up the building and put it somewhere in Portland or somewhere on the east side and it would fit. This community deserves it and is calling for it. It’s going to be great.”
Belden said she was attracted to Hazel Dell Marketplace not only because of its high visibility, but also because of the work that C.E. John has put in to revitalize it.
“We’ve been in business for nine years in the Felida area and so many people still don’t know what Farrar’s is and the type of food we serve,” she said. “We thought it would be fun to have an establishment on the main path where people are shopping and can easily find us. Right now we’re more of a destination restaurant, so to go where they’re having new businesses come in and where existing businesses are getting renovated sounded good.”
A growing marketplace
C.E. John’s more than $20 million redevelopment of Hazel Dell Marketplace has included the construction of several new buildings during the past year, as well as façade upgrades of all existing shop spaces.
Two new arrivals at the center – Marshalls and Rue 21 – are set to open later this month. Other new tenants on the way include TwinStar Credit Union, Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care, Mod Pizza, Move Fitness, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Sushi Mioga.
The development also features a brand new – but now vacant – Sports Authority store, which closed earlier this summer after the company filed for bankruptcy. However, the building likely won’t stay vacant for long; Osborne said discussions with a new tenant for that 35,000-square-foot space are going well.
“We aren’t fully executed, but we are at-lease with a tenant and anticipate them [moving in] in February 2017,” he said. “That’s a pretty prominent corner in Hazel Dell, and it would be a shame to have an empty box there, so we looked to get that deal completed right away.”
The new Farrar’s restaurant has a tentative opening date of April 1, 2017.
