Parker House sold

Foreclosed riverfront restaurant set to reopen next fall

BY PAUL LEONARD of the VBJ

Shuttered and empty since last week, it seemed the warm weather days when boaters on the Columbia River would dock nearby to patronize Parker House Restaurant in Washougal were gone forever.

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But with the support of incoming Washougal Mayor Sean Guard, veteran restaurateur Russell Brent last week finalized a $1.7 million sale of the distressed property in a bid to recapture Parker House's riverfront ambience.

The dining establishment, built in the early 1970s and originally operated by the Red Lion hotel chain, recently fell on hard times. More than four years after purchasing the restaurant, an investment partnership led by superstar horseracing jockey Victor Espinoza fell behind on loan payments to Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., according to Jim West of Coldwell Banker Commercial, who represented Brent in the sale.

However, even before foreclosure proceedings began on the property, the restaurant struggled to draw in customers.

"You didn't sense that this was a cool, new place," West said of the 14,300 square-foot, two-level property on S. First Street. "It was more like they just put on a new coat of paint."

Closed on Dec. 27, the new restaurant, to be called Black Pearl on the Columbia, is set to reopen in September 2010. The dining establishment will include a "high-end casual" seafood concept, with a cocktail lounge and extensive wine list, according to Brent.

PBS Environmental of Vancouver has been contracted to develop the site.

A Washougal resident with more than two decades of restaurant management experience, Brent plans to build banquet rooms on the bottom floor, a main dining room on the second floor and a private outdoor patio for weddings and special events.

"I've always been interested in the property, because I always thought it could be better," Brent said.

Brent called the support of the Washougal community, including Guard, crucial to jump-starting a project they hope will keep local diners on the Washington state side of the river.

"There are people with money that want to stay in Clark County," Brent said. "You just have to give them a place to spend it."

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