Cain: It’s a real positive time. There’s one negative thing happening, but for the most part there are a lot of really positive things happening. The economy is where it should be for us to be able to [move forward] and some of the big infrastructure issues have been settled. It has come a long way in the eight-plus years we’ve been involved with it.
We would like to have been where we are now a couple years ago, but there’s a limit to how far we could be at this point because the access project the city marshaled is really just finishing. We’re only just now able to get into the site and do things.
Q: Has the scope of the project changed since it was originally envisioned nearly a decade ago?
Cain: It’s back to where it was when we were initially involved with it, but we can’t be too [overconfident] because you don’t know how long these times are going to last. We need to move forward now and we don’t need anything delaying it because you don’t know when the stars will align again. I think this economy will continue to improve for a few years.
Q: What is happening now at the site?
Cain: Right now we are in the process of designing a road. The plan is to go out to bid for it in early May, start construction in August and have it complete by the first of the year. At that point we’d have a traffic light at Columbia Street [and] a beautiful entrance into the project … It’s going to be a big deal because by the end of the year you’ll be able to drive in and see it; you’ll see the quality it’s going to be.
Q: When will construction of the waterfront park begin?
Cain: The hope is we’ll have all the permits within this year and then be building it next year. That’s the plan.
It’s the city’s job to finish the drawings and get the permit on it. They ended up using the same consultants we had – PWL Partnership Inc. out of Vancouver B.C. They’ve done some really beautiful parks up there. They did the Olympic Village … We thought they were perfect because they’re really high quality, they put a lot of effort into the details and their parks also have the feel of the Northwest.
Q: What about buildings and tenants?
Cain: We’ve got a hotel, probably 180 rooms, which I think is complimentary (to the Hilton).When this all gets done its going to completely change the demand for hotel space downtown. This will compete with other hotels in downtown Portland.
We’re moving forward with residential and office building designs now. We’re not sure which ones we will [construct] ourselves … We’ve already had some office tenants that are interested. We want to be in a position to start buildings next year.
Q: Two of the more prominent buildings in your designs are tailored for large restaurants. What can you tell us about those buildings?
Cain: We have the ability to put a ground-floor 8,000-square-foot restaurant in one building, and in the other building it’s about 12,000 square feet on the first level.
We’re just now finishing [the design of] these buildings so we can go out and talk to people. I know [interest] is going to be really strong. Local people will be all over it.
I’m sure we’ll have the best of local restaurants, and we would like to get one from outside of the area that would [build] maybe one restaurant in the Portland area – a Roy’s or a Duke’s or something that would make a statement.
Q: What has your experience been like working with the city of Vancouver on this project?
Cain: There has been some change at the city, but the important people have stayed. It has been great having [City Manager] Eric Holmes there. Right from the beginning, it has been important to him. Eric and the rest of the city council are all very supportive of it.
Everyone knows how important it is. It’s going to have a huge effect on the future of Vancouver.
Q: How has the uniqueness of downtown Vancouver’s waterfront property guided development plans?
Cain: This should compete well with any waterfront project anywhere. Nothing like this exists in the Portland metro area. It’s a half-mile of south facing waterfront along the Columbia River right off of I-5. It’s a perfect piece of property and there are so many things you can do with it; it’ so important. It’s going to get so much attention it has just got to be done right.
We don’t want to plop down buildings or a park that could go anywhere. We’re all really keyed in to what this particular site is and where it is. We want to fit it uniquely. Everyone will feel better about Vancouver and Clark County because this is here.
Q: You’ve come out publicly against the proposed oil export terminal at the Port of Vancouver. Do you feel this is an “either/or” scenario where we can’t have both projects?
Cain: You can see the quality we’re talking about. We’re talking about a park where everyone will go to take pictures and to show their guests. We think this will be a top five destination in the Portland area when we are done. If oil trains are coming through all the time it’s hard to imagine that not distracting from that. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly how much [an oil terminal would affect the project], but my best guess is a whole lot.
We always knew and were okay with the numbers [of trains]. I don’t love it, but I think we can get by. You’ve got the jets going by, the boats going, all of those things. But these oil trains are different. They’re actually blowing up. They’re very dangerous.
Half of our project is within 100 feet of that rail line. You can deal with the noise and the rail traffic, but when you’ve got however many hours a day of those going by and then on top of that having the inherent risk of them going by … I don’t know if we’ll be able to build on any of those back blocks [near the rail line]. I really just don’t know.
That’s why I’ve said just stop the oil project. Stop it right now because it’s obviously going to affect [the waterfront project] a lot and there’s nothing obvious in the economics that says we’ve got to have that. What is in it for anybody in Clark County to have an oil depot?
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