Heritage Neighborhood Association

2004-August Meeting Minutes - Eastgate Plaza Update & More

Development Updates

Posted minutes from August 6, 2004 joint Sifton & Heritage Neighborhood Association Meeting

Heritage Neighborhood Association (HNA)
Kathy Murphy, President
Joe Pedron, Vice President
Robin Pedron, Secretary
Karen Eitschberger, Treasurer

Sifton Neighborhood Association (SNA)
Steve Hamilton, President
Lamont Shandlin, Vice President
Alan Hoff, Treasurer

The meeting was called to order by Lamont Shandlin, Vice President of Sifton and Kathy Murphy, President of Heritage.

Eric Fuller of Eric Fuller & Associates presented on full build out of upcoming Eastgate Retail Plaza.
Of note, he stated that he does not represent the City of Vancouver or Birtcher Business Center, only the 47 acres of commercial (Alexandria/Eastgate).
Following is a snapshot of the facts:
- Alexandria (Eastgate) purchased the property from Keller.
- Site plan approved by City is dynamic, conceptual in nature.
- Eastgate project will include several buildings to be built in 5 phases which can be built in different sequence.
- Walmart purchased the property from Alexandria (Eastgate).
- Phase I, Walmart will build a supercenter, 203,000 square feet.
- Phase II will include smaller shops occupied by national, regional and local shop users (1500, 2000, 3000 sf. each, e.g., Payless, Starbucks, Hallmark, etc.).
- Phase III will include a large sit down restaurant, no drive up (up to 8,800 s.f. – for example, AppleBees is 4,000 sf).
- Bldg. K in Plase II includes a drive up entity (fast food or bank)
- Phase IV will include 2 to 5 junior anchors, single box users on west side of project (e.g., Ross, Linens & Things, BB & Beyond, 10,000 to 30,000 sf. each)
- Phase V will include a junior anchor with Walmart, unknown.
- Eastgate will start construction within a few months of Walmart
- Expect construction to begin soon, Walmart plans to open in July 2005
- Buildings will go up as tenants sign leases, estimate 3 years to lease up.
- Traffic light and crosswalk will be installed at 143rd & 4th Plain.
- A sound wall will be installed on north side of 4th Plain, west of Ward Road. Currently noted as a 6 foot unless can get an 8 foot wall up within the same budget.
- Landscaping on west side will be 50 foot set back with 3 foot berm and 2-3 rows of trees, deep and staggered, when mature will provide a good screen.
- Birtcher Business Center expects to start on their approved phase soon also.
- NE 59th St. is expected to connect with NE 137th Avenue within 2 years.
- Birtcher will improve NE 152nd Avenue, their project portion when they develop.
- Improvement of NE 137th Avenue and NE 152nd Avenue are in the city’s 6-7 year road plans.

Will revenue from this retail center go to fund fire and police? Crime goes up with big box retail. Lamont Shandlin said he would look into it.

Eric Fuller requested to return to our October meeting to provide an update on final architecture and colors.

Other developments – Winco will likely not develop on NE 131st and 4th Plain due to Walmart coming in. They plan to close their store at Vancouver Plaza near Target and build a new one on their property near NE 18th St. and Andresen. The near vacant development on NE 4th Plain where Albertson’s and Home Base used to be is being looked at by several potential tenants. Location is not good, hard to get into.

Kaiser will build a 2-story medical center on corner of 4th Plain and NE 137th. They plan to start in November 2004. A 6 foot concrete wall will be installed along the Sifton Elementary school property to the north. A question came up about installing a wall on the east end of the project, Lamont will look into that.

The next item on the agenda was the Sifton Park. Funds have been set aside for the park which is located behind the Winco property (NE 131st & 4th Plain). Feedback from the community is being sought as well as involvement in the design and implementation of the park. Volunteers are needed, total time 3 to 4 nights over 1.5 months. A levy will be placed on the February ballot. If passed, construction will start Spring 2005.

Question came up regarding the designated park area on NE 162nd Ave, just north of 4th Plain in the Heritage neighborhood. The park has been partially cleared to store construction equipment for the contractors working on widening of NE 162nd Avenue. No plans are known for build out of the park.

Next meeting to be scheduled for sometime in September.

Financial Support Needed

A donation was made by Pedron Enterprises RV Storage to establish the start of Heritage Neighborhood Association Funds. More involvement is needed to get neighborhood members involved in fund raisers, neighborhood bbq's, car washes, etc. Come to our next meeting and find how successful the NE Hazel Dell NA is at raising funds and what they are able to do with them!