Beaverton City Council moves on First and Angel project

Rembold Properties to start work on residential-retail complex in 2015

Property the city of Beaverton owns at Southwest First Street and Angel Avenue has been little more than a vacant expanse of dirt, grass and a cluster of trees for some time now, but City Councils green light to develop the property will soon transform the half block into a mixture of housing units and ground-floor retail space.

The council at its Tuesday night meeting approved a plan to move forward with Rembold Properties proposal to develop the .9-acre property into a 3.5-story single building of up to 80,000 square feet. The city has negotiated a selling price of $780,000 for the land, the propertys appraised value determined by Integra Realty Resources.

Portland-based Rembolds plans call for approximately 85 housing units with about 2,400 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Covered parking will be located on the ground floor, and amenities will include a fitness facility, event room and a rooftop deck.

If all goes as planned, construction on the estimated $21.4 million project is likely to start by spring 2015 and conclude by June 2017, according to city planning officials.

Wayne Rembold, president of Rembold Properties for 30 years, told the council he looks forward to moving the long-discussed project into the realm of reality.

Were here because we think this can be a lively residential, mixed-use community, he said. Were looking forward to it and hope we can get more (city) blocks done.

Rembold emphasized the project as playing a catalytic role in revitalizing a sleepy section of the central city.

Its an area that needs kickstarting, he said, noting the first (collaborative) project is always hard to get off the ground. Im confident we have the right mix, with a plan and pricing that the community will embrace.

After receiving four developer proposals in early 2013, city officials chose to focus on Rembold Properties proposal. Mayor Denny Doyle signed a memorandum of understanding with the developer earlier this year for a project concept for the city-owned site. The memorandum allowed Rembold and the city to investigate the possibility of developing the current property into a mixed-use project with market-rate housing, commercial space and parking.

See original here:
Beaverton City Council moves on First and Angel project