Port of Camas-Washougal officials eye building concepts

Now that construction is underway for the Hyas Point mixed-use development on the Wshougal waterfront, the Port of Camas-Washougal is turning its attention to other projects. Matt Brown, an architect for Portland-based YBA Architects, presented conceptual options of possible renovations to the Port’s administrative office and the Port’s building at 89 “C” St., Washougal, during the Port Commission’s Sept. 17 workshop. “Prior to me (accepting this job), we’ve been growing, and we’ve also been taking a look at various assets that we own, and we’re trying to get ready for our (next) strategic plan next year, so we want to get a pulse on some of the possibilities that we can consider as we dive into our next five-year strategic plan,” said the Port’s new chief executive officer, Trang Lam. “Yes, you are going to see some ideas today, and yes, you might see (dollar) numbers for the courthouse building and our current admin building, but I want to make sure that everyone understands that (these options) will be a piece of information that will go into our next five-year strategic planning effort.” Brown proposed to demolish the current single-story building on “C” Street and replace it with a street-facing, multi-story facility that could house a variety of tenants, including its current occupant, the Camas-Washougal Municipal Courthouse. “We wanted to make sure we could increase utilization of the site and maintain a focus on office-based employment with the possibility for some longer-term utilization, maybe like a light industrial application (in an optional second building),” Brown said. “We were interested in having a building that’s very flexible. The current building has been utilized as a courthouse because of the large single-space to the north end of the building. We wanted to make sure that it was flexible for that potential tenant as well as a variety of different office tenants.” The building could potentially include restaurants, positioned on the top floor to take advantage of the views of the Columbia River and Mount Hood, according to Brown, whose proposal also includes the creation of more than 100 parking stalls. “Parking was naturally a big concern, not least because of the parking challenges that happen at other times of the year and the adjacency of that site to the Port’s marina,” Brown said. “We wanted to make sure that it was future-proofed and efficient in terms of surface parking versus a ground-up building. The upside of surface parking is that you’re reserving a lot of space to build more later.” Brown presented two design schemes with three- and four-story options, ranging from 33,485 to 45,645 square feet in size, that would cost between $8 million and $13 million, depending on the materials. “If you look at the (west) end of downtown Vancouver after the Vancouver waterfront was built, it’s totally changed. My hope would be that we would have something similar, at least on (‘C’) Street,” Port Commissioner Larry Keister said. “We could be the leader of that revitalization, (but) it’s a money issue. Can we afford to do it? And can we afford to get the lease to cover the cost plus generate revenue? It’s always nice to have something really fancy, but let’s have something that we can afford.” Brown said his primary goals for the Port’s administrative building were to update the building’s exterior; reset and better organize the building’s exterior spaces; accommodate future staff growth; increase the quality of the work space; create a better, clearer arrival point; and prepare for updated building systems. His rendering includes a lobby with a water vapor fireplace; large conference room; small meeting room; break room; renovated restrooms; six private office spaces; and an open office space with up to seven workstations, adding 700 square feet to the existing 5,800-square-foot space. “I think it’s a good use of the space that we have in the building,” Keister said. “Our staff is growing, and we need to accommodate the staff. We have basically unused space here now, we can reconfigure that to be more efficient. I think it’s a great idea.” Commissioner Cassi Marshall added that: “having this spectacular space, which is quite often empty, being more utilized, to have people enjoy this (view) on a daily basis, is my favorite part of your design.” Port Commissioner John Spencer questioned if the plan went far enough. “I love this concept. I think it looks amazing,” Spencer said. “What bothers me is we’re talking about, effectively, a remodel of an existing small building on some of the most valuable land we have. It may cost less financially, but there’s a huge, huge opportunity cost we’re missing here by not doing something bigger.” After Keister and Marshall agreed with Spencer, Lam reminded the commissioners that the plan is the first of several they will review for the next iteration of the administration building. “This is a first step,” Lam said. “We’re taking a look at (one) option, and then as we get into our strategic planning process, we’ll start thinking more about our goals in the future and then come back and update our scope a little bit and look at other options for this valuable land that we have.” Brown encouraged Port leaders to take full advantage of what their waterfront property has to offer. “There’s a reason why buildings are big in areas like this, in areas where the land values are high. There’s not much like this with that frontage. If you go small, you’re actually restricting the amount of folks that can benefit from that in the long term. I think there’s also an argument that it’s responsible to try to push as much as you can for places like this, that have this kind of amenity level, to let as many people enjoy it as possible and harvest as much value for the community as possible.” The Port’s current strategic plan expires at the end of 2026, and Port leaders will begin work on a new plan in 2025. “There’s more to come,” Lam said. “It’s all very exciting. We all love to talk about the future, but I want to temper it a little bit ... I want to make sure that this sets us up in a great way of understanding some of the first steps that we can actually think about and then really having the (ability) to move into some of the additional things that we need to consider.”

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