McQuaig wants link between waterfront, downtown

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by admin in Real Estate/Construction

by Yvette Davis

Riverside Drive, the new street along Wenatchee’s waterfront between Ninth Street and the city’s wastewater treatment plant on Worthen, is due to open to vehicle traffic in November.
The $9.4 million road, funded by the city, property owners and a $4.9 million grant, is seen by city planners as a key to spurring additional development along the waterfront.

The theory seems to be working. A variety of residential and commercial developments have been completed north of the area, including Town Toyota Center and Randy Zielinski’s Riverwalk Condominiums on Walla Walla Avenue. Several other projects have been introduced, but have stalled, including the development of the Ninth Street trailer park. Still others seem to be gaining steam, such as Ted Mischiakov’s Pybus Public Market at the base of Orondo Street, which includes a hotel and offices in addition to retail space.

The most recent development announcement came from John McQuaig, who unveiled a $35 million development plan for the intersection of Fifth Street and Riverside Drive, in the area that includes the city’s old ice arena. The project includes five new buildings along Riverside Drive and up Fifth Street toward Wenatchee Avenue. When McQuaig’s plan for Fifth Street and the new Riverside Drive is fully constructed, it will add 167,000 square feet of new buildings with approximately 15,000 to 20,000 square feet worth of retail space on the ground floor.

Phase one of his new plan — a $5 million retail, office and residential condo building next to the old ice arena  — could get under way early next year.

McQuaig, who developed the 28,000-square-foot Riverfront Center, which houses office condos and retail tenants at the base of Fifth Street in 1996, said that while his development plans are progressing, he is concerned about making the area appear part of the Wenatchee downtown shopping experience.

He said he sees an opportunity in having the new waterfront retail area become part of the Wenatchee Downtown Association rather than its competitor. The waterfront retail space should not compete with downtown businesses for shoppers, he said, but instead partner with them.

If the WDA extended its boundaries to include the waterfront, McQuaig’s retail tenants would gain promotional exposure through the WDA’s Web site, Downtown Discovery Guide, and through activities such as Taste of the Harvest and events such as Halloween Trick or Treat that draw visitors downtown.

But WDA Executive Director Sarah Dempsey said extending the boundaries isn’t enough. Certain aspects of downtown, such as the historic feel, landscaping and design, help create the area’s special look. Getting too far away from that defeats the goal of the downtown experience.

“There has to be a visual as well as a physical connection to downtown,” Dempsey said.
The WDA’s area of influence currently follows the city’s Central Business District outline — from Columbia Street to Chelan Avenue, and from Thurston to Fifth.

“As you go north and to the south of there it gets less obvious that you are in a historic area. It is not street-scaped and not so much pedestrian oriented,” she said.

Dempsey said she is keeping an eye on the Fifth Street and Orondo Street connections to downtown, though, especially the proposed public market at the foot of Orondo Street. And, she said, the waterfront development does tie in to what the WDA is already doing.

In the meantime, zoning changes have been proposed by the city planning department that would remove the street-level retail requirement for the waterfront zone between Fifth and Ninth streets. That change will come before the city council in September, said Allison Williams, the city’s executive services director.

But even if the zoning changes, McQuaig said he won’t alter his plans. He will still put retail or office use on the ground floor because his buildings have little set back from the street, making it less likely people will want to live there.

“Who wants to live there and have people walking by on the sidewalk and looking into your kitchen or living room? From my standpoint I don’t think that would work but other uses are certainly possible,” he said.