VANCOUVER, Wash. — An advisory board with the city of Vancouver's Parks and Recreation Commission on Wednesday approved a design for a new civic plaza in downtown near the waterfront. The 2-acre plaza is part of a larger 6.4-acre Waterfront Gateway project approved by the city in October 2023.
The plan now will be presented in front of the city council for final approval.
"This spot is really just one of the last largest undeveloped sites in the downtown area," said Amy Stewart, a real estate manager with Vancouver's Economic Prosperity and Housing department. "It was a prime redevelopment spot that really connects the historic downtown with this new waterfront area."
When the city approved the larger project encompassing an empty grass field south of city hall and a parking lot across the street, the plan all along was to include a civic plaza full of landscaping, walkways and shops. Over the course of the last 11 months, the city sought input from residents about what they wanted to see included.
"People not only wanted a link between the downtown and the waterfront area, but also a destination for people to come to and enjoy." Stewart said.
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The 2-acre plaza's design changed over the course of the last year, a walkway stretching from one corner to the other was included in favor of ramps, and the city will add 37 more trees, while keeping the existing ones dotting the landscape already.
"(It) will just be a really great space for events, for markets, for food trucks and for everyday use," Stewart added. "We have one space within one of the buildings that's gonna be dedicated for local and small businesses that we're calling Maker's Alley."
The larger 6.4-acre project is slated to break ground in 2025, starting in the parking lot across the street from city hall. Stewart says the first project to get developed will be a building dedicated solely for affordable housing comprised of 95 units.
"It's providing affordable housing," Stewart said. "It's also providing a great amount of retail space for local and small businesses that they will benefit from."
The plan calls for roughly 400 housing units as well, creating more living space near the waterfront area.
Above-ground parking garages will replace the surface lots adding more than 500 total spots, a portion of which will be public parking.
The project is a public-private partnership, with the city providing funding for the upper plaza and affordable housing unit and developer LPC West funding the lower plaza and Maker's Alley.
Construction on the plaza, once approved, would begin by 2026 at the earliest.