Kelso clears way for condos on the river
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 6:26 AM PST
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe city of Kelso has agreed to sell nine acres of Cowlitz riverfront property to a group that wants to start building 240 upscale, urban-style condominium units on the site this summer.
BLC Investments LLC offered the city its asking price of $1.1 million just days after the undeveloped lot west of Three Rivers Golf Course was listed for sale, City Manager Doug Robinson told the City Council on Tuesday.
It's the same land on which the Kelso Youth Soccer Club recently had vainly hoped to build three full-sized soccer fields. The chronically cash-strapped city nixed that project last fall and decided to sell the land to the highest bidder after two different developers made offers on the property, which the city's Realtor said has a market value of $955,000.
Todd Nicholson, a member of Nicholson Enterprises N.W., LLC, told the council the finished project would add $60 million to the city's tax rolls.
Called "Fairway Vista on the Cowlitz," the three-stories of condominium units on South River Road will sit atop a secure parking area. Amenities will include a pool, sauna, spa, fitness center, golf-cart parking, conference room and office spaces, according to documents Nicholson gave the city.
Condo unit prices are projected to range from $250,000 to $400,000.
"If you build nice stuff in these small communities, people come buy 'em," Nicholson said. He has built several riverfront developments, including a 20-lot gated community in Cathlamet, he said. This one will be marketed to golfers, he said.
The group approached the city with a full-price offer and a design based on existing zoning so the project could be pushed through the regulatory process "as soon as possible," Nicholson said. Groundbreaking would take place this summer, he said.
"We're really excited about this site. This is a fantastic project," Nicholson told the council Tuesday. He compared it to "the best developments you see in the center of Portland. ... It's like the Mews on the Columbia River by Jantzen Beach."
Councilman Alan Slater was enthusiastic about the proposed design.
"It's excellent. Believe me, it's excellent," he said.
Robinson asked Nicholson to warn condo buyers that they'd be living near the Kelso-Longview Regional Airport because he wanted to avert the possibility of future noise complaints,
"The airport does not want to deal with that kind of an issue," Robinson said.
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