A long-awaited $70 million redevelopment project in Gresham’s Rockwood neighborhood is finally underway, more than a decade and a half after the Fred Meyer store that occupied the site closed.
Construction started last week on the first phase of Rockwood Rising, a four-story office building with retail storefronts on the ground floor. Space in the building has already been pre-leased to WorkSource Oregon, a state job search and training program, and Mount Hood Community College.
The initial work also will include renovating space in the shuttered Fred Meyer garden center to serve as the headquarters for Oregon Tradeswomen, which promotes careers for women in the construction, manufacturing, mechanical and utility industries.
The project, near East Burnside Street and 188th Avenue, has been in the works since shortly after the grocery store closed in 2003. The empty site compelled Josh Fuhrer, a longtime Rockwood resident, to seek a nomination to the Gresham City Council in 2009. He left the council in 2013 to pursue a job as executive director of the Gresham Redevelopment Commission, which owns the site.
“To get to this point is a huge milestone,” Fuhrer said. “Even though it’s taken this long, I think the community is really hungry for something to happen on this site.”
Subsequent phases will include a public plaza, an apartment building and a food market.
The city originally sought to convince a large grocery chain to build a store on the land, but it found no store willing to locate in the high-poverty neighborhood with a reputation for crime. Instead, the city turned its focus to a public market featuring local food entrepreneurs and set its sights on providing employment services and housing.
Fuhrer said financing has been arranged for all three construction phases with the exception of federal tax credits. The city agency is pitching the remaining projects to companies that would act as clearinghouses for the tax credits and hopes to reach an agreement with one by the end of the year.
RKm Development, a Portland firm best known for the mixed use Bethany Village development in Washington County, is leading the project and leasing the land from the city. LMC Construction of Tualatin is the contractor. The buildings are expected to open in 2020.
The city will hold a groundbreaking celebration at the site at 3 p.m. on June 12.
-- Elliot Njus
enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus
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