Condo project set near Bridgeport
Urban but suburban - The condos, starting at $390,000, will be built about a mile from center
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
DANA TIMS
The Oregonian
The Bridgeport Village shopping complex between Tigard and Tualatin has helped spawn an estimated $500 million in commercial investment in areas either long-neglected or never developed.
Here comes the housing.
On Tuesday, a Seattle-based developer capped off a plan 20 years in the making to build a two-phase condominium project that would be at home in Portland's Pearl District or along the city's burgeoning South Waterfront.
"It's essentially an urban-type project in a suburban location," David Stroud said in announcing the groundbreaking for The Riverhouse at Bridgeport Village. "There aren't many projects out there like this one, at least not in suburbia."
Stroud began considering the project two years ago, focusing on three acres of land fronting the Tualatin River, near Tualatin's downtown. City planners had long anticipated that the land would be used for multiunit housing for senior citizens.
But extensive market analysis convinced Stroud that rapid growth of the same high-income households responsible for turning an abandoned gravel quarry into the $250 million Bridgeport Village mall last year would support the upscale condominiums he dreamed of building.
He has an option to buy the property, where he plans to build and open 65 riverfront condos by spring 2008. The average unit will offer about 1,400 square feet of living space, concierge services and extra-large balconies overlooking the river. Pricing will start at $390,000.
A second phase will offer ground-floor retail space topped by an unspecified number of residential units.
Bruce Wood, who helped develop Bridgeport Village and is overseeing completion of another $32 million retail and commercial venture across the street, chuckled when told that Stroud is naming his project The Riverhouse at Bridgeport Village. The condos, Wood pointed out, are about a mile from the shopping center.
"That's a bit of a stretch," Wood said. "But good for him. It's a great idea. All of the aspects that came together to make Bridgeport Village a success will also be working for him."
The new condos also should provide a boost for Tualatin, which for the past 15 years has labored to create a true 24-hour downtown, said Doug Rux, the city's community development director.
"Market conditions have changed a lot over the years, and we've had to make adjustments that ultimately delayed what we wanted to do," Rux said. "But David Stroud's project, along with a number of other things now going on downtown, should put us a long way toward realizing our goals."
Russ Ripley, a broker at Metro-West Realty in Tualatin, whose company is not involved in marketing the condos, said the units should have no problem finding buyers. They should be particularly appealing to married professional couples without children and older empty-nesters looking to downsize, he said.
"A lot of people want all the services offered in downtown Portland without actually having to live there," Ripley said. "It sounds as if they'll find those in this particular project."
Dana Tims: 503-294-5973;
[email protected]
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