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own own a n
<br />earns um s u
<br />~ COL1T'~YIOUSe S(~Ua,T'e
<br />provides wha,t the
<br />core area needs,
<br />business owners sa,y.
<br />By Dan Bender
<br />The Statesman Journal
<br />With office vacancy rates
<br />falling and rents rising, at
<br />least the climate is right for
<br />a bold new development in
<br />Salem, experts say.
<br />Likewise, area business
<br />owners generally were
<br />pleased by what they saw in
<br />Courthouse Square, a $30
<br />million, five-story building
<br />that would include a new
<br />transit mall, county offices
<br />and private office space. It
<br />would be the largest such
<br />downtown development in
<br />nearly a decade.
<br />Courthouse Square is the
<br />brainchild of former Mayor
<br />R.G. Andersen-Wyckoff, now
<br />the general manager of the
<br />Salem Area Mass Transit
<br />District.
<br />Andersen-Wyckoff un-
<br />veiled the concept Tuesday
<br />at a joint session of the
<br />Salem City Council, Marion
<br />County Commissioners and
<br />transit district.
<br />Assumed up front is that a
<br />private developer would fi-
<br />nance construction of the
<br />project, with about $4 mil-
<br />lion in help from local and
<br />federal funds. No such de-
<br />veloper has stepped forward.
<br />In return, the developer
<br />would get a guaranteed re-
<br />turn from the lease of office
<br />space to the county and city.
<br />Officials could not answer
<br />exactly how that might af-
<br />fect lease rates paid by the
<br />local governments and pri-
<br />vate tenants.
<br />Gloria Jackson, a com-
<br />mercial real estate broker in
<br />Salem, said she liked the
<br />concept but hasn't yet de-
<br />cided whether
<br />it is workable.
<br />"That's
<br />what we're
<br />:~ ;~: pondering
<br />over now," she
<br />y ~,. ; said. "We've
<br />gathered
<br />quite a bit of
<br />Jackson: information,
<br />Salem broker a n d w e' r e
<br />likes concept crunching the
<br />numbers. And
<br />it's looking promising right
<br />now."
<br />Jackson, an associate bro-
<br />ker at Coldwell Banker, said
<br />Andersen-Wyckoff asked her
<br />to meet with county and
<br />transit officials to work on
<br />the plan. She also was meet-
<br />ing with developer represen-
<br />tatives.
<br />Jackson said the de-
<br />velopers, whom she did not
<br />name, were not necessarily
<br />interested in the project.
<br />"Right now people are con-
<br />tributing information and
<br />expertise to determine
<br />whether it's viable,' she said.
<br />Jackson said the o~ce
<br />space vacancy rate in the
<br />central business district is
<br />low.
<br />Vacancy rates for the of-
<br />fice space in the downtown
<br />core are about 3.17 percent,
<br />according to C. Spencer
<br />Powell & Associates' 1995
<br />annual survey.
<br />That's down from 3.70
<br />percent a year earlier, ac-
<br />cording to the survey, which
<br />the Salem-Portland consult-
<br />ing firm has compiled annu-
<br />ally for the past 11 years.
<br />Salem's overall office va-
<br />cancy rate - at 4.48 percent
<br />- is the lowest in the~ sur-~
<br />vey's history.
<br />The brand new Robertson
<br />Building at State and 12th
<br />streets already is full, Jack-
<br />son said.
<br />"You add (the low vacancy
<br />rates) to growth projections;
<br />and it clearly indicates a
<br />need for more office space,"
<br />she said.
<br />Downtown businesses also
<br />said they liked what they
<br />saw in the Courthouse
<br />Square development: more
<br />retail space, no loss of park-
<br />ing, a day-care center and a
<br />modern design to help limit
<br />noise, loitering and pollu-
<br />tion.
<br />Gerry Paiva, Salem Cen-
<br />ter manager, said she was
<br />glad the development woulc~
<br />not cost parking spaces.
<br />Please see Transit, Page 48
<br />Transit/Ex erts sa
<br />p y
<br />development promising
<br />Continued from Page 6B
<br />"I think it looks like a pret-
<br />ty impressive plan, and ag-
<br />gressive, I'd say," Paiva said.
<br />"It just seems like they have a
<br />lot farther to go in working
<br />out the details."
<br />The Salem Downtown As-
<br />sociation has taken no formal
<br />stand on the proposal, execu-
<br />tive director JoAnne Stalder
<br />said, and members have not
<br />been surveyed.
<br />, "But personally," she said,
<br />"it looks like something that
<br />might work well in the down-
<br />town. I like some of the ideas."
<br />Ernie Savage, the owner of
<br />the Junior Bootery for 44
<br />years, had no argument with
<br />the development of the Sena-
<br />tor Block - even though it
<br />would force him to move his
<br />business.
<br />buses off the street," he said.
<br />Some business people origi-
<br />nally opposed to the idea have
<br />changed their minds.
<br />David Rosales, 20, the man-
<br />ager of La Margarita Express,
<br />last month signed a petition
<br />decrying the Senator Block as
<br />the site for the transit station.
<br />He said he feared that bus
<br />noise and exhaust would
<br />frighten off his outdoor busi-
<br />ness in the summer, when he
<br />has up to 10 tables on the
<br />sidewalk on Chemeketa
<br />Street NE, across the street
<br />from the proposed bus site.
<br />"At first I was a little put off
<br />by the idea," he said. "But I
<br />realize it has to go some-
<br />where, and that may be the
<br />best place for it.
<br />"I like the idea of having
<br />"I've felt for a long time that the buses move through the
<br />this is a logicat place to get middle of the block."
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