Investment Opportunities

The Downtown-South/Waterfront Opportunity Zone (census tract 53011042400) is in the western portion of the City. The tract is located within the City Center focus area and the Esther Short neighborhood. The neighborhood is the City’s commercial, cultural, financial and municipal center. Within the neighborhood is Vancouver’s vibrant and livable Downtown with its numerous small shops, restaurants, entertainment, and riverfront areas, and is home to a growing number of residents, employees and visitors. The Downtown-East and Fourth Plain-Lower Grand opportunity zones are located adjacent to and east of this zone, creating a concentration of zones in Vancouver’s historic core.

The tract is characterized by a mixture of higher density, multi-story apartments and office buildings with ground floor retail and restaurant uses, along with numerous single-story commercial buildings, surface parking lots, and parks and open space. City Hall, the historic Clark County Courthouse, the Vancouver Convention Center, the five-acre Esther Short Park, the seasonal Farmers Market, and Amtrak passenger rail station are located in this area.  The tract is served by The Vine, the first bus rapid transit (BRT) line within the greater Portland metro area, which connects Downtown to major destinations east of I-5 including Clark College and Vancouver Mall. The neighborhood is primarily zoned for mixed uses, which provide for high density commercial, office, and residential development.

The tract is a City priority for planning and economic development.  The Vancouver City Center Vision & Subarea Plan was approved in 2007, and strategically designated opportunities for future business, property and community development.

The initial phase of The Waterfront Vancouver Washington mixed-use project opened in September 2018, with the debut of the City’s new Waterfront Park, iconic Grant Street Pier, and waterfront restaurants. Other phases containing office, hotel, residential and retail-commercial uses are under construction and will open throughout the next two years. The developments are reconnecting Vancouver’s historic downtown area with the Columbia River for the first time in over a century. They are expected to bring over 200,000 new visitors to the area over the next two years.

Even with the recent spurt of development activity, Downtown, City Center and the remainder of the tract have several blocks of vacant or underdeveloped land that disconnect the areas of higher density development and provide prime opportunities for land development and business creation. As the urban center for Clark County, Downtown/City Center provides a scale and capacity that serve the needs of the larger region, while reflecting the strength of the broader city and county.  The area is poised to host additional high tech jobs, housing, entertainment, arts and culture, and governmental services. 

The Downtown-East Opportunity Zone (census tract 53011042500) is in the western portion of the City.  The tract is located within the City Center focus area that includes historic, older neighborhoods that are the heart of Vancouver. The Downtown-South/Waterfront and Fourth Plain-Lower Grand opportunity zones flank both the west and east sides of this zone, creating a concentration of zones in Vancouver’s historic core.

The southern two-thirds of the tract (south of E McLoughlin Boulevard) are characterized by a mixture of higher density, multi-story apartments and office buildings with ground floor retail and restaurant uses, along with numerous single-story commercial buildings and surface parking lots. The Vancouver Community Library is located in this area, as well as large private employers like DiscoverOrg.  Areas north of E McLoughlin Boulevard and along Main and Broadway streets make up a portion of the Uptown Village area, a walkable shopping and dining district that is also experiencing new multi-family residential growth.

The portion of the tract north of McLoughlin Boulevard and east of Broadway Street make up a major portion of the Arnada neighborhood, which contains predominately lower-density residential uses. Its “Urban Lower Density Residential” zoning designation does not make this portion of the tract a likely candidate for anticipated Opportunity Zone-funded projects.

The tract is served by The Vine, the first bus rapid transit (BRT) line within the greater Portland metro area, which connects Downtown to major destinations east of I-5 including Clark College and Vancouver Mall.

The tract is a City priority for planning and economic development.  The Vancouver City Center Vision & Subarea Plan was approved in 2007, and strategically designated opportunities for future business, property and community development.

Just to the south of the tract, the initial phase of The Waterfront Vancouver Washington mixed-use project opened in September 2018, with the debut of the City’s new Waterfront Park, iconic Grant Street Pier, and waterfront restaurants. Other phases containing office, hotel, residential and retail-commercial are under construction and will open throughout the next two years. The developments are reconnecting Vancouver’s historic downtown area with the Columbia River for the first time in over a century. They are expected to bring over 200,000 new visitors to the area over the next two years.

Even with the recent spurt of development activity, Downtown, City Center and the tract have several blocks of vacant or underdeveloped land that disconnect the areas of higher density development and provide prime opportunities for land development and business creation. As the urban center for Clark County, Downtown/City Center provides a scale and capacity that serve the needs of the larger region, while reflecting the strength of the broader city and county.  The area is poised to host additional high tech jobs, housing, entertainment, arts and culture, and governmental services.

The Fourth Plain-Lower Grand Opportunity Zone (census tract 53011042600) is located in the west central area of Vancouver. The tract serves as a gateway to Downtown and benefits from its strategic location adjacent to it. The Downtown-South/Waterfront and Downtown-East opportunity zones are immediately adjacent to this zone on the west side of I-5, creating a concentration of zones in Vancouver’s historic core.

The tract includes a large land area defined by numerous land uses, anchor institutions, employment centers, developable sites, infrastructure, and several recent public and private investments that will serve as valuable resources to attract Opportunity Zone investments, including:

1. Fourth Plain Corridor: The City’s most ethnically diverse community defined by strip commercial development, apartments and single-family homes, including several developable sites;
2. Portland Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center;
3. The Vine Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line;
4. Clark College (main campus):  14,000 students with major programs in nursing, dental hygiene, industrial and culinary arts and a new $39 million STEM building completed in 2016;
5. Marshall Park:  14-acre park with community and senior centers;
6. Hudson’s Bay High School;
7. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Reserve, Officers Row and Barracks:  National Park Service site with historic buildings and landscapes, along with restored buildings reused with office, residential and non-profit uses;
8. Grand/Evergreen Boulevards neighborhood business district;
9. Pearson Field—a general aviation airport;
10. Lower Grand Employment Area (LGEA):  170-acre employment center with Grand Central shopping center; office, industrial and flex-industrial buildings; and several developable sites;
11. Convene Business Park: part of LGEA and includes a 22-acre campus with a variety of buildings, uses, green spaces and trails; anchored by the national headquarters of the Home Depot QuoteCenter division; several developable sites;
12. Columbia Business Center (CBC):  220-acre industrial business park along the Columbia River with 2.4 million SF for light industrial, distribution, heavy industry and manufacturing; 2.0 million SF outside storage space; over three miles of private rail facilities; two barge slips; over 100 companies; space capacity for growth;
13. Excellent access to major highways—SR 14 (running through tract’s southern portion);  I-5 (western boundary); I-205 (2.5 miles east); SR 500 (one-half mile north);
14. Portland International Airport (PDX) (10-15 minute drive); and
15. Ports of Vancouver USA, Camas-Washougal, and Portland OR.

The tract is a City priority for planning and economic development, especially the Fourth Plain area which has suffered through years of neglect and disinvestment. The City has responded with developing subarea plans that cover various portions of the tract including LGEA, Fourth Plain, and Central Park. Action plans, including the City’s and community’s economic development strategies in the area, include Fourth Plain Forward and LGEA. With building space, facilities and land available at the Reserve, LGEA, Convene and CBC, the tract is a major City/CREDC target for business startup and relocation opportunities.

The Fourth Plain-Kyocera Opportunity Zone (census tract 53011041600) includes the central and eastern portions of Vancouver’s Fourth Plain subarea, which encompasses several neighborhoods that make up the most ethnically diverse community in the city. The tract is bisected by Fourth Plain Boulevard, a major arterial that connects two major commercial districts—Downtown/City Center and Vancouver Mall. The tract is defined by strip commercial along the Boulevard and a large concentration of public facilities, including the City Operations Center, police station, fire station, post office, high school, elementary school, and school administration building.

North and south of Fourth Plain Boulevard are single-family homes and apartments. Kyocera recently completed a $10 million expansion of its plant that manufactures engineered ceramic components and now employs 300 workers. The tract is a gateway to the City’s greenway trail system.  Bagley Community Park (15.3 acres; home to many of the City’s youth/adult sports leagues) is on the tract’s northern edge. These amenities provide important recreational and open space advantages for employees and residents of the area.

Completed in 2015 as a follow-up to a 2007 subarea plan, the Fourth Plain Forward Action Plan highlights the City’s and community’s economic development strategy for the area. It focuses on stabilizing and growing small businesses, improving pedestrian safety/access, supporting food entrepreneurs, encouraging vibrant placemaking, creating a welcoming international business district, and fostering inclusive transit-oriented development.

The tract is well suited for new and expanded businesses and transit-oriented development due to the following valuable resources and infrastructure located within or nearby:

1. The Vine Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line connecting the tract to Downtown/City Center and Vancouver Mall;
2. Clark College (main campus): 14,000 students with major programs in nursing, dental hygiene, industrial and culinary arts and a new $39 million STEM building completed in 2016;
3. Recent or planned City investments including a new city fire station; pedestrian signalization, lighting and pathway connections to BRT stops; and sidewalk infill improvements;
4. Excellent access to major highways—SR 500 (one-half mile north); SR 14 (two miles south); I-5 and I-205 (1.5 miles to the west and east respectively);
5. Portland International Airport (PDX) (15 minute drive); and
6. Ports of Vancouver USA, Camas-Washougal, and Portland OR.

Fourth Plain is a priority area for the City’s economic development program. In addition to the public investments and facilities noted above that can entice investment in businesses, development and housing in the area, the City offers several incentive programs to assist business creation and retention and housing development, including the Multi-Family Housing Tax Exemption (MFTE) and Business Assistance Initiative.