River life getting a new look in Port of The Dalles
Here is a rendering of the new buildings RBR Construction is intending to build in the Port of The Dalles at 3761 Klindt Drive, just west of Klindt’s Cove and the Kiwanis Pocket Park. They plan on building two identical facilities. Each building combines both commercial and a lot of residential to provide work/live units. The buildings will feature three- and four-bedroom apartments at more than 1,600 square feet apiece. On the ground floor, four commercial spaces will be available at 234 square feet each. RBR intends to break ground within a month.
By Tom Peterson
Riverfront living is starting to catch on in The Port of The Dalles.
And maybe riverfront working is too.
With townhouses upstairs and commercial space downstairs, developers are tapping into a new age of work and play.
Jeremy and Lindsay Robertson of RBR Construction and Alpenbros LLC
Lindsay and Jeremy Robertson of RBR Construction are gambling on the idea.
The couple out of Hood River are embracing the idea of making a home above a business and intend to invest millions of dollars in the local market in months to come.
It’s an interesting move toward what they are calling live/work units.
“Many businesses have pivoted for COVID and some models will be forever changed,” Robertson said earlier this week. “The live/work solution that we are about to construct is trending across the country, and we feel that The Dalles is a perfect family-oriented community that is rural in feeling but still has many amenities available to residents.”
The Robertsons, originally hailing from Northern Washington, have been in construction for 25 years and started in on multiplexes about 7 years ago. But this is their first commercial/residential building in The Dalles.
Their company Alpenbros LLC purchased a little more than a half-acre in the port at 3761 Klindt Drive in 2020 for $255,000 to construct the buildings. They will be located just west of Klindt’s cove, next to several similar-styled complexes.
The company is now asking permission from City planners to divide the lot into eight of varying sizes to build eight residential spaces and eight commercial spaces in two buildings along the Columbia River.
And while these units offer a similar mix of commercial and residential space as their neighbors, they also have gone to a third story, offering three and four-bedroom units with commercial space for four separate businesses on the ground floor in each building.
“We’ve been excited about The Dalles for a long time,” said Robertson on Tuesday. “We’ve watched it for the past 10 years and seen a lot of growth. People are putting in time and money into cool modern buildings.”
“It seems like a good place to be,” he said.
The Robertson’s are poised to add some 15,000 square feet of total residential and commercial space to the Port district.
At $200 a square foot, that’s a $3 million investment.
The River is literally at the back door for properties building along Riverfront Trail.
“Ideally, you could live there and then have a kayak rental on the first floor,” Robertson said, imagining different opportunities for an entrepreneur on the banks of the Columbia. Food and beverage offerings could also play well as the Riverfront Trail continues to grow more popular.
He said roll-up glass doors could welcome potential customers strolling or rolling through.
He also sees the potential for doing improvements to the waterfront beach area to make it a bit more accessible by boat or pedestrian, again bringing in more foot traffic for nearby shops.
Living the Life
Jessica DeVlaeminck and her husband Ed finished building townhouse/ commercial combos in the Port in 2016. It sits next to their Devco Plumbing business south of the Bargeway Pub and adjacent to Riverfront Trail off Bargeway Road.
They even tried it out for a while living there before renting to Griffin Construction.
“It was nice living down here,” Jessica said, noting she could ride her bike into town for groceries or to a restaurant for dinner. “I had a toddler trolly for when I went shopping at Fred Meyer.”
She enjoyed the sunsets and noted bird watchers love overlooking the river and the wetlands near Devco Plumbing.
“It’s a blessing to work here,” she said, noting the bustle of the Riverfront Trail is uplifting for her as she works through her day.
Several buildings in the port are incorporating a residential space into a commercial building, such as this 11,000 square-foot building owned by Paula Lee Valkov and Patrick Grimsley. Glass roll-up doors offer an inviting way to invite the public inside.
The Robertsons are banking on that aesthetic.
“We were really attracted to that area,” Jeremy Robertson said. “We can't believe how close it is to the water. It’s a beautiful area, and we’re going to be community-oriented. We hope to construct a community barbeque in the parking lot side of it.”
Housing Crisis
“We love and believe in The Dalles,” said Robertson. “We are excited to watch it grow and are thankful to get to employ great people in the process. We are aware of the housing crisis and are thankful to have built 10 units of affordable housing in town over the past year.
Crisis is right.
A recent survey in April found just 13 available rental units in the market, down from 22 during January.
In response to the local needs, RBR Construction has completed two duplexes at 8th and Morton streets and six more housing units in the 2600 block of 14th Street.
Land prices attracted Robertson to The Dalles, he said. “Land is still pretty affordable, but it’s getting slimmer and slimmer.”
Lumber Costs
Amplifying the housing problem are continued increases in lumber costs. Lumber was trading for $1,600 per 1,000 board feet in the commodities market this morning. That’s up $950 over the year or a 146% increase.
Cost of a 4’ x 8’ sheet of OSB was at $63 this morning.
Robertson said he has been stockpiling supplies, noting he has purchased several pallets of oriented strand board (OSB) and plywood and stockpiled it near the construction site in the Port.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “OSB was going for $7 a sheet, now it’s $55.”
Actually, it was up to $63 at Home Depot this morning.
That cost in lumber is driving total building costs up around 30 percent, he agreed.
“But it does not seem to be slowing anything down,” he said.
Timeline
Robertson said they intend to break ground in a month and intend to complete the first building by the end of the year. The second building will then be completed in the first half of 2022.
Planning Decision
The Dalles Community Development Department has made a notice of Application for Administrative Action in regard to dividing the lot. Residents can comment about dividing the lot at 3761 Klindt Drive into eight lots. They are due May 17. Development Director Alice Cannon will make the administrative decision on the request.
Read the entire notice here.
Final Word From Jeremy Robertson
“The city and the port have really done a great job in being supportive to business as well as creating community spaces like the waterfront trail for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “We are honored to work in such a great community. The city of The Dalles planning department has been welcoming, helpful, and positive to work with all the way through.
We are thankful for the opportunities that God has provided for us to invest in The Dalles, and we fully plan on continuing to do so in the future.”
The Robertsons have been stockpiling lumber near their construction site in a hedge against inflating prices. Lumber has driven overall building costs up around 30 percent.
