Washougal development takes shapeSubscriber Exclusive

Construction work at the Hyas Point mixed-use development on the Washougal waterfront is ramping up.

“We’re excited for this next year ahead,” Channa Kim of RKm Development, the company leading the project, told Port of Camas-Washougal commissioners at the June 18 commission meeting. “What everyone can expect to see over the course of this year is a lot of vertical movement. This next six to nine months is when all of the outward activity is really going to be happening, so it’s an exciting time.”

Kim said the development’s first four buildings are on track to open in the summer of 2027, with the first building expected to be fully framed by the end of the year and the other three “following suit very quickly.”

“At this time next year …all the work is going to be happening on the inside, and that’s what really takes a lot of time,” she said. “It will look like nothing is happening for a long time … but that means we’re close to the end.”

Though construction is not expected to impact nearby Parker’s Landing Marina or the Best Western Plus hotel on Second Street, Kim said increased activity may affect local traffic.

“There will be a lot of workers,” she said. “We’re asking everyone to be patient. There’ll be a lot of traffic on those streets, but most workers get (there) quite early in the morning and leave midafternoon, so we’re hoping (it’s) not too disruptive to commuters.”

The project’s first phase, which broke ground Oct. 31, includes 276 residential units, 55,000 square feet of retail space, 12,500 square feet of office space, and a main arterial street.

Kim said her firm is working with the Fuller Group, a Vancouver-based commercial real estate agency, to solicit interest from local business owners hoping to fill the Hyas Point commercial spaces.

“We encourage everyone who knows of someone, or is someone that would be interested in having a business here, to please reach out,” she said. “We’re having those conversations right now, and we’re really trying to talk to as many different groups as possible so we can have a good variety of options for the community.”

Hyas Point and port officials cheered the installation of a tower crane on the construction site May 13, signaling “a shift from preliminary construction phase of site work and foundation preparation to the more advanced state of structural erection,” according to Keela Garrigues, a marketing manager for Portland-based Central Bethany Construction, RKm Development’s parent company.

The Hyas Point website offers a livestream of the construction site.

“You can view the site at any time, rain or shine, day or night,” Kim said. “It’s kind of a fish-eye lens of the site, with a view of all four buildings. You can see the equipment moving around and activity happening.”

Doug Flanagan: 360-735-4669; doug.flanagan@columbian.com