A spirit of collaboration and community pervaded the grand opening on Aug. 12 of an office and two retail spaces in the ground floor of 3rd Central apartments, the urban mixed-use development located at Third Street and Miller Avenue in Historic Downtown Gresham.
Lillian's Natural Marketplace, Bella Cupcake and KZME radio station received an official welcome to the neighborhood with a ribbon cutting ceremony and remarks from Dwight Unti, president of Tokola Properties and developer of 3rd Central, Metro Councilor Rod Park, Gresham City Council President David Widmark and representatives from the Gresham Chamber of Commerce.
Public-private partnership was the keynote of the event and a critical factor in the development of 3rd Central apartments and successful opening of the three ground-floor businesses.
3rd Central is a project of Metro's Transit-Oriented Development Program and Tokola Properties. The TOD Program provided gap financing for the development of the apartment complex and $85,000 in funds from its urban living infrastructure program to help prepare the space for commercial use by installing restaurant scale ventilation, restrooms and related building improvements. The City of Gresham matched the urban living funds and launched a fee holiday to encourage small businesses to move out of home offices and garages into storefronts where downtown residents can easily access their services.
"Today's celebration marks the success of a public-private partnership without which this corner would look very different today," said Metro Councilor Rod Park within whose district Gresham is located. "This is real time, on-the-ground testimony to the power of local civic, business and government collaboration. It demonstrates what is possible when the intention is set for revitalizing established neighborhoods with incentives for developers, local businesses and residents."
Dwight Unti of Tokola Properties framed his remarks with a before and after comparison of his experience as a developer working with government agencies. "There was a time when working with a government agency to build a development like 3rd Central or open businesses like these three today would have been an exercise in navigating obstacles and cutting through red tape," said Unti. "But I can stand here today and say the partnership experience of working with Metro and the City of Gresham has been all about opening doors and finding solutions to offer this level of downtown living and business opportunity to the residents of Gresham."
The ribbon cutting and grand opening event was hosted by the Gresham Chamber of Commerce, the Gresham Downtown Development Association and Metro.