Astoria urban renewal projects

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The City of Astoria in June agreed to allocate urban renewal dollars to two local businesses.

In the Astor East Urban Renewal District, monies were allocated to The Fort George Brewery and Public House, which recently purchased the Lovell building and nearby properties on Duane St. The business will receive an urban renewal loan for $120,039. That loan will pay for:

Architectural fees: $5,074

Engineering fees: $1,320

Construction of a deck and storage area: $51,440

Electric service upgrades: $30,000

Repair/painting of Fort George and Lovell Buildings: $32,205

The urban renewal grant, for $30,000, will pay for:

Repair/repainting of Fort George and Lovell Buildings: $20,000

Removal of former Volvo/Hertz sign and trailer: $10,000

In the Astor West Urban Renewal District, monies were allocated to Union Fish Properties LLC, owner of the recently renovated Red Building, which houses the Bridgewater Bistro restaurant on the waterfront near the Cannery Pier Hotel. The business will receive an urban renewal loan for $350,000:

To reimburse construction expenses that have already been incurred

For construction expenses for a remodel of the western ground floor of the building, to create viable tenancy.

The business will also receive an urban renewal grant for $325,000 to write down the rate of project financing with Bank of the Pacific.

In their decision making process, the city considered the Loft meeting space in the Red Building to be “large scale meeting space,” the size and character of which is not available elsewhere within the City of Astoria. Under this model, enhancing this facility would provide the city with conference space that was previously planned for as a separate project but never built.

(Source: Astoria Development Commission)