The Port of Astoria is moving forward on negotiations for a project that could bring new hotels, restaurants and shops to the waterfront near Pier 1 and the West Mooring Basin.

In recent years, the Port has worked with the city of Astoria to develop a waterfront master plan envisioning a new hotel, market hall, fishing village and boardwalk around the West Mooring Basin. The plan, created by Portland-based landscape architecture firm Walker Macy, was approved by the City Council in 2023.

In October, the Port put out a request for expressions of interest for redeveloping the area, and in the months following worked with a committee to review proposals and interview applicants. Through that process, a proposal from American Life, Atlin Investments Inc. and Elevator Shaft LLC rose to the top of the list.

“I think with the right planning, the right concepts, the right development, that we can kind of restore the Port of Astoria to really becoming a major asset for not only the port, but for the community at large,” Atlin Investments President Wes Giesbrecht said.

Giesbrecht has a real estate career spanning more than four decades, working on projects like the development of the Costco and Walmart in Warrenton. Elevator Shaft owner Garth Schlemlein, meanwhile, brings a background as a construction and real estate attorney. American Life, the third developer on the proposal, has invested more than $1.5 billion in real estate projects over the past three decades using the US EB-5 Regional Center Program, which allows foreign investors to get an U.S. green card by investing $800,000 or more in a qualifying project.

At a Tuesday Port Commission meeting, Giesbrecht outlined the three developers’ proposal, emphasizing the unique opportunity a waterfront revitalization project presents for setting the direction of the Port and creating jobs over at least the next decade.

One emphasis of the Port’s vision for the waterfront has been a desire to create a new hotel in the place of the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, whose lease with the Port ends in October. The developers’ proposal includes plans for two hotels: a roughly 90-room hotel for an “upscale tourist market” on the west side of the West Mooring Basin, and a more affordable 72-room hotel east of the basin. As part of the process, the Astoria Riverwalk Inn would be demolished.

The proposal also includes concepts for a fishing village similar to Wenatchee’s Pybus Public Market in Washington and Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia. The village would include a 12,000-square-foot building for vendors and smaller buildings for other retailers and service providers like coffee shops, wineries and bike rentals.

Giesbrecht said the proposal is a starting point, and nothing is set in stone. The developers are currently working through conversations with stakeholders to ensure that the project meets the needs of users. The goal, however, is to lean into Astoria’s cultural and maritime history for the project.

“This is going to be tied to the history and the DNA of what’s here already — the fishing industry, you know, some of the tourism, the sport fishing, the clam digging and all those kinds of things,” he said.

Commissioners on Tuesday were generally receptive to the proposal. Dirk Rohne, one of two commissioners who served on the interview committee, said the proposal stood out to him both because of the developers’ experience and their plan for funding, which will rely primarily on EB-5 equity. Another highlight was the developers’ commitment to working on a full redevelopment of the waterfront.

“A hotel is a no-brainer. It’s a win,” Rohne said. “But we don’t want just a hotel. We want to develop the whole central waterfront plan that we worked so hard together with the city of Astoria on.”

Commissioner Frank Spence expressed similar sentiments.

“I compliment the developers coming in with the big picture to do the whole waterfront master plan, not just piecemeal, and using the EB-5 foreign investment money is a great strategy in view of the economic situation in this country right now, where so many funds are frozen. So this is a tremendous opportunity — historic in my mind — to tear down and build something that’s fantastic,” Spence said.

Commissioners also had their concerns. Commissioner James Campbell, for example, said he felt two hotels were unnecessary. Commissioner Robert Stevens also questioned whether the potential for increased cruise ship traffic would interfere with the ability to use Pier 1 for cargo. Some of those questions could be worked through as the Port gets farther into the process.

Giesbrecht said the question of whether the pier would continue to be used to accommodate cargo ships would ultimately fall to the Port Commission. He added that the goal of having two hotels is to provide lodging accommodations at different price ranges and create critical mass for the fishing village.

“The fishing village supports the hotels; the hotels support the fishing village, and we’re trying to create a synergy that one supports the other and vice versa,” Giesbrecht said.

The project likely won’t break ground until at least next year. Although commissioners approved a motion to authorize the Port’s executive director to begin negotiations with the developers, individual items will come back to the commissioner for a vote.

“This isn’t like authorizing staff to go and enter into anything long term, or get land leases going. That will still come back to the commission,” said Executive Director Will Isom. “This will just govern the relationship between the Port and Atlin.”