Third Central shows signs of life on the street

Grocery, radio studio, cupcakes to move in soon

By Shannon Wells

The Gresham Outlook, Apr 21, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Jim Clark / Gresham Outlook

Rick Myrick, co-owner of Super Diamond Floors, uses a stone- grinding wet polisher on the floors of the Third Central retail space that will house a new natural food grocery store.

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A fledgling radio station featuring local music and a home-grown cupcake emporium may seem like an incongruous pairing, but the two entities – along with a proposed grocery store – symbolize renewed investment and growing optimism in downtown Gresham.

KZME radio, a project of the not-for-profit MetroEast Community Media, and Bella Cupcake, Gresham resident Debbie Phillips’ first business venture, have signed individual leases for street-level storefront spaces at Third Central, 134 N.W. Third St.

Completed in 2009, the four-story building has leased most of the apartments on the top three levels, but the street-level spaces fronting Third Street and Miller Avenue have remained vacant since last summer.

Preparations are under way for KZME’s studio, which will hold a groundbreaking event Wednesday, April 28.

Phillips plans to open Bella’s doors by late June.

A third tenant, Lillian’s Natural Food Marketplace, described as a smaller version of a Whole Foods or New Seasons, could occupy the larger corner storefront as early as July.

Dwight Unti, president of Tokola Properties and developer of Third Central, says he’s pleased his negotiations with the three entities bore fruit to help the new downtown landmark shed its dormant demeanor.

“We did everything we could and should have done to convince them to come to the building,” he says of KZME and Bella. “It’s a significant piece of the puzzle for downtown.”

While he was encouraged by the relatively rapid leasing of the luxury apartments, Unti admits he felt uneasy about how timing, the economy and retail demand conspired against the 5,450 square feet of storefront space.

“It took awhile to get traction,” he says of Third Central’s apartments. “But it’s really picked up since the first of the year.

“The economy made leasing commercial space problematic,” he adds. “Many small businesses were not in the position to take a risk.”

In recognition of the prevailing climate, Gresham city officials plan will work with for-profit Bella Cupcake and Lillian’s as part of its Small Business Incentive Program the City Council passed earlier this month, according to Eric Schmidt, community development director.

It was space constraints at MetroEast’s Northeast Eighth Street headquarters that forced President Rob Brading and Dennise Kowalczyk, director of organizational advancement, to seek a separate location for KZME studio space.

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