Proposed Baker Center Would Host Multiple Industrial Users

A three-building, 333,000-square-foot development has been proposed for the Canby industrial park, located across Walnut Street from the recently completed Columbia Distributing warehouse and distribution center.

The proposed industrial center would house multiple users and is scheduled to go before the Canby Planning Commission on Aug. 10. The development is being led by Portland-based Trammell Crow Company, which also built the adjacent beverage distribution facility for Columbia, which is about 200,000 square feet larger.

Unlike the Columbia facility, which is one massive building, this project would divide the 20-acre property on Southeast 1st Avenue into three separate parcels, with a phased construction of three new speculative buildings that would accommodate a mix of warehouse and light manufacturing tenants.

Plans currently before the city planning office propose three buildings of different sizes, the largest being 210,600 square feet and the smallest at 46,800. Each would include an even split of storage and manufacturing space, with a small fraction reserved for office use.

The two smaller structures would be built to accommodate two users each, while the larger would hold four. The suites would vary widely in size, from 22,000 to 54,000.

Courtesy the city of Canby.

How much traffic the proposed facility might generate is difficult to predict, especially not knowing the tenants it will ultimately house, but its designs suggest the ability to handle a high volume of heavy trucks.

Between the three buildings, its plans propose 76 bay doors for loading and unloading trucks — 14 more than were planned for the larger Columbia facility.

A surrounding parking lot with more than 400 spaces would be built to serve the development, along with landscaping features.

According to the plans submitted by Trammell Crow, the phased development — which could take as long as five years — would start with frontage and infrastructure improvements followed by the construction of one or more of the buildings.

A real estate sign on the property indicates the availability of multiple units for sale or lease.

According to Canby’s economic development director, the developers of Baker Center have not indicated an interest to apply for inclusion in the Strategic Investment Zone approved for Columbia Distributing.

The Business Oregon program offers certain tax incentives to companies that make significant investments in new construction. However, eligible projects must include at least $25 million in new construction, and Canby city staff said they were not sure Baker Center would meet that threshold.

Courtesy the city of Canby.

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