"We had a whole bunch of development projects in their early phases," Perniconi tells GlobeSt.com "I brought a little more experience to the table, and now we've got a lot of stuff going on out there right now."

Indeed, Perniconi's five-man development team is now juggling office projects in Vancouver and in Beaverton, five retail projects in Portland, Salem and Beaverton and a mid-rise residential project in Portland's burgeoning Pearl District.

Here in the Portland area in the retail arena, CE John has just started on a 10,000-sf project at 39th Street and Sandy Boulevard in the Hollywood District of close-in Northeast Portland. On the 30,000-sf block will go a high-grade Mexican fast food restaurant called Baja Fresh, a Radio Shack and a Subway sandwich shop. Perniconi says he's in negotiations for one of the two remaining spaces, and is still seeking tenants for one 1,500-sf space.

Back in the Lloyd District at Northeast Grand and Weidler, the company is in the throes of a complete transformation of a former Wells Fargo Bank branch into a 14,000-sf Walgreen's drug store. "You won't recognize what's there now," says Perniconi. "It will be completely redone." The company has owned the site for a little over a year.

South of Portland in the state capital of Salem, CE John is two-thirds of the way through a $17 million renovation of its 600,000-sf Lancaster Mall, which it owns with Hummelt Development. In addition to a complete re-do of the interior, a new 45,000-sf Best Buy has been added along with a two-story, 28,000-sf Old Navy store, and Sears is expanding from 87,000-sf to 95,000-sf. Other new retailers coming to the mall include Victoria's Secret, Starbucks, Anchor Blue and Bath & Body.

West of Portland in Beaverton, the company is planning a major renovation and repositioning of its 409,000-sf Beaverton Mall property at 3205 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd. Perniconi says the work is necessary to survive and thrive in the face of growing competition from larger malls such as Washington Square in nearby Tigard.

Finally, north of Portland in Vancouver, CE John is close to completion on a 65,000-sf expansion and remodel of its 20,000-sf Salmon Creek Shopping Center on the north wide of the city, where Interstates 5 and 205 come together. The vast majority of the project is a 55,000-sf Safeway that is set to open in about a week, says Perniconi.

In the office market, Perniconi says he is close to building permits for Columbia Shores Commerce Center, a three-story, 21,000-sf office building on the Columbia River. The company owns several acres in the area, some of which has already been developed as retail and residential, including the Beaches Restaurant property and the Meriwether Condominiums. "Columbia Shores Commerce Center will be within walking distance of two restaurants and a hotel and less than a minute from SR 14, which connects to both Interstates 5 and 205," says Perniconi, who plans to break ground on the project mid-year and complete it in seven or eight months. "We're looking for a special kind of tenant." Lease rates for the waterfront locale will be in the $30/sf range on a full services basis.

Back out in Beaverton, C E John is in the planning stages for 24 acres of office-zoned land it acquired from Tektronix about 18 months ago. Some of it contains wetlands and some of it is a brownfield, all of which has been mitigated, says Perniconi. One of the biggest parcels backs right up against the company's Beaverton Mall, which means retail is a possibility, though it would require a rezone and an annexation.

"We've been spending most of our time getting mitigation done," says Perniconi, who hopes to complete the first 43,000-sf office building in the next 18 months, depending on the market. "Three of parcels are in Washington County and have site plan approval for a total of 150,000-sf; the other, in Beaverton, is in the pre-application phase."

On the residential side, C E John is in final negotiations with potential JV partners to develop a 10-story mixed-use residential project at 10th Avenue and Hoyt Street. The company was planning a smaller office and residential project on the site, but went back to the drawing board recently after city officials allowed several properties in the area to as much as double the height of their buildings.

Instant Insights /

CE John Co. Kicks Diversification Strategy Into High Gear

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