Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a series of articles focused on a development proposal for the Ridgefield waterfront.
After several months of community feedback regarding the proposed development on the Ridgefield waterfront, the Port of Ridgefield announced earlier this summer that it would pause its plans to gather community feedback.
A primary vehicle for feedback is a Waterfront Community Survey that the port is hosting through SurveyMonkey, located on their website.
Per an email sent from the Port on July 3, community input — gathered through emails, phone calls, meetings, events and the survey — will help shape several aspects of the project, including the types of businesses and services at the waterfront, uses for the site's north end near Carty Lake, sustainability features, park amenities, and boat launch, kayak and dock facilities.
The waterfront development project comes on the heels of a port-funded cleanup process initiated after the property’s previous owners, Pacific Wood Treating, declared bankruptcy in 1993, after which the port assumed responsibility for the site. The port's own timeline dates the core cleanup from 1996 to 2015, when the state Department of Ecology declared it complete, though related remediation work has continued since.
The port adopted its Waterfront Business Plan in 2023, building on planning efforts dating back to 2001. In late 2024, Palindrome Properties was selected as the developer for the project. It is slated to be rolled out in two or more phases, with groundbreaking estimated to begin in late 2027 or early 2028. No formal development application has been filed yet, according to Ethan Perry, executive director of the Port of Ridgefield.
The Phase I plan includes a 9-acre public park, a 58-room boutique hotel, an office building of approximately 25,000 square feet, parking, a mixed-use building and a residential building. The mixed-use building's concept includes ground-floor retail and commercial space with residential units on upper floors, according to Perry, though additional details and unit counts for both the mixed-use and residential buildings have not been finalized.
"No unit count has been set yet for the residential component of Phase I," said Perry. "These figures are proposed and still subject to change as the project moves through design."
“The Ridgefield Waterfront represents the culmination of nearly three decades of environmental cleanup and community planning. The port's goal is a working waterfront that brings jobs, public park space and economic opportunity back to a site that was closed off to the community for generations. The port is committed to getting the details right, including the process, the design and the community's input, before breaking ground,” Perry said.
Ridgefield residents who wish to provide feedback on the plans for waterfront development are invited to fill out the survey on the port’s website: portridgefield.org. The survey closes on Monday, Aug. 17.
The port indicated in the July 3 email that it will “analyze the input and survey results. Then we will host a second community meeting to share what we heard, how input helped inform the concept, and next steps for the project.”
