St. Helens Waterfront

From 2012-2017, ECONorthwest worked with Maul Foster Alongi and the City of St. Helens to prepare two former paper mill properties along the Columbia River for redevelopment. The closing of mill operations in 2008 created both challenges and opportunities for St. Helens. Redevelopment of these important sites was key to allowing the City to diversify its economy, provide mixed-use waterfront development opportunities, and create a regionally significant amenity serving residents of St. Helens and the Portland region. ECONorthwest assisted the City through early stages of the redevelopment process, including due diligence, market and planning studies, economic impacts related to a proposed transportation connection, and assistance creating a redevelopment framework plan using an EPA Brownfields Planning Grant. ECO led the creation of the City’s Urban Renewal Plan in 2017.