They would convert it to shops and a restaurant

A trio of Portland developers wants to buy the historic Whiteside Theatre and redevelop it as a mixed-use property with shops at street level and a restaurant on the second floor.

But before they write a check for the property, they want the city to sign off on the deal.

“We have a purchase agreement (and) we’re in the due-diligence phase,” said Thomas J. Kemper, one of three principals in Whiteside Partners LLC. The others are Ronald Skov, who has teamed with Kemper on other development projects, and Jim Dix, the real estate agent for the building’s owners.

If the group’s plans hit any major snags with the city, Kemper said, the partners might walk away from the project.

Whiteside Partners filed papers with the city Tuesday afternoon seeking permission to alter the facade of the downtown picture palace, which was built in 1922 and has been closed since early 2002. Because the building is on the city’s register of historic places, the Corvallis Historic Resources Commission must approve significant exterior changes.

The proposal calls for removing the large, ’50s-era lighted marquee from the south or Madison Avenue side of the building and replacing it with a replica of the original marquee, a smaller structure that would project over the sidewalk like an awning. The illuminated W would be salvaged from the existing marquee and be mounted on the building’s south facade.

On the corner of the building, the large lighted “Whiteside” sign would be replaced with a replica of the original 1920s sign.

The west side of the building, facing Southwest Fourth Street, would be opened up with several storefronts on the ground floor and banks of windows on the second story.

Whiteside Partners has also filed an application for a lot development option, asking the city to allow some breaks in the awnings over the sidewalks on the building’s south and west sides and requesting a waiver of the loading-dock requirement for restaurants.

According to Ken Gibb, the city’s community development director, the public will have a chance to file written comments on both applications. In addition, the Historic Resources Commission will hold a hearing on the matter. That hearing is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Madison Avenue Meeting Room, located across from City Hall at 500 S.W. Madison.

The commission will determine whether the proposed alterations meet historic preservation guidelines. But it has no power to deny the application based on the proposed change of use from a theater to a retail-restaurant complex, which meets downtown zoning rules.

“The local code does not give them that authority,” Gibb said. “The zoning sets the uses.”

The Historic Resources Commission’s ruling could be appealed to the City Council. The lot development option will be handled at the staff level, but that decision could be appealed to the Land Development Hearings Board.

If the project moves forward, Whiteside Partners would need building permits for both the exterior and interior building alterations. The permit applications would be reviewed by city staff, but no hearing would be required.

“Assuming the use is permitted — which it would be — it would not go before the planning commission,” Gibb said.

Kemper said the redevelopment plan would create about 6,800 square feet of retail space at street level and a little bit more on the second floor, where the theater’s mezzanine is now. He said his group likes the property’s location because “it’s one of the key intersections in downtown Corvallis.”

Although Whiteside Partners has not yet lined up any tenants for the project, Kemper said he envisions “active retail uses” for the ground floor that would generate lots of foot traffic.

“It could be a gelato shop, it could be a cafe, it could be a bakery or a coffee shop or a lot of different things,” he said.

Upstairs, he and his partners hope to build a restaurant and bar that become “a destination” for downtown nightlife.

Kemper’s firm, KemperCo Development, has completed a number of projects in Oregon and Washington, including Esther Short Commons, a large residential and retail complex in downtown Vancouver, Wash.; the Ariel South Apartments, a 97-unit residential rehab in Bend; and a three-story mixed-use building in Portland’s Hawthorne District. Several other projects are under construction.

Regal Entertainment Group, the country’s largest theater operator, shut down the Whiteside in January 2002 amid declining profits and mounting maintenance woes. The 960-seat theater went on the market with an asking price of around $700,000 and a proviso that it could not be used to screen first-run Hollywood films as long as Regal continued to operate the Ninth Street Cinema World or any other theater in Corvallis.

Since then, several groups of local investors have looked at buying the Whiteside, but each time the deal fell through.

Joan Wessell, executive director of the Downtown Corvallis Association, said she supports the redevelopment plan.

“Just to get some activity back in the building is certainly going to be good for downtown,” Wessell said. “I think most people in Corvallis would like to see something happen with it rather than just sitting there unused.”

Bennett Hall is the business editor for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.