Lents Town Center:
Ramona Street Revitalization

The Ramona Street Revitalization strategy is a three part approach to encourage neighborhood ownership and attract private investment.

1. Clean up the street and celebrate the new MAX Station.
   PDC worked with the Lents Neighborhood Association to clean up Ramona Street, install new native landscaping (Lents Linear Garden), and add banners to the utility poles to welcome MAX riders to the neighborhood. PDC worked with PBOT to repave a failed section of the street and with individual property owners to clean and fix up properties. As part of a larger celebration to promote the opening of the new Green Line, PDC organized the Ramona Street Fair on September 12, 2009. The street fair included vendors, community agencies, free music, and free rides on MAX. Hundreds of Lents residents and visitors enjoyed the sunshine, music, bike riding, and strolls along the street free of cars.
   

   Timeline: Completed in September 2009
   
   

2. Design and build a new green street. As part of a larger effort to redesign and improve the pedestrian environment in the town center (Foster-Woodstock Streetscape Project) and improve stormwater management through green infrastructure investments, PDC will begin a design process with the community to review options for rebuilding Ramona Street. This could include a new green street feature, sidewalks, lighting, and a rebuilt street. PDC, along with PBOT and BES, will work with a community advisory group to help design the street to make it a more inviting gateway to the MAX Station, improve public safety, and provide on street parking for residents and future businesses. Eventual construction of improvements will depend on available budget and prioritization of competing transportation projects. In addition to advisory committee meetings, which are open to the public, an open house is planned in early 2010 at a future Lents Neighborhood Association meeting. December 2009 – May
   
   Timeline:
   2010: Concept Plan
   June 2010 – June 2011: Design Engineering;
   2011: Construction
   
   
3. Encourage private investment with targeted public investments. PDC will work with property owners to identify new business opportunities through a Town Center Business Development Strategy. Properties along Ramona Street are zoned Central Employment (EXd), which allows a variety of mixed uses to occur in existing buildings or redevelopments. In 2009, PDC completed a Development Opportunity Services (DOS) feasibility study with one property owner and is actively negotiating with another property owner to acquire and redevelop another key property. As other opportunities to revitalize the area occur they will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
   
   Timeline:
   2009: DOS, Acquisition, and Feasibility Study - Completed;
   2010-11: Acquisition/Redevelop Property

For more information on this project, please contact Kevin A. Cronin, Senior Project Manager – 503-823-3305 or e-mail.