The Port built the Trades District. The community built the next phase

EAST WENATCHEE — ALSC Architects arrived at the Confluence Technology Center on July 14, prepared to discuss buildings.

Instead, commissioners spent the first hour of the Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority's conversation about the future of the Trades District talking about children chasing one another between storefronts, Rotary members looking for places to gather, cyclists arriving from nearby neighborhoods, families searching for shade, visitors battling the wind and the surprising ways a business incubator has evolved into one of the region's newest destinations.

By the time architects unveiled concepts for Trades District Phase II, it became clear they had anticipated exactly that conversation, opening not with renderings but with guiding principles centered on flexibility, operational efficiency, community, unity and identity. Their presentation summarized an earlier visioning session that had already identified many of the same priorities commissioners would spend the morning discussing, including family spaces, public gathering areas, pedestrian connections, stronger branding and a greater sense of place.

The discussion suggested the Port is no longer simply planning another phase of commercial development. Commissioners instead spent much of Tuesday defining what kind of place the Trades District has become and how to preserve that character as it grows.

When the Port first conceived the Trades District, commissioners envisioned an incubator where entrepreneurs, makers and small manufacturers could establish themselves before growing into larger facilities.

That vision succeeded, but not quite in the way anyone expected.

Coffee shops, wineries, breweries, retailers and other small businesses transformed the campus into a destination where people increasingly arrive with no particular errand beyond spending time there. Weekend crowds, community events and outdoor gathering spaces have become as much a part of the district's identity as the businesses themselves.

Commissioner J.C. Baldwin said the project ultimately became "what the community wanted and needs," while Chief Executive Officer Jim Kuntz reflected that the district had been designed well for what planners originally imagined, "it just ended up being something else."

That realization shaped nearly every recommendation offered Tuesday.

Commissioner Richard DeRock described a recent Rotary gathering at the Trades District that drew about 60 people, many bringing children. While the venue itself was well received, he said, the experience illustrated opportunities for improvement as families searched for places where children could play safely and larger groups could comfortably gather.

The conversation quickly expanded beyond architecture.

Commissioners discussed additional shade structures, seating, public Wi-Fi, children's play areas, safer pedestrian circulation and gathering spaces that would encourage visitors to stay longer rather than simply passing through. Others noted the site's persistent wind, limited wayfinding and accessibility challenges while suggesting future improvements should better serve cyclists, neighborhood visitors and families.

Commissioner Jim Huffman suggested the district's identity could extend beyond its businesses by recognizing the deeper history of the surrounding landscape. Noting the proximity — less than a mile away — of one of Washington's oldest archaeological sites, the East Wenatchee Clovis Site from about 11,000 BCE, Huffman suggested the district could tell a broader story connecting thousands of years of human activity in the valley with today's innovation and entrepreneurship.

For Commissioner Donn Etherington, the conversation returned to the district's original economic mission.

While praising the success of Phase I, Etherington cautioned that construction costs must remain low enough for the incubator model to continue working.

"We can't be building at this price again," he said, urging designers to preserve affordable opportunities for entrepreneurs while refining the next phase.

Architects responded that reducing construction costs has already become one of their primary design goals. Among the ideas under consideration are reducing the amount of exterior building surface, consolidating structures where practical, simplifying infrastructure and designing flexible spaces that can adapt to different businesses over time without expensive renovations.

Architect Troy Bishop emphasized that Tuesday's presentation was not intended to narrow the board's choices to a preferred design.

Instead, ALSC Architects introduced three preliminary planning approaches — "The Village," "The Campus Quad" and "The Gateway" — as frameworks for continued discussion rather than finished proposals. Each layout, including building placement, planned service yards and access to utilities, explored different relationships between businesses, gathering spaces, parking and pedestrian circulation while remaining grounded in the same principles of flexibility, community and identity.

No concept was selected Tuesday. Instead, commissioners asked the design team to continue refining the ideas before returning with more detailed proposals in the months ahead.

For a meeting that began with architecture, commissioners ultimately spent remarkably little time talking about buildings.

Instead, they found themselves asking a different question entirely: not simply what the next phase of the Trades District should look like, but what kind of place they want it to become.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media