While Regal Entertainment Group has committed to developing an 18-screen movie theater at the project, Crate & Barrel is the first signed retailer, and a key one at that. Local retail brokers tell GlobeSt.com that when a discerning company like Crate & Barrel commits to a project, it's a big green light for other retailers to commit as well. Indeed, Bruce Wood, a senior director with developer Opus Northwest, tells GlobeSt.com that tenants for over half of the 464,000-sf first phase will be announced in the next few weeks. "We are set to close several deals very shortly," he says.

The next hurdle for the developers--Opus Northwest and Center Oak Properties--is a handful of project appeals that were filed with the city. Two of the appeals were filed by the neighboring cities of Lake Oswego and Durham. A hearing in front of the Tualatin City Council is scheduled for Sept. 8, the same week the developers hope to start moving dirt for the project.

Assuming the city backs the decisions of its staff and architectural review board and denies the appeals, that decision could then be appealed to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. If the city council's decision is appealed to LUBA, a final decision may not be rendered until January 2004, which could put the project several months behind schedule if the developers are unable to perform grading work in the interim, which is a possibility.