An ambitious plan to redevelop a defunct central Salem cannery as a “new living room” on Salem’s waterfront has a sign-off from city officials.
Developers will soon break ground on “The Cannery,” a $150 million, 382-apartment development with a food hall, wine tasting room and riverfront pathway. It will sit on the site of the former Truitt Brothers cannery on Northeast Front Street.
The city’s hearings officer approved land use plans for the complex on Oct. 4. While developers still need permits for building and other aspects of the project, the approval means the project fits within city rules — a major hurdle that allows the sale of the cannery property to be finalized.
That decision will stand unless another affected party files an appeal before Oct. 21.
A city councilor could also decide to have the council review the decision at a Monday evening meeting. No councilors has indicated they plan to initiate such a review.
The neighboring Grant and Highland Neighborhood Associations have both supported the project.
Developer Trent Michels said he’s happy to be done with the months-long process of refining plans to get approval.
“We finally can breathe and we’re really excited to break ground,” Michels said of the city decision.
He worked with land use planners at AKS Engineering and Forestry, which has a Keizer office, for the approval.
The decision comes more than a year after Michels and broker Jordan Truitt first announced plans for the site. The skybridge over Front Street was demolished in early September.
The development is the first effort to revitalize the neighborhood north of Salem’s downtown, a collection of mostly vacant warehouses and former industrial properties.
City officials hope the project will serve as a catalyst for a larger transformation of the neighborhood into a vibrant hub.
The city got a grant earlier this year to plan transportation improvements along Front Street, which currently has no sidewalks or lane markings and a railroad track running down its center.
With city approval of his plans, Michels said his firm, FUND, can close on the sale of the 13-acre cannery property. The Truitt family has owned the century-old cannery since 1973 and closed operations in 2019.
Several structures from the existing cannery space will be preserved, Michels said.
Those include the oldest building on the site, dating to 1914, which sits on the west side of the property near the Willamette River. That will be turned into a wine tasting room, he said.
Two piers over the river will also be maintained, Michels said, though the structures sitting on them will be torn down. One will be turned into a food hall, and the other into a market.
The large cannery building bordering front street will be torn down.
The development will have more spaces for bikes than cars, with 439 bicycle parking spaces, and 422 for vehicles — most in a garage.
Plans call for a total of 12,000 square feet of retail space, almost 31,000 square feet for eating and drinking, and about 6,000 square feet for offices.
Developers are currently pre-leasing spaces and intend to focus on local businesses.
“We’re very deliberate in how we’re curating this space and we want to make sure that what we’re presenting to the people of Salem is the highest quality,” Michels said. “The strongest food halls are the ones that bring in the food truck community and give them a place and a new home and allow them to grow their business.”
Rogue Brewing has signed a letter of intent to occupy the brewery space.
A greenway path will run the length of the property next to the Willamette River. That will provide space for bikes and pedestrians.
“We just didn’t want to have bikers riding up next to trains and cars,” Michels said.
Though it’s beyond the scope of the project, Michels said he’s hopeful neighboring property owners could eventually extend a greenway path along the river to connect the Front Street corridor to Riverfront Park.
He said substantial work on the site will begin in the coming months. Construction is expected to take about two years.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
