It's Open - Come On Down!

The Cinemark movie theater officially opens to the public tomorrow. A "ribbon cutting"  ceremony was held today with local dignitaries, but instead of cutting a ribbon, they tore a movie ticket. Restaurants from the Point Ruston development provided samples of their food and grand speeches were given. The fountain at the Grand Plaza is now open as well, with a spectacular light display after dark. The stairs will remain closed until a handicap ramp can be completed, but the plaza is open from the top with plenty of parking. Head on down and enjoy.

Entrance plaza

Speeches and food

In addition to 8 regular theaters (all with plush recliners) the Extreme theater features over 25 surround-sound speakers.

Inside Extreme theatre

Birthday party room available

Speeches

Anniversary

22 years ago today - my how things have changed around here. Thanks to codyriver5 for sharing this on youtube...

Point Ruston Files $150 Million Claim Against Ruston

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 14, 2014

Contact:

Point Ruston, LLC Loren Cohen, Manager of Legal Affairs Phone:  (253) 752-2185 x 236 Email:  Loren@PointRuston.com	Cascadia Law Group, PLLC Rodney Brown, Jr., Attorney at Law Phone:  (206) 292-6300 Email:  RBrown@cascadialaw.com

Point Ruston DEVELOPMENT FILES $150 MILLION NOTICE OF CLAIM AGAINST CITY OF RUSTON

Environmental Claims against City of Ruston for Violations of Environmental Cleanup Laws

TACOMA, WA – Today Point Ruston, LLC filed a series of claim notices against the City of Ruston, Washington totaling more than $150,000,000. These notices seek monetary contribution and treble damages related to environmental cleanup at the former Asarco Smelter Superfund Site.

Michael Cohen, managing partner of the construction and development firm behind the redevelopment of the former Asarco Superfund Site, stated “Most of our government partners have stepped up to the plate to help move the cleanup of this site forward – from our $31 Million public-private partnership with the City of Tacoma to re-build the public road and utilities at this site, to the State of Washington’s multi-million dollar investment in the cleanup on the tidelands and sediments along the shorelines of this site – not to mention the oversight and supervision offered by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately the City of Ruston’s contribution has been to add to the pollution at this site and stand in the way of finalizing our work on this project.” The claims filed by Point Ruston LLC point to a history of the City of Ruston government’s environmental malfeasance at the site – including that the City of Ruston has hindered the cleanup and caused the further spread of contaminants.

Point Ruston is represented by Rodney Brown, Jr. of Cascadia Law Group, a boutique Seattle law firm that has been Point Ruston’s lead environmental counsel since the project’s inception in 2005.  For questions regarding these filings please direct questions to Mr. Brown.

LINK TO FULL CLAIM DOCUMENT HERE
 

About Point Ruston LLC

Point Ruston is a mixed-use real estate development project taking shape on the site of the former Asarco Smelter site.   Located on nearly one-mile of Puget Sound shoreline, Point Ruston includes plans for a mixed-use shopping center featuring more than 250,000 square feet of retail space with restaurants and boutique shopping, and anchored by a 25,000 square foot organic grocer, four-star 175-room Silver Cloud Hotel, and 9-screen Century Theatre cinema, along with a range of housing choices for nearly 3,000 residents.  Michael Cohen is Point Ruston LLC’s Manager and Majority Member of the Company.  With a four decade career in real estate spanning the West Coast, Mr. Cohen has successfully built and developed dozens of residential and commercial projects including hotels, casinos and golf course related projects.

About Cascadia Law Group PLLC

Cascadia Law represents clients in litigation and regulatory matters that include complex environmental, land use, and natural resource issues. Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and other leading research firms and publications recognize Cascadia Law as a top regional firm whose clients include Fortune 100 companies, small businesses, government agencies, and environmental groups. Rodney Brown, Partner in Cascadia Law, is reported by Chambers USA 2014 as "the premier environmental lawyer in the state."  Amongst many other posts, Mr. Brown is Co-Chair of Governor Inslee’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce.

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First Point Ruston Ruston Building

The first building located within Ruston city limits is finally under construction. The foundation excavation has begun for the parking garage that will eventually service not only the movie theater complex but a retail center in this area. It's a beautiful scene!

Two Town Opens At Copperline

The first eatery at Point Ruston has opened. The establishment features a cafe for the morning with espresso and delectable pastries, a restaurant for lunch and dinner (and weekend breakfasts starting August 9th) and a pub to wet the whistle. The decor is historic wood, brick and photos. Two Town's name references it's location at the border of Ruston and Tacoma; with menu items such as Smokestack Burger and WR Ruston Wings. Be sure to stop in soon!

Cafe open 6am-3pm weekdays, 7am-3pm weekends.
Restaurant and pub open 11am to close.

Point Ruston Update

The development down the hill just opened another building. The first residents moved into the condos in front of the Copperline Building this week. Construction continues on the second condo building and the movie theater complex. You can view the Point Ruston announcement and video here.

Ruston officials also announced that they have recently compiled the many years of Point Ruston planning documents and approved plans into one location for public viewing (available here). The city planner just issued a summary report on the combined permits for Buildings 9 and 11, the first buildings within the Ruston boundary now under construction (available here). The Point Ruston development plans have already been approved, so the time for public comment has passed. But this is your chance to stay up to date on permitting and related issues.

Point Ruston Plaground Reopens

The iconic playground at Point Ruston's Waterwalk reopened this afternoon to the immediate delight of passing children. The grass is a bit long, but the structure has been cleaned, the EPA required buffer zone established and the fences moved. Head down with the kids and enjoy!

Waterwalk Closed Again

Growth often brings discomfort and Waterwalk regulars are about to experience that once again. After finally opening in November, the popular walking path is closed again. The closure is part of the next phase of development happening behind the playground, eventually spreading up to Ruston Way and north towards the Peninsula. This phase of work is scheduled to last until June 2015. The Waterwalk will re-open as soon as the environmental liner system is widened in this area to create a buffer between the new work and the public.

Point Ruston Construction Expanding

The News Tribune is reporting (here) that the next construction phase at Point Ruston is getting ready to kick off. Work begins in the next week or so near the Waterwalk playground and continues thru mid-2015. This phase will include work within the Ruston boundary eventually, covering most of the area from the Copperline building to the northern edge of the property.

Waterwalk Fully Open

No more dead ends - as of about noon today, fences that blocked the path along the shoreline of Point Ruston are gone. The final panels are down and walkers, bikers and joggers can follow the road at the end of the Waterwalk back up to Ruston Way or take the new trail along the bluff to reach Pearl Street near the ferry toll booth. Feel free to loop around the Point Ruston site as many times as you want...

Last roadblock removed

First visitors

Ruston Way connection open to people now (not cars)

First bicycle on the new trail

Just because its pretty

Dome To Defiance

Hundreds of bikers, joggers and walkers braved the rain yesterday to trek up the new asphalt at Point Ruston and into Point Defiance. The new pedestrian path and the connection between the Waterwalk and Yacht Club Road was open for a organized walk/run/roll event from the Tacoma Dome to the bowl at Point Defiance. Everything from vintage bikes to skateboards to a huge petal-powered contraption that a dozen-plus elected officials rode all the way was seen along the route. Despite the rain, the new route that finally runs primarily thru Ruston's boundaries was enjoyed by all. The route was closed again at 6pm last night so crews can put the finishing touches on roadway over the next couple of weeks. The News Tribune has more here...

Roads were closed from the Tacoma Dome to Point Defiance all morning.

Waterwalk gates opened for the day, but closed again for a couple weeks so crews can finish the road.

 

The elected officials were the loudest group, cheering when they reached the top on the new path and again when they finally reached the end of the ride. Even Tacoma Mayor Strickland helped push the machine up the hill.

Ferry Home Safe

The Point Ruston sales ferry  made its way home yesterday after maintenance work had it in dry dock for a month. Along with the sales office at the Copperline building and Stack Hill, the ferry will continue to serve a sales center. The News Tribune has more details here...  

Shoreline Plan Approved

Ruston's plan for its tiny section of state shoreline (1,500 feet) has received approval from the Department of Ecology. It was years in the making, but it's finally done. An article in the Business Examiner (here) explains that the new regulations are now part of the state's shoreline rules, which means the state will defend them against any legal action. The full text of the 53-page plan is available here...

New Point Ruston Building

A second building will soon begin to rise at Point Ruston. Construction on the Copperline Condominiums (link here) is scheduled to begin in a few weeks according the following announcement, located on the waterside of the current building. All good signs that someday we may see some construction on the Ruston side too.
____________________________________________

In just the last two weeks, we've welcomed four new waterfront condo owners who have selected Point Ruston's Copperline Condominiums as their future home.
Join us in celebrating our new owners! As we build one of the Northwest's premier waterfront destinations, our hope is that the memories created in your new home are
among the most cherished in your life.

We are also proud to share some very exciting news — the Copperline Condominium foundations are complete and we will begin vertical construction within the next few weeks — the first of our home owners will be enjoying their luxury condominiums in Spring 2014.  We invite you to join the Point Ruston community today and start living the Puget Sound Dream!

Missing Link Grant Secured

The "missing link" between the Ruston Way waterfront park and Point Defiance Park has been awarded grant money in the state's new budget. A Bonney Lake Courier-Herald article describes how the grant will connect the trail through Ruston into Point Defiance Park. Read the article here... More on Metro Parks plans available here...

Mystery Solved: Ferry Is Safe

The Point Ruston Ferry was taken down to the dry-dock facility at Vigor Marine yesterday. While at dry-dock she’ll undergo routine maintenance and inspections, including a complete hull cleaning and survey (to check for any weak areas or stress points), as well as receive a beautiful new coat of paint. Following the deep-clean, we are very excited to then be taking her up to Seattle a few weeks in August, where she’ll be moored at the Historic Ships Wharf at Lake Union Park between August 9^th  – 19^th. While there we’ll be hosting a series of open houses and other events that will be announced on our website in the near future.  Hopefully our local Ruston friends can make a day trip up to Seattle to check out her temporary digs – and if anyone hasn’t been to Lake Union Park it’s well worth the visit.  The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), Center for Wooden Boats and the Northwest Marine Center are all located at the park, so it’s a very cool location. Here’s a link to an article on the park that also has some great photos of the other historic vessels that will be keeping the Point Ruston company while she’s in Seattle: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019995552_boats29m.html?cmpid=2628.

 

Loren M. Cohen

Manager of Legal Affairs

MC Construction Consultants, Inc.

Missing Ferry

No word from Point Ruston yet on where their floating sales center/ferry has run off to. I'll let everyone know as soon as the mystery is solved.

Legacy

White sails on a blue canvas. Gentle breeze over the water. Memories merge into the present.

Dave loved his work. He loved sailing even more. His efforts laid the groundwork for the new park that will likely be named after someone who hated what lays beneath this reborn patch of dirt. Like so many others, Dave worked hard to make what we are finally seeing at Point Ruston and Peninsula Park a reality. He spoke often of leaving a legacy in this dirt - knowing that he had a part in turning a smelter into a place of peace and renewal.

Dave and those who labored beside him will not have a park named after them. But their efforts mattered. They negotiated the deals that allowed these projects to finally move forward. They found creative ways to solve environmental challenges with price tags that could actually be funded. Although the final work is carried out by others, its their dream that we see coming to fruition.

I could almost feel Dave sigh with satisfaction in the breeze Saturday and sense his pleasure in the rippling sails along our new shoreline. He and others like Tom and Kevin and Sue and countless others have indeed left us a beautiful legacy.

Point Ruston Trash

The Nose (columnist at The News Tribune) has a few comments on the trash cans at Point Ruston (link here). I've always been a little miffed there are no cans promoting Ruston out there. Now that the sleuths among us have discovered even the Tacoma cans show the Seattle skyline, maybe I can relax. At least Ruston is spared the controversy.

Karen

New Neighbors Moving In

The News Tribune featured an in-depth article this week (link here) detailing the major step forward at Point Ruston first reported here on Ruston Home last Friday. The first new residents of the Copperline Apartments are expected to start unpacking in their new homes by this weekend. If you haven't wandered down to explore the new building yet, get down soon to welcome our newest neighbors. It's a milestone for everyone involved.