Old Town Battle Ground's Parking Fix Is Coming From Main Street Itself

By summer 2027, Old Town Battle Ground should have nearly 50 new paved parking spaces. Two Main Street businesses own the land they will sit on. Tuke's Public House & Garden and Urban Basics & Co. are building the lot together on the southern half of the block bounded by SE First and SE Second avenues, facing SE First Street, The Reflector reported on Oct. 20.

The city's Old Town Revitalization Plan names parking as one of the district's key challenges. The first answer to it is coming from the block itself. Look at the rest of East Main this fall and you see the same pattern. New owners, new storefront tenants and grant-funded facades are changing Old Town one property at a time, years before the big pieces of the city's plan come off paper.

What the lot is and who is behind it

The project combines two neighbors that serve different customers. Tuke's, at 113 E. Main St., serves artisan sourdough pizza and locally made beverages. Urban Basics & Co., at 209 E. Main St., is a multi-vendor shop selling home goods, gifts, art supplies and vintage pieces.

Max Booth leads real estate development for Maddox Industrial Transformer and related businesses. He described the purpose in the press release The Reflector quoted:

"This is an opportunity to support Old Town Battle Ground's vibrancy by offering a parking solution in close proximity to Main Street businesses."

Booth also said one lot will not cover all of Old Town's needs and more parking solutions will be needed. That matters for anyone who parks downtown on a busy evening. Fifty spaces off SE First Street will help. They won't change how the whole district works.

What the city's plan proposes, and where it stands

The city's ideas for Old Town go well beyond one lot. When early concepts were shared in spring 2025, parking and walkability led the list, The Reflector reported. The concepts included angled parking, possible public lots, shared-use parking, moving truck traffic toward SE First Street, wider sidewalks and crossings, decorative lighting, curb extensions and a possible plaza. They also floated a food hall or housing over storefronts. The paper described them as early concepts with no final designs chosen.

On Sept. 15, 2025, the City Council passed Resolution 25-10. It recognized the final draft as a proposed vision and policy guide and told staff to process it as part of the comprehensive plan update. The city's December 2025 budget announcement called the plan "recently approved." It also said a new $50,000 small-business funding program in the 2026 budget would help carry the plan forward.

Here is how the plan's ideas compare with what is moving on the ground this fall.

Everything moving in the right-hand column is work a property owner can finish on their own lot or storefront, with or without city matching money, and the street projects on the city's list have not started.

The storefront money has a year-end deadline

The facade program puts the city's plan straight into business owners' hands. The program guidelines offer a 50/50 match of up to $10,000 per applicant, from a $50,000 pool. Eligible work covers street-facing exteriors, including storefronts, signs, lighting, murals and awnings, The Reflector reported in June.

Applications ran from May 1 through June 30, 2026. Funded work and reimbursement paperwork are due by Dec. 31, 2026. From early November, that leaves about eight weeks. Any new signs, awnings or murals funded this round should go up on East Main before the holidays are over. The terms above come from the city's published guidelines. They're general information, not legal or financial advice, so a business owner planning around a future round should confirm the details with the city.

The city is also looking at the holiday season. A $20,000 city request for "Magic on Main" appeared on the Sept. 28, 2026 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee agenda. The event is described as a downtown holiday celebration that would build on the existing tree lighting, Battle of the Lights and holiday bazaars, working with local businesses and community groups. It is a funding request. Check the city's event calendar before planning around it.

Who is running East Main right now

The businesses in Old Town show the same small-scale reinvestment. Some are new owners, some are new tenants and some are seasonal pop-ups.

• Tuke's Public House & Garden, 113 E. Main St. Founders Nick and Lindsey Maze sold the business in January 2026 to BG Hospitality Collective, The Reflector reported. Service was to continue without interruption, and the new owners announced plans to invest in the kitchen, dining room and team. "We created a great place that is loved by the community," the outgoing owner said. Ten months later, the new ownership is co-building the parking lot.
• Pink Cloud Creamery, 602 E. Main St. It opened June 5 inside Pacificly You, a Main Street boutique that marked its sixth anniversary in September. "People have loved it," the creamery's manager told The Reflector, adding it was "about time for ice cream in Battle Ground."
• Ice Cream Renaissance. This summer, the Vancouver shop ran an ice cream cart behind Founder's Mercantile & Coffee, according to The Reflector. The owner said the cart might return next summer.
• Urban Basics & Co., 209 E. Main St. The multi-vendor shop is the other partner on the parking lot.

Pink Cloud is a good example of how Old Town grows. A new business opened inside an established boutique instead of taking its own building. A business sharing a storefront and a summer cart parked behind a coffee shop both add to the block without any new construction.

The west side is growing a different way

Head west on Main Street and the new arrivals look different. In August, The Reflector listed a group of incoming eateries. IHOP remained committed to 1101 SW Scotton Way, though no opening date had been announced. Camp Donut signage was up at Unit 111 in Battle Ground Market Center. Wingstop signage had appeared at 720 W. Main St., Suite 106. Muchas Gracias had tenant-improvement permits for 1218 SW Scotton Way.

West Main Commons at 1305 W. Main St. had signed leases with Brewed Awakenings, OnPoint Credit Union, Edward Jones, Barbie Lounge and a ramen tenant not yet named. Its first retail spaces were expected by the end of 2026. At Battle Ground Village, Al & Ernie's Bakery Cafe plans a 940-square-foot second location at 802 SE 14th Place, in the space Blue Castle Coffee left in August when its lease ended. Remodeling is planned for late 2026 and an opening for early 2027, The Reflector reported.

These are new commercial spaces filling with tenants, many of them regional or national names. Old Town has no empty land for that kind of growth. That's why its changes come as ownership handoffs, shared storefronts and a parking lot on land two merchants already owned.

The next year on Main Street, in order

1. By Dec. 31, 2026: Facade-grant work in Old Town must be finished and documented.
2. End of 2026: The first retail spaces at West Main Commons are expected to be delivered.
3. Early 2027: Al & Ernie's second cafe is planned to open at Battle Ground Village.
4. Summer 2027: The Tuke's and Urban Basics lot off SE First Street is expected to be complete.

Until the lot opens, parking in Old Town works the way it does today. Through the end of the year, the visible changes will be storefronts, not streets.

If you own a home within walking distance of East Main, a parking lot, new facades and new owners at Old Town staples all affect what your house is worth in a way an online estimate won't pick up. Jacob Sanchez follows those block-by-block changes in Battle Ground. Get your instant home valuation, and then let's talk about what Old Town's next year means for your price.