With construction finally underway on the Life Time Fitness complex west of Cedar Hills Blvd. (CHB) south of Barnes Road, we have been receiving questions about this development and future plans for the remaining Peterkort properties in the vicinity. Here’s a brief review and a timeline of the Peterkort Master Plan.

In fall 2004, The Peterkort family corporation (J. Peterkort Co.) unveiled a Master Plan for most of the remaining undeveloped land along both sides of Barnes Road from CHB to the Sunset Transit Center. This area was slated for a mix of commercial—offices and retail—and relatively high-density residential development. At that time, it was assumed Washington County would be the jurisdiction to review plans.

The parcel now being developed by Life Time was annexed into Beaverton in 2005 during former Beaverton Mayor Drake’s aggressive annexation campaign, over the objections of the company. But in 2011, they decided that Beaverton would be a better partner for their projects and requested to annex the remaining properties into the city. The city had to develop new zoning to translate county zones to fit its Development Code. (Some history of the family in Cedar Mill is in this link.)

In 2014, the City of Beaverton approved a Planned Unit Development (PUD) application from Peterkort Co. for the approximately 80 acres around the intersection of Barnes Rd. and CHB. Several time extensions were approved by Beaverton because the family wasn’t ready to develop. 

In early 2018, a neighborhood meeting was held to gather input on a proposed fitness complex to be located at the northeast corner of CHB and Barnes. Life Time Inc. is a national company with over 150 centers throughout the US. By that August, we learned that a new location had been chosen instead, at the southwest corner of the intersection. The first location had posed several challenges because of terrain and the traffic that would have resulted on Valeria View.

A development application was submitted to Beaverton in early 2019. During the first hearing before the Beaverton Planning Commission, a number of issues were raised by community members, Oregon Department of Transportation, and a “mystery group” called Beaverton Business Owners LLC. 

The company returned with revised plans in June 2019, and the development plan was approved. It was appealed by Beaverton Business Owners, and the appeal was denied in July. We never learned who was behind that group, although many people suspected it was the owners of Villa Sport. The denial was then sent to the State Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) but the company moved forward with their plans because the city had already approved it. A groundbreaking was held in January 2020. And then the pandemic hit. 

By June 2020, Life Time contractors began clearing vegetation and demolishing existing buildings on the site. Neighbors who hadn’t been following our articles bemoaned the destruction, wishing that the property could become a park or remain a “natural” area, although that horse had left the stable once Peterkort originally submitted its Master Plan in 2004. Property rights nearly always trump public sentiment, and nobody was stepping up to purchase the property from the family. Life Time purchased the property from J. Peterkort Co. sometime during the process, but we don’t have the date.

The work being done on the north side of Barnes is for utility installation and roadwork as part of Life Time’s permits. Barnes will be widened to five lanes with two travel lanes and a center turn lane through to 118th. There will be a traffic light at the main entrance to the project, approximately where the current entrance to the Si Señor Restaurant is. The project will be complete sometime in 2023.