Design Advice has been offered to Vallaster Corl Architects for the Burnside Delta, a new mixed use building at the intersection of Burnside and Sandy. The 7 story building will include 84 residential units and 2,000 sq of ground floor retail. 22 vehicular spaces would provided, along with 126 bike spaces for the use of the residents. The developer for the project is Urban Development Group.
The site for the project is bound by E Burnside, SE 11th Ave and SE Sandy Blvd. A large Clear Channel billboard is currently located on the triangular block. Michael’s Italian Beef and Sausage Company occupies a small portion of the block, and will remain. Another Vallaster Corl building, the Lower Burnside Lofts, were recently completed one block to the west.
The proposed building is roughly triangular in plan, in response the shape of the block which is diagonally cut by Sandy Blvd. At the intersection of Burnside and Sandy the two major facades will come together at an acute angle, expressed by balconies accessed from the corner residential units. The primary material for the building would be metal tread plate. High quality vinyl windows and balconies would have a custom red color, to create accents on the facade.
A memo [PDF] to the Design Commission, published before the hearing, identified potential areas for discussion. A major area of discussion during the advisory hearing was how the building design responds to the lower Burnside arcade district, where a number of historic and recently built / approved buildings project over the sidewalk. The applicants explained the difficulty of creating an arcade at this site, due to the TriMet bus stop and layover directly in front of the building; the large difference in the height of the existing grade between 11th & 12th; and the fact that Burnside widens at 11th, pushing the proposed building further back than the nearby buildings. While acknowledging the difficulties of the site, the Commission pushed the architects to consider a way to make the building function as a gateway into the arcade district. Suggestions included adding large oriel windows at the upper residential levels, or adding an arcade along a portion of the facade. Other areas of discussion included the extend to which the ground floor residential units would be successful.
The applicants have the option to return for a second Design Advice hearing, though are not required to do so. The applicants will need to return before the Design Commission for a Type III Design Review in order to gain approval.
Plans, Elevations and Sections
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- Plan – Basement
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- Plan – Level 01
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- Plan – Levels 02 to 05
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- Plan – Level 06
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- Plan – Roof
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- Elevation – North
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- Elevation – South
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- Elevation – West
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- Elevation – East
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- Section
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I’m excited about this one. I live in this neighborhood, and I think this project will help create a continuous urban feel between the Lower Burnside Lofts, the Linden, and the two apartments currently being built to the east of the Linden.
Why not build something on the southern “wedge” just south of it while they are at it? it’s currently hosting nothing other than a billboard. Total waste of close-in urban space.
Speaking of space wastage, it’s rather annoying to me that just a block north, the two blocks between Burnside, Couch, 12th and 14th are just sitting there as vacant lots, and that there are zero plans to change that. It’s an opportune location for a Goat Blocks scale project, but right now it’s just a huge useless empty lot.
Although NE Sandy Blvd no longer runs through those blocks, the right-of-way still exists on paper. The Kerns neighborhood was notified about a year ago (http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs127/1101439544621/archive/1117947235770.html) that the property owner of the surrounding blocks was looking into getting the streets vacated, but I don’t know if anything ever came of it. A street vacation would have to go before the City Council for final approval, and I haven’t seen it come up on their agenda.
The street vacation is moving forward. It will be before the Planning & Sustainability Commission on October 13th. The current plan is to vacate NE Sandy between 12th and 14th. The portion of 13th between Burnside and Couch will remain as public right-of-way and will continue to provide pedestrian access and stormwater infiltration. The vacated area and the abutting lots will be redeveloped by Weston Investment Company, LLC. My understanding is that this project will be similar in size and design to the Linden development to the south.
That’s great information. Thank you, Lance.
Is the Linden that bland beige thing with small windows? Gosh, I hope we can see something better designed and less bland than that.
Finally something with a little color. So much it seems like is so neutral in palette. I like the red accents.