Design Advice has been offered to TVA Architects and VWR Development for a project at SE 9th & Alder. The mixed use development will include 162 residential units over ground floor retail. Parking for 37 vehicles is proposed in one level of below grade parking. Long term parking for at least 243 bicycles will be provided.

The project site is roughly half of the block bound by SE Alder St, 9th Ave, Morrison St, and 8th Ave. An existing building, built in 1890, will be demolished. Two other buildings on the block, built in 1927 and 1970, are not part of the site and will remain. A Design Review is currently pending of a one story addition to the 1927 building at SE 8th & Alder. Other buildings planned or under construction on the lower Morrison St corridor include the Goat Blocks, Little LOCA, Modera Buckman, and Modera Belmont.

The 7 story building is arranged in a U-shaped plan, with a exterior courtyard for the use of residents at level 2. An amenity room and fitness room are proposed adjacent to the courtyard.

At the street facing elevations the building massed as three brick clad volumes. Other materials proposed include vinyl windows, smooth metal panel, ribbed metal panel, and fiber cement panels.

A memo to the Design Commission, published before the April 6th advisory hearing, outlined potential areas of discussion. These included: the massing; facade patterning; location of balconies; materials; and ground floor and lobby location. Much of the Design Commission discussion centered on the contextual response to the Central Eastside and the need for the building to feel like it specifically belongs in that district.

A second Design Advice hearing is currently scheduled for June 1st. In order to gain approval the project will be required to go through a Type III Design Review, with public hearings before the Design Commission.

Full disclosure: the author of Next Portland is employed by TVA Architects.

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