Author Archives: nextportland

Design Commission approves Oregon Square (images)

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This post is the first in a series on Oregon Square, focusing on the urban design and landscaping. See also Part II about Block 91, Part III about Block 102, Part IV about Block 90 and Part V about Block 103.

The Design Commission has approved Oregon Square, after three Design Advice Request hearings and three full Design Review hearings. The project by GBD Architects is the second phase in the redevelopment of the American Assets Trust owned land in the Lloyd District, following the recent completion of Hassalo on Eighth. At the center of the superblock development will be a new privately owned, publicly accessible square designed by Place Studio. Surrounding the square will be four buildings, ranging in height from 11 to 30 floors, one of which will be the tallest building in the city east of the Willamette at 343′-6″. In total the development will include 944 for rent residential units. 708 vehicular parking spaces will be provided for the use of residents, while a further 200 spaces will be provided for the 52,794 sq of retail included in the project. With a mix of bike parking provided for residents, visitors and employees, the project will include 1,647 bike parking stalls.

Oregon Square

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Weekly Roundup: United Workmen Temple Building, Post Office Redevelopment, Porter Hotel and more

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930 SW 3rd

The mixed use development at 930 SW 3rd Ave, which originally proposed to incorporate the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple

Restore Oregon noted that two downtown buildings have been removed from the City’s Historic Resources Inventory. The buildings are on the site of a proposed mixed use development at 930 SW 3rd Ave, which will include a 20-story hotel and 10-story office building. As part of the development the Hotel Albion (which includes the Lotus Café and Cardroom) will be demolished. The Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple Building will be incorporated into the development will also be demolished.

In a 5-0 vote, the Portland City Council adopted the Broadway Corridor Framework Plan, which will form the vision for how the 14 acre Post Office site in the Pearl will be developed. The acquisition of the site, worth between $135 and $177 million according to developer Mark Edlen, will cost the City up to $80 million.

Construction will begin by the end of the year on the 299 room Porter Hotel at SW 2nd and Jefferson. The 16 story building will be included in Hilton’s “Curio” collection of hotels.

The Society Hotel opened this week in Old Town / Chinatown. The Portland Mercury published photos of the low cost hotel meets hostel, and described the “gorgeous rooftop deck” as the project’s “crowning jewel”.

Shortly after acquiring trucking company Conway, XPO Logisitics laid off 101 Portland based workers. Though headquartered in Ann Arbor until its acquisition, Conway was a large landowner in Northwest Portland. What effect, if any, the acquisition will have on the redevelopment of the Conway Masterplan area is currently unclear.

Kaiser is planning a 700 space parking garage at 500 NE Multnomah in the Lloyd District. According to BikePortland the structure “aims in part to free up space on Kaiser’s other parking lots, which could then be developed or sold in order to continue the surge of big developments [in] the Lloyd District”.

The Portland Chapter of the AIA held its annual design awards last weekend. Portland Architecture wrote about the winning projects, which included Lever Architecture’s Treehouse and Allied Works’ PNCA 511 Building.

In a post titled ‘The City of Fabric Buildings‘ Places over Time noted how curious it is that “Portland has developed such an international reputation as a city without the assistance of any real place-specific visual aides”.

Design work is about to start on the Multnomah County Health Dept HQ, which will be located on a site near Union Station. The new building will be “nine stories and run between $85 million to $95 million” according to a report in The Oregonian.

Portland Monthly reported that health food “haven” Prasad opened a second location at the Portland Rock Gym, which recently completed a major expansion.

NOTE: This post has been revised to reflect that the Temple building will be demolished, as shown on drawings published on the City Auditor’s website Monday.

SERA planning addition to New Market Theater (images)

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SERA Architects have scheduled a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a potential addition to the New Market Theater building in the Skidmore / Old Town Historic District. The new four story structure would be primarily used as creative office space, with possible retail space at the ground floor.

New Market Theater addition

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Metro Reports: Canopy by Hilton, Lloyd Center remodel and more

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The Canopy Hotel by Hilton, due to be reviewed by the Design Commission on November 19th

The Canopy Hotel by Hilton, due to be reviewed by the Design Commission on November 19th

Every week, the Bureau of Development Services publishes lists of early assistance applications, land use reviews and building permits. We publish the highlights.

Ankrom Moisan Architects have requested Early Assistance for a building at 2869 NE Sandy Blvd:

Proposal is for a six story apartment bldg with underground parking garage (60 spaces.)

Holst Architecture have requested Early Assistance for the Asian Health and Services Center at 9005 SE Foster Rd:

New 3 story office building with community gathering spaces and on grade parking.

Early Assistance has been requested for a project at 9525 N Lombard St:

New 2-story apartment building with 7 dwelling units.

A demolition permit was issued for a building at 425 NW 9th Ave, set to be replaced by the Canopy by Hilton:

Demolish single story warehouse building

Lenity Architecture have submitted a project at 7805 SE 13th Ave for building permit review:

Construct new 4 story mixed use apartment building; main level to include 3 tenant spaces, parking garage, trash room area, and lobby area; floors 2-4 to include 30 units

A building permit was issued to Waterleaf Architecture for portions of the Lloyd Center Remodel:

Interior renovation for Lloyd Mall includes: reconfigure the ice rink and center concourse, reconfigure food court, remove selected interior pedestrian bridges, replace mall concourse flooring and upgrade and replace mall lighting. no exterior work under this permit

Correction: an earlier version of this post listed the address for the Canopy Hotel as 425 NW Glisan. The correct address is 425 NW 9th Ave.

Fair-Haired Dumbbell gains final approval (images)

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The Fair-Haired Dumbbell has gained final approval from the Design Commission, after four Design Review hearings. The project by FFA Architecture and Interiors for Guerrilla Development will include 64,700 sq ft office and retail space. The Burnside Bridgehead building will be entirely covered in a hand painted mural, the design of which has not yet been chosen.

The Dumbbell

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Weekly Roundup: Lents Town Center projects, 4926 SE Division, Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum and more

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Asian Health and Service Center

The Asian Health and Services Center on parcel #4 of Lents Town Center

The Portland Business Journal took a first look at three projects in Lents Town Center, including Oliver Station by Anrkom Moisan Architects, the Asian Health and Services Center by Holst Architecture and 9101 SE Foster Rd by Hacker Architects.

With all three buildings at Hassalo on Eighth now open, the Portland Business Journal published a photo gallery of the completed project.

The Portland City Council voted to spend $67 million more in Urban Renewal money on affordable housing, wrote the Portland Mercury. Also approved by the Council was a resolution instructing the Portland Housing Bureau to perform a nexus study on whether Portland should introduce a “linkage fee” on new residential and commercial developments.

During the hearing on housing affordability, Commissioner Steve Novick proposed an amendment to demolish Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, and redevelop the site for housing. None of the other four City Commissioners supported the proposal.

Portland Architecture argued that in deciding to renovate the Portland Building the City Council chose to do the right thing.

The Portland Chronicle looked at a site at 4926 SE Division St where Urban Development Group is planning its next mixed use development.

A grand opening was held for the new Oregon Reproductive Medicine facility at 808 SW 15th Ave in Goose Hollow.

1440 Hoyt to add 4 stories to former Premier Press building (images)

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The Design Commission has approved 1440 Hoyt, a major expansion and remodel of the former Premier Press building in the Pearl District. The project by Holst Architecture for Meriwether Partners will add four floors of heavy timber framed office space to an existing two story warehouse building, and convert an existing single story building to an office or retail use. The adaptive reuse project will create 75,000 sq ft of Class A office space and offer 125 bike parking spaces. Roof decks at the 2nd and 6th levels will be provided for the use of office tenants.

1440 Hoyt

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Design Commission approves renovation of Metro Family YMCA for Under Armour (images)

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The Design Commission has approved a renovation of the former YMCA building at 2815 SW Barbur Blvd, which will become the new Portland base for Under Armour. The renovation is being designed by Boora Architects, who were the original architects for the 1977 building. The developer for the project is Seattle based InterUrban Development.

2815 SW Barbur

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Metro Reports: St Francis Park apartments, International School, 2100 SE Belmont and more

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The St Francis Park apartments by MWA Architects, which are currently working their way through Design Review

The St Francis Park apartments by MWA Architects, which are currently working their way through the Design Review process

Every week, the Bureau of Development Services publishes lists of early assistance applications, land use reviews and building permits. We publish the highlights.

ZGF Architects have requested Early Assistance for a parking garage at 500 NE Multnomah St:

New 700 space 6 level parking garage with retail on the first floor.

Rommel Architectural Partnership have requested Early Assistance for a project at 520 SE 82nd Ave:

Proposal is for retail development with new 13,000 sf shop building and 1700 sf drive-thru building with food or beverage use.

SolTerra have submitted The Woods for building permit review:

Construct new 6 story mixed use 50 unit apartment building; main level to include parking garage, bike storage, lobby area, and retail space;

MWA Architects have submitted the St Francis Park Apartments for building permit review:

new 4-story, 72,055 sf, Type VA, 106 unit apartment building including improvements in vacated SE Oak St to meet superblock requirements.

BAMA Design have submitted a project at 2558 SE 109th Ave for building permit review:

New single story 15 bed residential care facility

A building permit was issued to Urban Development Group for a building at 2100 SE Belmont St:

Construct new 4 story 55 unit apartment building with underground parking; associated site work

A building permit was issued to BAMA Design for a project at 7400 SE Milwaukie Ave:

New 4 story 76 unit apartment building with basement level parking garage

A building permit was issued to Mahlum Architects for the International School Expansion:

New construction of three-story classroom building and related site improvements