Weekly Roundup: Bridgetown, Fern Grove, Langano Apartments and more

Posted on May 29, 2016 by nextportland

LEVER Architecture’s Framework will be a 12 story tall timber building.

In ‘Death of a Mall Rat‘ the Portland Mercury wrote about the Lloyd Center, which is currently in the middle of a major remodel. As Portland changes, the paper wondered whether the 1960s mall can keep up.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman is proposing a 1% Construction Excise Tax, according to The Oregonian. The City’s ability to impose the tax was made possible by a recent change in Oregon law. The law requires that at least 50% of the revenues from the tax be used for providing affordable housing. Commissioner Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau, wishes to see 100% of the tax dedicated to affordable housing.

In a blog post the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis explained that “housing does filter”. New construction that is that the top end of the market eventually becomes much lower priced relative to the overall housing market.

The Portland Tribune reported that a panel of state economists and housing experts told a State legislative committee that a “confluence of factors — including low supply, high demand, obstructive regulations and lacking infrastructure — is driving up housing prices in the state”.

Portland Shoupistas wondered if the City Council will impose “rent-raising minimum requirements in NW PDX?” A proposal to add parking minimums in the Northwest Plan District was recently rejected by the Planning & Sustainability Commission, however NW neighbors are trying convince the City Council to add them back at a July 6th hearing.

The Oregonian wrote about the ‘Portland for Everyone’ housing coalition, which is “calling on Portland leaders to increase density in single-family residential neighborhoods, strengthen renter protections and put a general obligation bond on November’s ballot that would fund affordable housing.”

The Portland Business Journal wrote that the 12 story timber framed tower Framework (pictured above) is moving forward—and with a deeper level of affordability. The 60 units in the mixed use building were originally planned to be offered to people earning less than 80% of area Median Family Income. The units will now be offered to people earning less than 60% area MFI. The building is set to go before the Design Commission on July 7th.

The Oregonian covered a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which found that the hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Oregon rose from $16.61 hourly wage in 2015 to $19.38 in 2016.

The Portland Business Journal reported that the office space at the Park Avenue West tower is now nearly all taken. The residential leasing is proceeding more slowly, with only a quarter of the units taken. In a separate interview with the paper TMT Development president Vanessa Sturgeon states that she’s “just fine” with the pace that units are leasing at.

A post at Planetizen asked if Portland has “lost is way”. The article argues that “Oregon’s poster child for livable planning is embroiled in new controversies over destructive growth, skyrocketing prices, and back-room cronyism.”

The Hollywood Star News reported that construction is about to start on the Bridgetown Apartments at the former Red Fig property in Beaumont Village. The project by Ethos Development and Siteworks Design/Build will include 50 residential units and 6,000 sq ft of retail space.

A 33-unit affordable housing complex in East Portland has opened, according to The Oregonian. The Fern Grove apartments at 14232 E Burnside St are set to be affordable to people earning less than 60% of area Median Family Income.

The retail spaces at the Langano Apartments have been leased, according to Urban Works Real Estate. The ground floor of the SE Hawthorne Blvd building will include Poke Mon, a poke bowl restaurant, as well as an M Realty office and Gallery Nucleus, an art gallery featuring a taproom.

The Cook Street Apartments on N Williams Ave have been sold to Boston-based Berkshire Group, for a undisclosed sum. The LRS Architects-designed building includes 206 residential units.

KGW reported that Exhaust Specialties at 700 SE Belmont St will close after 65 years in operation. Though no permits have been filed for the redevelopment of the site, an Early Assistance application was received by the City in February for a new self-storage facility.

Weekly Roundup: Albina Yard, Slate, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and more

Posted on February 1, 2016 by nextportland

Construction is underway on the Albina Yard office building, which is using Cross-laminated Timber

Venerable restaurant Besaw’s reopened last week at the LL Hawkins apartment building in Slabtown. Eater PDX published photos of the new interior.

History Treasured & Sometimes Endangered wrote about the demolition of a number of houses in order to make way for a mixed use development at 2301 NW Savier. The new building by GBD Architects will wrap around the building that was formerly home to Besaw’s restaurant.

BikePortland reported that a “gear sphere” sculpture was set to be installed outside the under construction Cook Street Apartments by LRS Architects.

OHSU is in the early stages of planning for a major expansion of the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, according to a story in the Portland Business Journal.

The Portland Chronicle wrote about the potential demolition of a building at 3336 SE Belmont St, slated to be replaced by a three-story mixed use building by BKL/A Architecture.

Construction is about to begin on the Works Partnership designed PDX Commons senior co-housing at SE 43rd and Belmont. The site was formerly the location of the Good Food Here food cart pod. As The Oregonian reports more than half of the carts have now relocated across the street to form the Bite on Belmont pod.

As the Pine Street Market gets ready to open The Oregonian published their ultimate guide to the vendors planned for the Old Town food hall.

Portland Architecture published their notes from the Centennial Mills public forum, which explored how the historic building complex might still be saved.

The developers behind 3rd and Taylor have laid out their plans for the block, wrote the Portland Business Journal. The design review package for the hotel portion of the project has been submitted by Ankrom Moisan Architects. The office building is planned to move forward separately in the coming months.

In [mis]representation Places over Time wrote about the tools architects use to visualize their designs, how these can shape the design itself, and how it is easy to present a false sense of reality.

Coworking firm CENTRL Office will expand into the Slate building at the Burnside Bridgehead Block 75, according to a story in the Portland Business Journal. The 10 story building by Works Partnership is scheduled to open later this year.

Construction is underway at the Lever Architecture designed Albina Yard. The 4 story office building is the first commercial building in the United States to make use of domestically fabricated Cross Laminated Timber as a structural element. A video posted last week shows the progress made so far:

Focus: Our 25 Most Popular Posts of the Year

Posted on December 17, 2015 by nextportland

LOCA @ The Goat Blocks, the subject of our second most viewed post of 2015

2015 is the first full calendar year Next Portland has been in operation, and it’s been a year of huge growth for the site. As the year draws to a close it seemed like a good time to look at what the most popular posts of the year were. If there’s an overall trend evident it’s that posts about tall or large buildings do well. The single most popular post was the round up of the 25 tallest buildings planned or under construction. Posts about high rise buildings under construction—including Block 136, The Cosmopolitan, The NV (formerly The Overton), and Yard (formerly Block 67)—feature prominently in the list. The giant development at Oregon Square makes the list three times, and the redevelopment of the USPS site in the Pearl is included three times. The most popular post about a single project covered LOCA @ The Goat Blocks, a superblock development currently under construction in inner Buckman.

Other posts to make the top 25 were more surprising. The list includes the Worldmark by Wyndham and The Society Hotel, both relatively small hotel projects in Old Town. The initial post about 3rd & Taylor likely performed so well not because of the scale of the project, but because Next Portland was the first place to write about the potential demolition of the Hotel Albion. At only 8 stories Carbon12 wouldn’t come close to making the list of the tallest buildings planned for Portland, but is notable for the fact that the high rise structure will be built out of wood.

Were there any posts you particularly enjoyed reading this year? Let us know in the comments. Here is the full list of our most popular posts of 2015:

1 – Focus: 25 Tallest Buildings Planned or Under Construction

2 – LOCA @ The Goat Blocks

3 – Burnside Bridgehead, Pt II: Block 67

4 – Focus: 20 New Hotels Proposed For Portland

5 – Worldmark by Wyndham set to receive Design Advice

6 – Carbon12, an 8 story wood building, proposed for N Williams

7 – Concepts released for redevelopment of USPS site

8 – Pre-Application Conference scheduled for SW 3rd & Taylor

9 – Under Construction in Old Town: The Society Hotel

10 – Cook Street Apartments

11 – Lloyd Cinemas redevelopment returns in front of Design Commission (images)

12 – The Fair Haired Dumbbell

13 – Burnside Bridgehead, pt I: Block 75

14 – PDC identifies preferred concept for Post Office site

15 – Block 136 heading to Design Review

16 – Under Construction in South Waterfront: Block 37

17 – North Pearl High-Rises, Part II: The Overton

18 – Design Commission approves Oregon Square

19 –Design Commission reviews Oregon Square

20 – Oregon Square update

21 – North Pearl High-Rises, Part I: The Cosmopolitan on the Park

22 – Design Commission approves The Porter hotel

23 – 4th & Harrison returning for Design Advice

24 – Grand Belmont returns before Historic Landmarks Commission

25 – Hyatt Regency at the Oregon Convention Center

Weekly Roundup: OHSU, Sideyard and a protest on N Williams

Posted on August 16, 2015 by nextportland

OHSU Center for Health & Healing South

The delay in implementing the planned increases in Parks Systems Development Charges will save OHSU $1 million, according to a story in The Oregonian. OHSU is currently moving ahead with the Center for Health and Healing South and the Knight Cancer Research Building. The latter is scheduled to return before the Design Commission for a second Design Advice hearing on September 24th.

As reported by the KATU, the Facebook group ‘Stop Demolishing Portland‘ held a protest at the corner of N Williams and Fremont. Almost 20 people turned up to protest nearby developments, which include the Cook Street Apartments, One North and Carbon12.

BikePortland reported on Sideyard, a proposed building on Block 76W of the Burnside Bridgehead that may include a bike through window. The 20,000 sq ft building by Skylab and Key Development is proposed for the sliver of land across the street from Yard (formerly Block 67).

An article in the Portland Mercury looked at the state laws that restrict ways to fund affordable housing.

Lastly, KOIN featured Next Portland in a story about developments in Portland.

Weekly Roundup: Oregon Square, Lents Town Center, PNCA and more

Posted on March 8, 2015 by nextportland

possible development scenario meeting targets for approximately 20,000 new housing units and 30,000 new jobs in the West Quadrant

Image from the West Quadrant Plan showing a possible development scenario meeting targets for approximately 20,000 new housing units and 30,000 new jobs.

Our weekly roundup covers the stories relating to architecture & development in Portland:

In a 4-1 vote the City Council approved the West Quadrant Plan which will shape the development Downtown, South Waterfront, the Pearl and Goose Hollow for the next 20 years. The lone no vote was Amanda Fritz, who stated that she was “disgusted” at the way the hearing was conducted.

The public got their first chance to see the PNCA 511 Building when it opened for its first First Thursday event. At Portland Architecture Brian Libby writes about his experience of visiting PNCA’s “transformational new home” now that it’s finished and the students have moved in.

The Portland Mercado has set an opening date of Saturday, April 11. The market will include food cart vendors from regions of Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Argentina and El Salvador.

After years where South Waterfront was a retail desert, Urban Works Real Estate is now reporting that they are running out of space to offer in the district. They recently announced that have leased the entire 14,000 square feet of retail space at The Ardea.

The Portland Chronicle published photos of the stretch of N Williams / N Vancouver on which the Cook Street Lofts, The Woods and the Cook Street Apartments are all either planned or under construction. They noted that “between the two blocks 360 residential units are in development on property formerly home to three residential dwellings”.

The Oregonian published two articles about the Oregon Square development. The first article focused on the proposed public plaza, and quoted Kyle Anderson of GBD Architects who said that they “definitely see it as being both an amenity and asset to the development, but also a destination.” The second article revealed that that the tower might be the first building in Portland to undergo a peer review of its seismic design, instead of using the prescriptive requirements of the building code.

Chad Rennaker’s Palindrome Communities won the development rights to Lents Town Center Property #1 and Property #2. The Portland Tribune wrote about his plans for Lents, which also includes the Z Haus brewpub and restaurant.

Weekly Roundup: Hotel Cornelius, The Redd, Ankeny Lofts and more

Posted on February 8, 2015 by nextportland

Hotel Cornelius Lobby (image via Portland Preservation). The interior no longer remains.

The Portland City Council held a public hearing on the proposed West Quadrant Plan, a component of the Central City 2035 Plan. The Oregonian had “10 takeaways from the 20-year plan for the westside.”
The Portland Design Commission this week reviewed Hazelwood Plaza and offered Design Advice on Modera Belmont.
Portland Monthly wrote about The Redd on Salmon St, an empty warehouse in the Central Eastside which the Ecotrust intends to convert into an “incubator for artisan food businesses.”
The Oregon confirmed that the adjacent Woodlark Building and Hotel Cornelius will be converted into a hotel operated by Provenance Hotels. A Pre-Application Conference for the project was held in December.
The Zipper, Guerrilla Development’s latest project, is taking shape on NE Sandy. The collection of micro-restaurants will open in March.
Major construction on the Lloyd Center Remodel begins in March. A story in the Oregonian said that brokers are shying away from traditional tenants, and are looking instead at “boutiques, restaurants, brewpubs, exercise studios and possibly a grocery store or a farmers market.”
Portland Architecture published photos of Colab’s recently completed Ankeny Lofts 2/3.
The 657-unit, three-building Hassalo on Eighth project will have a topping off ceremony on Monday, with Mayor Charlie Hales and Congressmen Earl Blumenauer present.
The Portland Chronicle published construction photos of Urban Development Group’s 27th & Ankeny project.
Randy Gragg asked whether the PNCA 511 Building will spark a renaissance in Old Town. The first students moved into the building this week.
The Portland Business Journal had a look at the under construction Erickson Saloon & Fritz Hotel project.
New Seasons has pre-leased 15,000 sq ft retail space in the Cook Street Apartments, to address a parking shortage at their North Williams store.
Hacienda CDC has a number of community projects in progress on the east side, including the Portland Mercado.

Cook Street Apartments (images)

Posted on February 4, 2015 by nextportland

The Cook Street Apartments by LRS Architects are under construction along N Williams Ave. The 6 story building will include 206 apartment units, 15,162 sq ft of ground floor retail space and parking for 146 cars. 238 long term and 14 short term bicycle parking are included. The building is arranged as a U-shape around an exterior courtyard, mostly used for tuck-under car parking. A rooftop garden and patio will be provided on the 6th floor for the use of residents.