Focus: The 25 Most Popular Posts of 2018

Posted on January 2, 2019 by nextportland

The 35-story Block 216 tower was approved in December. Our post about the project’s Design Advice Request was our most popular post of the year.

Happy New Year.

2018 is the fourth full year Next Portland has been in operation and I’m excited to see what 2019 brings. I’m currently on vacation in Scotland, so new posts will continue to be sporadic until I return next week.

Last year was another busy year for the site. Of the course of the year 141 new posts were published, with nearly 900,000 page views.

The year started with the last of the pre-inclusionary zoning (IZ) projects working their way through the design review process. In February it was reported by the Portland Mercury that Portland’s inclusionary zoning mandate was getting lackluster results, with only 12 qualifying building in the pipeline.

By the end of the year Next Portland had posted about a number of large post-IZ developments that have been approved through design review. These include 815 W Burnside, 1715 SW Salmon, Nomad, the ART Tower Block 216, 1935 N Killingsworth and the Pepsi Blocks. The Portland Housing Bureau now estimates that there are 43 projects subject to inclusionary zoning in the pipeline, with 362 affordable units in projects that have permits or are close to permitting.

Despite the uptick in post-IZ proposals, new design review and building permit applications remain down relative to years ago. At the end of the year the Bureau of Development Services was forced to lay off staff for the first time since the recession, citing “quite sobering” forecasts.

Similarly to 2017, many of the most popular posts were published in previous years, a reflection of the fact that the content Next Portland remains relevant for a long time, as buildings move through construction and into occupancy. One post in the top 25 most popular posts was from 2015; seven posts were from 2016; six posts were from 2017; and eleven were published in 2018.

In reverse order, here are our 25 most popular posts of the year:

Weekly Roundup: PSU Viking Pavilion, Fremont Place, Providence Park, and more

Posted on April 10, 2018 by nextportland

Construction has wrapped up on the PSU Viking Pavilion

In a 3-2 vote the City Council re-opened the door for approval of the Fremont Place Apartments, according to the Oregonian. The Northwest Examiner asked why the issue was all about protecting views of the Fremont Bridge… until it was not?

The Business Tribune reported that the Bridgetown Lofts have been sold to Madison Park Financial Corporation for $55 million.

The Daily Journal of Commerce published photos of the affordable housing under construction at NW 14th & Raleigh in the Pearl.

Before its opening last week, the Oregonian had a sneak peak at the PSU Viking Pavilion.

The Portland City Council voted to increase building heights on Old Town Chinatown Block 33 to 160′, reports the Portland Mercury.

Work is wrapping up* on first-phase of Providence Park Expansion, reports the Daily Journal of Commerce. The second phase is expected in time for the opening of the spring 2019 MLS season.

Portland Monthly looked at Carbon 12, the new condo tower that “is both sustainable and seismically strong.”

Portland Architecture talked with Carrie Strickland about the new era at Works Progress Architecture.

The Willamette Week reported that the Oregon ballot measure to fix housing finance prohibition has passed its first milestone.

The Oregonian reported on the Mayor’s conclusion that efforts to aid Portland’s black neighborhoods are an “abject failure”.

According to the Portland Business Journal Hilton has throw open the doors of its newest Portland luxury hotel, The Porter.

*This article will be unlocked for the rest of this week. After this week it will only be viewable by DJC subscribers.

Focus: Our 25 Most Popular Posts of 2017

Posted on December 31, 2017 by nextportland

The Block 20 condominium tower, now known as Vista Pearl, was the subject of our most popular post of the year

2017 is the third full year Next Portland has been in operation. Although the onset of Inclusionary Zoning has slowed down the number of new applications submitted, there was a lot to write about in 2017 while the projects submitted in late last year and early this year worked their way through the development review process.

Over the course of the year we published 176 new blog posts, and our development map now has over 1,000 unique projects listed (including completed and cancelled projects). In 2017 Next Portland had over 900,000 page views, a slight increase from the previous year.

Sixteen of the articles that made the top 25 most viewed posts were published this year; seven were published in 2016; and one was published in 2015. Our second most popular article from the 2015 list and fourth most popular article from the 2016 list—about the Goat Blocks—was still the fifteenth most popular article of 2017 despite having been written in December 2014. The 2016 roundup of the tallest buildings planned in 2016 was the third most popular article of the year, and although there wasn’t an equivalent list published in 2017 we hope to write one in early 2018.

So, with that Happy New Year to all. In reverse order, here are our 25 most popular posts of the year:

Weekly Roundup: The Porter, Riverplace Parcel 3, Rothko Pavilion, and more

Posted on December 12, 2017 by nextportland

The Xport Rooftop Lounge will be one of the dining options in the Porter Hotel, currently nearing completition at SW 2nd and Jefferson

Eater Portland wrote about the four unique dining options planned at Hilton’s new downtown hotel, The Porter.

The Willamette Week covered 6 cities that are “smarter than Portland about housing.”

A 200 bed shelter at 320 NW Hoyt St is inching forward, reports the Portland Mercury.

The Oregonian wrote about a city council vote on whether to subsidize affordable housing at Riverplace Parcel 3. Later that day the council voted 4-0 to move forward with the development.

Mayor Wheeler ousted the director of the Portland Housing Bureau, Kurt Creager.

BikePortland wrote about the Portland Art Museum’s return in front of city council, in order to ask permission to modify an easement and allow construction of the Rothko Pavilion.

Weekly Roundup: Porter Hotel, Towne Storage Building, Providence Park, and more

Posted on May 15, 2017 by nextportland

Construction is well underway on the Porter Hotel in Downtown

The Portland Chronicle wrote about the demolition of a 1930 funeral home. The site at 80 NE 14th Ave is being redeveloped as a six-story mixed-use building containing 190 residential units.

Eater PDX reported that Touché Restaurant was set to close this Sunday after 20 years in the Pearl. The historic firehouse that housed the restaurant will be renovated as part of the Modera Glisan development.

The Portland Business Journal reported that software company Autodesk will move 200 employees from Lake Oswego to the Towne Storage Building in the Central Eastside.

The DJC wrote about the massive number of new hotel rooms coming online, including at the AC Hotel, Convention Center Hotel, The Woodlark and The Porter. If all hotel projects currently proposed get built they “would expand Central Portland’s room count by 35 percent by 2020.”*

The Oregonian reported that the Portland Timbers’ proposed expansion of Providence Park drew City Council support at a hearing held last week.

As Esco Corp. winds down operations in NW Portland The Oregonian reported that its 15 acre site is being prepared for redevelopment.

Portland for Everyone wrote about the eleven bills aimed at tackling housing prices that are still alive in the legislature.

*This article will be unlocked for the rest of this week. After this week it will only be viewable by DJC subscribers.

Focus: Our 25 Most Popular Posts of 2016

Posted on December 31, 2016 by nextportland

The post about 5 MLK’s first Design Advice Request hearing was Next Portland’s most popular post of the year. [See this follow up post for the most recent images of the project.]

2016 is the second full year Next Portland has been in operation. With development showing no signs of slowing down it’s been a busy year. We published 234 new blog posts, and our development map now has almost 800 unique projects listed (including completed and cancelled projects). Over the course of the year the site had almost 900,000 page views; up 84% over 2015.

6 of the articles that made the top 25 viewed posts were published in 2015; 2 were published in 2014. Our second most popular article from the 2015 list, about the Goat Blocks, was still the fourth most popular article of 2016 despite having been written in December 2014. Our most popular post of 2015, about the 25 tallest buildings planned in the city, remained in the list at third place, and was just beaten out in popularity by the updated 2016 list. Two pioneering Cross Laminated Timber buildings, Carbon12 and Framework, took up three places on the list.

In reverse order, here are our 25 most popular posts of the year:

Weekly Roundup: Hotels booming, Multifamily cooling, Schools bond and more

Posted on July 10, 2016 by nextportland

129 SE Alder is the latest creative office development in the Central Eastside

The Oregonian reported that Portland’s hotel boom—which includes the Cornelius-Woodlark, Canopy Hotel, Porter Hotel, AC Hotel, and the Convention Center Hotel—will by 2020 result in 40% more hotel rooms than there are now.

The Willamette Week opined that “Portland City Hall seems to have learned its lesson about parking minimums raising rents” as the City Council struck down a proposal to add parking minimums for new residential development in the Northwest Plan District.

The DJC reported* that the Metro area multifamily market is beginning to cool as “after years of apartment development, supply appears to be starting to make a dent in demand”.

Harsch Investment Properties revealed a new creative office projected planned for 129 SE Alder St (previously 110 SE Washington St) to the Portland Business Journal. The design of the 9 story building is by Works Partnership.

According to The Oregonian, Portland Public Schools will seek voter approval for a $750 million construction bond in November. If passed, the bond would pay for the rebuilds of Lincoln High School, Madison High School and Benson High School.

The Portland Business Journal reported that Mill Creek Residential Trust paid Meriwether Partners $13.2 million for the former Premier Press building in the Pearl, a significant increase over the $6.05 million paid for the property in 2014. The transaction will allow the mixed use project at 505 NW 14th Ave to grow larger, at the expense of the now cancelled 1440 Hoyt office development.

*This article will be unlocked for the rest of this week. After this week it will only be viewable by DJC subscribers.

Focus: Portland’s Tallest Planned Buildings (2016)

Posted on May 20, 2016 by nextportland

Image from the Discussion Draft of the Central City 2035 Plan (Bureau of Planning & Sustainability).

Image from the Discussion Draft of the Central City 2035 Plan, showing a possible development scenario approximating future growth in the Pearl District over 20 years (Bureau of Planning & Sustainability). At least two of the sites shown as potentially developable have current proposals on them.

It is just over a year since Next Portland last did a roundup of the tallest buildings planned or under construction in Portland. At that time, we counted 25 buildings over 100′ in height planned. Today we count 40. Given the length of time it takes to complete a high rise building, many of the buildings on the 2016 were also on the 2015 list. Four buildings are no longer on the list this year, due to having been completed: Block 17, Pearl West, the Aster Tower and Park Avenue West. Seven buildings that were still in the design phase last year are now under construction. No building on last year’s list is known to have been cancelled.

Read on to see our complete list. Where possible, the heights given are the building height as defined in the Portland Zoning Code and published in the Design Commission’s Final Findings. In some cases the heights have been estimated.

Under Construction: The Porter hotel (images)

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Kurt Sevits

This is an updated version of an article originally written by Kurt Sevits.

Construction is underway on The Porter, a 299-room hotel in downtown Portland. The Porter is planned as part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, a brand launched in 2014 for independently-owned four- to five-star hotels. The developer of the project is The Widewaters Group, with design work by HC Architecture of Atlanta. According to the developer Level 16 of the building “will feature a high-end restaurant and lounge with large, covered outdoor terraces with spectacular views of the city.”

the_porter_dz_img_01

Metro Reports: 3rd & Salmon, Pearl Block 20, Seven Corners Community Collaborative and more

Posted on February 2, 2016 by nextportland

The proposed hotel at SW 3rd & Taylor

Every week, the Bureau of Development Services publishes lists of Early Assistance applications, Land Use Reviews and Building Permits. We publish the highlights.

Boora Architects have requested Design Advice for Pearl Block 20:

Block 20 is a proposed hi-rise condominium building. One-hundred forty-two units are included in a five floor podium and 20 floor tower.No retail is proposed for this project. All parking is above grade and surrounded by units.

Allusa Architecture have requested Early Assistance for a project at 6805 SE 52nd Ave:

Build two new 3-story apartment buildings with no basement. One structure will be 18 units. The other structure will be 12 units.

Urban Development Group have requested Early Assistance for a project at 4917 SE Hawthorne Blvd:

New 46-unit mixed use apartment building with 2700 sq ft of commercial.

Early Assistance has been requested for a project at 700 SE Belmont St:

New self-storage facility. Existing structure(s) to be demo’d/removed.

Works Partnership have requested Early Assistance for a project at 224 SE 2nd Ave:

Proposed change of existing warehouse to office use with retail on ground floor. Also a proposed addition to the building of one story penthouse for residential occupancy. See EA 15-216040.

Studio 3 Architecture have submitted a project at 7924 SE Milwaukie Ave for Design Review:

See EA 15-242170 appt and CO 16-100215. New two story four unit apartment structure behind existing single family residence which will remain.

Ankrom Moisan Architects have submitted the hotel portion of the 3rd and Salmon development for Design Review:

Proposal for joint development of boutique hotel with 245 guest rooms and on site fitness center and conference center. Project will include ground floor and rooftop retail space. One modification needed for ground floor window and 1 adjustment needed for number of loading spaces.

Waterleaf Architecture have submitted the Seven Corners Community Collaborative for Historic Resource Review:

Proposed project is a four story commercial building consisting of one story of ground floor retail space and secured parking below three stories of office space.

Mentrum Architecture have submitted a project at 6205 N Minnesota Ave for building permit review:

Construct new 3 story (18 unit) apartment building with partial basement; attached trash enclosure and associated site work

A building permit was issued to Fosler Portland Architecture for a project at 7247 N Leavitt Ave:

New three story, 20 unit apartment complex; on site bike parking and trash enclosure; no onsite parking

A building permit was issued to HC Architecture for The Porter Hotel:

new 16-story, 299 guestroom hotel includes first floor full service restaurant, market cafe; second floor 5,000 sf meeting room with outdoor terrace; rooftop restaurant and covered terrace. One level below grade with shoring includes gym facilities, locker rooms, pool and back of house activities.