Focus: Our 25 Most Popular Posts of the Year

The Goat Blocks

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

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 Avewhich 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 HQwhich 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.

Focus: 20 new hotels proposed for Portland

When construction activity first started to return to Portland around 2012 it seemed like all that was being built was apartments. While residential still dominates the construction industry, other sectors of the market have started to return. In the last year there has been been a noticeable increase in the number of hotels proposed in Portland. Next Portland counts at least 20 hotels either proposed, going through Design Advice / Design Review, being reviewed for building permits or under construction. Together these represent over 3000 new rooms, a substantial number for a city that had 25,924 rooms in its metro area as of 2014.

It is unlikely that every single hotel on this list will be built; some of the Early Assistance application may represent property owners performing a feasibility study, and there is always the possibility of a downturn in the economy. Even still, it’s clear that Portland is going to have a substantially larger number of hotels in just a couple years. Click through to see the full list, arranged by number of rooms.

1 – Hyatt Regency at the Convention Center

Number of rooms: 600+
Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects, ESG Architects
Status: Design Advice

Hyatt Hotel at the Oregon Convention Center

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Metro Reports: The Porter Hotel, High Rise proposed at SW Columbia & Broadway, and more

The Porter Hotel

The Porter Hotel

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

GBD Architects have requested Design Advice and scheduled a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a high rise at 710 SW Columbia St, a site owned by Downtown Development Group:

Project is a commercial high-rise structure with a mixed use program comprised of hotel, office and retail uses. Parking provided in a below grade structure.

Early Assistance has been requested for a project at 3514 NE Sandy Blvd:

New one story dialysis clinic. Working within Community Design Standards – see LU 15-185045 DZ

A building permit is under review 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.

A building permit was issued to Works Partnership for their Concordia Student Housing at 1650 NE Killingsworth St:

New 4 story mixed use building with ground floor retail and apartments on floors 2-4.

Focus: 25 Tallest Buildings Planned or Under Construction

It’s now almost 6 months since the first post on Next Portland. Since then we’ve published over 180 posts and added over 350 projects to our map, which is a testament to the staggering scale of development happening right now in Portland. Much of this development is 4-6 story buildings along the corridors such as N Williams and SE Division, but there is also a large number of tall buildings going up in the Central City, which why we decided to list the 25 tallest buildings planned or under construction.

While the boom of the 2000s was defined by the activity in South Waterfront, today that district has no apartments or condos planned over 6 stories tall. By contrast the Pearl, the Lloyd District and the Central Eastside are all seeing their skylines altered. Activity in Downtown has quieter, but it also has the tallest building in our list, which is now the 4th tallest building in the city.

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. Where indicated the heights have been estimated.

1 – Park Avenue West

Height: 460′
Architect: TVA Architects
Status: Under Construction

November 21, 2013 LU 13-214772 DZ - Drawings - 03

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Update on The Porter, the new Hilton Curio Hotel

After one Design Advice session, the Porter hotel is scheduled to be reviewed by the Design Commission. The 299 room hotel will be part of the Hilton’s Curio Collection, a brand launched in 2014 for independently owned four to five star hotels. The hotel is being developed by The Widewaters Group, with design work by HC Architecture of Atlanta.

porter_el_01

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Metro Reports: The International School, Curio Hotel and more

The International School

The International School

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

Early assistance was requested for a project at 16625 SE Powell Blvd:

6 apartments with a 7-space parking lot. Apartment units may have garages as well.

THA Architecture have applied for a Design Review for work at Portland Community College Cascade Campus:

Demo existing Student Center, addition of a new plaza in its place and reno of existing Library and Student Services Building.

HC Architecture have applied for Design Review of their proposed Curio Hotel:

Design Review for hotel

Mahlum have applied for Design Review for their expansion of the International School:

New 3 story 15,000 sq ft classroom building and related site improvements for the International School

Fosler Portland Architect have submitted plans for two new apartment buildings at 5625 E Burnside St:

New 2 story apartment with 5 units, associated site work, trash enclosure and biking parking

New 3 story apartment with 20 units; associated site work

A demolition permit was issued to Hawthorne 31 Apartments LLC for a building at 1521 SE 31ST Ave:

Demo existing building; subject to 35 day demo delay

An excavation permit was issued to Myhre Group for their redevelopment of the former Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs site at 4141 N Williams:

Partial – excavation and shoring only (no utiltiies this permit)

Weekly roundup: 419 E Burnside, Block 8L and more

December 2, 2014 LU 14-169513 DZM AD - 419 E Burnside - Drawing Set - view 02

419 E Burnside. The ghosted outlines behind the building represent Block 67 and Block 75.

  • The City Council heard evidence on the rezoning for the Multnomah Athletic Club Block 7 apartments. No vote was taken, and the hearing will be continued on January 8th.
  • The Historic Landmarks Commission approved the design for Block 8L, a new mixed use building in Old Town.
  • The Design Commission discussed the Tess O’Brien Apartments, 419 E Burnside, the Hilton Curio Hotel and the Whidden & Lewis building renovations.
  • A Pre-Application Conference was requested for the Grove Hotel, and the first images were released.
  • The Portland Chronicle posted construction photos of Vallaster Corl’s Lower Burnside Lofts.
  • BikePortland wrote about the upcoming open house and forum for the James Beard Public Market, and how the market could be and opportunity to “improve Portland’s newest and arguably most awkward downtown bridge landing.”
  • The development boom at the Burnside Bridgehead was the subject of another post at BikePortland, which included coverage of Skylab’s Block 67, Works Partnership’s Block 75, Myhre Group’s 419 E Burnside, and Guerrilla Development’s Fair Haired Dumbbell.
  • The Daily Journal of Commerce published photos of GBD Architect’s Block A Apartments under construction in the Lloyd District.
  • The Portland Business Journal wrote that the “Portland Development Commission has issued a call for qualified developers who could pull off a transformative, big-picture project at the corner of Northeast Halsey Street and Northeast 106th Avenue.”
  • Tom Moyer, the developer behind Park Avenue West, was remembered in an editorial in the Oregonian. His legacy is as of “one of the people who helped define Portland’s city center.”

Curio Hotel by Hilton (images)

The Oregonian reported earlier in the year that Hilton planned to open a new hotel in Downtown Portland in 2016, under its new Curio Collection brand. That project is now set to have its first Design Advice hearing on December 4th, prior to submitting the project for a full Type III Design Review. The architects are HC Architecture of Atlanta.

EA 14-217236 - Portland Curio Hotel - Drawings_perspective

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