Architecture and Development in PDX
Design Advice has been offered to ESG Architects and developer Mortenson for a proposed hotel at NW 14th & Everett in the Pearl District. The 13-story, 131′ tall building would include 221 guest rooms. No vehicular parking is proposed.
The Design Commission has approved the Oregon Convention Center Hotel, which represents one of the final hurdles for the long planned project. The Hyatt Regency branded hotel will include 600 guest rooms and 32,000 sq ft of ballroom and meeting room space. The ground level of the 14 story building will include public facing spaces including the main lobby, a restaurant, bar, the junior ballroom and a 24-hour retail market. The second and third floors will include the main ballroom, meeting rooms, a fitness center, and a Regency Club lounge. Guest rooms will be located in the body of the 180′-6″ tall tower, on levels 3 to 14.
The hotel is being developed by developer Mortenson, with a design team that includes ESG Architects and Mayer Reed Landscape Architecture. The $240 million hotel is being funded from a mix of public and private sources. $165 million will be invested by Hyatt/Mortenson Development, while Oregon Metro will contribute $60 million in bonds backed by lodgings tax revenue expected to be generated by hotel guests. Additional funding sources includes $4 million from Metro’s Convention Center reserves and $10 million from lottery funds.
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.
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.
Number of rooms: 600+
Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects, ESG Architects
Status: Design Advice
The project team behind the planned Hyatt Regency at the Oregon Convention Center have returned for a third Design Advice Request hearing in front of the Design Commission. The $212 million, 600-room Convention Center hotel is being developed by Minneapolis based Mortenson, with a design team that includes ESG Architects, Ankrom Moisan Architects and Mayer Reed Landscape Architecture. The hotel is in part being financed by $60 million of Metro issued bonds, which will be backed by lodging taxes paid by hotel guests.
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.
Height: 460′
Architect: TVA Architects
Status: Under Construction
The development team behind the proposed Hyatt Regency hotel at the Oregon Convention Center have submitted initial drawings to the Design Commission for the purpose of receiving Design Advice. The drawings by ESG Architects, Ankrom Moisan Architects and Mayer Reed Landscape Architecture focus on the street level engagement and public spaces of the proposed hotel. The massing, height and facade articulation of the room tower is purposefully left vague in the drawing package, and will presumably be addressed at a future hearing.
The $212 million, 600-room Convention Center hotel is being part financed by $60 million of Metro issued bonds, which will be backed by lodging taxes paid by hotel guests. In 2012 Metro chose Minneapolis based Mortenson as the developer for the project. Mortenson are also behind the Downtown AC by Marriott Hotel.
A Pre-Application Conference [PDF] has been scheduled for the Oregon Convention Center Hotel project. The project is still at an early stage in its design, but current plans are for a building 15-19 stories tall on the superblock to the north of the Convention Center. The Hyatt owned hotel would have 600 rooms. There will also be an above grade parking garage with approximately 385 spaces. The project team includes Minneapolis-based developer Mortenson, ESG Architects, also of Minneapolis, local architects Ankrom Moisan, and landscape architects Mayer Reed.
