Architecture and Development in PDX
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.
A Pre-Application Conference has been scheduled to discuss a proposed apartment building at NE 20th and Hoyt. The 6 story building by C2K Architecture would include 54 residential units. 18 parking spaces would be provided in a tuck under garage. An 884 sq ft retail space would be located at the ground floor.
The Fair-Haired Dumbbell has returned in front of the Design Commission, with a revised strategy for its exterior skin. The 64,700 sq ft office and retail building by FFA Architecture and Interiors for Guerrilla Development was originally intended to be covered in a two different florentine wrapping paper designs. The project is now seeking approval as a blank white canvas to be covered with a hand painted mural, the design of which has not yet been chosen. A condition of approval for the building will require that the mural be approved by the Regional Arts & Culture Council through their public art murals process.
There are 95 neighborhoods recognized by Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement, and Next Portland has now written posts about projects happening in 29 of them. In some of these neighborhoods we’ve written 20 or more posts; in almost half of them we’ve only written about one project. To a certain extent this reflects where development is happening: there are a number of cranes up in the Pearl for construction of high rises, while other neighborhoods don’t have a single pin on our map. It is also however a reflection of the fact that in the Central City Design Review is required for all projects; in other neighborhoods such as Northwest or Boise developers can choose between Design Review or the prescriptive Community Design Standards; while in other neighborhoods such as Richmond or Sunnyside projects never go through Design Review. As such there are sometimes no published images of large new buildings, even once they are under construction.
Over the past month we’ve added categories to all of our in depth posts. To see which neighborhoods we’ve written about the most, read on.
An initial Design Review hearing is approaching for the Fair Haired Dumbbell, the latest addition to the Burnside Bridgehead. The building takes its name from its arrangement in plan: two boxes linked by skybridges. Between the two boxes there will be 64,700 sq ft of space, made up primarily of retail and the ground floor and office space in the five floors above. The design of the project is by FFA Architecture and Interiors for Guerrilla Development.
This post is the second in a series on the developments at the Burnside Bridgehead. See also Part I about Block 75.
Block 67, a 21 story tower designed by Skylab in partnership with LRS Architects, is under construction at the east end of the Burnside Bridge. The building is composed of a 5 story podium with a 16 story tower over it. The tower is a parallelogram in plan, set at an angle diagonal to the street grid, giving it a knife-edge appearance in the NW/SE axis. The tower will include 276 residential apartment units, while the podium includes room for 200 car parking spaces and 19,709 sq ft of retail/office space. 416 bicycle parking spaces will be included in the podium and in individual units.
The developers behind the project are Hood River based Key Development and Portland based Guardian Real Estate Services. A Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption was approved [PDF] by the Portland Housing Bureau, which will allow the developers to offer 20% of the apartments at rents affordable to people making 60% or lower of median family income, for at least 10 years.
A Central Eastside warehouse is currently being converted into the new home of the Northwest Dance Project. The project, designed by Opsis Architecture, will be the first permanent home for the contemporary dance company founded in 2004. Their new home at NW 10th & Davis will include two large studios with sprung floors, office and production space, laundry facilities, as well as a dressing room with a shower.
This post is the first in a series on the developments at the Burnside Bridgehead. See also Part II about Block 67.
Block 75 is one of a number of projects planned or under construction at the Burnside Bridgehead, a site which the Portland Development Commission has been trying to develop since 2005. A previous plan by developer Opus Northwest proposed a single large development on the multi-block site; the current plan has seen the PDC sell off the block individually, and let the developers choose what to build. For Block 75 partnership between Beam Development and Urban Development Partners was chosen. Beam are best known for their adaptive reuse office projects in the Central Eastside, while UDP have developed a number of apartment buildings along SE Division St. The architects for the project are Works Partnership, who have designed buildings for both developers. The landscape architects are Lango Hansen.
A Central Eastside warehouse at 107 NE Grand is currently being redeveloped into new retail/creative office space. The project includes a seismic upgrade of the building, and new landscaping / storm water facilities at the existing car park. The 1922 warehouse is owned by the adjacent Stark’s Vacuums, and was previously vacant. Their retail store will remain. The project design is by Hennebery Eddy.
A mixed use retail and creative office building is under construction at NE 6th and Davis in the Central Eastside. The 5 story building will have 1,175 of retail space on the ground floor, which is currently being marketed to potential restaurant tenants. The 4 floors above will each have almost 5,000 sq ft of office space. Exterior materials include wood at the ground floor, and glass curtain wall with metal panels at the floors above. The interior spaces will have exposed glulam beams at the ceiling. 7 vehicular parking spaces are provided on the ground floor. 14 long term bicycle space are proposed in the building, and every floor will have a shower for the use of bicycle commuters.
