Architecture and Development in PDX
SERA Architects have gone before the Design Commission to receive Design Advice on the Modera Davis, a 12 story mixed use building in the Pearl. The 130′-4″ tall building for developer Mill Creek Residential Trust would include 150 residential units and approximately 4,000 sq ft of retail. Parking for 94 vehicles is proposed in two levels of below grade parking.
Mackenzie have gone before the Historic Landmarks Commission with designs for a new 7 story quarter block office building, with the working name Pearl East. The 94′-4″ building would have approximately 60,000 sq ft of commercial office space and ground floor retail. The project includes three level of below grade parking, some of which is provided to replace existing parking.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on October 21st 2015.
Construction has begun on Pearl Block 136, which will be located on the site of the former PNCA Goodman building. The project consists of two buildings separated by a publicly accessible courtyard: a 5 story office building facing NW 13th Ave; and a 15 story residential tower facing NW 12th Ave. Underground parking for both buildings will be accessed from NW 12th Ave, with 211 vehicular parking spaces and 332 long term bicycle parking spaces. The design of the project is by Seattle based architects Mithun, for developer Security Properties.
Ankrom Moisan Architects have returned in front of the Design Commission with revised designs for a 16 story tower at NW 14th & Glisan in the Pearl District. The developer behind the 174.5’ tall project is Holland Partner Group. The mixed use building will contain 243 residential unit and 6,414 sq ft of ground floor retail. Parking for 207 vehicles is planned in four levels of below grade parking.
BY KURT SEVITS
The Design Commission has approved 1400 Raleigh, a 6-story apartment building at the corner of NW 14th Ave. and Raleigh St. at the far north end of the Pearl District. The building by Encore Architects and Alliance Realty Partners will include 136 apartments on the upper floors and 11 live/work units and a retail space on the ground floor.
Ankrom Moisan Architects have gone before the Design Commission for advice on a 16 story tower proposed for NW 14th & Glisan in the Pearl District. The developer behind the 174.5’ tall project is Holland Partner Group. The mixed use building will contain 244 residential unit and approximately 4,285 sq ft of ground floor retail. Parking for 201 vehicles is planned in three levels of below grade parking.
The Design Commission has approved Station Place Lot 5, a new office building by Hacker architects, GBD Architects and 2.ink Studio. The project is being developed by Williams and Dame, and will offer 167,000 sq ft of office space, along with retail at the ground floor. The 8 story building will reach a maximum height of 122′. Structured parking for 55 vehicles will be provided, with an additional 97 parking spaces at the nearby Station Place car park leased for the use of building tenants. At the ground level a bike valet service operated by Go by Bike will provide parking for 133 bikes, along with a coffee counter and a bike repair service. Showers and 86 storage lockers will also be provided.
The Design Commission has approved 1440 Hoyt, a major expansion and remodel of the former Premier Press building in the Pearl District. The project by Holst Architecture for Meriwether Partners will add four floors of heavy timber framed office space to an existing two story warehouse building, and convert an existing single story building to an office or retail use. The adaptive reuse project will create 75,000 sq ft of Class A office space and offer 125 bike parking spaces. Roof decks at the 2nd and 6th levels will be provided for the use of office tenants.
There are few neighborhoods in Portland that have seen more changes in recent decades than the Pearl District.
Today the Pearl has evolved from what The Oregonian described in 1994 as “a decaying portion of Northwest Portland once devoted to industry and transportation” into a mixed-use neighborhood with thousands of residents, large offices and numerous shops and restaurants. Despite the huge changes, architects and developers working in the early phases of large development in the neighborhood were often responding to the historic context of one of Portland’s older neighborhoods: Couch’s Addition was platted in 1842; the North Park Blocks were acquired by the City in 1869; and many of the warehouses in the NW 13th Ave Historic District date back to the early 20th Century. Developments such as the Brewery Blocks or the Ecotrust incorporated historic buildings, while new condominiums mimicked their aesthetic. While little of the industry that once defined the area is left today, one of the charms of the neighborhood is the juxtaposition of high rises such as the Casey and historic low rises such as the Bullseye Glass Building.
Further north in the Pearl there was less context to respond to. Much of the developable land was former railway yards, and the warehouses along NW 13th Avenue were more often single-story concrete structures rather than charming brick buildings. As development started to cross Lovejoy—once an elevated ramp leading to the Broadway Bridge—planners and neighborhood activists started to wonder if the North Pearl might develop in a different way. Instead of the bulky full block developments that had been built on some blocks south of Lovejoy, it was proposed that the developers might be allowed to build taller, but narrower.
In 2008 the Zoning Code was amended to incorporate a provision that exists nowhere else in the City: in the North Pearl Height Opportunity Area there are no maximum building heights for buildings with narrow floor plates.
…continue reading our guest post at Portland Architecture.
The Design Commission has reviewed drawings for The Dianne, a proposed 15 story building in the Pearl District. The 153′ tall building will include 14 floors of habitable space, plus a mechanical penthouse at the top floor. The project will provide 102 apartments and approximately 1,500 sq ft of ground floor retail space, fronting onto NW 11th Ave. Parking for 52 vehicles will be provided, most of it in a mechanized parking system. 155 bike parking spaces will be located in the basement. The architects for the project are Ankrom Moisan. The developer is John Carroll of Carroll Investments, whose previous projects in the neighborhood include The Gregory Condos, The Edge Lofts, The Chown Pella Lofts, The Elizabeth Lofts and the McKenzie Lofts.
