[Room 606]

http://themeridian.biz/

Driving through Salem on Monday, I noticed a crane going up for this project. Personally, I think it's hideous, but the housing component is really exciting for the downtown area. There are a few other (less fugly) projects proposed, but it looks like this will be the first out of the gate.

With the state considering a study to extend Washington County Commuter Rail to Salem, I think downtown Salem could really become a hot area for redevelopment. It would be a nice alternative to suburbia without having to live in Portland.

[brandonpdx]

Downtown Salem has nice bones and historic structures. Bush Park is awesome. There's talk of a streetcar too. Salem will eventually become a nice outer suburb to Portland with a nice center of its own. The question is how many decades will it take?

[65MAX]

http://themeridian.biz/

Personally, I think it's hideous, but the housing component is really exciting for the downtown area. There are a few other (less fugly) projects proposed, but it looks like this will be the first out of the gate.

Hideous is being kind. It's like a train wreck, it's hard not to stare at the sheer horror.

I know, any density Salem can get is good at this point, but ouch!! Who's the architect?

[kvalk]

ARCHITECT: http://www.arbucklecostic.com/

my ohhhhhhhhhh my. very unfortunate.

[tworivers]

Does "embarrassment to the profession" do them justice?

[65MAX]

Arbuckle/Costic? Well, caustic maybe....

Sorry, that was childish. But if anyone from A/C is reading this, seriously, what is your design intent here?

[kvalk]

"what is your design intent here?"

very, very funny.

[Room 606]

It's very unfortunate for Salem, but for some reason this firm seems to be very well connected and able to get some major projects. I think my favorite is

http://www.arbucklecostic.com/SmartObjects/9965-CapitolCourt_01.jpg

This beauty "will be situated on the north end of the Capitol Mall and has been designed to be architecturally complementary to the area." It looks more like a cross between a McMansion and a newer strip mall furniture store. The state should know better!

[MOPIdaho]

Wow, it look as if the 1990's threw this design up :yuck:

[der Reisender]

eww...gross...eww

even salem deserves better

[zilfondel]

^ I would say they are seriously confused...

and completely unable to put forth a coherent design. On any of their current or past projects. But then I didn't really need to say that, did I? :(

[urbanlife]

^ I would say they are seriously confused...

and completely unable to put forth a coherent design. On any of their current or past projects. But then I didn't really need to say that, did I? :(

The people of Salem do make trips up to Portland from time to time right? Seriously, they sound look much better for being our capitol city. Maybe we could build a new capitol here and tell Salem that they have been demoted. Besides, Portland carries this state anyway.

[WonderlandPark]

ARCHITECT: http://www.arbucklecostic.com/

my ohhhhhhhhhh my. very unfortunate.

Oh, my, gawd, look at that website. HTML 3.2 wants its internet back.

and the building? Holy mother of crap :yuck:

[MarkDaMan]

For years Sacramento was kinda the armpit of Califa's main cities, and than it took off and has grown quite well in the last decade. I can only hope Salem's renaissance will arrive in the next decade or so.

[Room 606]

Here's a glimmer of hope for something mixed-use and potentially less stomach churning. It's an Urban Land Institute report on a potential redevelopment site in downtown Salem. This could really be a catalyst project for the whole city. Just keep it out of the hands of everyone's new favorite architectural firm!

Notice the commuter rail line in the drawings starting about page 25.

http://www.cityofsalem.net/export/departments/urbandev/uli/salem_uli_report.pdf

[Sioux612]

I went by the Meridian site this weekend, it's a huge pit right now.

It's not a design I like. However, what was here on this site before was beyond aweful. Oregon Cptl. Inn Hotel. Run down, drug infested, roach Hotel. A few summers ago a person was shot and killed in the lobby. As mediocre as it is, Thank god for the Meridian.

[pdxman]

As someone who grew up in salem, i'm not the least bit surprised that design and quality architecture take a back seat in projects such as the meridian. The mindset down there is whatever gets it done and costs the least amount of money. There are a few other projects in the area i remember hearing about but can't recall specifics. I'll try to find them.

[mcbaby]

salem has some very beautiful older buildings with only the first floors in use. if they retrofitted and restored them, i would consider living downtown.

[Northeast79]

I am a new member... And from Salem!

I couldn't agree more with 99% of what you are all saying. The Meridian is terrible in terms of its massing, detail, and style(or lack thereof), but at least it is something. Salem needs density and housing downtown and this building is a start.

There is one precident, Salmon Run. It's on a different scale than what you see in Portland. What do you all think?

http://currybrandaw.com/salmon.php

[Northeast79]

Here is a link to an image of the project.

http://currybrandaw.com/index_flash.htm

[pdxman]

Airport expansion funds sought
Salem City Council approves grant-seeking effort to tap lottery money for improvements

RUTH LIAO
Statesman Journal
November 14, 2007

Salem City Council voted Tuesday night to apply for $4.75 million in grant funding to improve and expand Salem's airport.

City councilors Dan Clem and Brent DeHart recused themselves from voting on the item.

The council agreed to allow staff to apply for Connect Oregon II, which provides state lottery funds in competitive grant funding for transportation projects that include air, rail, water and transit systems.

Salem-Keizer Transit District also plans to submit an application under the same program for a transit center in South Salem.

Airport officials said the grant would help attract other airline carriers and expand the airport's service.

Since June 7, when Delta Airlines began daily flights, through the end of October, about 21,000 passengers had gone through the airport, said airport administrator Alan Alexander.

"We're a small airport and we recognize that, but we hope to make the experience of the passengers as pleasant and as efficient as we can," Alexander said.

About $3.25 million is requested to extend the runway and safety area as much as 1,000 feet.

This would provide an additional safety margin for existing service and also allow the city to market to additional air carriers, Alexander said.

The current runway is 5,811 feet. The city owns enough property to allow for a runway expansion, Alexander said. The cost also would go toward an environmental impact study and an engineering assessment, he said.

The application also asks for another $1.5 million to expand the passenger terminal area. Improvements include additional bathrooms, extra space for baggage screening, additional paving of the parking lot and expansion of the front lobby.

"When there's an inbound/outbound flight- overlap, it can get pretty crowded out front," Alexander said. The terminal improvements also would help attract additional air carriers if extra ticket counter space is added.

About 20 percent of the grant will be matched by the city's airport budget and federal entitlement funds, Alexander said.

The grant's application deadline is Nov. 21. Grant winners will be announced in June 2008. If approved, improvements to the terminal could be completed in eight months, and extension of a runway could be completed within a year, Alexander said.

Southeast Salem resident Rob Gould has voiced concerns about noise that the airport generates. Gould said he first confronted city officials when he opposed Delta's arrival to Salem and was assured that the airline would be limited to four flights per day.

Gould said he was most concerned that the runway expansion would bring in larger planes and more frequent flights.

"It's really getting to the tipping point in terms of an airport located so close and inside the city boundaries," Gould said.

[joeplayer1989]

how close is the airport to downtown? What are the height restrictions down there and does the airport cause any of these restrictions?

[pdxman]

^^^I'd say its about 3-4 miles away from DT or about a 5-10 minute drive. Its fairly close in to a lot residential to the north, businesses to west and nothing really to the east and south.

[Northeast79]

http://480libertyllc.com/images/480_splash.jpg


This is a very preliminary image of a condo/office building in Salem.

[pdxman]

Interesting. I know where that is--right across from city hall and the library. They must be tearing down that Tudor Rose tea place. Good to know! Thanks.

[Northeast79]

This on is under construction.

http://www.riverscondos.com/1mg/buildingani5.gif

[Northeast79]

The Tudor Rose will be gone soon.

I think they are taking out the city center motel as well.

[Northeast79]

Here is a city of Salem project on Trade and Church. You can find on the city of salem website.

http://www.cityofsalem.net/export/departments/urbandev/images/295_church_aug_07.JPG

[joeplayer1989]

3 pretty good renderings, nothing im that amazed with... some more height would be nice, but you got to start somewhere.

[Northeast79]

I couldn't agree more about the height. It would be great to get an urban scale to downtown Salem. I think these projects are moving in the right direction though.

Here's a couple more images of projects under construction on Broadway from the city's website.

http://www.cityofsalem.net/export/departments/urbandev/images/site_a_elev_market.jpg

http://www.cityofsalem.net/export/departments/urbandev/images/site_a_birdseyecolor.jpg

[Northeast79]

Sorry those last two images are so big.

Here's a rendering of the new hospital currently under construction.

http://www.salemhospital.org/newhospital/images/tower.jpg

[CouvScott]

I was at a HS playoff game last week at Willamette University and I noticed an 8 story or so building that was about to top out. Is that a condo project?

[pdxman]

^^^Yes. Its called the Meridian(?). It has doctors offices on the bottom half and then condos on the top. I believe it was posted in this section. I think we all agreed it was butt ugly as well.

[Northeast79]

Yes the Meridian is ugly and it is to the north and west of Willamette's field. The hospital is probably what you are refering to. It is about topped out and is directly north of the field. The Meridian has a couple more floors before it tops out.

[Northeast79]

The Meridian:

http://www.themeridian.biz/art/Meridian-Parking.jpg

http://www.themeridian.biz/art/Meridian-Front.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2003/1578923613_a90b195412.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2012/1579820080_014bbcd843.jpg?v=0

[MarkDaMan]

I remember that building...when I see crap like that, I know it will get built...just seems the way it goes.

[pdxman]

^^^Especially in salem

[Northeast79]

I'm glad at least something is being built in Salem. Downtown has needed some energy for a long time.

But, I have to agree that the Meridian is one of the ugliest things I could imagine.

[zilfondel]

I'm happy to hear that there is interest in density in Salem... and it looks like the quality an only improve! :P

Interestingly, according to Salem's website, they will give 10-year property tax abatements to ANY multifamily downtown projects. Must be desperate, but it looks like its starting to work.


Umm, some of these project renderings look like EIFS... really hope not. That would totally ruin them!

[PuyoPiyo]

I agree, Meridian look doesn't good... For some reason, it make me feel like that project is for sprawling...

[zilfondel]

^ I suspect the designers are experienced in interior hospital/institutional design, not mixed use. Cause thats what it looks like... a hospital lobby.

I'm sure its a local Salem architect... unfortunately. The ones in Eugene aren't that much better, either.

[joeplayer1989]

looks like some crap i would see in bridgeport or streets of tanasboring

[pdxman]

I didn't think this needed its own thread so I just put it in the Salem section.
She had some interesting things to say about attracting businesses and trying to get Salem on the map in Oregon.

Salem's mayor outlines her vision for city

November 27, 2007

The questions and the mayor's comments have been edited for length and clarity.

STATESMAN JOURNAL: My first question is about Vision 2020. Can you explain that and what you hope to accomplish?

MAYOR JANET TAYLOR: ... We have a very vibrant urban center of our community, and the downtown is the very core of it. But within half a mile of downtown we have 33,000 employees and 21,000 residents. So it's a much more densely active area than maybe we had really acknowledged.

What I found as I was talking to the leaders of different entities in that urban center is there are some tremendous expansion projects already going forward and many that are planned.

For instance: the hospital and their expansion under way; Willamette University with some of what they're doing. The state of Oregon is in the process of designing for two more buildings on the mall. General Growth is working on some additional amenities to that wonderful Salem Center shopping area. We have The Rivers Condominiums; we've got Boise Cascade for redevelopment; The Meridian with their $54 million development.

And nobody was talking to each other. There wasn't any coordination of: What kind of parking issues would occur? What are we going to do for trail connections, amenities along the creeks? So it became very apparent that we needed to sit down as a group and start really talking to each other and maybe forming some partnerships that would make it a better result.

So out of that came the idea for a visioning; a more concentrated visioning -- not trying to do the whole city but doing that urban center. ... We're reaching out into the community now for taking surveys and giving presentations and getting feedback.

And we'll have a wonderful forum on Dec. 5 at the conference center from 5 'til 8 (p.m.)to get even wider community input. We've already had something like 500 surveys returned to us in just a two-and-a-half week period. ...

This is all going to be pretty well tied up by April/May as to what the vision is, what our goals and the strategies to reach those goals are. ...

We'll take the low-hanging fruit first. But we're going to really work toward those goals that the community wants, because we've invested so much already down in that center area and there's more investment occurring. We want to be sure it stays as successful as possible.

... My, the excellent ideas people have about what makes a core work: rubber tire trolley circulating system so employees can get from, say, the state offices to eat lunch or go shopping or whatever they want to do; the entertainment; the restaurants. It's really been fun. The ideas have been great.

SJ: There've been a number of plans over the years, and Salem Futures, that sort of wound up on the shelf, is that correct?

TAYLOR: Well, not really.

SJ: How do you make sure this (Vision 2020) happens?

TAYLOR: I 'm so glad you asked that, because this Vision 2020 is not a land-use visioning.

Salem Futures was: how do you change your land use to increase your density on mixes of uses and reduce your reliance on the automobile. ... Vision 2020 is more about: As redevelopment and investment is occurring, how do you maximize it to be the most it can be to fit what the community wants?

So it's not about zoning; we have plenty of zoning in that core area that already works. It's more about forming partnerships, about being supportive of what your neighbor's doing, and it will have results much quicker because it is not the kind of process that says that when you build or redevelop here, or add facilities, you are required by code to do such and such. It is not that type of a process.

It's: We've all agreed that these are the things we should work towards doing, we're going to help each other to make them happen, and it's what the community supports. So it's really a different process than land use.

SJ: You've talked about the need to freshen up downtown and the core as a way of helping draw businesses. Can you explain what you mean?

TAYLOR: Well, we consistently have had comments from the type of retail and commercial that we want to attract to downtown. ... that the downtown isn't visually attractive. Now this was before we'd done some of the things we've done. ...

It was sort of unkempt; it was sort of getting shabby. There was street furniture and street items like planters that had no plants in them; in fact, weeds were growing, or they were cracked, or they had graffiti. That trash cans had broken tops on them and were askew. That it just didn't look like anybody really cared. So, "why would I want to put my business and invest the money that it takes to start a business or bring a business into town to an area where people don't seem to care?"

It became very apparent that quite often if, say, a Trader Joe's, who I've met with a couple of times now, came through town and it didn't look very attractive, they were going to reject coming here.

And yet, everybody wants Trader Joe's to come to Salem. So I talked to a few of the property owners and some civic leaders: What kind of support would you give to the city going forward and doing this? And I had excellent support. ... So we did go ahead and replace planters and trash receptacles. There was some concern about us doing it, and it's just turned out beautiful.

The fact that we had Kohl's come to replace Mervyns -- one of the small reasons that they made that decision is because the city was demonstrating that they cared about downtown... So it's all to attract good business; it's all to attract the types of business and restaurants that the community wants, and we have some more announcements that are going to be pretty dynamite coming very soon.

SJ: What types of businesses have you been meeting with?

TAYLOR: As I've said, I've met with Trader Joe's and they're very interested in Salem. We've proved to them that the community has a desire to have them come. We've also proved to them that the demographics do fit their model of where to locate and be successful.

They've worked with us to really kind of identify the general area they want to be in. We've helped to make a few contacts so that they can at least get the conversation going. At this point they've been very positive about coming here.

I've also met with the lead people for Crate & Barrel and Chico's, and I've met several times with the West Coast director of General Growth, which is the Salem Center. I've also met with companies that are interested in the Lancaster Mall area, and I don't know if they've started negotiations at all with property owners out there.

But what we're trying to do is get a good mix here. But at the same time, I don't want to ignore the fact that one of our strengths of, say, our downtown, and, frankly, Lancaster Mall and out south, is that we have unique, homegrown, boutique kinds of stores. That we don't have to just have the national retail chains here; that we can support, and do support, and very much enjoy, the boutique stores and the small niche stores that people in our community have started.

SJ: For the larger, industrial customers, what is the situation there? What's happening with the SUMCO property? What's happening with the Mill Creek Industrial Park?

TAYLOR: The SUMCO properties, both north and south, have been purchased by local investors. Alex Rhoten is one of those investors. They're working very hard to have companies locate in those buildings.

I understand SUMCO south has been pretty well gutted so that it's very easy to redevelop for whatever company would want to locate there. I'm not sure what the situation is on the north. But they're reaching out for companies that want to be here, working closely with SEDCOR, because so much of the interest for industrial in our community comes through SEDCOR.

The Mill Creek is now called the Mill Creek Corporate Center, and that gives it a little more flexibility about what can be there. There will be an announcement shortly that one small piece that is not part of the master development is set to close sometime in January, and we'll have a development on there that will be a really good development for the community.

But the two bigger pieces -- the warehouse distribution piece, where Wal-Mart was going to be, there has been a commercial broker selected by the state of Oregon to do some very heavy marketing of that warehouse distribution piece. It's about 146 acres, and they'll be working closely with SEDCOR, who's also been marketing that piece.

The other section that is ready is about 150 acres, and the state has selected a master developer. The negotiations are just about finished on that master developer buying that 150 acres. The master developer will then go forward and put in some of the internal roads that are part of his responsibility, some of the internal water and sewer lines, and is going to build a large amount of industrial flex space even before he has tenants.

Because what so often happens is a company will say, "Salem, Oregon is a fit for me, I need a space and I need it within 30 days." Well if you have to build it, you can't get it built in 30 days, but if you have a space that is designed in a manner that it can be quickly converted to whatever their uses are -- called flex space, a very common thing to do -- you can capture them and you can have the jobs there in 30 days. So this master developer is really sharp and he's very entrepreneurial; he understands that part of the business.

But maybe another really important piece that we should talk about is that I have now for three years in a row gone with SEDCOR to the CoreNet Global Summit. This year the summit was in Atlanta, Ga., and we just returned from that about two weeks ago. It is where you meet with site selectors ... for companies to locate branches or manufacturing plants or warehouse distribution.

We're building some wonderful relationships with site selectors. We're part of the state of Oregon delegation, which includes the Portland Development Commission, the Port of Portland. PGE has a representative there, those of us from SEDCOR. There was a representative from Medford City Council. We're building the relationships that make people comfortable to say Oregon is a place to do business, and it's a good place to locate.

We have more shovel-ready industrial property in Salem than maybe any other city in the state. Portland is just about totally out of industrial land; we've got about 1,000 acres in different parts of the city that we can put industrial uses into. ...

SJ: What's the image out there when you talk to people of Salem and the Mid-Valley?

TAYLOR: A lot of people have been to Portland but they haven't gone further south, and we're encouraging them of course to come -- "Call me, and I'll take you around."

But those that have been here or are aware of the Mid-Willamette Valley, and Salem in particular, have a really positive image: Clean, green, friendly, good environment. They feel that we're very pro-business because of many of the things we've done in the last four or five years. It's really a positive image, very positive image.

It has been enhanced tremendously by having the Mill Creek Corporate Center property and by having commercial air service, because if you're located on the East Coast and you want to put a branch out here in Salem, you need to be able to get here easily and quickly. Because time is money when you're in business.

And what has even been more beneficial, what Delta has done for us is they started commercial freight service in October, and that's huge. ...

There are some really wonderful things happening that people don't generally know about. So we have a good image for business, and we're right on the verge here of having some wonderful family-wage jobs. It's going to be a real benefit.

SJ: What's happening with Boise Cascade?

TAYLOR: Well that, that's been fun. That's been challenging. Everything is getting resolved, and there's just one small issue left. The buyers and Boise Cascade are very close to getting that one small issue resolved, and I am confident that that sale should close by the end of the year.

When that happens, we'll be in a position to go forward and finish the zone change so that they can go forward with their project. I believe this is the kind of group that will have enough money tied up in the property, they're going to want to go forward as quickly as possible and get that project up and running and paying back some of their private investment.

I'm very excited about it. It's going to be really very beneficial to the whole community. It's going to be a destination place, and it'll open up our riverfront even more than we have now and make it even more usable with restaurants and connections from our current riverfront park out over to Minto Park. ...

SJ: How has Keizer Station affected Salem?

TAYLOR: Well, you know when you have a pie, and you have shoppers that are going to be eating that pie, it has an effect because there's just so much money, disposable income.

But what I think has been interesting about Keizer Station is it is much more geared to the big-box store experience. If you go and shop at Target and then you want to go to the furniture store, you get in your car and drive over to the furniture store.

What we have in Lancaster Mall and what we have in our downtown area is that shopping experience where you can walk from A to B to get everything done. So I think in the long-term picture, I don't think they're going to affect us very much.

What's happening is we're growing; the communities around us are growing; we're becoming a much easier option for shopping than trying to drive for an hour, or hour and a half, up into the Portland area, dealing with all the traffic and the parking and the people. You can find just about anything that you want here unless it's very, very specific. You can find it here in the Salem-Keizer area. So I just think we're becoming the place to shop, or the regional shopping area, instead of everybody saying, "Oh, there's nothing here. I'm going to Portland."

SJ: Are there other things you specifically wanted to touch on?

TAYLOR: Well, I guess the thing I'm really so proud of this community about is how people have -- I get a little touched, and I'm sorry -- people have really stepped up to work together and to be supportive of each other, and to be partners instead of fighting about everything.

Finding ways to compromise, finding ways to make things happen. And it's in every realm, whether it's business, the environment, social services.

Look what's happening in the social service, nonprofit part of our community -- stepping up to find foster homes and fight drug use and be supportive of our police department and passing a fire bond measure that was so important. I am so proud of this community.

SJ: What have the challenges been?

TAYLOR: ... For the city it's always revenue. The limitations on property tax increases are really very good for the property owner, but they have constricted our revenues because that increase of 3 percent doesn't keep up with inflation. It doesn't keep up with raises to our employees, the materials and supplies we have to buy.

Just think about putting overlays on roads. Asphalt went up 42 percent in one year. ...

As far as the community at large goes, the challenge there is to really go ahead and do things and still try to keep people informed and engaged so they don't feel that they've been left out of the process-- left out of a say, left out of their opinions. And that communication and getting the word out and keeping people educated about what we're doing and where we're going is really challenging.

When you think about the newspaper and CCTV and the Internet and our Web sites, you feel like you've really educated, and then something will happen and someone will say, "I didn't know that was happening."

And it's frustrating because we're trying so hard to get the word out and we don't always succeed at the level we think we are.

SJ: What's the relationship between Keizer and Salem?

TAYLOR: Well, it's really very, very good. I enjoy (Keizer Mayor ) Lore Christopher. We've done a lot of things jointly together. ...

We try to work together, because you know what? We are neighbors, and we are joined at the hip, and we need to be supportive of each other. We have had a couple of issues come up concerning the sewer surcharge that we're now working through to be sure that we're being fair with them for whatever charges we make.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/BUSINESS01/711270305

[Northeast79]

Here's a website for the 480 Liberty building in Salem, where the Tudor Rose is now.

http://480libertyllc.com/

[pdxman]

Ceremony marks the start of building on mixed-use project
November 29, 2007

About 100 people attended a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the 295 Church project in downtown Salem, a mixed-use building that will combine residential condominiums, city office space and retail stores.

Cascadia Development and the city's Urban Renewal Agency are combining on the project, which also includes land donated by Willamette University.

The bottom floor of the building will include 1,800 square feet of retail space, plus new studios and office space for Capital Community Television. CCTV will move from its current offices at Vern Miller Civic Center.

The second floor will be occupied by the city's information technology department.

The top three floors will be condos ranging from 933 square feet to 1,523 square feet and costing about $330,000 to $690,000.

The third, fourth and fifth floors will house 27 condos. Units will include gated parking, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchens and fireplaces in some units. They also will include a one-year membership in Flexcar, a shared-car service that has two cars for use at Willamette University.

For more information, call broker Julie Frazier at (503) 580-7811 or go to www.295church.com.

-- Don Currie
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/BUSINESS/711290302

[Northeast79]

They have a nice little marketing website.

Thanks for the link.

[joeplayer1989]

is flexcar like everywhere now?

[pdxman]

^^^pretty much. I know they have it in salem if thats what you're referring to. Willamette U gives free memberships to its students. I just joined a few weeks ago. Its very nice to have a car handy when you need one.

[pdxman]

Downtown may get new look
Plan calls for 2 buildings with offices, retailers, grocery store, residences

EUNICE KIM
Statesman Journal
December 22, 2007

Half a city block in downtown Salem could be in for a face-lift.

Salem-based SP Development, which includes the Colson family and former Holiday Retirement Corp. senior managers, plans to redevelop the property bordered by Liberty, Chemeketa and High streets NE into a mixed-use development.

Two new buildings separated by an alley but attached by a skywalk would house retail and office space as well as residences and a ground-level grocery store.

"The idea is to create a development that is a catalyst downtown, that draws people downtown," said attorney Kris Gorsuch, who is representing the developers.

The property, across from Salem Center and the transit mall, includes the former Wells Fargo bank branch that has been vacant for more than six years.

There's also another vacant building, a print shop, a bar, and a parking lot on High Street, which is the former site of Salem's city hall.

Part of the land sits in the downtown historic district -- and the 1947 bank building is a contributing historic building -- requiring the developers to apply for a permit from the Historic Landmarks Commission to demolish. Gorsuch said an application would be filed within the next couple of months.

Remodeling the building, he said, wouldn't really work. A vault built into the basement couldn't be removed to allow for parking without destabilizing the structure. And if developers wanted to take off the siding to put in windows to draw people inside, the building's character would be destroyed. As is, the building doesn't meet the city's downtown design standards or guidelines, Gorsuch said.

"We couldn't accomplish anything that met the city's goals or visions for downtown," he said.

Demolition and site work could start in fall 2008, with construction taking another two years to complete, Gorsuch said.

The project is expected to cost more than $50 million.

"We're really excited about this," said Mark Burnham, one of the property owners. "It's something that downtown has needed. It's an opportunity for Salem to grow up and become a city."

The new building on Liberty Street would be four stories tall and contain 23,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The upper three floors would be office space.

Another eight-story building on High Street NE would feature an urban grocery store, an amenity residents said they wanted during the city's Vision 2020 long-term planning process. The store would be less than half the size of the Safeway on 12th Street NE, Gorsuch said. Above it would be two levels of parking and five stories of residential units, including townhouses, apartments, and condominiums.

Both brick buildings would have underground parking, bringing the total number of spaces on the property to about 290.

The alley between the two buildings would be expanded and made into a public space with landscaping. An outdoor patio on the second floor of the Liberty Street building and outdoor living spaces on the High Street building would face the alley.

The project has received support from the CAN-DO Neighborhood Association, which represents downtown.

"It will take a corner that has been a blighted for almost a decade and turn it into a vibrant community center," said association board member Steve Lacey. "Their plan for the grocery store alone is beautiful. To have a grocery store across from the transit mall is a no-brainer."

While there appears to be enthusiasm for the transformation of the north half of the block, developers are trying to retain historic aspects of the Wells Fargo building -- also known as the First National Bank of Portland building -- that would be razed. Eight Littman relief sculptures on the building would be taken off and reused as features of the new Liberty Street facility, Gorsuch said. The black and white motif also would be carried into part of the new building.

Gorsuch said there are 19 other buildings in the historic district of similar architectural style to the old bank building. Nine other structures, including the nearby Marion County Courthouse, also were designed by the same architect, Pietro Belluschi.

"This is not the last opportunity to view this architectural style," Gorsuch said.
ekim@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6721

Other Pietro Belluschi buildings in Salem

1. Willamette University Library/ Smullin Hall, 900 State St., 1938

2. Willamette University Science Building, 1941

3. Willamette University Baxter Complex, 1943

4. Oregon Statesman Printing Plant, 280 Church St. NE, 1944

5. Oregon State Hospital Building, 2600 Center St. NE, 1945-50

6. Clinic for Clark Campbell and Wulf, 1280 Center St. NE, 1948

7. First National Bank of Portland, 280 Liberty St. NE, 1947

8. YWCA Building, 768 State St., 1946-52

9. Willamette University Doney Hall, 1948

10. Marion County Courthouse, 100 High St. NE, 1950

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS/712220314

[zilfondel]

^ Good news. Need pics of existing buildings and the name of the new architect.