[MarkDaMan]

Park Avenue ripens with redevelopment
Thursday, May 03, 2007
By Fred Leeson
The Oregonian

Former Mayor Vera Katz and city planners figured it would take 10 to 15 years to fulfill a vision they laid out three years ago for Southwest Park and Ninth avenues.

They got it wrong.

"We're seeing redevelopment of the Park Avenue plan sooner rather than later," says Joe Zehnder, a city planner who helped craft ideas for the narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets between Salmon and Burnside. "We're well under way toward implementing the pieces."

Private enterprise is stepping in to grab opportunities at surprising speed. Elements of the plan call for ground-floor retail, preservation of old buildings, mixed retail and housing and more parking.

Here is how several projects fit those guidelines:

Pastini Pastaria, a local chain, will open a restaurant this month in the revamped ground floor of the Studio Building at 919 S.W. Taylor St.

TMT Development, controlled by Tom Moyer, plans to restore the long-vacant, seven-story Cornelius Hotel at Park and Alder into a boutique hotel. The timing and number of rooms aren't known yet.

Renovation of the former Brasserie Montmartre nightclub at 626 S.W. Park is beginning. New owners of the building, the architecturally engaging 1912 Esquire Hotel, plan to remodel upper stories into housing.

TMT Development is finalizing plans for a 35-story office, condo and retail tower, to be called Park Avenue West, on the narrow block bounded by Park, Ninth, Morrison and Yamhill. Two or three lower levels are intended for retail.

Harsch Investment Properties, new owner of the former Federal Reserve Bank building at 915 S.W. Oak St., has opportunities for adding offices, housing and retail on a site that includes a parking lot ripe for redevelopment. Plans and timing haven't been disclosed.

Construction is expected to begin in December on a South Park Block that will sit atop six levels of underground parking at Park and Ninth between Yamhill and Taylor. A total makeover is due for O'Bryant Square near the north end of the corridor, but timing will depend on fundraising.

Decades ago, Park Avenue was a key location for downtown retailers. Claudia Plaza, a Portland Development Commission project manager, says it can become one again.

"Many properties are in a confined area, and we see a lot of opportunity at the same time," she says. "There are retailers that want to be in our city."

Key vacancies include Carl Greve Jewelers, moving one block from its 731 S.W. Morrison St. site, plus the Schumacher Furs store being vacated at 811 S.W. Morrison. Another retail/office opportunity awaits in the six-story Park Building at Park and Alder.

Plaza says national retailers want bigger stores and higher ceilings than offered in Park Avenue's older buildings. But the funky, old-time structures offer a novel ambience critical to the corridor's pedestrian friendliness.

"A real important piece," Plaza says, "is to retain our own independent retailers."

Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1177638939245430.xml&coll=7

[pdxtraveler]

That is great news! I really like that building! Though I am concerned about all these new hotels as it may keep pressure on the need for the Convention Center Hotel.

[pdxstreetcar]

wow awesome

moyer is going all out

[PacificNW]

Is the Cornelius Hotel kitty corner from the Westin? If so, this is great news for that block....It would have been terrible if they couldn't have saved it...very European look. It gives the Park Blocks character.

[65MAX]

^^ Yes, it's the one with P:ear Gallery on the ground floor. The upper floors have been condemned for years.

[PDX City-State]

Though I am concerned about all these new hotels as it may keep pressure on the need for the Convention Center Hotel.

I'd rather have the downtown hotels--dictated by market needs--than an austere tower that only the planners seem to want.

[urbanlife]

I wouldn't worry too much about the Cornelius Hotel putting any bind on the hotel industry around here. At most they will have about 45 rooms if I remember correctly. Just doing a simple window count helps that question.

And yes I am really excited to hear it is going to be renovated and turned back into a hotel. Plus all the other developments that are going on in the midtown blocks are awesome. Will be great to see that area thrive like it once did when those buildings first went up.

[MarkDaMan]

^and another boutique for Portland...that is excellent news. Most convention goers stay in a pre-negotiated block of rooms at a discount and don't stay in boutiques. However boutiques are an excellent marketing tool to draw in tourists that normally wouldn't stay in a corporate convention center hotel.

I wish something would happen with the Custom's House on the North Park blocks, they've promised to break ground on a boutique there about 5 times now.

[PDX City-State]

I wish something would happen with the Custom's House on the North Park blocks, they've promised to break ground on a boutique there about 5 times now.

What happened with that?

[MarkDaMan]

^no clue...

[pdxstreetcar]

With all this interest recently in new hotels for Portland I wonder if one might pop up in the Pearl soon? There had been talk in the past I believe for one on the u/c Metrpolitan site.

[Dougall5505]

I'm drawing a blank does anyone have a picture of the building? Is it the one with the Guild Theater sign?

[pdxman]

I love the style of that type of building(cornelius), the french roof look is one of my favorites. Glad to see they are keeping the building. Is the brasserie coming back or is it gone for good? It had a great atmosphere, it would be shame if it were gone forever...

[MarkDaMan]

I'm drawing a blank does anyone have a picture of the building? Is it the one with the Guild Theater sign?

No, it's down a few more blocks. It's a building across the intersection from the Westin. I think there is a full block parking lot up a half block (the parking lot across from the Galleria).

Here's an old picture from pdxhistory.com
http://www.pdxhistory.com/assets/images/cornelius.jpg

[65MAX]

I can't wait to see the Cornelius restored. Didn't you have some pics of the interior too, MDM?

[MarkDaMan]

^the pdxhistory.com site does...

http://www.pdxhistory.com/assets/images/corneliuslobby.jpg

http://www.pdxhistory.com/assets/images/corneliuscafe.jpg

http://www.pdxhistory.com/assets/images/corneliusladies.jpg

[sirsimon]

Beautiful place - it deserves to be restored. :)

[sopdx]

I wonder if they'll keep the green carpet.

[65MAX]

Actually, I was hoping the pink walls would be restored...

[pdxstreetcar]

does it actually still look like that inside or did it used to look like that?

[PacificNW]

:tup: I doubt it looks the same, for the most part. There was a independent shoe store located there for a few years. I am sure they made some cosmetic changes. Hopefully, there well be some of the original interior left to restore.

[robbobpdx]

It's interesting that all of our historic buildings in Portland have a very colorful past.

I wonder how many people know that the Cornelius Hotel was home to the Continental Baths (a gay bathhouse) for many years, prior to the current Continental Club Baths taking on that name. I had heard this somewhere (in the lores of tales from friends), and so did some sleuthing throught cyberspace.

I found an old clip from Just Out, and here's a quote from the last paragraph. Unfortunately, it cut off the article after that. Not sure why. Possibly it was posted about something else . . . as the article is about Start Street, other historic gay establishments in the area. Anyway, for those history buffs, here goes:

"Continue your gay hike west on Stark. At the corner, you’ll notice the large onetime Majestic Hotel, dating from 1910. Known for years as the Majestic Baths, the building was redesigned inside as the Continental Club Baths in 1987, when it was purchased by Dick Lawson. He had owned the Workout Baths from 1967 to 1977 and the first Continental Baths under the Cornelius Hotel from 1977 until . . . "

Here's a link to the article from Just Out.
http://www.justout.com/archives/issues/11_18_05/26.pdf

:tup:

[urbanlife]

to answer a couple questions, the Custom's House has been shot down by Pearl residents several times now because they don't want a hotel within the Pearl. It's a stupid reason, but that is the reason for that.

The Brasserie is gone for good, but the building just recently sold to new owners who are now actually doing something with the building and hopefully a new restaurant will open in its place.

[Drmyeyes]

I don't particularly mind the idea of a hotel in the Customs House building. What I don't like is what I had heard the hotel developers felt compelled to do to the interior to make it work as a hotel: chop it up, destroying what has been descibed as worthwhile for the right use. Wasn't it the U of O School of Architecture that was interested in the building, for whom the interior layout would have basically worked out quite well?

There's a few oppressive things about this building, but much more that makes it really beautiful. A little freshening and softening here and there and it could really liven up the North Park Blocks.

As successful as the Brasserie was in that well suited location, it's kind of a wonder that it wouldn't be coming back. Maybe the owners decided to keep the identity for themselves for another location.

[MarkDaMan]

the Custom's House has been shot down by Pearl residents several times now because they don't want a hotel within the Pearl.

How is that possible when it is in the Old Town China Town Historical District? Stupid Pearlies. I'm sure they wont mind a five star boutique near the Brewery Blocks or the new Lovejoy central area. Hmmm, I just wonder if they aren't trying to quash this hotel so they can guarantee a market for one next to their buildings?

[sopdx]

I thought the main reason there is still a hold up on the custom's house is due to the fact that it is still federally owned and there is alot of red tape. I really haven't heard any opposition to it being a hotel.

[asher519]

I haven't heard of any opposition, either, though I remember that most in the Pearl were hoping for a community center and/or restaurant to go into the space.

As for the Brasserie, it was supposed to have reopened this month after extensive renovations... wonder what happened. One of my best friends has lost her favorite restaurant :(

[65MAX]

*fact* - The owner of the Brasserie was also the owner of the building.

*speculation* - It sounds like he was unable to pull off the remodel by himself, so he sold the building, cashed out. The new owners probably wouldn't give him a good enough deal to keep the space.

[PacificNW]

Monday, February 11, 2008 - 9:49 AM PST
Real Estate Roundup: Moyer remaking derelict hotel into biz-class accommodations
Portland Business Journal

Portland real estate magnate Tom Moyer will remake the derelict Cornelius Hotel into business-class accommodations.

The Cornelius Hotel, at Southwest Alder Street and Park Avenue, was built in 1908 and sports a grand lobby but has been closed for several years. Moyer acquired the historic property in 2002 for $2.4 million, according to Multnomah County property records.

The hotel is being renovated by Moyer's firm, TMT Development Co., in partnership with TVA Architects.

Renovations should start in June and will take about 12 months. The hotel, to be renamed the Alder Park Hotel, opens in June 2009 with 66 rooms, a rooftop deck and other green features as well as basement meeting rooms and a restaurant and bar at street level.

Peter Meijer Architect LLC will serve as historic consultant to TVA. The building was originally designed by Bennes Hendricks and Tobey and was operated by Dr. Charles W. Cornelius, brother of Col. Thomas R. Cornelius, for whom the town of Cornelius was named.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/PacificNW/Picture1-3.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/PacificNW/Picture2.png


http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/02/11/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl

[zilfondel]

more great news!

historic preservation + reuse of cool old hotels = awesomeness

[pdxskyline]

I am so glad to see this move forward! This building has been long overdue for some TLC. :cheers:

[MarkDaMan]

Hey Dougall, I just found the Cornelius Hotel thread from awhile back while looking for another thread, could you merge that thread into this one?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=130640

[Dougall5505]

done

[MarkDaMan]

^Dougall is DaMan...and possibly the best mod on this board!

[PacificNW]

Sorry...I didn't intend to duplicate threads or pics of this project.:notacrook:

[MarkDaMan]

no worries, we all do it. I can't find other threads like the Mirabella though...

[Castillonis]

Apologize for the off topic post. If I want to find posts about the mirabella I enter the following search terms in google.

site:forum.skyscraperpage.com mirabella

If I want to find a post about the encore I replace the word mirabella with encore.

site:forum.skyscraperpage.com encore

[MarkDaMan]

^sweet! Good advise, Thanks!

[PacificNW]

Thanks, Castillonis....I placed this info on a stickie which comes with Leopard OS....it will be easy to find and utilize! I have used Google in the past but placing the "additional" information in my search does speed the process.

[tworivers]

Cool.


Modern sensibility reshapes Cornelius Hotel
TMT Development’s Alder Park Hotel will offer business-class accommodations

POSTED: 06:00 AM PST Friday, February 29, 2008
BY NATHALIE WEINSTEIN (DJC)

With only faded postcards and photos from the Oregon Historical Society to guide them, TVA Architects knew it couldn’t restore the 100-year-old Cornelius Hotel to its glory days. Instead, the Portland firm will create a modern hotel that illuminates, rather than mimics, the history behind the Cornelius.

TMT Development purchased the property, located at Southwest Alder Street and Park Avenue, in 2002 for $2.4 million, according to Multnomah County records. The developers plan to renovate it into the Alder Park Hotel, a 66-room business-class hotel with an historic aesthetic and modern design.

“Our intent is not to create a period style,” John Heili, TVA principal, said. “But we want to preserve its historic flavor and incorporate new design elements that complement the existing structure as opposed to mimicking it.”

Built in 1908 by Bennes Hendricks and Tobey, the Cornelius Hotel was operated by Dr. Charles W. Cornelius and was known as the “House of Welcome.” Old photos and postcards of the hotel reveal an opulent basement café, a ladies’ club on its ground floor and ornate wood paneling and trim throughout the building.

Today, the building houses p:ear, a mentoring program for homeless youth, on its ground floor. But the remainder of the 66-room hotel has been vacant for years.

“The building is pretty derelict, and there was a fire at some point,” Heili said.

The plush pink fabrics that adorned the walls of the ladies’ club have been eaten by rot. The wood moldings lining the hotel’s walls have been torn away. Signs on the guest room floors point to rooms long vacant of travelers.

Only the dramatic coffered ceiling in the lobby remains in salvageable condition and Heili says the plan is to refurbish and use it in the new lobby. Modern additions to the building include ground floor retail space for a restaurant, basement meeting rooms, wireless Internet and a guest roof deck.

Most of the restoration will focus on the building’s 20th century Baroque-style exterior. The building’s French sheetmetal mansard, cornice and entablature will be restored, and exterior masonry and terracotta will be cleaned. The ground-floor wood storefront will also undergo repairs.

The exterior hotel entrance will require the most work, Heili said. In the early 1970s, someone put stucco over the brick façade on the east side of the building, where the original entrance was.

“That damaged the original brick to the point where it can’t be restored,” Heili said. “We’re removing that and building a new hotel entry. We don’t want to replicate what was there, but we want to be sensitive to the period and style of the building.”

Though TVA isn’t going for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification with the project, it will incorporate energy-efficient mechanical units and water-conserving plumbing, and will replace old wood windows with insulated aluminum windows to save energy.

“We are trying to keep that historic character and satisfy national park requirements (for historic preservation tax credits),” Heili said. “It’s always a challenge working with old buildings with current building codes.”

A bid for a general contractor for the project will go out in late spring, with construction scheduled to begin in June, Heili said. A public opening is scheduled for June 2009.

[MarkDaMan]

Looks like the Alder Park Hotel is going through design review as well...
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=188854

So that makes...

The Nines
Courtyard by Mariott
Hotel Modera
Hotel Fifty
and possibly...
Alder Park Hotel
Westin Convention Center

[zilfondel]

What a list. Kind of like what Seattle went through the past 2 years with all of their hotels...

[urbanlife]

Hotel Fifty? Havent heard of that one.

[PacificNW]

Hotel Fifty, I think, is the former Sheraton Four Points Hotel across Naito from the park..

[MarkDaMan]

^yep...they are gutting it one floor at a time.

[MarkDaMan]

Hotel returns to grand roots
TribTown • Architects confront damage, neglect to preserve Cornelius
By Lee van der Voo
The Portland Tribune, Mar 25, 2008

Though the bathhouse days of the downtown Cornelius Hotel are at an end, it isn’t a renovation of the tiled bathing tubs that once served Portland’s gay scene that architects had in mind during talks about the hotel’s historic preservation.

The roughly 40-year-old tubs are still there, anchored in the now-vacant building’s basement like an indoor version of Portland’s Ira Keller Fountain. A nearby wall has at least one mural intended for a bathing audience.

But all that will be hidden by the time the 1908 building is reborn as a business-class hotel in June 2009.

By then, the tubs will be the forgotten part of the building’s history.

Only the freight elevator that’s destined to share the shaft with the classless mural will know the difference.

At the corner of Southwest Alder Street and Park Avenue, the Cornelius Hotel, owned by Portland developer Tom Moyer, will begin its transformation into the Alder Park Hotel in June.

Through the project, the building’s 100-year history in Portland will be channeled into the newest downtown boutique hotel and armed – wireless Internet and all – for the 21st century.

Though it will lose all memory of its bathhouse days in the 1960s and 1970s, it will regain some of its former grandness of the early 1900s, when it was known as the “House of Welcome.”

In its heyday, the hotel was operated by Dr. Charles Cornelius, who developed the building and named it for his family, which founded the town of Cornelius to Portland’s west.

That locale was named for Cornelius’ brother, Col. Thomas Cornelius. Their chief claim to history is that their father emigrated to Oregon with Joseph Meek, famed fur trader, lawman and politician, in a day when you could be all three.

It isn’t just the Cornelius family history that makes the seven-story hotel unique. Its architecture is its main glory.

Built in the 20th-century baroque style, it is made entirely of brick – red on the interior and buff-colored on the exterior. Its grand windows and dormered roof, made from decorative sheet metal in a classic French style, are striking from the street and skyline.

“The building is on the (National) Historic Register, and we’re doing a full historic preservation of the exterior,” said John Heili, principal architect with TVA Architects, the Portland firm leading the hotel’s renovation for Moyer. “As for the interior, most of that fabric is gone, but we’ll be returning the coffered (ceiling) in the lobby.”

Where that “fabric” – or the innards of the building – disappeared to is among the unsolved mysteries of its sordid years. Much of its character was sold off after an enterprising clan attacked its finer features with crowbars.

The walls have been stripped bare, the doors and doorknobs are gone, and the wainscoting that once lined its halls and stairs remains only in portions. Old radiators and even some of the windowsills also have vanished.

Today, the Cornelius is a drafty mess, strewn with dust balls and a few leftover pillows. It has been vacant for at least 10 years. Damage by a small fire in the 1980s indicates that vagrants occupied it even then.

Charged with reclaiming both the hotel’s character and its dignity, architects plan to put most of their restoration ideas into what remains of the lobby, recovering an ornate coffered ceiling there and lowering the floor back to street level, to give the entrance the cathedral look it once had.

“It’s fun,” Heili said. “It’s something different that we don’t do every day, and so there is that history detective part of it, where you try to figure out what the building is about and what we should restore about it.”

Along with a new entry and a canopy that complements the building’s original character, the hotel also will get a seismic upgrade, sprinklers, and new mechanical and electrical systems.

The exterior brick will be completely cleaned, plaster work will restore original accents where brick is damaged, and the sheet metal on the roof will be restored.

“For me, I think it’s kind of unique because it’s not a high-rise hotel; it’s a little more quaint than that,” Heili said.

Heili said state historians who have reviewed the restoration plan don’t want the architects to “fake it” with features that aren’t original. Once refurbished, the Alder Park’s 66 hotel rooms will be made with newer materials that aim to build on the building’s historical flair.

The rooms will be small, like original rooms in the Cornelius Hotel, approximately 220 square feet.

They will cater to business clients who like the privacy of their own bathroom but are social enough to enjoy meals on the town or in the ground-floor bar and restaurant.

New windows that mimic the original, large double-hung wood frames will give Portland visitors broad views onto the city’s streets. They also will add a sociable element to the scene inside, recalling the busy scene that occupied this space through the early 1900s.

leevandervoo@portlandtribune.com
http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=120639464375058500

[MarkDaMan]

Only the freight elevator that’s destined to share the shaft with the classless mural will know the difference.

anybody have a picture of the 'classless mural?'

Seems like if it brings out the history of the 60's and 70's gay community, it should be preserved in the Silverado or someplace.

[pdxtraveler]

anybody have a picture of the 'classless mural?'

Seems like if it brings out the history of the 60's and 70's gay community, it should be preserved in the Silverado or someplace.

Great idea!

[tworivers]

This building is going to be gorgeous when they're done. Why anyone would cover up those arches is beyond me.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2384810512_55191aeff5.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2204/2383980005_b9b857f710.jpg?v=0

[MarkDaMan]

Hotel Cornelius redo under way

When the old Hotel Cornelius opened in downtown Portland in 1908, rooms rented for $1.50 a night.

"Mr. Moyer reminds me that's more than we're getting now," jokes Lamont Smith, a vice president for Tom Moyer's TMT Development, which is renovating the vacant seven-story building at 809 S.W. Alder St.

When the restoration is complete, rates for the 66 rooms will fall somewhere above economy but below downtown's most expensive. "It will be a value-oriented hotel, not the high, high end," Smith says. "It's a much-needed product in our central business district."

The building will be restored to much of its original 20th-century baroque design, including intricate sheet-metal details on the mansard roof. Wooden double-hung windows above the first floor will be replaced with more functional dark aluminum frames, but architect John Heili says their appearance will be indistinguishable from the originals.

FRED LEESON
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1208395518274940.xml&coll=7

[urbanlife]

it is a shame, I was hoping for it to be a high end boutique hotel, economy pricing sounds like it will be Portland's independent Howard Johnson Hotel.

But on the bright side, it is good to see that building getting a much needed renovation.

[pdxtraveler]

it is a shame, I was hoping for it to be a high end boutique hotel, economy pricing sounds like it will be Portland's independent Howard Johnson Hotel.

But on the bright side, it is good to see that building getting a much needed renovation.

Actually while agreeing on one level. I have to say this is great. The prices in Portland (and everywhere) for hotels are getting so high we need moderate priced hotels or people like me well never be able to travel, or we would have to stay in motels in the suburbs (I shutter at the thought!).

[urbanlife]

Actually while agreeing on one level. I have to say this is great. The prices in Portland (and everywhere) for hotels are getting so high we need moderate priced hotels or people like me well never be able to travel, or we would have to stay in motels in the suburbs (I shutter at the thought!).

I can understand that, it is the one joy I have with working in the hotel industry is the cheap rate I get and great urban hotels, but for people like you and I, we would never be able to afford these rates the way they are going.

[sopdx]

Hotel Cornelius redo under way
"It will be a value-oriented hotel, not the high, high end," Smith says. "It's a much-needed product in our central business district."


I heard they bought all the furniture from the old Days Inn.

[MarkDaMan]

^you're kidding me right? I can't imagine they'd go THAT cheap!

[sopdx]

I'm kidding. :D

They say it won't be high, high end, but I'm sure it will be nice. It's the same group that owns the Governor, the Lucia and the deLux.

[MarkDaMan]

I thought the Governor was now owned by the people that own the Avalon?

Thank god you were joking...

[sopdx]

You're right, my bad.

[urbanlife]

I'm kidding. :D

They say it won't be high, high end, but I'm sure it will be nice. It's the same group that owns the Governor, the Lucia and the deLux.

The people who own the governor own the avalon. The people who own the deLuxe and the Lucia have nothing to do with the Cornelius Hotel.

[PacificNW]

Isn't the "new" name for this project "Alder Park" hotel?

[sopdx]

Yeah, I don't know how I got my wires crossed like that. I got Alder confused with the Aspen Group now Provenance Group. It's a Tom Moyer thang and yes, it will be called the Alder Park Hotel.

[MarkDaMan]

Heeeey Dougall...thread name change?

as much as I resisted it in the beginning, I really do like individual towers to be in the NAME | HEIGHT | CONSTRUCTION STATUS type heading. What say you peeps?

[PacificNW]

Yup...I agree with ya, Mark...

[Dougall5505]

anyone know the height and or floor count?

[pdxtraveler]

Hey all. Can tell that this is stalled, but has Moyer given up completely? Didn't know if anyone had heard. I love the building hopefully they can rehab it. But then again we just got the Nines, Courtyard will open in a month or so, and we still DESPERATELY need the Convention Hotel..so kind of mixed feelings.

[urbanlife]

Well Moyer did say he plans on starting this hotel after finishing the PAw...so I would say it is a safe bet this is stalled too.

[downtownpdx]

Is this project moving forward? I walked by this morning and found the corner fenced-off.

[maccoinnich]

"EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR RENOVATIONS INCLUDING SEISMIC AND MEP UPGRADES TO EXISTING 7-STORY HISTORIC HOTEL"

http://bit.ly/QPXJo3

This permit seems to have been originally submitted in 2008, and abandoned. But suddenly there's a flurry of activity in 2012. This project may be back from the dead.

[PacificNW]

:previous: One can hope!

[pdxtraveler]

LOVE this building hope it is restored soon!

[maccoinnich]

Bumping this thread, per MarkDaMan's post in another thread:

WTF? NOOOO!

Firm says its only choice is to demolish historic building
POSTED: Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 04:06 PM PT
BY: Lee Fehrenbacher
Tags: historic preservation

The red and white "U" signs on the historic Cornelius Hotel building could be removed soon, but not because a renovation is planned. TMT Development has filed for a permit to demolish the building.

Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2013/05/30/firm-says-its-only-choice-is-to-demolish-historic-building/#ixzz2UpOilFZT

Wiki page about hotel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Cornelius

Very disappointed. As I mentioned above, 1 year ago it looked like there was work being done to get a construction permit issued. Now it looks like it's for the wrecking ball.

[pdxtraveler]

OH NOOOOO! I love that building. It is so beautiful (well, has the potential of being SO beautiful)! That is truly sad.

[2oh1]

Damn. I love that building. I don't have access to read the article, but it's a money thing, right? Frankly, I think it's better to lose it to new construction than have it sit there vacant for decades to come. How many decades has it already sat there, vacant?

[mcbaby]

What building?

[2oh1]

What building?

The former Hotel Cornelius building (http://goo.gl/maps/Imu1a). More, from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Cornelius).

[zilfondel]

Thats too bad about the Cornelius. From what I've heard tho, the interior has just been completely destroyed. Does it even have anything left of the historic interior? All I've seen are 1980s-style sheetrock and carpeting tenant "improvements."

Likely the only thing historic left of the building is the structure & facade. If the developer was going to change uses from a hotel to something else... I can imagine the bill would be very high, as the entire interior would have to be stripped to the structure and fully rebuilt. :\

[maccoinnich]

In the UK, where I grew up and studied architecture, facade retention is pretty common. Buildings will be effectively demolished on the interior, with temporary steel holding the facade in place on the exterior. A new interior, to modern codes and specifications is then built on the inside.

I don't think I've ever seen this done in Portland. I have no idea if the economics of it is different over the Atlantic, or if it's just that the listed building system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building) actually has some power, in contrast with the National Register.

[zilfondel]

In the UK, where I grew up and studied architecture, facade retention is pretty common. Buildings will be effectively demolished on the interior, with temporary steel holding the facade in place on the exterior. A new interior, to modern codes and specifications is then built on the inside.

I don't think I've ever seen this done in Portland. I have no idea if the economics of it is different over the Atlantic, or if it's just that the listed building system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building) actually has some power, in contrast with the National Register.

When a developer can simply tear down a decrepit 7 story building to build up to 250', there is little incentive to keep the old shell.

[65MAX]

When a developer can simply tear down a decrepit 7 story building to build up to 250', there is little incentive to keep the old shell.

That hotel is only a quarter of that half block, so only a 5000sf footprint. Unless they're tearing down all of the other buildings on that block, they're not putting a 250' building there.

[2oh1]

When a developer can simply tear down a decrepit 7 story building to build up to 250', there is little incentive to keep the old shell.

Uh... are we talking about the same developer who can't find enough tenants to get PAW off the ground? ...or out of its hole as is currently the case.

[anp]

Damn. I love that building. I don't have access to read the article, but it's a money thing, right? Frankly, I think it's better to lose it to new construction than have it sit there vacant for decades to come. How many decades has it already sat there, vacant?

From PortlandPreservation blog:

"We should also add that TMT says they have no immediate plans for new development in place of the Cornelius, citing the cost of needed repairs as the reasoning behind their decision to demolish."

See this link:
http://portlandpreservation.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/historic-cornelius-hotel-may-soon-be-demolished/

It would be a travesty to demolish this National Register-listed building designed by John Bennes and leave a vacant lot there for who knows how long. TMT's track record is not so good in this regard. Given that this building's rehabilitation got as far as the permit stage in 2008, I don't believe for a second that it is beyond repair.

[2oh1]

I agree. It would be so wrong to demolish a historic building and replace it with a vacant lot.

[2oh1]

This has been bugging me, partly because I feel like I must be missing something obvious.

What's the real story here? Are they going to demolish the building so they can turn around and sell the site? Is the site more valuable for sale without the building, since it's historic and would cost a fortune to rehab? Why would they want to tear it down if they have no plans for the site? Why now?

[MarkDaMan]

^Been thinking the same thing too. Why? If I could arrange 10 minutes with Vanessa Sturgeon.

Not to knock the Portland Business Journal...okay just a bit. WTF? Part of an online story:

May 31, 2013, 2:51pm PDT UPDATED: Jun 3, 2013, 11:35am PDT
Listmakers: Thoughts from Portland’s top commercial property managers
Tam Jenkins
Research director-
Portland Business Journal

Vanessa Sturgeon, local senior executive, TMT Development Co. Inc.
Most important lesson learned: Patience and persistence combined with real estate fundamentals are the key to success.
First choice for a new career: Professor.
Word that best describes you: Determined.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2013/05/listmakers-thoughts-from-comm-prop-mgrs.html?s=image_gallery

Word that best describes you: Determined.

Are you F'in kidding me? How about, when are you going to build on your downtown hole?

[2oh1]

Even more important than why is the question of Why NOW? They can't get PAW off the ground, and based on the amount of money they've sunk into it, I can't imagine they'd tackle a second huge project while a first is failing.

I wonder if they've found a potential buyer for the lot if that little problem of a historic building is taken care of...?

The only other logical answer would be if there were a reason why it's easier to get permission to tear down a historic building in 2013 rather than 2020 and beyond when they might actually be in a position to use the site. But that reason would have to be pretty compelling for them to burden themselves with the cost of demolition now.

Something smells fishy.

[zilfondel]

Maybe they want to build a foodcart pod and be part of the new wave of real estate development!

ok, that was pure snark. It doesn't really make any sense. I would imagine it would be difficult to build anything on a 5,000 sq ft lot. FAR only goes up to 9:1 on the site, and the building is currently 7:1.