[GreenCity]

I actually live directly right next door to the development being planned on 1450 SW Jefferson, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be horrible. I think it's really interesting that the Oregonian article states;

"...developers hope to build a metal-and-concrete structure with a courtyard roughly in the middle of the mostly commercial block."

Which is partially true, since most of the residential buildings got rezoned to Commercial in the 80s, but also mostly untrue because almost all of the block is full of affordable housing occupied by PSU students. The only commercial is a yoga studio, a bar, an engineering office and the title company up next to 405. The three story Victorian I live in is zoned Cx, as are many of the other residential buildings on the block. That hasn't really been a problem, except for the fact that the 1450 development is allowed to build straight up to the property line when abutting a non-residential zoned property. The rendering shown in the picture is somewhat deceptive when you contrast it with the actual documents that show that they plan on occupying every single possible cubic foot, especially since the plans I saw didn't have any sort of courtyard involved. If my house was included in the rendering, you'd realize that that western walkway will essentially be a canyon between the two structures.

Really though, the above is just petty concerns with a development going up next to my house, and the hassles that'll cause. The house occupying the space is decrepit and literally falling down, and the empty lot is known on the block as the "Street Kid Congress". My main actual concern with the plans center around the fact that it'll compete mangle the parking situation. I know it's a common refrain, but I already have to park more than a block away most of the days, and if I make the mistake of driving when there's a Timbers game, I usually have to park AT LEAST 5 blocks away. Jefferson street parking is usually full on any weekday by 8am from all the Lincoln High kids as well. Very few of the onstreet spots are resident zoned parking, and most of it is 1-2 hour spots. Adding 66 new units without parking is going to be an uproarious joke, and I can only hope it gets forced to change, especially since the topography of the site would make on-grade entry to a partially underground parking area incredibly simple while still allowing folks to have front doors that open out onto the street level. But, that adds cost to the construction of course.

I've been told that the old house is coming down in March, and if I'm still around I'll keep yall up to date with pictures. As far as the construction on Columbia, on the other side of the block, it's proceeding along now that they disassembled the Queen Anne and prepared the site. They just finished pouring the foundation the other day and they just moved a mobile hut on site to manage the project. It's another EKOHaus, but I haven't looked too far into the specific plans on it.