Old Town/Chinatown News

[maccoinnich]

Speaking of the Overland Company Warehouse building:

Portland tech firm signs on for a new headquarters in Old Town Chinatown



For decades, the Overland Warehouse Building was home to the Magic Gardens Restaurant and Lounge, a longtime strip club in Old Town Chinatown.

Now it'll be home to the 62 employees of rising Portland transportation technology company Moovel North America, which has signed a lease for 17,200 square feet of space in the revamped building.

Located at the corner of Northwest Fourth and Davis, the 1889 building fell into disrepair in recent years. After Magic Gardens closed up in 2014, California investor Will Sing bought the building in late 2014 with designs to turn it into two floors of office space above 5,000 square feet of retail.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[maccoinnich]

GBD Architects have requested Design Advice for 108 SW 3rd Ave:

Design Advice Request for a new 6-story mixed-use building with approx. 8,925 SF of retail, 133 market-rate apartments and 63 off-street parking stalls on one level of structured underground parking.

The WorldMark by Wyndham at 221 SW Naito has been submitted for building permit review by SERA Architects:

New 75 unit, 6 story vacation ownership. 5 over 1 construction

[maccoinnich]

A San Francisco Investment Firm Is Snatching Up Old Town Real Estate
It’s Already Bouncing the Boiler Room, and Others Are Worried



ON AUGUST 11, Old Town karaoke mecca the Boiler Room announced new landlords were pushing it out of its corner space at NW 3rd and Davis after 15 years.

The bar’s fans immediately did what Portlanders do these days—raged on Facebook and elsewhere against the loss of another city institution. It didn’t help that the company that’s declining to renew the Boiler Room’s five-year lease, Swift Real Estate Partners, is based in San Francisco. The well-trod anger over Bay Area money having its way with Portland was unavoidable. Stories emerged of people leaving drunken, angry voicemails at Swift’s headquarters after the Mercury reported the company’s name.

Still, the Boiler Room’s impending closure has a different flavor than what Portland’s used to. Often when spots close, it’s because they can’t come to agreement on a proposed rent hike (like the Matador), or are hurting for business (P.R.E.A.M.), or there are major renovations in the works (Magic Garden). None of those factors were apparently at play in this case.

...continues at the Portland Mercury.

[maccoinnich]

Also, this article is from last week, but I hadn't got round to posting it yet:

At just $20,000, Ankeny Plaza is Portland’s cheapest “bridge” project ever



It’s the cheapest bridge project ever completed in the Portland region. For just $20,000, the city’s Bureau of Transportation has changed the face of an iconic and historic part of town. And they’re sort of bragging about it, which is awesome.

At the ribbon-cutting event for Ankeny Plaza today, City Commissioner Steve Novick delighted in how his Bureau of Transportation has radically transformed the streets between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Old Town/Chinatown. “This is incredibly awesome,” he bubbled, before making a reference to Martha & The Vandellas’ classic tune, “Dancing in the Streets.”

...continues at BikePortland.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Mercury.

Personally I couldn't tell you the last time I was even in the Boiler Room, I am much older now and married, so the idea of going out every night to the bars downtown in hopes of meeting someone and having some late night fun is well behind me. If it closed months ago, I wouldn't have even noticed because it has been such a long time since I have even been down on that block. But with that said, it is sad to see a place like this go, especially because of a poor decision from a California company. Who goes to Old Town and thinks to themselves, this would be a nice place to sip coffee in the afternoon on my Apple laptop? That thought would be followed by, then have my laptop stolen from me the moment I stepped outside.

Old Town currently works as a great young person hangout spot, which basically means a great place for bars and late night culture. I also think it is a great spot for tiny over priced micro apartments for those young people going out drinking in Old Town every night. If someone is looking for a coffee, that is what places like the Society Hotel is for, that is a group that did an amazing job adding something that fits in well with Old Town, and they also have coffee in their lobby for those in Old Town during the daylight hours.

My guess is we will eventually see this coffee shop fail due to the fact that we are all aware it is a California company that is trying to ruin Portland, which they will eventually get tired of the hostility against them and then turn around and sell the building for more than its worth to another out of town company that will probably renovate it into lofts and another business, which at that point, so much will have changed that the Old Town we once knew would be nothing more than a memory.

[innovativethinking]

That's a nighttime entertainment district for club goers. Why the hell would they want that? Or at the very least why wouldn't they cater to that type of scene?

[DMH]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Also, this article is from last week, but I hadn't got round to posting it yet:



...continues at BikePortland.

I am very happy to see this first step to reclaiming these peripheral areas for pedestrians. Back when Sam Adams was mayor, I sent sketches to Tom Miller, director of PBOT, of precisely this Ankeny area as well as other Burnside-adjacent areas that could be pedestrianized. My solution was more permanent than what this Bike Portland article is celebrating. Surely PDC or PBOT will eventually find funds to finish the job. Also, it is maybe time to send more of my previously-sent sketches out to Novick and PBOT to see what else they might implement.

[maccoinnich]

PBOT is following the model popularized by Janette Sadik-Khan, former transportation Commissioner for New York: reclaim the space on the cheap using paint, bollards, planters and movable furniture, see if it's a success, and then use the community support to make permanent improvements later. Times Square was reconfigured in 2009, but it was until 2015 that construction was completed on the Snøhetta designed transformation. So I too hope that PBOT, PDC or even Parks find the money to finish the job, and make Ankeny a great connection between the new plaza and the Saturday Market... but I welcome this first step.

[96Pearl]

More positive changes, the district currently is a sub par, seedy, nightlife district. Having some retail with daytime activity instead of a bar that is closed all day? Seems like a great trade off to me. love seeing some positive movement in this area of downtown, it needs it the most!

[maccoinnich]

Chinese group protests Old Town Chinatown rebranding effort



For Raymond Wong, the metal banners are the last straw.

Already, the city contributed to Old Town Chinatown's decline, Wong said, by allowing homeless shelters and social services agencies to congregate there. Then there were the parking meters and the end of fareless square.

Now, a group tasked with revitalizing the neighborhood has launched a rebranding effort that Wong fears will rename the district. The Old Town Chinatown Community Association plans to hang banners on some Northwest Portland avenues, adding another name to the neighborhood's existing monikers: Japantown.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[urbanlife]

That area hasn't been Chinatown for a long time. I would say most of the Chinese businesses have long since abandoned that part of downtown before the city ever stepped in to rebrand the area.

I would rather see the Chinese and other Asian groups within Portland try to make the Jade District their own and encourage growth and development there that is focused on strengthening the Asian culture in Portland. A number of Asian businesses have already migrated that way and begun making it their home.

[maccoinnich]

[maccoinnich]

[maccoinnich]

[maccoinnich]

38 Davis: a collaboration in Old Town Chinatown



When visitors arrive at Ankrom Moisan Architects’ space in 38 Davis, a mixed-use building being constructed in Old Town Chinatown, they won’t anywhere see a receptionist. Instead, guests will check in downstairs with the building security guard, who will use the Slack app to communicate with Ankrom Moisan personnel. Upstairs, newcomers will be greeted by a free-floating iPad-wielding office “ambassador.”

The setup is more “hospitality-like” and “less transactional.”

“It’s a way of inviting people into our culture,” executive vice president Karen Bowery said. “You step off the elevator right into our world. There’s not that barrier. They’re part of us and they’re engaged in our culture.”

It’s one of the ways Ankrom Moisan is rethinking the architecture office, for a move that is by accounts much anticipated by staff. And with so much brainpower at its disposal, the firm has employed a heavily collaborative process, according to Bowery and managing principal Murray Jenkins.

...continues at the DJC (article is temporarily unlocked).

[maccoinnich]

[downtownpdx]

I'm thrilled to see new residential in this neighborhood, but this building is a hodge-podge. It reminds me of a building in the Pearl District built about 10 years ago, can't remember the name, that has this same approach of trying to look like 2 different buildings on the same block. I don't mind the individual corners, although what is going on in the first rendering on the top floor, is that actual living space or supposed to be decorative?

[urbanlife]

Wow, this building really looks awful as it seems to try to be three different buildings in one....but at the same time, I would love to see anything being built in that area of downtown.

[DMH]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Wow, this building really looks awful as it seems to try to be three different buildings in one....but at the same time, I would love to see anything being built in that area of downtown.

I too want this half-block parking lot to be developed. The current proposed design is an improvement over the first design, but it needs some work. I wonder if a couple of moves might salvage this proposal. First, double the width of the midblock glazed bay on Ash St. to create a more gracious entrance for the building and a wider separation between the two different building elevations along Ash. Second, push that glazed bay and its penthouse portion 20 feet back from the masonry parapet. I think this would improve the 2nd Ave elevation and massing. I am not sure if the 3rd Ave elevation needs two colors of brick and a slight recess at the color change. At 100 ft., that elevation length may not need to be broken down visually.

[maccoinnich]

Moovel is moving into the Overland Warehouse Company building (some recent photos of which are upthread):

Moovel North America to move all of its 116 workers into new Portland HQ

Moovel North America, the transit technology company formed by the merger of Portland’s GlobeSherpa and Austin’s RideScout, is consolidating its operations and moving all 116 employees to Portland.

The company is building out a new 17,200-square-feet Old Town Chinatown headquarters. By consolidating into one office, the company expects to boost productivity and efficiency as it scales faster.

Moovel makes mobile apps and software that transit agencies use to sell tickets and help users find different transportation modes.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.