Portland Infill | Northeast Portland

[johnliu]

The city spends so much per unit to build publicly owned affordable housing, that these projects are not a good use of the limited bond funds available. Hence the projections that Portland's $250MM bond will only produce about 1300 publicly owned affordable units.

I would rather the city pause building such housing until the voters approve the constitutional amendment that will permit affordable housing bond fund to be used to help private affordable housing projects get built. That seems a better way to leverage the limited public funds available.

That doesn't answer the question of whether the project we're discussing could have included housing above the retail. That would have made sense, unless that makes the location unattractive for anchor grocers for some reason (does it?).

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

What annoys me with this specific site is that I don't care which grocer tried to open up there, it is that it was a perfect site for affordable housing above a grocery store and the city squandered that chance with this single use development.

Exactly. This project forced me to lose all confidence in PDC. Private developers are doing more with their sites than our benevolent urban renewal agency and thus generate more tax revenue. On top of that, PDC is sitting on several prime development sites which now generate zero property tax. We might as well go the route that California took and get rid of our urban renewal agency. So much more would happen if they just put their properties on the market.

[pdxsg34]

NE 26th & Alberta - Under Review

NEW 3 STORY, 11 UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING WITH RETAIL ON MAIN FLOOR, INCLUDES ASSOCIATED SITEWORK

[NickO2]

Meanwhile, on 13th and Alberta:

[NESteve]

Rumor has it that it that the building at 19th and Alberta is adorned with blue windows of all things. Haven't seen it yet, but what's the world coming to? Don't care for that one at 13th and Alberta...that's a design I've see all over town. Where's the creativity / imagination with that?

[RainDog]

Rendering of 19th & Alberta. I'll walk over there and take a picture of the construction progress soon.

That building on 13th is under construction as well.

[DMH]

Originally Posted by NickO2

Meanwhile, on 13th and Alberta:

It's an interesting composition.

[NickO2]

Originally Posted by DMH

It's an interesting composition.

Yes, adjust the height and area of the ground floor windows, use the same palette of materials, you have the basics of a VW dealership visual language.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by NickO2

Yes, adjust the height and area of the ground floor windows, use the same palette of materials, you have the basics of a VW dealership visual language.

Like the two silver VW's parked in front of the building for reference. Now I wonder, is that a photo of the architect who designed the building's car or the one who made the rendering?

[NickO2]

Originally Posted by NESteve

@RainDog, Thanks for finding a rendering of the Emerick project at 19th. I've been wondering what that was going to be. Depending on materials etc. that could either end up either looking like faux historic garbage or being a high quality addition to Alberta Street. Emerick is a higher end architect so let's hope whoever owns this pig isn't cheaping out on construction costs.

Like other Solterra projects, that one on Alberta and 15th simply looks awful.

As of this afternoon, May 30th:



Teal grey Sierra Pacific window frames:



A wooden structure perched on a concrete platform, due to be covered with faux brick. I get the stuff about historical references and neo-vernacular riffs, but this is a cynical, overbearing box casting a depressing shadow across NE Alberta.



Seems the past has a strangle hold over any attempt to look to the future.

[johnliu]

Just a little detailing goes a long way. What makes older buildings of this type and size is as much the ornamentation and texture as the material. I'm going to bet Emerick produces a nice building here. A nice change from blank Hardie and metal panels.

[johnliu]

Originally Posted by DMH

It's an interesting composition.

I think it is not a bad building, big functional balconies, interesting shapes that serve some rain/wind purpose, graphic linear texture, and I think the muted grays will age better than trendy chartruse pops. The street level is pretty blank. But I wonder if designers are choosing these flat street facades without shelter to make them less inviting places to sleep. Nowadays a street front business with a sheltered alcove or bay can find those features a magnet for trash and urine. E.g. along parts of Grand or MLK, every alcove entry becomes a camping spot at night and in the morning the business owners have to get out there with gloves, broom and hose to clean up and make ready for customers.

[pdxsg34]

Great to see lots of activity on MLK...

5020 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (NE corner of NE MLK & Alberta) - Early Assistance

5-30-18 - New 7-story mixed use building with underground parking. They will need to go through a design review.

3250 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd - Under Review

5-14-18 - New 4 story affordable housing project building which includes 50 new living units and 9 new surface parking stalls at ground floor with common, outdoor play and pation areas totaling 44,584 sq.ft LRS Architects

3802 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (MLK.Failing Apartments) - Under Review




6445 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (King + Parks Apartments) - Under Review




4111 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (MLK.Mason West Apartments) - U/C

[NESteve]

Thanks Nick for posting the 19th and Alberta photos. Those windows sure look blue-ish to me but it may be the lighting.

Given that Emerick is the architect, I doubt we'll get faux brick and if that's the case, this might not be too bad. Besides, who would use faux brick and nice windows like those (but budgetary constraints often do funny things). Looks like that east wall adjacent to the restaurant will have something other than brick judging by the vertical metal strips they're installing. That's probably a siding system of some sort which isn't a suprise given that it's on the property line.

This actually looks like it could be a nice break from the ubiquitous metal panel buildings like the one on 13th. From what I've seen of Emerick's work, this won't be a crappy building - unless of course, the budget took over. I poked around Emerick's project on NW 21st and Irving over the weekend and it looks great...probably similar to how this will look. Personally, I'm glad to see it's not overly contemporary - this is Alberta after all.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

5020 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (NE corner of NE MLK & Alberta) - Early Assistance

It would be great to see that pizza hut go.

[johnliu]

Anyone know which of the projects shown in the last several posts are subject to inclusionary zoning?

[maccoinnich]

City Selects Cully Neighborhood for New Affordable Housing Complex



The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) has unveiled its fourth location for a major affordable housing complex funded by the city's housing bond. According to Mayor Ted Wheeler's office, the bureau's in the process of acquiring a 16,000-square foot lot on Northeast 58th and Prescott and turning it into a permanent affordable housing complex with up to 75 apartments. Per the bond's requirements, the new building will only rent to families or individuals who are earning no more than 60 percent of the region's median income.

Shannon Callahan, PHB interim director, says this location in Portland's Cully Neighborhood was selected for its vulnerability. "This is a rapidly gentrifying area where families are facing a growing risk of being priced out,” Callahan said.

...continues at the Portland Mercury.

[NESteve]

I was in the area and checked out the 19th and Alberta project. I would have taken a pic but I left my phone in the car (which then stopped working because of the heat).

Opinions are going to vary, but I think this is a very special project for the street. It's interesting that Alberta hasn't yet seen any substantial apartment construction like almost every other neighborhood...and the first one out of the gate is this one? Wow. It's simply beautiful IMO. There was a small crowd across the street just looking on, watching the construction as I was and two people seemed to be having a friendly debate as to whether this was a completely new building or a renovation of an existing one. It's that convincing, except for the east wall that's covered with siding, but I'll give Emerick a pass on that because it is on the property line after all, but the brick work here is just fantastic as are the blue windows. Portland needs more development like this - it is a "forever" project, not a cynical, out-of-proportion, out-of-context cash-grab like so many popping up all over town.

Well done!

[maccoinnich]

Portland condo building's brokers look to Asia for buyers



A Northeast Portland condo building still under construction will market more than a quarter of its units exclusively to buyers who live in Asia, an apparent first for the city.

Asian buyers have become a significant force in larger West Coast cities, and Chinese buyers alone bought $30.4 billion in U.S. real estate over the year ending in March, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But they've mostly bypassed Portland, a less globally known city with a smaller Asian-American population.

The real-estate brokers in charge of selling condos in the new TwentyTwenty building at 20th Avenue and Multnomah Street say that could change.

Cascade Sotheby's International Realty will offer up to 45 of the 162 units exclusively through its Asia desk.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Photos: Eliot project’s completion celebrated



A host of elected officials and other dignitaries gathered on Friday to dedicate the new Garlington Center campus in Northeast Portland.

The 52-unit Garlington Place Apartments opened in April to 100 percent occupancy and a long waiting list. But completion last month of the accompanying Garlington Health Center marked the end of the project, which was developed by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare and built by general contractor Colas Construction. Scott | Edwards Architecture was the designer.

The campus occupies a 1.5-acre parcel on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Northeast Morris and Monroe streets, in the Eliot neighborhood. The health clinic offers services for behavioral health, mental health and addiction treatment, primary care and wellness all in one location. The apartments are intended to serve specific tenants: 10 units are reserved for veterans, 10 more are reserved for health clinic clients in critical need, and the remaining 32 are affordable for people incomes less than 60 percent of the median family income for the Portland region.

...continues at the DJC (no paywall).