Park Avenue West | 501' 7" | 30 floors | Completed - Page 36

smendesPDX · #**701** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 8:42 PM**

BREAKING NEWS: TMT Development delays Park Avenue West
POSTED: 01:21 PM PDT Friday, April 10, 2009
BY TYLER GRAF

In a move that TMT Development called "unprecedented," the firm has postponed construction on its Park Avenue West tower in downtown Portland until the first quarter of 2010.

The news comes four months after Portland's largest law firm, Stoel Rives, announced its plans to move its offices into the building once completed in 2011. That lease of 157,000 square feet was considered to be the largest and most lucrative in Portland's history, and it signified to most real estate analysts that the $200 million project was on sound financial footing.

The development, though 55 percent pre-leased, has in recent months had trouble securing bank financing. Pension funds and insurance companies have redirected their money from stocks to less risky corporate bonds. Ultimately, this has left less money available for investments.

Stoel Rives made an announcement to its partners about the construction postponement Friday morning, and the firm plans to "review the situation in the coming weeks," according to a release.

Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development, said the nine-month construction delay is expected to push back Stoel Rives' move-in date by three months.

"It's difficult," she said, "because something like this wouldn't have happened during any other time."

When construction resumes, Park Avenue West will have a slightly new look. Originally designed to be 32 stories tall - the city's third-tallest building - the project is now being scaled back. It will lose its 10 stories of condominium units, as that market has fallen precipitously in the past year.

The building will now have two stories of retail and 20 stories of office space above.

In the next nine months, architects at TVA Architects will be tweaking the building's design to make the smaller version proportional to its construction footprint, Sturgeon said.

As a result of the setback, about 350 union construction jobs will be lost. Overall, the Park Avenue West project was expected to provide jobs to 2,000 union workers.

Sturgeon remains optimistic about the future of the project and believes Park Avenue West will see a financing turnaround in the next three quarters.

"I see a tempered resurgence of the market (in the next nine months)," Sturgeon said. "We'll come back to market fundamentals."

scottyboi · #**702** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 9:03 PM**

22 stories...ugh...what's the point...i guess my dream of a real addition to the skyline is on hold yet again

ethirtysex · #**703** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 9:10 PM**

What are we in Chicago now? This blows.

Okstate · #**704** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 9:12 PM**

I think I'm on the verge of a temper tantrum. Can there be anything good come of this? Maybe when downtown residential demand picks back up we'll have more demand as a result of these lost condos....this blows.

LSPDX · #**705** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 9:47 PM**

So... does this mean that the PAW tower will be shorter then the Fox tower now??? I knew this tower, some where down the line would be too good to be true. I guess it wouldn't be a Portland project if they didn't shorten it.

scottyboi · #**706** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 9:58 PM**

yes...Fox is, I believe, 27 floors...i was just thinking the other day how cool it would be if PAW was a smidge taller, to really set it apart from Fox...guess I jinxed the whole thing

LSPDX · #**707** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 10:10 PM**

Yeah... I assumed. I just wanted someone to prove me and my math wrong.
Let's hope the design doesn't change too much either. This really Blows!

MOPIdaho · #**708** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 10:13 PM**

Now I feel at home, Boise has it's big hole and now we have one to match!

urbanlife · #**709** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 10:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOPIdaho

Now I feel at home, Boise has it's big hole and now we have one to match!

havent you heard, it is all the rage in cities around the world. If your downtown doesnt have a giant hole in it, then you must not be a cool city.

MarkDaMan · #**710** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 10:32 PM**

This I just don't understand. The economy was going sour before Moyer started construction. When people pointed that out he said he didn't have to worry about money hassles because he was self-financing the thing.

This frigging sucks!

Okstate · #**711** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 10:34 PM**

^^ In that case Eugene has been greater than thou for the last decade or so.

What I'm wondering is why the 1st & main project with less commitments (any?) moved so easily along. Especially since now they're nearly the same height!

pdxf · #**712** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 11:14 PM**

Maybe in 9 months financing will be easier to obtain and demand for condos will be skyrocketing...one can hope?!

tworivers · #**713** Posted **Apr 10, 2009, 11:34 PM**

Wow. Talk about bad news. I almost think they should put it on hold until it becomes feasible to include the ten stories of condos. That's the perfect spot for a tower of the height it was originally designed to be.

downtownpdx · #**714** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 12:30 AM**

^^^ Or maybe go with all offices instead, although I guess the fact that 1st and Main has no tenants yet isn't too encouraging.

I understand the delay, but shortening it 10 stories really sucks -- I would think (maybe naively?) that by completion in 2011, there would be some returned demand for condos/offices.

zilfondel · #**715** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 12:49 AM**

Considering the vast oversupply of condos, it wouldn't make sense to be building anymore for... how many years? 3-5?

Tykendo · #**716** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 1:30 AM**

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Can you say "Morrison Tower" all over again. Look what replaced that project, ODS bland design tower. This is truly sad. With all the downer news, at least watching the PAW go up would have given hope that anything is possible if you dream. This is news to make you go low and left. Another stumpy building. Thanks for turning a Ferrari into a Pacer.

philopdx · #**717** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 2:04 AM**

I didn't realize up until now how much psychic energy I had invested in this building and the pride I had in its impact on the skyline. How humiliating and exasperating.

If they can't go all the way, then don't build it. They should wait until market conditions improve, or have the city revoke their permit and bring someone in who can actually do the %@$^@%$ job.

Maybe the park next door might actually be done now by the time PAW goes up.

bvpcvm · #**718** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 2:28 AM**

OMG this totally sucks. As someone else said, I was feeling pretty good that at least THIS building was going up. And I was really looking forward to seeing it tower over Nordstrom's.

MarkDaMan · #**719** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 3:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by philopdx

or have the city revoke their permit and bring someone in who can actually do the %@$^@%$ job.

Interesting! Can the city deny permits they submit for a revised project? Force them to stop until they build what they proposed? That hole didn't come cheap, and I can't imagine TMT would just abandon it.

At already 50% leased, it seems like they could swallow some additional office space. 10 floors of condos is what, 6 to 8 floors of office space?

NJD · #**720** Posted **Apr 11, 2009, 3:27 AM**

I am surprised, are many on this forum only wanting height? A skyline? We live in Portland: an amazingly livable and progressive city that 30 years ago started pulling itself out of 75 years of bad planning and decision making, environmentally devastating industry, extreme racism, long hard economic recessions, and falling behind all other Pacific seaports as shipping technology has advanced.

I actually think this is good. The PAW, Weave and ZGF are being built/proposed at market conditions. Large empty buildings are not good for the developers nor the public. We are now seeing the local design movers and shakers aiming at smaller, better projects that focus on details not just the bottom line. Remember the $/sf quotes about ZGF or the Weave's taller versions, and how they could actually use better materials after the projects were scaled back. The same will happen with the PAW. Now that its profile in the sky is less visible to prospective clients, the folks at TVA are probably working on making a shorter building more attractive.

I am for Stumptown to remain 'Stump'town. Leave building 'livable streets' obtrusive megatowers to the ego-junkies of the world.

... my 2 cents