The Rodney (1430 NW Glisan) | 174' | 16 floors | Completed

[maccoinnich]

Memo to the Design Commission.

[BrG]

I happened to talk to someone recently who has been working on this, and it sounds like Holland (the client) pushed them to do a basic grid with a 'top', for the initial design idea. They really wanted something mimicking a project Ankrom Moisan did 10 years ago in downtown LA. They actually insisted on the materials proposed, too.

Other more current/modern/trendy design ideas were proposed to the Holland people, but they were pretty insistent on what was submitted for DAR in the first round.

It will be interesting to see if it looks anything like this once DR has a say.

[cityscapes]

Originally Posted by BrG

I happened to talk to someone recently who has been working on this, and it sounds like Holland (the client) pushed them to do a basic grid with a 'top', for the initial design idea. They really wanted something mimicking a project Ankrom Moisan did 10 years ago in downtown LA. They actually insisted on the materials proposed, too.

Other more current/modern/trendy design ideas were proposed to the Holland people, but they were pretty insistent on what was submitted for DAR in the first round.

It will be interesting to see if it looks anything like this once DR has a say.

Oh wow it really does look a lot like this building. Apparently when it was built in 2008 it was the first new housing built in downtown LA in over 20 years. Since it isn't our first new residential building in over 20 years I feel like we deserve something that pushes the envelope a little more rather than a replica of something in California.

[innovativethinking]

This is a very nice quality looking building

[Nunya]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

...Since it isn't our first new residential building in over 20 years I feel like we deserve something that pushes the envelope a little more rather than a replica of something in California.

I'd agree but my understanding is that this site barely pencils out from the developer's point of view due to the FAR/Height limits and the small floor plate. If the height limit was higher you'd likely see a much nicer design and a taller building but the FAR limit is limiting what can be built and meet the investor's profit requirements.

If my choice is between this proposal or leaving what's there until something nicer pencils out I'll choose the bird in the hand.

[maccoinnich]

Is 200' x 76' really a small floorplate? Buildings wider than that are extremely rare in Portland, and residential buildings deeper than that have issues with daylighting in the unit.

[cityscapes]

The FAR limits in this location seem really counter productive. As I've interpreted from what's been posted, the FAR transfer from the block to the north is the reason why they are building to this height but is also the reason why we're going to be stuck with a surface lot at a gateway location to the central city for years to come. Logically one should be able to build a 1-4 story infill building on the surface lot site in exchange for some improvements or something.

[Nunya]

I'm not entirely clear what the issue was but there is some issue with the setback requirements that make the buildable width down to 72.5' as shown on the plans. The width isn't necessarily the problem by itself but the FAR/height limits in conjunction with the buildable area per floor plate. My understanding is that without the transfer from the adjacent lot to increase the building height this project would have had zero chance of happening.

Which is dumb as it then means that parking lot across the street becomes much more likely to sit there for a very long time. So the effective result is you get only one of the two underused locations developed and the other one is no much less likely to be developed. This is a problem with FAR that I do not like, but I'm all for no caps anywhere in the central city. And if no where else at least in the Pearl to piss off the save the pearl people.

[BrG]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Is 200' x 76' really a small floorplate? Buildings wider than that are extremely rare in Portland, and residential buildings deeper than that have issues with daylighting in the unit.

For office, yes somewhat. For housing no.

[maccoinnich]

Latest drawings [PDF - 126 MB] and memo [PDF] to the Design Commission.

[cailes]

Yes please. Do away with the strip mall

[cityscapes]

In the section in the drawings titled "From the Sketch Book", I think the 3rd and 4th renderings fit in the best with this area of the Pearl. #3 fits in the best with existing warehouse buildings and the tower portion looks fresh.

The version they're going with isn't bad but I feel like the yellow color and the crown element on the top look out of place in the neighborhood. The incorporation of a vivid color is more successful in VCA's Couch9. Hopefully this project changes a little bit more before the design is finalized because I think it could be better than what they're proposing at the moment.

The options presented for the small lot are much better than a parking lot shown last time. I think the parklet would be nice with food carts and stuff but with heavy traffic and being adjacent to the freeway, I'm thinking a small building might be a better option. I'm interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

In the section in the drawings titled "From the Sketch Book", I think the 3rd and 4th renderings fit in the best with this area of the Pearl. #3 fits in the best with existing warehouse buildings and the tower portion looks fresh.

The version they're going with isn't bad but I feel like the yellow color and the crown element on the top look out of place in the neighborhood. The incorporation of a vivid color is more successful in VCA's Couch9. Hopefully this project changes a little bit more before the design is finalized because I think it could be better than what they're proposing at the moment.

The options presented for the small lot are much better than a parking lot shown last time. I think the parklet would be nice with food carts and stuff but with heavy traffic and being adjacent to the freeway, I'm thinking a small building might be a better option. I'm interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

I was thinking the same thing about the yellow, I am all for adding color to a building, but this just felt a little bit too Miami or something like that to me rather than something that belonged in the Pearl. I do hope we see some more fine tuning with this building, but overall it is a good infill for an old strip mall building.

It really is amazing how much the Pearl has changed since moving here back in 2003, with first visiting Portland back in 2002.

[AdamUrbanist]

The crown makes this look like an airport hotel.

I hope they put a building on the lot across the street. Even if its only a one story retail building. This is not a location where a plaza is appropriate.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

I hope they put a building on the lot across the street. Even if its only a one story retail building. This is not a location where a plaza is appropriate.

Yeah, the whole "plaza" thing is bizarre....although I do really like the bikeshare/food cart pod plaza concept in the latest proposal. I'm sure the city is set on keeping it a parking lot, unfortunately.

[Abide]

A cart pod would probably be successful. Without carts though, a plaza would languish tucked away next to a freeway ramp.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by Derek

Yeah, the whole "plaza" thing is bizarre....although I do really like the bikeshare/food cart pod plaza concept in the latest proposal. I'm sure the city is set on keeping it a parking lot, unfortunately.

The City is set on it being anything but a parking lot.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

The City is set on it being anything but a parking lot.

Thanks for the clarification. I haven't been closely following this one and based my opinion off of the drawings which still included parking in some of the plans.

[maccoinnich]

[urbanlife]

I was looking at this building backwards, I thought the yellow side was facing east at first....for some reason I actually think it looks better knowing the yellow portion will be facing west instead.