Washington County (Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Forest Grove, etc.)

[Pavlov's Dog]

This is a great site for a downtown for all those areas: Cedar Hills, Cedar Mills and Bethany that don't want to be part of Beaverton. Such a theoretical city would have well over 50,000 residents.

[joeplayer1989]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

This is a great site for a downtown for all those areas: Cedar Hills, Cedar Mills and Bethany that don't want to be part of Beaverton. Such a theoretical city would have well over 50,000 residents.

good Beaverton sucks!

[urbanlife]

actually funny fact, I lived in Cedar Mill so my mailing address was a Portland address, but I was in the unincorporated part of Washington County. I am pretty sure most of those residents would rather be in their own city than ever say they live in Beaverton.

In some sense I would like to see that area incorporate into a city, but that will probably never happen seeing that most of the commercial land in that area belongs to Beaverton.

[Snowden352]

Why the antipathy towards Beaverton?

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Snowden352

Why the antipathy towards Beaverton?

besides poor planning and a screwed up city council with no real vision other than "we don't want to be like Portland"?

[joeplayer1989]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

besides poor planning and a screwed up city council with no real vision other than "we don't want to be like Portland"?

exactly brotha, and what is up with that half ass round project, is anything going to be built soon in the westgate theater lot.

[Pavlov's Dog]

I think it's probably a class issue as well. While Beaverton is largely and solidly middle class with a smattering of lower class, the suburbs north of 26 and east of 217 are largely more high status with a lot of upper middle class and upper class people and very few lower class.

I'm surprised those communities haven't come up with a counter proposal. Staying unincorporated within the UGB simply isn't going to happen. They need to pull their heads out of the sand and either do something constructive or shut up and stop whining.

[zilfondel]

I think most of those people want to pretend that they live out in the countryside. Must think its Montana or something... not in a metro area of 2 1/4 million people.

[SpongeG]

how can a commuter train do that - people use it to go from a to b and aren't looking to stop in between

[MarkDaMan]

City Center Parking sues Round developer
The California company behind the Beaverton project is hit
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PST Thursday, November 29, 2007
BY LIBBY TUCKER

City Center Parking is suing the Beaverton Round developer to recoup more than $28,000 in allegedly unpaid bills.

The lawsuit is the latest in a round of woes for Pasadena, Calif.-based developer Dorn Platz Properties, which faced a $9 million construction defect lawsuit from condominium owners at The Round in June and a threat of foreclosure in July from lender DB Beaverton for defaulting on a $31.5 million construction loan.

Dorn Platz in September sold a portion of the property, including four buildings and the garage near the MAX light-rail line in Beaverton, to DB Beaverton, a subsidiary of New York-based Fortress Investment Group.

But the developer still holds an agreement with the city of Beaverton to build four more buildings on the property by 2008.

The new lawsuit once again raises the question of whether Dorn Platz can meet its contractual obligations with the city, which had high hopes for The Round when the development launched more than a decade ago. The project has long suffered from construction delays, difficulties signing tenants and lagging condo sales.

“As long as they stay within the time frame and build what (they say) they’re going to do, we don’t get too involved in their operations,” Lonnie Dicus, a senior project manager with the city, said. “And so any contract City Center has with Dorn Platz wouldn’t affect us too much.”

Dorn Platz owner Greg Galletly did not return calls seeking comment.

City Center managed The Round’s seven-story, 400-stall parking garage for Dorn Platz for more than four years until mid-October, after the sale. The garage is now managed by Norris, Beggs and Simpson, according to Dicus.

City Center last week filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Dorn Platz and Beaverton Commercial Investments. The Portland-based parking manager claims the property owner owes money for three months of managing The Round’s only parking garage.

“Dorn Platz stopped paying their bills in approximately August,” James Hein, an attorney representing City Center Parking, said. “And there’s no question about the quality of services by City Center Parking.”
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDeta...project-is-hit

[alexjon]

Any word on what's going on now?

[JoshYent]

Sometimes i wish these things progressed faster =/ i want to see what happens with the round!

[Sekkle]

From the Oregonian...

Developer dreams big for Beaverton's Westgate Theatre site
Renewal - A proposal for the Westgate Theatre site comes with money strings attached
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
DAVID R. ANDERSON
The Oregonian

BEAVERTON -- A Seattle developer has proposed a $121 million mixed-use development for the former Westgate Theatre site that includes a 17-story office building/parking garage.

Urban Renaissance Group officials said the Westgate project would help make Beaverton to Portland what Bellevue is to Seattle -- an urban-style downtown for the suburbs.

But like a suitor who promises his would-be bride a big diamond ring after the wedding, Urban Renaissance is pitching the idea with no financing for the project. The developer also says it needs extensive public subsidies, including $2 million off the $4.3 million purchase price of the property and construction of three traffic signals and eight road projects.

That could be a leap of faith for the city of Beaverton and Metro, the regional government, which have seen the adjacent Round at Beaverton Central struggle over the past decade. City officials have said the most crucial piece of the project was a strong financing package.

Urban Renaissance had asked for two delays to find a replacement for its original financing partner, CDK Partners of Phoenix, Ariz.

The developer has interest from potential investors, said Patrick Callahan, chief executive of Urban Renaissance. He declined to go into specifics.

Urban Renaissance has learned from the mistakes at the Round and has made a proposal that is both profitable and demanded by the market, Callahan said.

"This is not going to be easy," Callahan said. "It's just an ambitious plan."

It's not unusual that developers of large projects wouldn't have a specific financing partner at this stage, said Phil Whitmore, manager of Metro's Transit-Oriented Development Centers Program. And it's also reasonable that they would ask for monetary concessions.

"These are good people who are capable of doing a project," Whitmore said. "But they have to make the case to us."

The city and Metro purchased the 4.6-acre property in 2005 for $4.9 million. The city has used some of the land for roadways and improvements, reducing the value of the vacant land to $4.3 million.

Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake said he would withhold judgment on the overall proposal until more analysis is done. Because of the slumping real estate market and little interest from other developers, Drake said he is willing to be patient.

"I don't think it costs us anything to give them some time to see if it bears fruit," Drake said.

Urban Renaissance is scheduled to give a formal presentation to the council April 21.

To improve access, Urban Renaissance is asking the city to extend some streets, including Crescent Street and Rose Biggi Avenue, through the site. The developer also wants a new intersection at Cedar Hills Boulevard at Dawson Way and Westgate Drive, which would become the main entrance to the development.

The proposal from Urban Renaissance would also require changes to buildings yet to be finished at the Round. That would include limiting a future building next to the light-rail tracks to a single floor to allow views from the Westgate of the rail stop, public plaza and Mount Hood.

The Urban Renaissance project would consist of two buildings. The centerpiece would have 10 stories of offices above seven stories of parking.
A second five-story building along the MAX light rail would have 144 units of market-rate apartments.

The developer has planned a total of 57,000 square feet of retail stores on the first floors of the two buildings.

Drake said the project's appearance meets the city's goals for reinvigorating its downtown.

"I think they have the right feel for the site," Drake said.

David R. Anderson: 503-294-5199; davidanderson@ news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/o...320.xml&coll=7

[NJD]

If Beaverton had the basic infrastructure of a decent street system (street grid like Portland, Seattle or Bellevue) I think the city's location could become a major center especially with the amount of surface parking lots available to redevelop, but the horrible mess of misaligned and non-thruway streets, the conglomeration of mismatched suburban development, two curving 5 lane highways, and the freight RR trackway location make the area very confusing for non-locals. They could, however, use that to their advantage and create a truly pedestrian friendly, non-auto centric development center and surprise us all, but I doubt it.

Regardless of my cynicism, I'd love this project to go through.

[Sekkle]

Originally Posted by NJD

They could, however, use that to their advantage and create a truly pedestrian friendly, non-auto centric development center and surprise us all, but I doubt it.

They're not off to a great start if this goes through as planned... 7 stories of parking for 10 floors of offices, all less than 500' from a MAX stop.

[Aya Murase]

Another bad start = the developer selected Group Mackenzie for architecture.

[alexjon]

I love Beaverton, but... wow.

They should give up on the north end and the town center and work from Broadway south into the prettier part by the library.

[pdxf]

They should put this 17 story office tower in downtown portland instead. I have mixed feelings on creating these "lesser" high rise downtowns. It just seems like they would have a greater affect if they were located together with the rest of the high rise development, both in terms of aesthetics and sustainability. The lesser cities seem to suck away the life and water-down the urbanity of the main core.

[alexjon]

Beaverton is its own town, however, and as such, we should nurture it in some way. Giving it an anchor and foundation will allow it to become a proper suburb, and not just a springboard to more sprawl.

And 17 stories in Portland is a drop in the bucket. They need an iconic tower soon!

[MarkDaMan]

^I agree...not only do they need an iconic tower to kick start a high density high rise area, they need to develop an urban renewal district. Downtown Beaverton sucks and is ugly...time to use the tools available to them!