Pearl District News

[pdxstreetcar]

this should really help that area

[PacificNW]

And the Drag Queens from the Embers from across the street.....they will only add to the festivities of lst Thursday Events!

[pdxstreetcar]

I never knew about this until just now when I was searching the internet on the Pearl District but there is a church in the Pearl (actually it is inside the Ecotrust building) designed for urbanites.

Pearl Church
www.pearlchurch.org
"Church for an Urban Community"
2nd floor of the Ecotrust Building

The Pearl Church is a non-denominational, Christian church providing a spiritual home for those who live in and identify with the heart of Portland.

Developed with a view toward urban sensibilities, the worship draws from an eclectic source of historic as well as contemporary spiritual modalities while retaining a solidly evangelical and orthodox commitment. Our desire is to create space and provide cause for people to truly worship by encouraging a love for God and for others.

[pdxstreetcar]

"The next park next park [after the long proposed 2.5 block neighborhood park] to be built after that is the recently acquired block across from the post office (what will become the northern most north park block). It is currently a parking lot for the federal building."

"You may have heard that Davis is going to be altered as part of the Armory renovation…one lane will be taken out and turned into a sliver park. The street will also become a festival street, which will allow it to be closed to traffic and used for special events."

-from the Pearl Blog regarding a recent PDNA meeting: http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/pearlblog/

[MarkDaMan]

new Encore rendering

[MarkDaMan]

and more Encore pics

[MarkDaMan]

local architectural critic Brian Libby at Portland Architecture has a good writeup on the Croning Block
http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/
...here are the renderings he posted

[SKgottime]

A boutique hotel is wrong for the Custom House. The floor heights are too large, which means they'll probably have to chop it up inside to fit more room floors, destroying the integrity of the large windows. Plus the buildings strong civic pressence is wasted on a private, for-profit, use.

This building should have been the UofO's Portland campus. It has the civic presence of a university building.

(I wonder if Jack Abramoff's connections in the GSA had any infuence on this unfortunate decision.)

[MarkDaMan]

A boutique hotel is wrong for the Custom House. The floor heights are too large, which means they'll probably have to chop it up inside to fit more room floors, destroying the integrity of the large windows. Plus the buildings strong civic pressence is wasted on a private, for-profit, use.

This building should have been the UofO's Portland campus. It has the civic presence of a university building.

(I wonder if Jack Abramoff's connections in the GSA had any infuence on this unfortunate decision.)

I have to disagree. I think that a boutique hotel is perfect for that location. I think having a national chain is a poor choice. I would like to have seen some local ownership as I believe they would have preserved the interior of the building...something like the McMenamins. Although I haven't heard for sure that they would be ripping up the inside, so I guess we have to wait and see. Although the wait has been some time and I wonder if the plans are still a go.

As for UofO, Old Town, especially that area of Old Town, greatly needed the boost it will get. It makes sense for UofO to be located on the MAX line also.

[pdxstreetcar]

i think a hotel would preserve the interior more than an architecture school. if the details and ornament are already in the interior, one would assume the hotel would want to preserve as much as possible since it sets the place apart from the rest and becomes a major selling point for the hotel. likely the first thing an architecture school would do to the space would be to "deconstruct" the existing interior and add all kinds of random useless and wierd-looking objects for contrast.

[SKgottime]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

I have to disagree. I think that a boutique hotel is perfect for that location...

It's not the location that I have a problem with (a hotel anywhere on the N park blocks would be a good idea), it's the proposed use for that particular building. That building, through its architectural language, its symmetry, its setbacks from the property-lines, its generous open space (the courtyard facing the park blocks), and its neo-classical detailing speaks civic institution to me. That message, that meaning, will be lost on a for-profit enterprise, be it a boutique hotel or brewpub. It's that loss that I lament. The UofO, a library, a community center, even a church of scientology would preserve that meaning.

When are we as a society going to recognize the value of our civic art and quit selling it off to the highest bidder? Why should I have to feel obligated to pay to enjoy it? Or, why should our children be forced to attend school in some gleaming modernist, piece of crap, double-wide bungalow, while McMennemins is flipping burgers in a humane, civic and sensitive environment like the Kennedy school?

Cheers!

[MarkDaMan]

historic properties are being torn down across the country, even here in Portland. It took almost an act of God to get that church to save the Ladd Carriage House, yet they are still taking down the beautiful historic apartment complex. Seattle is losing a magnificent church in their downtown, a building that stuck in my memory last time I visited, before demolition plans were public. Think if the Portland Hotel was saved, be it in a different use than a hotel. I'd rather have the building and the beautiful architecture be it public or private, than not have anything at all.

If a boutique and brewpub can open the place to the public, be it for a fee, I'd rather have it saved and preserved than destroyed for another boring tower. That's really what it comes down too. The building is too large for a branch library, a community center isn't a bad idea but there isn't free funds, and like hell a 'church of scientology' would make me it more open than a boutique hotel with a public restaurant.

Also, I don't see why you think McMenamins Kennedy School is some hamburger flipping joint. I am extremely happy they saved the school from a row house development. I think the theater is fantastic, being that every seat is a different old couch. The food is not hamburger fare, and the bed and breakfast is cheap and inviting to guests that I bring from out of town.

Back to the Customs House...how many times when it was used by the government did you go in and visit it? With the big gates that surround the courtyard always locked, and an official title on the sign, it was hardly inviting. Every city I visit I walk into historic hotels to see the beauty of their lobbies, restaurants, views, etc...I don't see a school or church being as open, nor would they preserve the space, such as a private venture buying a building because of the charm, not to rid the lot of the historic touches.

[edgepdx]

I have to agree that the hotel is probably the best use. A community center would be nice, but it's probably too big a building for that. A school would be really closed off to the public. In addition I think a hotel could be a sucess since the Pearl doesn't have any hotels and most residents don't have a lot of guest space.

[zilfondel]

The fact is, cities grow - spaces outlive their purposes as institutions and people need more space. The custom house - the former home of the immigration service - doesn't really have much history, like Ellis Island in NYC does... it's just a cookie-cutter 1920's era concrete neoclassical federal building type. Should it be preserved? I think it has a pretty lousy connection to the street, the parking lot, loading bays, lack of any vegetation around it, and the fact it is all gray.

Hopefully a hotel will make it look a little more inviting for people - because teh former use of it did not want it to be - it was a place that deported people AWAY from the country! Now it will be accepting people to Portland. Quite a difference, eh?

[PDX City-State]

I can´t think of a better use. Portland will get its first really nice hotel north of Burnside, the public will get to enjoy the historic buidling, and the public won´t have to pay a cent.

I live in a neighborhood in Madrid called Lavapies. According to the locals, it´s ¨el barrio mas castizo de Madrid.¨ This is how Madrileños refer to something that is traditionally, well, Madrid. Unlike other close-in barrios (We are five minutes from Puerta Del Sol--Spain´s Times Square), Lavapies is a gritty and very Spanish maze of winding streets laid out on a hillside--with a nice collection of buildings built mainly in the 1700s. Some of the oldest buildings, built in the 1600s and a few in the 1500s, have been been under constant renovation by the city--which has received an ungodly amount of money from the EU for urban renewal. The city has been buying a lot of these buildings, evicting the businesses and residents, and turning them into community centers and other public buildings. Perhaps my favourite neighborhood bar, La Taberna De Lavapies, is being shut down by the city and turned into some kind of public building. In my opinion, this is a travesty. Not only does the neighborhood lose a few businesses, the city will eventually have to pay for the upkeep of all these buildings it has acquired. In many cases, and I say this as a former appraiser of commercial real estate, this is the worst option. I would rather have Marriot paying to refurbish buildings than taxpayers.

[cab]

So Pdx Citystate, when do we get to see pictures of Madrid?

[PDX City-State]

So Pdx Citystate, when do we get to see pictures of Madrid?

I aim to post a thread in the next few weeks. I have never done it before. How does one post?

Development in Madrid is interesting. It´s one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, and one local told me there are more cranes in the skyline of Madrid than any city in Europe. I certainly believe it. Low interest rates have created a somewhat artificial demand on this side of the Atlantic as well.

Anyways, a lot of the new buildings look the same and the development for the most part is pretty homogenous, but I would definitely say that the built environment here is in much better shape than in the USA. They are building some monstrous towers in the North of the city by big name architects--Sir Norman Foster being one of them. Still, Madrid won´t have the tallest building in Spain. Valencia is planning one by Calatrava that will stand taller than 1000 feet. If you ever want to see a total architectural wet dream, go to Valencia. It´s unbelievable. For great planning, Bilbao is fantastic--somewhat Portland-like. It´s small, walkable, and has a great mix of old an new. And they have nearly the same streetcars as PDX. Enough rambling--I promise to post a Madrid thread during the next two weeks.

[MarkDaMan]

new tower to begin construction next month...

W&K Development on its way up in Pearl
by Libby Tucker
06/26/2006

With its first mixed use project in Northwest Portland complete, W&K Development is moving on to bigger and better things in the Pearl District.

General contractor Gray Purcell Inc. completed construction on the $3.2 million Thurman Street Lofts last week. The five-story mixed-use building includes 16 loft condominiums and 500 square feet of ground-floor retail space at 2538 N.W. Thurman St.

"They've hit it right out of the ballpark," said Mike Purcell, president of Gray Purcell. "The building's modern 'daredevil' design is distinctive, but it somehow blends into the historic neighborhood and adds a lot of character to it, too."

W&K Development partners Patrick H. Kessi and Geoff Wenker have now moved on to bigger projects.

Andersen Construction will begin work next month on W&K's 16-story, 937 Glisan condominium building at Northwest Glisan Street between Ninth and 10th avenues in the Pearl District.

"It's a big step for us, but we're really confident," it will be successful, said Kessi.

The building's 114 units, which are expected to be completed in July of 2008, are not yet being pre-sold.

http://www.djc-or.com/viewStory.cfm?...27417&userID=1

[Dougall5505]

cool great pictures i was going to go take some pics of this area today but it looks like you have it covered

[pdxstreetcar]

it appears the pearl is getting more kid friendly...

a toy store is opening in the streetcar lofts (i think its called 'leap frog toys')

a coffee shop in park place is opening called 'sip & kranz' where mom sips an expresso while the little ones color in the special kids section



in addition hoyt street's master plan model shows just in rough massing a 1/4 block tower (full block base) on the block north of tanner springs park, the height looks to be several floors taller than the metropolitan perhaps around 22 maybe slightly taller. dont know whether this is merely a generic placeholder for the model or if it reflects at least vaguely the plan for the block. the tower portion of this massing model building is however positioned on the west side of the block most likely to not obstruct the metropolitan tower on the east side of its block. there are other massing model buildings and a detailed model of 'the encore' has been added also to this neighborhood model.