South Waterfront News

[bvpcvm]

wow, great news! for reference, this is just south of the alexan, right between it and the matisse. nice to see some variety in height.

[bvpcvm]

on second thought... this thing will have garage doors facing bond and moody. retail will face the cross-streets. not thrilled with that.

[MarkDaMan]

duh, read slower Mark.

[MarkDaMan]

Garage doors need to be reduced to two, but despite design, any new construction is welcomed to get suffering people back to work.

[pdxtraveler]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Garage doors need to be reduced to two, but despite design, any new construction is welcomed to get suffering people back to work.

Oh, I just read more closely. The reason for the extra doors is that the north side is residential. The south half of the block is a self storage area. That is why there are so many driveways. I didn't notice that yesterday.

[65MAX]

Also looking more closely.... the rendering "from Moody" is mislabeled. It's actually the view from Bond. The tower is on the north half of the block, on the pedestrian way.

[cronked]

Yea, it looks like they should swap Abernathy with Moody. There is no need for the fitness room to be on Moody. A retail space would be much more valuable there. It doesn't look like they can move the ramps to a side street without a major redesign. Hopefully they address these issues during the approval process.

On another note, South Waterfront is getting a Subway, as in Subway sandwiches! Also rumored is a pastry (bakery?) shop and a clothing retailer. With all the buildings at 95%+ occupancy (except for Atwater Place which is at 70% last I heard), I think more retailers would do well down here. I know Soho (formerly Le Hana) is busy almost every night now. It is going to be a busy summer down here!

[MarkDaMan]

OHSU expands life science building
Portland Business Journal
Date: Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 5:28pm PDT

Oregon Health & Science University has approved adding more research space for a new “life sciences” building slated for Portland’s South Waterfront.

The building, a collaboration between OHSU and the Oregon University System, will now feature a “vibration-free” research space for OHSU’s new Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine, as well as infrastructure for a second, future wing. OHSU will foot the extra $30 million for the 400,000-square-foot project.

The strategy will boost the cost of the project to $190 million.

OHSU’s board approved the expenditure at a Tuesday afternoon meeting.

The additional 20,000-square-feet of research space will go toward the center directed by Joe Gray, a renowned cancer and genomic researcher recruited to OHSU from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Gray is known as a top breast cancer researcher and plays a key role in the university’s Cancer Genome Atlas Project.

The Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine will assemble several scientific disciplines to study how cancer cells grow. The efforts will include OHSU in the fields of cancer, neuroscience, infectious disease and cardiology. Portland State University investigators will provide insight in the fields of physics, nanotechnology and quantitative analysis.

OHSU’s board further approved a platform that could eventually allow a second addition “when adequate funding has been found,” according to a university release. While the addition is still in the planning phases, it could include space to relocate OHSU’s School of Dentistry’s clinical facilities as well as laboratory space, as the school’s research base grows over the next five to seven years.

The life sciences building will serve as a centerpiece of OHSU’s Schnitzer Campus. The project was made possible by an anonymous $40 million donation OHSU received to expand medical education.

The building’s original $160 million cost is being financed by the $40 million anonymous donation, $10 million from TriMet and $110 million in state of Oregon bonds.

Including the $30 million it will apply toward the bonds, OHSU’s total for the project is $100 million.

OHSU and the Oregon University System will co-own the life sciences building.

“As excited as we are about the life sciences building, it’s really only the beginning for the Schnitzer Campus,” said Dr. Joe Robertson, OHSU’s president, in a statement. “Despite the recession, the continued growth of our research and education missions has made it imperative to continue to plan for ongoing growth to meet the needs of Oregonians. However, as has always been true for the Schnitzer Campus, we will not build until we identify necessary funding.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...-building.html

[MarkDaMan]

The Oregonian's take, adding some additional detail.

OHSU OKs expanding on South Waterfront project
Published: Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 9:39 PM Updated: Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 10:22 PM
Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian By Ted Sickinger,

The Oregon University System hasn't turned the dirt or even issued the bonds to pay for the $160 million collaborative life sciences building that it plans for Portland's South Waterfront.

But the tenant in chief, Oregon Health & Science University, is already looking to expand the structure and build a parking garage that would serve as the foundation for a second research and clinical tower.

At its regular meeting today, the OHSU board tentatively approved spending an additional $20 million to add 20,000 square feet of research space to the life sciences building, a collaborative effort among OHSU, Portland State University, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The additional lab space would be funded solely by OHSU and would house the Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine.

The Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine is directed by Joe Gray, a cancer and genomic researcher recently recruited to OHSU from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Gray co-leads a team that is researching the use of computer models to predict how targeted therapies will work in attacking cancer cells. His lab requires vibration-free research space, making the basement of the life sciences building ideal, the university said.

The lab would displace parking in the original building, however. Parking has long been a critical concern at OHSU in general and on the South Waterfront in particular.

OHSU's board also approved spending an additional $10 million for parking and the foundation of a second building on the Willamette Riverfront.

The university says that building would meet its future needs for research space and would house clinical and administrative space for the dental school, depending on OHSU's success in raising $30 million in gifts. OHSU planners say adding the parking and platform for the building now will save money in the long run.

"As excited as we are about the life sciences building, it's really only the beginning for the Schnitzer Campus," OHSU President Joe Robertson said in a news release. "Despite the recession, the continued growth of our research and education missions has made it imperative to continue to plan for ongoing growth."

University officials stress that they won't start project until they identify the necessary funding. Interim Provost David Robinson said today that the university had adequate debt capacity to issue an additional $30 million in bonds to fund the expansion of the first building and the infrastructure for the second, in part because OHSU's credit rating recently was upgraded.

Plans call for starting construction on the life sciences building late this year or early next year, pending the issuance of $110 million in bonds by the state of Oregon next month. OHSU will service $30 million of those bonds and provide an additional $40 million in cash that it received from an anonymous donor.

The balance of the original $160 million project will be provided by TriMet, which will operate a light-rail line that will cross the river from the South Waterfront.

The board's approval is conditioned upon an agreement with the Oregon University System concerning OHSU's ownership and occupancy of the expanded project space. It is also contingent on a more detailed financial plan.

"We would like to move forward with this," Robinson said. "We have the capacity to fund another $30 million in debt. ... We will go back to the board with a more detailed funding proposal for how we will put this together."

-- Ted Sickinger

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/i..._south_wa.html

[Shilo Rune 96]

Here's a few shots from the OHSU CHH 16th floor, showing what is possibly preparation of the new transit bridge & Moody project. The photos don't show this, but the temporary streetcar track is nearly completed. They just need to connect the tracks to the current ones spanning the rest of the routes.

[PacificNW]

It will be good once this project actually starts construction..

[bvpcvm]

the construction is probably the moody street project, isn't it?

[Shilo Rune 96]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

the construction is probably the moody street project, isn't it?

I don't know but that large trailer next to the OHSU parking lot is new. The Moody people already have trailers near Riverplace and the tram. That trailer could be for the bridge people? I'm just speculating... And they've been hauling gravel in for that pad for months now.

[zilfondel]

This is the new Moody St. project.

http://swmoodyproject.com/

Apparently they are going to build a temporary streetcar track, then the new street, and rip out the temp one.

http://swmoodyproject.com/wp-content...dy_overall.pdf

Plans are here: http://swmoodyproject.com/concept-plans/

[VONzipper]

Originally Posted by PacificNW

It will be good once this project actually starts construction..

Speaking of construction, JE Dunn was selected as the CM/GC

[MarkDaMan]

Portland will break ground on affordable housing project in South Waterfront
Published: Monday, April 25, 2011, 2:26 PM Updated: Monday, April 25, 2011, 2:36 PM
Brad Schmidt, The Oregonian

Groundbreaking for the first affordable housing project in Portland’s high-rise South Waterfront district begins Tuesday, with completion targeted for November 2012 -- nearly six years behind schedule.

The $50.5 million project will feature 209 apartments, 42 of them for veterans. Public investments will cover nearly $29 million of the project cost, an upfront contribution that will subsidize expenses for renters.

“This is the project that no one thought we could pull off,” said city Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau.

Affordable housing had been promised as part of the transformation within the North Macadam urban renewal district, where riverfront industrial land gave way to 30-story condominium towers. Under the development deal, the first affordable apartment building was supposed to be built by December 2006.

But the city’s urban renewal agency didn’t purchase land for the affordable housing complex, known as Block 49, until that year. The ensuing housing collapse then froze lending and halted would-be investors.

Having already invested $5 million in the property and almost $2 million in design, the city moved forward last year with a revamped plan. The units will be managed by Reach Community Development, which will also purchase 12,000 square feet for headquarters in the ground floor of the six-story building.

Federal subsidies largely will cover rent for the 42 units open to veterans who earn less than $15,000 a year. The remaining apartments will fetch rents of about $575 for one-bedroom units. To qualify for those, single tenants must earn less than $25,000 a year.

-- Brad Schmidt

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...ound_on_1.html

[65MAX]

Just FYI... Block 49 is the block immediately south of the Streetcar turnaround (Lowell) and the Matisse

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Portland will break ground on affordable housing project in South Waterfront
Published: Monday, April 25, 2011, 2:26 PM Updated: Monday, April 25, 2011, 2:36 PM
Brad Schmidt, The Oregonian

Groundbreaking for the first affordable housing project in Portland’s high-rise South Waterfront district begins Tuesday, with completion targeted for November 2012 -- nearly six years behind schedule.

The $50.5 million project will feature 209 apartments, 42 of them for veterans. Public investments will cover nearly $29 million of the project cost, an upfront contribution that will subsidize expenses for renters.

“This is the project that no one thought we could pull off,” said city Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau.

Affordable housing had been promised as part of the transformation within the North Macadam urban renewal district, where riverfront industrial land gave way to 30-story condominium towers. Under the development deal, the first affordable apartment building was supposed to be built by December 2006.

But the city’s urban renewal agency didn’t purchase land for the affordable housing complex, known as Block 49, until that year. The ensuing housing collapse then froze lending and halted would-be investors.

Having already invested $5 million in the property and almost $2 million in design, the city moved forward last year with a revamped plan. The units will be managed by Reach Community Development, which will also purchase 12,000 square feet for headquarters in the ground floor of the six-story building.

Federal subsidies largely will cover rent for the 42 units open to veterans who earn less than $15,000 a year. The remaining apartments will fetch rents of about $575 for one-bedroom units. To qualify for those, single tenants must earn less than $25,000 a year.

-- Brad Schmidt

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...ound_on_1.html

[maccoinnich]

How are the blocks numbered in Portland? ie South Waterfront block 49, Park Block 5, etc?

[65MAX]

Blocks are numbered (or lettered) when they're first platted. The blocks in SoWa are new and were just recently laid out along with the Schnitzer and Zidell properties with the numbers starting at the north end, then increasing as you go south to Bancroft.

The South Park Blocks were laid out in the 1850's with the rest of what is now downtown Portland. They're numbered 1 through 14 starting at Stark St and ending at Montgomery St. PB5 happens to be the fifth block in the series. O'Bryant Square is Park Block 1.

[maccoinnich]

Thanks. Is there are a map of this somewhere? I tried poking around portlandmaps, but couldn't find anything (not that it's not there; that site has almost too much information.)