Central Eastside News

[Okstate]

^Ok, so this is what I misread. I didn't know there was an issue with the Catholic school.

City Council members voted unanimously to begin early engineering work to convert Burnside and neighboring Northwest Couch streets into one-way streets from Second Avenue to just east of Interstate 405. Traffic would head east on Burnside and west on Couch. A streetcar would run from the Burnside Bridge to Northwest 24th Avenue, although city leaders haven't decided how long the new line will stay on Couch. It could eventually extend over the river all the way to Hollywood.

[tworivers]

Besides, Catholic schools need to be more concerned with what's going on INSIDE their walls, that's far more dangerous to children than what's going on in the outside world.

As someone who had more than enough Catholic schooling as a child... well said!

I was at an early couplet meeting where I was shocked by how much of an abrasive a**hole the school's representative was when challenging Adams. Bad, uncivil behavior for a public forum. And their argument is BS on top of that.

[65MAX]

^^
The streetcar will go all the way to 24th, but it has to use Burnside both directions from 19th-24th since Couch ends at 19th.

^
The Catholic School has been a pain in the ass since this couplet was first proposed. They've been abusing the "child safety" argument when they have no evidence that there would be ANY danger to their students whatsoever from a Burnside/Couch couplet. Frankly, I think the kids are safer outside this school than inside.

[Okstate]

^Yea, that's what I was misreading (about 24th).

I'm positive there was an artist rendering somewhere but I can't remember the proposed configuration of W Burnside downtown. There is the large median in the center & they proposed drastically expanding the sidewalks on either side. Was there to be a 2 lane one-way separated by that median?

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

^^
The streetcar will go all the way to 24th, but it has to use Burnside both directions from 19th-24th since Couch ends at 19th.

^
The Catholic School has been a pain in the ass since this couplet was first proposed. They've been abusing the "child safety" argument when they have no evidence that there would be ANY danger to their students whatsoever from a Burnside/Couch couplet. Frankly, I think the kids are safer outside this school than inside.

ok, sorry to take this further off topic, but is this plan even moving forward?

i checked portlandtransportation.com, which has two large pdf's, one for the "couplet plan", the other for the "recommended enhanced existing proposal", and neither one shows any streetcar. the drawings are detailed enough that i would it imagine they should include streetcar if there's going to be one.

also, the very fact that there's now a no-couplet proposal is worrying. and, just to top things off, one of the things that sold me on the couplet was that by having two lanes through downtown, we would have enormous sidewalks from the park blocks to the bridge (i saw drawings of this at one point). but now the couplet proposal shows parking on what were the northern two lanes. i'd like to see burnside prettified, but not 1) without streetcar and 2) adding more parking.

[65MAX]

Not really off-topic since both the couplet and the proposed Burnside streetcar both go through the Bridgehead Project, so.....

Check this document for the proposed streetcar routes, including the Burnside/Sandy alignment:

http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...46137&a=244162

Also, don't worry about the "No Couplet" option. All proposals like this have a "no-build" option included as a baseline for comparing pros and cons.

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Also, don't worry about the "No Couplet" option. All proposals like this have a "no-build" option included as a baseline for comparing pros and cons.

I hope you're correct. The language of these "no build" proposals usually makes it clear that it's not really under consideration, whereas this one sounds like it's a done deal.

[CouvScott]

http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...47126&a=303107

[crow]

oh - V3 is on the job. Go Siena part 3. (formally known as JKS, Siena).

[Okstate]

Nice they are including an arcade in keeping with the historic Burnside tradition.

[tworivers]

I love the idea of building on that parking lot, but I wonder about the level of above-ground parking facing Ankeny, both in terms of urban design and whether the city will allow the entrance/exit right onto one of the busiest bike boulevards.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by tworivers

I love the idea of building on that parking lot, but I wonder about the level of above-ground parking facing Ankeny, both in terms of urban design and whether the city will allow the entrance/exit right onto one of the busiest bike boulevards.

I agree. There has already been a very large increase in traffic on Ankeny by drivers cutting around the new 12th/Burnside/Couch intersection. I see lots of rednecks in 4x4 pickups tearing right through stop signs almost running people over daily.

A parking garage wouldn't generate through traffic at least, but it would be a rather unwelcome addition of traffic to one of THE main E-W bike boulevards in Portland. Car drivers pulling out of a garage with limited visibility is the last thing our bike boulevards need...

[bvpcvm]

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/07/14...first-project/


Burnside Bridgehead on verge of first project

by Nick Bjork
Published: July 14th, 2010

Jonathan Malsin, director of operations at Beam Development, stands in front of the Convention Plaza Building. Beam and the Portland Development Commission are creating a Disposition and Development Agreement that would allow Beam to purchase the building and develop it. (Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)

After other developers said to knock it down, one Portland development company plans to reuse a historic building and spark the long-stalled Burnside Bridgehead project.

The Convention Plaza Building, at 123 N.E. Third Ave., is the subject of a Disposition and Development Agreement between the Portland Development Commission and Beam Development. The building would be the first project to move forward in the five-block redevelopment area in Portland’s central eastside.

“We are still early in the process, but this DDA is really the initiation of phase one,” said Geraldene Moyle, senior project manager with the PDC. “Both Beam and the PDC believe Convention Plaza is ideally suited to be the catalytic project for the Burnside Bridgehead development.”
Beam’s contract with the PDC for providing strategic advice during the Burnside Bridgehead framework process included a clause that gave the company exclusive rights to develop at least 20 percent of the entire project. After deciding during the framework process that the Convention Plaza building should not be demolished, Beam targeted the 97,000-square-foot building for its portion. The Convention Plaza building and the adjacent parking lot, known as Block 68, would account for the 20 percent allotted to Beam.

“Everyone who’s looked at the Burnside Bridgehead project before us has suggested demolishing it,” said Jonathan Malsin, director of operations at Beam. “So the first thing we did in the framework process was a reuse analysis, because we wanted to see if this thing was worth restoring.
“In evaluating our options, and understanding the current state of financing, we saw potential and really didn’t want to get rid of it.”

Beam’s early plan for the building, which was constructed as a warehouse in 1924, is to house office space for creative industries, according to firm principal Brad Malsin. Ideal businesses, he said, would be involved in clean technology, software design or architecture.

“We have a waiting market for our other buildings on the eastside, so this could help accommodate those needs,” he said. The Olympic Mills Commerce Center is 98 percent occupied, while the Water Avenue and Eastbank commerce centers are both fully occupied. All three are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Beam plans to pursue the same designation for the Convention Plaza building.


This photo, taken during the Flood of 1964, shows the Convention Plaza building when it was used as a warehouse for Sears. (Photo courtesy of ODOT)

“We really like rehabilitating buildings because it gives the space more character and a more authentic feel,” Jonathan Malsin said. These types of spaces are ideal for businesses in the creative industry, but also businesses in Portland as a whole, he said.

Brad Malsin added that the building’s exterior would be restored to its original look, but the interior would have a more contemporary feel.
Beam is presently studying the building’s structural, mechanical and historical characteristics. The developer would prefer to avoid performing any seismic work on the building, but it has planned for the possibility.
“Depending on the route we decide to take with occupancy, parking and the ground-level spaces, there is a chance that some seismic work might have to be done,” Jonathan Malsin said. The firm has concluded that any necessary seismic work could be performed without damaging the building, he added.

Depending on the structural work that needs to be done, and what comes out of the DDA, Jonathan Malsin said the project could have financing secured and be ready for construction as early as the end of the year.

Through the DDA, Beam will purchase the building - appraised in 2003 at $8 million - from the PDC. Beam will look to supplement private financing with historic tax credits and new market tax credits.

Though exclusive negotiations of the DDA call for Beam to develop the Convention Plaza building, Moyle said, the rest of the developable blocks within the Burnside Bridgehead properties are fair game, she said.
The PDC on Wednesday issued a request for information from firms interested in working on any of the other developable blocks. These include portions of blocks 67, 68, 69, 75 and 76.

“We view this DDA as a great sign for the Burnside Bridgehead and the entire central eastside,” Moyle said. “It’s really exciting that we are moving ahead with this long project even during the current economic conditions.”

[tworivers]

The Works-designed concert hall proposal seems to be picking up steam. This area could end up being far more vibrant (if smaller-scaled, which is a-ok by me) than we ever could have imagined a few years ago...

http://www.architectmagazine.com/cul...atre-300b.aspx

[maccoinnich]

Interesting article about the Inner East Side... even if it tiptoes around the fact that it's clearly a profile of an area in transition.

East Side Rising

In Portland's historic industrial heartland, businesses new and old are making pom-poms, curing meats, designing clothes—and creating jobs

INSIDE FIVE-WEEK-OLD WATER AVENUE COFFEE on a recent August morning, gleaming countertops—all venerable fir reclaimed from some century-old industrial building nearby—caught the milky light from an overcast sky. Espresso machines hissed as a steady stream of walk-in customers homed in on the counter. In the street outside, two men steered a Skyjack crane above yet another new business next door: Bunk Bar, the latest venture from celebrated chef Tommy Habetz.



The low-key but enterprising scene is typical of the Central Eastside, where about 1,100 increasingly busy businesses keep more than 17,000 Portlanders employed. While the nightly news bemoans sluggish job-growth rates, stubborn unemployment, and, potentially, a long and irreversible decline, the district’s nearly 700 acres are blooming with counter-cyclical optimism.

“Throughout the recession, the Central Eastside has stayed strong,” says Trang Lam, a senior project manager for the Portland Development Commission (PDC), which has overseen the neighborhood’s Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area since 1986. “You have legacy businesses, which tend to be owner-occupied light-industrial spaces, and you have whole generations of new businesses in creative and professional fields. It’s not blue-collar or white-collar—it’s a mix of both.” (According to the PDC’s most recent stats, as the nation plummeted into recession in 2007 and 2008, the Central Eastside added about 500 jobs.)

To be sure, the district’s practical ethos seems to be the fuel of its own regeneration. “We looked at other places that would have been a much better fit for pure retail,” says Matt Milletto, co-owner of Water Avenue Coffee. “But we’re not just a retail café. We’re doing factory-style roasting and wholesale shipping, and this facility allows both sides to exist in the same space. This area has been an industrial stronghold for decades, and we’re both paying tribute to that heritage and building on it.”

...continues at Portland Monthly.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Interesting article about the Inner East Side... even if it tiptoes around the fact that it's clearly a profile of an area in transition.

Tiptoe is putting it mildly. I got seasick while reading that article as it swayed from change is bad to change is good. Change is baaaaad! “Don’t mess with it." Change is goooooood: "The Olympic Mills building probably used to have 10 warehouse guys in it during working hours. Now there are 300 people showing up to work there every day."

I was in the neighborhood on Saturday and really surprised by how much positive change its seen over the past few years. There was a glorious smell of french fries floating out the open wall of Hair Of The Dog brewpub. I haven't been there yet. I wanted to check it out, but I was with a friend who wanted more of a restaurant setting, so we wandered over to Hawthorne instead. I'll definitely be back.

[nobody]

I work in the the Olympic Mills Commerce Center (at Parliament, which was mentioned in the article). I can't speak to the future of the area and all the politics and emotions caught up in a changing neighborhood, but just in the six months that I've worked here the area has grown considerably with new businesses. It's a great neighborhood to work in, I dodge forklifts crossing the street every day on my way into the building and often get stuck for ten minutes waiting for a train to cross, but all in all there's an amazing vibe and a ton of activity in the area. I'm hopeful that it continues to grow in a way similar to how it has recently.

[Okstate]

Speaking of that area...Olympic Provisions will be relocating the majority of the processing/retail/restaurant focus to the old Carlyle building in NW Portland.

[pdxtraveler]

New infill for the new streetcar line. Looks like Central Eastside
http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...42262&a=327578

[mmeade]

Originally Posted by pdxtraveler

New infill for the new streetcar line. Looks like Central Eastside
http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...42262&a=327578

I believe that the above proposal is for this:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=167451