Central Eastside News

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Kitty-corner to the church "park" is the abandoned high school that literally sits on 4 blocks. I'd much rather see that space enhanced and preserved.

Agreed.

Though isn't that school already destined to be renovated/converted for some other use?

[Derek]

Yeah, it's SUPPOSED to. Who knows when anything will happen with it though...

[Mr. Walch]

Venerable is working on it. They have a blurb about it on their website here. I don't know the exact status but some people I go to school with worked for Venerable this winter documenting the existing conditions and creating CAD drawing for it. They also just got it listed as a historic building which open up some funding options. Hopefully it will move forward soon, though I imagine projects like this are slow moving.

[bvpcvm]

OMSI pencils in ideas for eastside site

New TriMet bridge could be a vital link to 'job magnet' area

Twenty-one years ago, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry relocated from bustling Washington Park to a gritty, hard-to-reach pocket of Portland’s inner-eastside industrial area.

Now OMSI sits in the midst of a booming district it helped spawn, and it’s hoping to cash in.

The museum is commissioning a six-month study by ZGF Architects to prepare an OMSI District Plan. That will chart future growth of the museum plus commercial development of six vacant acres to the south that OMSI purchased in 2005. The surplus property combines rare waterfront footage next to a planned MAX stop and the new Portland Streetcar line — a future two-minute hop by transit to downtown and Portland State University.

more details...

[urbanlife]

I love it, it would be awesome for there to be an OMSI district. I can't wait to see what ZGF comes up with.

[mcbaby]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I love it, it would be awesome for there to be an OMSI district. I can't wait to see what ZGF comes up with.

Totally Awesome!

[JG573]

Another building planned for Central Eastside in a great location at grand and burnside. 8 stories and 138 units. With all the projects I have seen be purposed so far and the burnside bridge project there has to be in the range of 600-700 residential units planned in that area. I expect to see more.


http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...47126&a=455456

[MarkDaMan]

^That an old car dealership lot. I wouldn't mind seeing that go, no not at all.

[RainDog]

I had noticed that the cars had been cleared out of there for a while. Was hoping for something like this. Would be nice to see some renderings.

[iadoregon]

Anyone know what they are planning to do with the triangle between E Burnside and Couch at the bridgehead now that they have removed the plywood art pieces?

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

^That an old car dealership lot. I wouldn't mind seeing that go, no not at all.

Originally Posted by RainDog

I had noticed that the cars had been cleared out of there for a while. Was hoping for something like this. Would be nice to see some renderings.

Funny, I was thinking that exact same thing when I was in Portland in April. It is good to see that site get redeveloped into something that will be much more beneficial. I really can't wait to see Inner East Burnside develop into its own dense urban district.

[downtownpdx]

Business building spaces for others in East Portland area

POSTED: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at 12:14 PM PT
BY: Lee Fehrenbacher Daily Journal of Commerce - Oregon
12:14 pm Wed, August 7, 2013

Stark’s Vacuums is planning a major renovation of its 91-year-old, 10,000-square-foot warehouse at 107 N.E. Grand Ave. The Stark family will continue to operate its store in a connected building on the block’s southeast corner, where it has since 1932. But by creating space for up to eight additional tenants, the company is hoping to better cater to an area poised for growth.


“It’s all starting to happen, really,” said Jim Meakin of Meakin-Waxman Co., the owner’s representative for the project. “It’s a dynamic neighborhood so close to downtown, and it’s also starting to have a really nice residential component.”


A block south, at the Burnside bridgehead, approximately 300 residential apartment units and substantial new office and retail space are in the works. A block east of the Stark’s warehouse, Fowler Andrews LLC is planning a sequel to its Central Eastside Lofts, and a few blocks east of that HFO Investment Real Estate is planning a 63-unit, mixed-use development.

Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2013/08/07...#ixzz2bKiGJQEm .... (No paywall!)

[tworivers]

That warehouse renovation is really exciting. There is so much potential in that immediate area, the sky's the limit.

Are those other projects mentioned things we already know about?

What/where are the Central Eastside Lofts?

[tworivers]

Brokerage firm’s partners venturing into development
POSTED: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 01:31 PM PT
BY: Lee Fehrenbacher, DJC


Partners in HFO Investment Real Estate, which specializes exclusively in brokering multifamily properties, are making their first foray into development.

The partners are joining a group of private investor clients to develop a new, six-story, 63-unit apartment building at 30 S.E. 10th Ave. The Lower Burnside Lofts are expected to cost approximately $10 million.

HFO originally intended to occupy the existing single-story office building at the site. However, because the metro area’s apartment market has the nation’s lowest vacancy rate and strong rental rate growth, a higher and better use became attractive.

...

The team hired Vallaster Corl Architects PC to design the project. Early concepts envision parking for 17 vehicles (with the possibility of more via a mechanized system if the budget allows), 1.5 bike parking spaces per unit, wooden storefronts and large, sliding glass doors. Approximately 2,700 square feet of retail space is planned for the ground floor. A cantilevered facade also is a possibility.

A design advice request meeting for the project is scheduled for mid-September.

DJC article here (another one with no paywall!)

[zilfondel]

Last article was great - interesting tidbit here:

By HFO’s count, 15,327 apartment units are in the pipeline (6,119 under construction and 9,208 planned) in the Portland market. Also, 6,963 prospective units are on the horizon. O’Brien said delivery is likely for units under construction and in the permitting stage, but less so for the others. However, apartment construction was anemic in the mid-2000s, and the market has room to grow, he said.

15,000+ units in the pipeline is just insane. Give Seattle a run for their money...

Also:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Portland-Vancouver, Wash.-Beaverton metropolitan statistical area now has the lowest vacancy rate in the nation – 2.1 percent – among the top 75 MSAs.

Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2013/08/06...#ixzz2bMgrBhYb

[Shilo Rune 96]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

15,000+ units in the pipeline is just insane. Give Seattle a run for their money...

Does anyone think they're overpopulating yet? Keeping in mind most of these units are small, for singles or couples.

[2oh1]

Is 15,000 really insane when considering how much Portland's population has increased in the last 10 years alone? I'm not so sure. The real question is, how many of those 15,000 future apartments are strictly targeting the luxury market?

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Is 15,000 really insane when considering how much Portland's population has increased in the last 10 years alone? I'm not so sure. The real question is, how many of those 15,000 future apartments are strictly targeting the luxury market?

That is my biggest concern, I love seeing all these new units popping up everywhere but I am worried they are mostly luxury.

[maccoinnich]

New construction trends towards the high end of the market, simply because construction is expensive. Granite countertops and hardwood floors are a small part of the construction cost when compared with land acquisition, excavation, framing, rough plumbing and electrical, etc, etc. All of these costs pretty much the same whether you're working at the high or the low end of the market.

This isn't really a problem though. Today's high-end apartment will be mid-market apartments in 30 years time, and in the interim they are soaking up the demand at the high end, which might otherwise be pushing up rents at the middle.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

This isn't really a problem though. Today's high-end apartment will be mid-market apartments in 30 years time, and in the interim they are soaking up the demand at the high end, which might otherwise be pushing up rents at the middle.

I know that theory often holds true in typical neighborhoods, but the theory ignores the competitive nature of a place like downtown Portland. Look at Southpark at SW Park & Market or The Essex House on 3rd & Columbia, both of which were built in the late 80s, early 90s. 20+ years later, those rents haven't come down at all. Museum Place at 11th & Jefferson is 10 years old and rents are higher than when it opened. Or what about the three towers that were Portland Center? 30 years in, rents had come down, but the buildings were sold. Two flipped condo and the remaining apartment building was rehabbed, pushing rents back up.

That's what's really happening. And it's going to continue. And it is a problem. Long term residents of inner SE are going to be priced out and pushed out. And, by 'out,' I mean out of the entire neighborhood.