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  #21  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 1:45 AM
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Does anyone know the current status of the Alexan? I seem to recall that they re-applied for a tax abatement, after the initial City Council 'no', but I've heard nothing about the situation since then. Is it dead? originally they wanted to start building last November...

Also, does anyone know the status of the streetcar extension to Lowell? I remember reading somewhere awhile back that the city was waiting to hear about whether or not they were getting some sort of grant to help pay for it, and that they'd find out this month.

Lastly, is any site work underway on the Prometheus property? I'm curious when they will be getting started, and if construction is tied into the status of the streetcar at all, seeing as block 46 is at Lowell between Moody and Bond.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jul 11, 2006, 1:43 PM
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Mayor, Pamplin to discuss Ross Island transfer

Rumors swirl that 2001 deal between gravel firm’s owner and city might be in peril
By Nick Budnick

The Portland Tribune, 11.6 hours ago

L.E. Baskow / The Portland Tribune

Ross Island actually is two islands that were joined artificially in 1927. The result is 175 acres of land nearly surrounding a 106-acre lagoon.
Recent uncertainty over an agreement to hand over most of Ross Island to the city of Portland should start being clarified today.

This morning, according to his public calendar, Mayor Tom Potter is scheduled to meet with the island’s owner, Robert Pamplin Jr., at City Hall to discuss the status of Pamplin’s earlier agreement to hand over parts of the Willamette River landmark to the city.

Pamplin and his attorney, Frank Cable, recently met with Potter’s chief of staff, Nancy Hamilton, to discuss the future of the island. “We had a meeting, we talked,” Cable said. “We’re going to have a meeting next week, we’re going to talk some more and hopefully we’re going to come up with something that’s good for everybody.”

“Dr. Pamplin wanted to meet with the mayor,” said Potter spokesman John Doussard. “We don’t know what he’s going to say, so we’re going to find out.”

What’s colloquially known as Ross Island actually is two islands that were joined artificially in 1927, creating a stretch of 175 acres of land that nearly surrounds a 106-acre lagoon. One of Pamplin’s companies, Ross Island Sand & Gravel Co., mined Ross Island for 75 years.

But in January 2001, facing increasing pressure from environmental regulators, Pamplin — who also owns the Portland Tribune — agreed in a handshake deal with Mayor Vera Katz to hand over a portion of the land to the city.

At the time, Ross Island Sand & Gravel also renegotiated its restoration agreement with the state in a deal that, while appearing to save Pamplin money, also would create a more hospitable place for wildlife, including endangered chinook salmon that could use the lagoon as a pit stop.

The deal, however, has been delayed while a cleanup plan was finalized with the state Department of Environmental Quality. That deal was finished last month.

Since then, concern over the future of the agreement has been stoked by rumors at City Hall that the transaction with the city was dead.

The rumors in turn sparked a story in Willamette Week last week quoting an anonymous city official who said Pamplin was backing off from his earlier commitment by trying to hand over to the city all liability associated with the island — such as future obligations to clean up any contamination that has not yet been discovered — as well as by handing no money over to pay for future maintenance.

Asked about the earlier agreement, Kathleen Gardipee, an aide to city Commissioner Erik Sten who monitored the negotiations, told the Portland Tribune that the handshake deal did include a level of gray, but “initially we understood that there would be some negotiation on liability, and some sort of fund going forward.”

Included in that, she said, was an understanding that both sides in the deal would engage in give-and-take in order to hammer out the details. If that is no longer the agreement, she said, then “it seems something’s changed.”

Her version was echoed by conservationist Mike Houck, another participant in the negotiations, in an interview with the Tribune. He agreed that the issue of how future legal concerns would be dealt with had not been settled in the earlier negotiations.

But Houck said he felt Pamplin did agree in concept to some unspecified level of endowment to help pay for future maintenance of the island, although it probably would be less than the $500,000 that Houck had suggested.

If Pamplin’s desire is to transfer the land in phases to coordinate with the cleanup, Houck said, that would be understandable. But if there is any attempt to withdraw from the agreement to turn the land over to the city, Houck maintained that it would go to whether “Dr. Pamplin is a man of his word.”

Cable declined to discuss his understanding of the earlier agreement, or to say anything else about the topic at hand except to say the current negotiations concerned “the future of a portion of Ross Island.”

Len Bergstein, a lobbyist who formerly represented Pamplin in the negotiations but who is no longer employed by Pamplin, said his recollection was that the city had agreed in concept to a transfer of any future liability, since Pamplin already had agreed to take responsibility for all known contamination and necessary restoration measures in his reclamation agreement with the state.

Bergstein maintained that while the issue of an endowment was raised by Houck and the city, “As with any negotiation, we never said flat-out no, and we never said flat-out yes.”

As for statements to the contrary, “I’m flabbergasted — that really is a rewriting of history.”

Under the earlier agreement with the city, Pamplin reportedly would retain a gravel-washing plant as well as about 25 acres on the island. And newspaper accounts substantiate that the issue of liability is nothing new. In late 2005, an Oregonian story quoted James Rue of Ross Island Sand & Gravel as saying, “Clearly, the owner wants a release of liability, and the (city) doesn’t want to give that.”
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  #23  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2006, 3:40 PM
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Urban atoll

Thursday, July 13, 2006
By Bill Monroe
Great blue herons float in the still morning air, wings set as they sail from last night's roost to search for breakfast along the shoreline.

A red-tailed hawk glares from a tree at intruders in a boat, then resumes its search for a feathered meal.

The distant hum of traffic on busy bridges is but a subtle irritation, a reminder of just how close this silent scene -- hidden from view yet virtually at the doorstep of Portland harbor -- is to the heart of a major metropolis.

Ross Island, one of Portland's most important wildlife sanctuaries, slowly but surely is returning to normal. Or at least as normal as humans can remake it after decades of mining its once-pristine lagoon for sand and rocks to build our homes and highways.

No matter the outcome of discussions between city leaders and Ross Island Sand & Gravel Co. over the island's future as Portland's newest park, a single melody emerges from separate harmonies. The gravel company owns the island now.

The island's fish and wildlife seem once again destined for peace and quiet.

Humans, instead of hawks and herons, are about to become the observers.

"That island is principally going to be habitat for a refuge," says Mike Houck, director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute. "It's going to be intriguing how people use it. A lot of people are talking about what kind of use ought to be there."

Instead of filling in 80- and 90-foot holes in the lagoon's bottom to a uniform depth of 20 feet, plans call for a 34-acre wetland at the southern end and a few additional acres in the deeper north end over the next several years. The wetlands, Houck says, will be a key rearing area for salmon. Downriver fry and smolts from throughout the Willamette River watershed tend to linger in the lower Portland harbor for as long as a year before moving on to the Columbia River, their escalator to the Pacific Ocean.

The wetland also will attract even more shorebirds and upland species than the few now using the island's perimeter.

Houck, who helps the Audubon Society of Portland lead kayak, canoe and walking tours of the island (reached only by water), says the narrow metropolitan atoll abounds in birds, from eagles -- he recently saw a peregrine hit a bald eagle in the air near the island "just for fun" -- to warblers, thrushes, nighthawks and others.

The process of reconstructing salmon and wetland habitat will take plenty of enhancement work, both above and below the lagoon's surface, says Todd Alsbury, district fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Those plans progress on several fronts, with various state and federal agencies pitching in.

Once the wetland is built, though, salmon will almost immediately come, Alsbury says.

A 12-pound salmon explodes from the glassy water, seeming to look around before crashing back into the quiet bay to seek another aquatic freeway upriver. Its ripples barely flatten before a small tugboat chugs from the sand and gravel operation over to a moored barge.

The tug's occupants hook to the empty barge and churn a familiar wake toward the lagoon's entrance. Behind them, a pod of fuzzy goslings paddles to where the barge had moored, the birds probing the stirred-up water for morsels.

Seasonal flooding once flushed low areas on Ross Island's southern end. But they were bermed against winter runoff, and the area is now simply a large bay.

Bud Hartman of the Oregon Bass & Panfish Club says the berms cut short the annual injection of bass, panfish and smaller prey species, as well as nutrients. Now, as the lagoon is enclosed, fishing success has waned.

"A lot of the guys and gals just don't come in here anymore," he says. "No one needs to really go in there."

The island's perimeter, however, bounded on both sides by the Willamette River and its slough past Oaks Bottom, is a rich piscatorial tapestry of water and habitat for crappie, bass, passing salmon and even sturgeon.

The lagoon isn't easily reached by boat. The nearest ramp is at Willamette Park, southwest of the island, and the only entry to the lagoon is on the opposite, east, side.

Although water-skiers and scooters occasionally fracture the lagoon's calm, they more often remain in either the Willamette or the slough.

Urban Greenspaces' Houck would just as soon restrict powerboats from entering.

Randy Henry, policy planning analyst for the Oregon State Marine Board, says that although he's heard several suggestions, there's been no formal proposal for boating restrictions in the lagoon.

Such a rule change is well within the marine board's jurisdiction, but an official request must come from either the city of Portland or Multnomah County. The marine board then would open the proposal for public comment before reaching a decision. The process could take months.

"We've heard various pitches to make it a paddle-only area, or electric motors," Henry says. "It's all pretty hypothetical right now. There's a lot to consider.

"It's popular enough, and in the midst of an urban area, that we'd take a hard look. Typically we don't like to take away boating opportunity."

Houck, though, says boaters "have more and more access to the river all the time," especially in the developing South Waterfront project across from Ross Island's west shore.

"There should be someplace in the city that's safe from all that," he says, "One place where wildlife has the upper hand and humans come second."
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  #24  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2006, 7:57 PM
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The Builder's Eye: South Waterfront condos favor the Earth
Saturday, July 15, 2006
By JEFF KUECHLE
The Oregonian

In the war against pollution from stormwater runoff, the designers and builders of condominiums in the South Waterfront District have enlisted an unlikely ally: dirt.

Specifically, roof dirt -- six to eight inches of it. And gravel. And plants, such as purple spurge, wallflower and stone crop.

The concept is called an "eco-roof," and its purpose is to absorb as much stormwater as possible before it reaches the nearby Willamette River.

"Anything up to a heavy rain will be absorbed," said Kelly Saito of Gerding/Edlen, co-developer with Williams & Dame of the River Blocks at South Waterfront, a project that includes The Meriwether, John Ross and Atwater Place condominiums.

Heavy rains overflow to a downspout system that funnels to a treatment facility on the east side of the district, Saito said.

High-rise urban condominium projects might not be the first things that come to mind when people think of eco-friendly buildings.

But at The Meriwether, where move-ins began in April, eco-roofs on the condo's two towers are just the beginning of the green amenities that the building's designers have incorporated in hopes of a coveted LEED "gold" rating for environmental friendliness.

Saito, Gerding/Edlen sustainability coordinator Renee Worme, and architects Bruce Brown and Kyle Andersen of GBD Architects, recently led a tour of a just-finished unit in The Meriwether east tower, pointing out its green features.

"The doors and cabinetry have agrifiber cores, a type of fiberboard made from wheat straw or sunflower-seed shells and formaldehyde-free binder, covered with a thin veneer of hardwood," Brown said.

Other features include floors made from sustainably harvested, golden-brown merbau from Brazil. Floor-to-ceiling windows have high-performance glass that limits solar gain while admitting as much natural light as possible, cutting down on the need for electric lighting and helping to keep the units cooler in the summer.

Tread lightly

According to Andersen, the small footprint of The Meriwether -- just 9,000 square feet per tower -- helps maximize the use of natural light.

"There are only five to six units per floor, which means lots of exterior glass and exposure," he said. "There's plenty of opportunity to let natural light in."

The units also feature Energy Star appliances, ultra-high-efficiency water-source heat pumps, and low-flow faucets and showerheads. Carpeting is natural wool; all interior coatings and adhesives are low- and zero-VOC (volatile organic compounds) to maximize indoor air quality.

It all adds up to a condominium complex that is expected to use 30 percent less water and up to 35 percent less energy than the Oregon Energy Code baseline, Worme said.

The green ethos extends to The Meriwether's common areas as well. Every level features closet-sized recycling facilities. Outdoor courtyards and walkways are finished with permeable pavers to trap runoff before it enters the storm sewer system. The courtyards also are bordered with native plants and irrigated by low-flow drip systems.

The South Waterfront District is designed to be bike- and mass transit-friendly.

The Meriwether residents even receives free "green" cleaning supplies from Coastwide Laboratories.

How important is all of this to prospective buyers?

"It varies from buyer to buyer," Saito said. "You can't quantify it. But it is clear to us that it is an important factor in the decision-making process for many buyers. An important factor, but certainly not the only factor."

The enviromental sensitivity of The Meriwether was significant to Tom Noguchi and his wife, Merle, who recently decided to sell their Lake Oswego home and buy into the complex. Noguchi is a transmission system engineer for the Bonneville Power Administration.

"In my job, we're very sensitive to environmental impacts and energy conservation," he said. "The Meriwether structure and GBD's design addressed those concerns."

Noguchi said other South Waterfront amenities, including its proximity to downtown; unrivaled views of rivers, skyline and mountains; and easy access to mass transit, also figured into the couple's decision to buy a 10th-floor unit in The Meriwether's west tower.

"What we wanted was a development that had leading-edge technologies that would provide long-term value for resale," Noguchi said. "The fact that they used materials that minimize the impact to the environment was important to Merle and I. We were very impressed by what GBD did in terms of designing The Meriwether -- it made it a natural for us."

Jeff Kuechle is a Portland-area writer. He can be reached at jeffkuechle@comcast.net.
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/ind...an?adnh&coll=7
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  #25  
Old Posted Jul 19, 2006, 3:02 PM
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in a small snipet on the front page of the business section today, there was a picture and caption about a group from Qatar that is visting Portland, more specifically SoWa, to learn how to bring this kind of development there...
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  #26  
Old Posted Jul 21, 2006, 4:04 AM
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I was down there a few days ago and felt the same way about the sowa especially now that the waterfront path and sidewalks around the meriwether were open. I noticed a public hearing notice on a telephone pole next to the lower tram station about the lowell street extension, i think the hearing was in about a week.

Next in Line: Block 46

BLOCK 46, SOUTH WATERFRONT
Between Moody and Bond @ Lowell
Applicant: Jason Roberts, ANKROM MOISAN ARCHITECTS

The applicant is requesting Design Review approval for the multi-building development on Block 46 of Portland’s South Waterfront District. The proposal includes three separate mixed-use buildings with a common below grade parking garage. A 20-story condominium tower to the north containing retail, housing and parking. The two mid-rise buildings to the south are 5 story
and 7 story condominiums with retail at the ground level facing the public streets. Two levels of below grade parking provide approximately 374 private residential stalls.
A Modification is requested to reduce Parking Stall Aisle Dimensions, and an Adjustment is requested to allow Loading Access from an Access-Restricted Street (SW Bond).

Date of Hearing: August 17, 2006 at 1:30 PM
1. LU 06-137171 DZM, AD Tim Heron, 503-823-7726
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Old Posted Jul 24, 2006, 2:58 PM
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SUBJECT: Report Number 06-79
Briefing on 8th Amendment to the South Waterfront Central District Development Agreement in the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED
None
SUMMARY
The Portland Development Commission (PDC), Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), and the North Macadam Investors LLC (NMI), collectively the “DA Parties,” have negotiated an 8th Amendment to the South Waterfront Central District Development Agreement (DA) that implements the provisions of the April 11, 2006, South Waterfront Public Projects Funding Proposal (the Proposal).
A draft of the 8th Amendment terms has been reviewed by the North Macadam Urban Renewal Advisory Committee (URAC) and other interested parties. The PDC Board of Commissioners (Board) will be briefed on the final provisions of the 8th Amendment and will receive a summary of comments made by the URAC. The Chair of the URAC will be available on July 26 to provide URAC comments from its July 20, 2006 meeting.
No further Board action is required regarding the 8th Amendment to the DA. However, City Council’s approval is required and is expected to be transmitted, together with other implementing Inter-governmental Agreements (IGAs), during the month of August.
BACKGROUND
On April 11 and 12, 2006, the Board and the City Council approved the Proposal as negotiated among the DA Parties. The Proposal, attached hereto as Attachment A, was intended to provide the basis for a future 8th Amendment to the DA. On April 11, 2006, the Board authorized (Resolution No. 6348) the Executive Director to complete final negotiations of an 8th Amendment consistent with the Proposal and to execute such 8th Amendment following City Council acceptance of the same. An Amended and Restated DA incorporating the 8th Amendment is attached hereto as Attachment B. The 8th Amendment includes the following key provisions consistent with the Proposal:
• Funding for certain major projects and programs described in the DA as follows:
Board Report – Central District DA 8th Amendment
July 26, 2006 Page 2 of 3
a. Portland Tram Financing: OHSU and NMI agreed to provide $12.0 million and PDC will provide $5 million of North Macadam Urban Renewal Area (URA) funding to fully fund the aerial tram project budget. The total tram budget will increase from $40 million to $57 million with a lump sum for construction.
b. Portland Streetcar Funding: The City of Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) agreed to provide $700,000 toward the Lowell Streetcar Extension and has applied for $2.1 million from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Connect Oregon Grant Program.
c. Neighborhood Park: PDC will allocate $4 million of URA funding to the design and construction of the final permanent improvements for the Neighborhood Park.
d. South Waterfront Greenway: PDC will allocate $4 million of URA funding for design and construction of permanent improvements for the Central District Greenway. Portland Parks and Recreation (Parks) will commit $2 million of Parks system development charge proceeds from payments received from new projects in the URA. Parks will commit Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program grant proceeds if received.
e. Affordable Housing: The 8th Amendment provides for additional PDC URA funding of $18.7 million for the first 200-unit affordable housing development and acquisition of 3 to 5 affordable housing sites. NMI has been designated as the future owner/developer of affordable housing on Block 49, located at the corner of SW Bancroft and SW Moody Avenue.
f. Economic Development: The 8th Amendment provides for PDC URA funding of $3.5 million for a Bio-Science Industry Development initiative in partnership with OHSU.
g. Transportation Infrastructure Contingency: The 8th Amendment provides for PDC URA funding of $3 million in transportation infrastructure contingency to cover unanticipated shortfalls in transportation projects.
• Provisions related to the implementation of the DA as amended by the 8th Amendment are as follows:
a. Local Improvement District Financing: The City will agree to reduce the bump rate on local improvement district (LID) assessment contracts from 1.25 percent to 0.25 percent. This reduced bump rate will apply to all future assessment contracts for LIDs throughout the City and is not specific to the Tram LID.
b. LID Financing Flexibility: The City will allow financing flexibility for LID liabilities from one parcel to another within an LID, provided that the granting and receiving properties are under the same ownership and that certain underwriting standards are met.
Board Report – Central District DA 8th Amendment
July 26, 2006 Page 3 of 3
c. OHSU Taxable Development: PDC will invest additional public funds in the Phase I OHSU Parking Garage if OHSU develops taxable projects in the URA that generate Tax Increment Revenue. PDC’s investment will equal 50 percent of the Tax Increment Funds projected to be generated from such projects but in no event exceed 50 percent of OHSU’s cost of construction of the Phase 1 Parking Garage.
d. NMI Gap Payment Obligations: NMI will commit to $34.7 million additional gap payment obligations from scheduled development sufficient to support City’s tax increment financing investments.
e. Project Schedule: In connection with the 8th Amendment, Exhibit J to the DA has been revised to include adjustments to the Project Schedule to reflect the agreed upon project development timelines for the above projects and programs.
On April 11, 2006, the Board also authorized (Resolution No. 6348) the Executive Director to approve any IGAs that may be required to implement the 8th Amendment. Under the 8th Amendment, PDC’s IGAs with City of Portland Office of Management and Finance, PDOT, and Parks require amendment. PDC is currently negotiating the amendment of such IGAs. Drafts of the amended IGAs with each respective bureau are attached hereto as Attachment C.
During the course of negotiations of the final 8th Amendment provisions, a draft of the 8th Amendment terms was shared with the URAC and interested parties for discussion at the URAC’s July 20, 2006, regular meeting. The Chair of the North Macadam URAC will present the comments of the URAC to the Board as part of the briefing.
The URA budget has been adjusted to include the impact of the 8th Amendment, and a Financial Summary of the FY 2006-07 Adopted Budget and Forecast is attached hereto as Attachment D.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. South Waterfront Public Projects Funding Proposal, April 11, 2006, annotated June 21, 2006 with references to Sections in Attachment B incorporating the provisions of the South Waterfront Public Projects Funding Proposal
B. An Amended and Restated South Waterfront Central District Development Agreement incorporating the 8th Amendment
C. Draft Amended IGAs with City of Portland Office of Management and Finance, Office of Transportation and Portland Parks and Recreation.
D. Financial Summary
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  #28  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2006, 12:40 AM
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Have any of you seen this before?

http://www.pdc.us/pdf/ura/north_maca...ndout_6-06.pdf

Has a brief mention of the Zidell property and future plans for the site involving a "nationally reknowned" urban design firm. Isn't the barge operation supposed to move to the riverfront below U of P in N PDX? I thought they'd even bought land up there.
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Old Posted Aug 7, 2006, 5:49 AM
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i would bet it still will move up there and that zidell just plans to make some money in the process by putting some buildings on what they own in sowa
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  #30  
Old Posted Aug 10, 2006, 2:16 AM
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Old Posted Aug 10, 2006, 2:58 AM
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I find the shorter buildings that are part of this project to be the most interesting as the corners appear rounded.

If some of these projects are going to be stuck in the monolithic mold (slabby design), I wish they would at least get creative with different colored glass (why not mix it up with unusual colors like bright green, rose, and aqua), and perhaps different textures to the skin (ribbed for your pleasure, etc.).
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  #32  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2006, 3:01 PM
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This lady has an incredible view of the John Ross. If anyone can scan the pic from the back pages of today's inPortland, it's an awesome site!

Room with a 'whew!' -- riverfront plan is lofty
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Fred Leeson
The Oregonian

Norys Glenna lives in a strange neighborhood.

Big trucks jounce on uneven streets. Power tools whine. Clanging emanates from unfinished buildings. Dust fills the air. Temporary street closures make driving difficult. The new city park is a veritable swamp.

Glenna loves it all. "I have this incredible view," she says of her 19th-floor condominium in the Meriwether. "I have everything. It's a fabulous dream come true."

The two-tower Meriwether project is the first of several towers to open for residents in the South Waterfront Central District, where condos are springing up from former industrial land south of the Ross Island Bridge. Three other towers are under construction, and the Portland Design Commission this month approved plans for a fourth.

The planned 3,000-unit neighborhood will take several years to finish, but changes are unfolding quickly. The Portland Streetcar will expand to Southwest Gibbs Street next month, soon to be followed by the aerial tram.

A temporary riverfront esplanade has been installed along the Willamette River, and a rental storage building has been replaced by two blocks of a green -- if muddy -- public park.

A 40-year veteran of Minnesota winters, Glenna wanted milder weather as she looked for a place to retire. "I also wanted a community where urban development was well prepared," she says.

After looking over plans for the South Waterfront, she was convinced. "The urban planning seems to have taken a lot into consideration," she says. Since taking possession in July, Glenna has been impressed by Portland's friendliness -- in her neighborhood and elsewhere. "Nobody has been too busy to help," she says. "The people are alive and friendly."

The Portland Design Commission, which reviews all new buildings in the area, recently approved a three-building complex that will add 330 units on a block bounded by Southwest Moody and Bond avenues between Abernethy and Lowell streets. The tallest building will stand 20 stories; the others will have five and seven.

Plans call for a T-shaped public walkway through the new complex, including one 60-foot-wide plaza. "The more dense we get, the more important these voids are," says Mike McCulloch, the commission chairman. "Even though it's a big open field at the moment, someday we're going to cherish these public spaces."

Designed by Ankrom Moisan architects, the as-yet unnamed project "goes well beyond some other projects in the neighborhood," McCulloch adds, including a heavy concentration of ground-level retail and restaurant space.

But whether everything gets built on schedule could be affected by a downturn in the condo market. Likewise, budget issues could delay further development of the park and an ambitious riverfront greenway plan.

Glenna, for one, took note of plans for a small marina near her building and the connection of the hiking/bicycle trail to the larger Willamette Greenway. "That will make it frosting on the cake," she says.

Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946; fredleeson@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/o...800.xml&coll=7
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Old Posted Aug 31, 2006, 3:15 PM
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does anyone know where our Block 46 thread is?

From the article above, I wanted to post this:

"The Portland Design Commission, which reviews all new buildings in the area, recently approved a three-building complex that will add 330 units on a block bounded by Southwest Moody and Bond avenues between Abernethy and Lowell streets. The tallest building will stand 20 stories; the others will have five and seven.

Plans call for a T-shaped public walkway through the new complex, including one 60-foot-wide plaza. "The more dense we get, the more important these voids are," says Mike McCulloch, the commission chairman. "Even though it's a big open field at the moment, someday we're going to cherish these public spaces."

Designed by Ankrom Moisan architects, the as-yet unnamed project "goes well beyond some other projects in the neighborhood," McCulloch adds, including a heavy concentration of ground-level retail and restaurant space."

Looks like we should be seeing some activity on the Prometheus property pretty soon!
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Old Posted Aug 31, 2006, 9:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkDaMan
This lady has an incredible view of the John Ross. If anyone can scan the pic from the back pages of today's inPortland, it's an awesome site!

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  #35  
Old Posted Aug 31, 2006, 10:33 PM
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Dougall5505 Dougall5505 is offline
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thanks for the scan couvscott. l like how from one side the building looks like a perfect circle but from the other it looks very elliptical
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Old Posted Sep 8, 2006, 2:25 PM
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Critics not so quiet on waterfront

ANALYSIS: PDC deal squeaks by city as public input, strategy questioned
By Nick Budnick

The Portland Tribune 14.3 hours ago

L.E. Baskow / Portland Tribune

Construction continues in the South Waterfront, Portland’s newest neighborhood, for which the city just narrowly approved an amended development agreement.
Continuing controversy Wednesday over the Portland Development Commission’s plan for the future of South Waterfront suggests that the City Council’s heightened scrutiny of the urban renewal agency is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon.

In a 3-2 vote, the council approved an amended development agreement for the project, intended to spur private investment in the biggest remaining parcel of underdeveloped land in the city, following a public hearing that revisited old disagreements and raised new ones.

Commissioner Sam Adams was joined by Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Dan Saltzman in voting in favor of the agreement. But Potter and Saltzman remained largely silent as Adams championed the deal and deflected criticism and questions raised by Commissioners Randy Leonard and Erik Sten.

Leonard and Sten attacked the plan as too generous to landowners and developers in the district, including Oregon Health & Science University.

Leonard zeroed in on new language in the agreement that capped OHSU’s financial contribution to infrastructure improvements, but did not do the same for the city of Portland.

“If I were representing OHSU, I would fight for language exactly like this,” Leonard said. “I’m wondering, Who is fighting for us?”

Sten, for his part, called it a “fundamentally flawed agreement” but said that since the basic framework of the project had been approved by the council in April, it was beyond repair. He joined Leonard in questioning why the city had paid $3 million for a piece of property for affordable housing that was later appraised at $1.5 million.

Sten said that his concern today is similar to one he expressed a decade ago over the PDC’s urban renewal plan for the River District, where the so-called Pearl District is located: that the PDC should have acquired property for housing in the area years earlier, before the city had boosted property values by committing to spend millions on road, greenway and park improvements.

“I have learned from history, but I fear our (city) negotiators have not,” he said.

However, Bruce Warner, head of the PDC, stressed the positives of the deal – progress on a streetcar extension as well as in housing and green spaces, describing it as a “good news story” and a “reasonable agreement.”

Warner said that the district is well on its way to becoming a success, to which Leonard responded that he did not doubt it – but, he asked, a success for who?

Leonard questioned why, rather than focusing on building housing for the very poor, the city was including approximately 100 units of affordable housing for people who are making more than 80 percent of the region’s median family income. As defined by the federal government, 80 percent of the median family income for a family of four is $54,300 a year.

“The question is, Who is benefiting from this?” Leonard said.

Supporters of the project say that the city’s investment will be repaid with a thriving, high-quality residential neighborhood. The South Waterfront deal is just the latest in a series of public-private partnerships that have advanced the city, they say.

Although the deal was approved, the tenor of the hearing was significant as a barometer in the continuing drama over the relationship between the PDC and the council. The semi-independent agency is the city’s main economic development arm and is largely under the control of Potter.

But despite the reform efforts undertaken by the mayor, Sten, Leonard and Adams have discussed placing a measure on the ballot next year that would give the council more control over the PDC’s internal budgeting.

Following months of controversy, relations between the city’s elected council and the PDC seemed to be improving. But the resurgence of tension over South Waterfront signals that Leonard and Sten are unlikely to stop asking questions.

Nor did the hearing satisfy citizens who have been monitoring the South Waterfront agreement.

“It’s a scam, and you can quote me on that,” said neighbor and architect Jerry Ward, who sits on the citizens advisory committee that oversees the PDC’s activities in South Waterfront. He thinks the deal is too generous.

Ward was echoed by Shelly Lorenzen of the League of Women Voters of Portland, meanwhile, who complained that the earlier version of the agreement approved by the council in April had progressed through the public process in just 48 hours – hardly enough time for a meaningful public debate.

When the league complained in April, she said, city officials promised that the final agreement, considered Wednesday, would receive a full public discussion – a promise that she said the city has not fulfilled.

This observation was echoed by a landowner’s representative, Edward Trompke of the Jordan Schrader law firm. Representing Zidell Marine, he submitted written comments saying that although the agreement had “evolved” since being approved by the council in April, the “amount of public review and input has been very limited.”
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Old Posted Sep 8, 2006, 2:28 PM
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Old Posted Sep 11, 2006, 3:29 PM
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http://www.pdc.us/pdf/about/commissi...t%2006-96).pdf

...Acquisition of Blocks 49 and Block 33 air rights for affordable housing

The acquisition of Block 49 and assignment and assumption of the Block 33 air rights by PDC is required by and a precondition for execution of the Eight Amendment by the DA Parties. Collectively, these sites will provide development opportunities for the construction of more than 600 units of affordable housing. Execution of the Eight Amendment is expected to lead to the development of the North Macadam URA’s first 200 units within the next 18 months. Attached to the Resolution as Exhibit B are the proposed purchase agreement for Block 49 and the assignment and assumption agreement for the Block 33 air rights...
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Old Posted Sep 11, 2006, 3:45 PM
zilfondel zilfondel is offline
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That's "affordable" housing, remember. Down to 80% of the median income of PDX.
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  #40  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2006, 1:37 PM
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Ross Island donation shrinks


Agreement - Portland's mayor accepts Robert Pamplin Jr.'s slimmed down gift of two parcels totaling about 60 acres


Thursday, October 05, 2006
ANNA GRIFFIN
Portland taxpayers soon might be the proud owners of a chunk of Ross Island, but they will not receive nearly as much of the Willamette River property as city leaders hoped and owner Robert Pamplin Jr. first offered.

Mayor Tom Potter and Pamplin, chairman and chief executive officer of Ross Island Sand & Gravel, reached a tentative agreement this week in which Pamplin will donate 45 acres on the island's western side to the city. That parcel, which hosts bald eagles, osprey, hawks and a blue heron rookery, remains untouched except for the occasional visit by kayakers, canoeists and trespassing campers.

Pamplin, one of Oregon's wealthiest people, plans to give the city another 15 acres nearby once his crews have finished a state-mandated environmental cleanup to remove soil, sediment and groundwater tainted with zinc, arsenic and other dangers, Potter said.

But Pamplin has backed off his original handshake deal with city leaders: Five years ago, he made a "take it or leave it" offer to give away the entire island, except for about 25 acres the sand and gravel company still uses. Pamplin's assistant said Wednesday that he had no comment.

"This is a good thing, in that the public will receive some important land that can be preserved and used to educate," said Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, the watchdog group. "But it certainly isn't what most people in good faith assumed as the full commitment."

Ross Island, a chain of four islands totaling almost 400 acres of land and water, sits about a mile south of downtown Portland and in the shadow of the new South Waterfront neighborhood. It's a key spot for several species of wildlife, and environmentalists say a cleaned-up Ross Island lagoon will be an important stop for young salmon to rest and feed on their trip to the ocean.

Ross Island Sand & Gravel mined and processed gravel for production of concrete on the site from the early 1920s through 2001, and Pamplin says he's spent $20 million repairing environmental damage on his property.


Katz's optimism


Five years ago, Mayor Vera Katz used her annual State of the City Address to announce that Pamplin had agreed to donate almost all of the island to the city by 2004. Katz described the deal as a cornerstone in her plan to clean the river and return it to public use.

"Imagine a restored Ross Island, with parks and open space, where the lagoon is a sanctuary for wildlife and a place where non-motorized boats can sail or row," she said in the speech, describing the island as "every bit as precious as Forest Park."
Pamplin, however, never put his commitment in writing. And during the ensuing five years, Katz's dream of a restored taxpayer-owned Ross Island became delayed and eventually downsized. City lawyers balked at Pamplin's insistence that they accept legal liability for future environmental claims on the property. Negotiators disagreed about how much money Pamplin should set aside for unforeseen cleanup costs. Reclamation of the island proved more time-consuming and contentious than anyone predicted.


Pamplin's letter


In a Sept. 27 letter to Potter, Pamplin suggested that city leaders had ignored his offer for a time.

"As you have been made aware, the Company made several overtures to the City, but those came to no avail for lack of response by the City," Pamplin wrote. "Obviously, this has become a contributing factor in any potential gift."

It's unclear whom Pamplin blames for that inattention. Katz says city negotiators, including City Commissioner Erik Sten, met consistently with Pamplin's representatives through the end of her administration. "We did everything we could, but there were so many details to work out," she said. "I guess my term ended too soon."

Potter said Pamplin wasn't referring to "since we took office." He said he did not know what had changed Pamplin's mind between 2001 and today. Frank Cable, a Pamplin lawyer, declined to elaborate on his boss's letter.

During the first 18 months of his administration, Potter left much of the communication with Pamplin to Sten, who agreed to handle things when Katz left office. But those negotiations bogged down when Pamplin insisted the city agree to accept responsibility for future environmental claims.


Earful on the offer


Earlier this year, Potter ran into Pamplin at a Volunteers of America conference and got an earful about Ross Island, according to the mayor's office. Pamplin told the mayor he was planning to withdraw his offer and preserve undisturbed portions of the island himself with no public access.

At that point, Potter became involved. He and Pamplin met one-on-one in early July and exchanged several letters outlining very different visions.
In a July 11 letter, Potter wrote that he hoped Pamplin would stick to his initial pledge -- all of the island. He wrote that the donation offered Pamplin and his family a chance to be remembered "as being as generous and as far-sighted as was the conservation of Bull Run and Forest Park, or the preservation of the waterfront with the construction of Tom McCall Park." This, the mayor wrote, was Pamplin's shot at history.

Pamplin's September letter contained a far different proposal: The city, he wrote, could have about 60 acres if Potter promised to use it only as a nature sanctuary. He also offered to donate $100,000 to the city for ivy removal. And he added a stern caveat: "This is the final discussion about a land donation . . . . This will be my final attempt at providing a donation of a portion of Ross Island to the City."


Two weeks to respond


Pamplin gave Potter two weeks to respond. Late Tuesday, the mayor sent Pamplin another letter accepting his terms and trying to put the best face on the situation by describing the 60 acres as a "significant portion" of Ross Island. He said he still hopes Pamplin will change his mind about donating more land as the environmental cleanup on the island continues.

Both Pamplin and the Portland City Council must approve any donation before it becomes official. Big questions remain. How much access, for example, will the public have to the island given Pamplin's insistence that it be kept "in its present natural state?"

On Wednesday, Potter chose to focus on the positives: If negotiations go well, Portlanders will receive a rare gift, a piece of pristine waterfront property. No matter that it's not as much as the mayor and environmentalists wanted.

"We asked for the entire property, and he said no," Potter said. "That's his right. This is the best we can get, and it's still very generous."
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