Mid-Rise Mississippi
Four Projects move forward to reshape district
By Jennifer de Thomas
St. Johns Sentinal
North Mississippi is soon to house more than 200 new condos and lofts in four separate mixed-use developments to begin construction in the next year. Some developments, such as the Lofts and Kurisu have seen vocal local criticism. Both those projects are within the Mississippi Historic Conservation District. The largest project by far is a development by Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company, and which has so far elicited no opposition from community activists though it is far larger in scope and scale than the two previous local projects. A fourth project, Château Mississippi, has just been announced that will turn the existing warehouse at the south end of the Historic Corridor into yet another retail and mixed-use loft space.
KURISU INTERNATIONAL
Local landscape architecture firm Kurisu International, best known for their therapeutic and Japanese garden designs, received a letter of approval from the Boise Neighborhood association to build the mixed-use Mississippi Garden Condominiums that will contain their new offices, lofts, and a public garden. In 2004 the firm bought six lots on the northeast corner of Mississippi and Shaver, a 5,000-square-foot area that holds the historic Mississippi Ballroom, a house built in the 1930s, a play area, a garden for the Native American Youth Association, and two empty lots. Their development plans were rejected by the Historic Landmarks Commission, despite the approval of the Boise Neighborhood Association. The subsequent appeal was also denied with the request by the city for additional comments that, according to city planner Justin Dollard, "would demonstrate a better response to the historic context of the site, specifically that it needs to incorporate historic details and must blend 'into' the neighborhood."
"It is an administrative decision that takes into account the zoning code and design guidelines," commented Dollard. "The vote count and letter of approval from the neighborhood association is nice to know, but without specific approval criteria we can only go by the zoning code and design guidelines."
"We believe we have met the criteria, albeit in a sophisticated way," countered Gabriel Dominek, project manager at Holst Architecture who designed the project. Given that the large amount of growth being experienced along the historic streetcar lines is a relatively new phenomena, both zoning officials and architects are sometimes struggling to keep up with the myriad of decisions and modifications to be met. "We're all inexperienced in dealing with these infill projects in historic conservation districts," continued Dominek.
"This developer [the Kurisu family] has shown themselves to be interested in community and a quality of development than simply the bottom line," continued Dominek. "Often, developments facing an intense design review go with an uninspired, milquetoast proposal to save time."
The penned decision, which remains in continuance, noted that "the building is modern, crisp, and with a highly legible expression of structure. The composition is an ambiguous, yet interesting expression … and as a whole is quite cohesive." The appeal denial, however, cited that the design does not clearly incorporate building design features characteristic of the area's historic commercial storefront architecture and that the mass, scale and materials of the building does not reduce the impact of the new development. Other contentious issues, including parking, were noted. A hearing is scheduled November 27.
MEGA BLOCK DEVELOPMENT
By far the largest development slated to date sits just outside of the Historic Conservation District at 3810 N. Mississippi. Trammel Crow, the Dallas-based international corporation, is proposing a six-story, 149-unit residential building with a retail courtyard and underground parking. Their final plan was presented at the latest Boise Neighborhood Association meeting.
CHATEAU MISSISSIPPI
Directly across the street from Trammell Crow's development is the latest proposed undertaking, "Chateau Mississippi," located at the current address of Chateau Edgewater, 3900 N. Mississippi. "One of the cool things about this project," said Terry Amundson, project architect and designer with Waterleaf Architecture, "is that the owners of the property are the ones developing it themselves." As established residents in the community, they are already conscious of the specific needs and character of the neighborhood. The success of their e-commerce and warehouse business has left them needing far less inventory space, leaving plenty of room for development. The preliminary design details a three-story, mixed-use development with retail, live/work, and office space. Retail spaces are proposed to front on North Mississippi and a total of five live/work units are proposed to be located behind the retail spaces abutting the alley. Both the retail and live/work spaces will have a mezzanine/loft. The third floor w
ill contain 10 small office suites.
The plan was presented at the last Boise Neighborhood Association meeting and will be submitted to the city for Historic Design review. Timelines for when the project will break ground are not yet projected.
The Boise Neighborhood Association's land use group members did not return phone calls concerning the latest design put forward for the Mega Block. "I suspect that there will be more information covered on both developments at the December meeting," commented Paige Coleman, BNA chair.
MISSISSIPPI LOFTS
The trigger development, Mississippi Lofts, located at 4138 N. Mississippi Avenue is turning a corrugated tin warehouse to mixed-use housing that will anchor the north end of the historic street and feature 32 residential lofts and locally owned retail stores. First-time developers Bill Jackson of Southeast Portland and David Yoho of Chicago bought the lot last summer and teamed with architect Peter Wilcox to transform the 15,000-square-foot lot into one of the greenest residential buildings in Portland. The initial design was rejected by the city and opposed by the members of the Portland Collective Housing, a nine-member co-op. After a trip back to the drawing board that pushed back the fourth floor to create a visual break and added details to mimic nearby buildings, the Historic Design Commission approved the plan. By next spring, new residents (one bedroom loft, $289K; two bedrooms, $100 shy of $400K) are expected to be setting up housekeeping.
"Count up the number of buildings that are planned for that street within the next five years - most of which are not in the historic district - and you see it will be a really different place" said Dominek. "It will be livelier, safer, better."
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