South Waterfront News

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Presentation [PDF] to the Design Commission, set to be delivered on Thursday. Looks like some big changes to the sequencing / scope of development on Zidell's land. Pretty cool to see that they're working with West 8 (there was a great profile of the firm in the New Yorker earlier this year).

holy shit! West 8? that's freaking awesome. that's some serious design mojo.

[ablerock]

Originally Posted by cailes

Id be curious what "streetcar return to Moody" means.

As in, leave it all on Moody (remove from Bond?)

That caught my eye too!

My interpretation: They're asking "Where is a better point for the streetcar to return to Moody?" They have an opportunity to reassess that point because they're extending Bond Ave north well past Tilikum (and the entire grid south towards the river as well).

Two options that I see:

1. Streetcar goes a few blocks further north on Bond, then turn west right before Tilikum on Woods St (or any other street before Tilikum) and reconnects to Moody

2. They actually have Bond crossing over/under Tilikum. (I assume it would go under the bridge because it's already rising there). They could then extend the streetcar even further north on new Bond to better connect the new developments in that section. Then the streetcar can turn west to connect tp Moody farther up, closer to Riverplace. No idea where that might be.

Both are pretty exciting possibilities!

[hat]

Why would the streetcar be extended north on bond and not continue to use the current alignment? What practical application would this have?

[maccoinnich]

Construction is about to start on SW Bond through the OHSU Schnitzer campus. Eventually Moody and Bond will form a one-way couplet (with Bond crossing the Tilikum approach at-grade). In the original plans for the district the northbound streetcar would have run on SW Bond all the way from the SW Lowell turnaround to SW River Parkway in Riverplace. Knowing that construction of SW Bond was way out in the future, the return to Moody at SW Gibbs was designed to be temporary. The last I heard was that due to the recent rebuild of SW Moody—which removed the temporary single track line and replaced it with today's more permanent configuration—the streetcar would remain on Moody, possibly in a transit only lane.

If the streetcar moves to Bond for its entire alignment then I guess there's the advantage that Moody can become southbound only. There's no easy way to phase that though. It would also take some complicated trackwork to make a turn off the Tilikum onto Bond possible. So my guess is that they're looking at ablerock's Option 1, with a return to Moody a few blocks further north than happens now. All that said, I don't understand why that's needed at all. Presumably Thursday's presentation will make things clearer.

[ablerock]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Construction is about to start on SW Bond...

Thanks for the clarifying details!

Another layman's theory that came to mind reading your response:

They might want to open vehicle-access and improve the pedestrian connection/experience along SW Gibbs, from SW Moody to the waterfront to better integrate with the new park blocks they're proposing. That street appears to be the only continuous vehicle access corridor along the south side of the proposed "Gantry Park" "Heritage Park" and the "Slipway Greenway."

That makes sense to me for a couple of reasons:

I really love the streetcar turn on SW Gibbs. It feels raw and European with the tracks cutting through the plaza. But I know people that feel very uncomfortable sharing the pedestrian space with the tracks and having a bit of a blindspot coming around the building.

Also, those park blocks look to be a grand spine and major activity center of the new developments. Without opening up SW Gibbs, they're a little harder/awkward to access by vehicles. Moving the return to SW Moody further north opens up SW Gibbs to become part of the vehicle and pedestrian entry to those park blocks from SW Moody. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for squeezing cars out of every place we can. But moving the return does seem to have positive effects on the rest of the grid and experience.)

[Derek]

This is what I've always envisioned (sorry for the very crude paint job):



Basically, in my perfect world, SW Moody would become a one way street heading south, with the streetcar having its own dedicated lane. SW Bond would continue to be a one way street heading north, also carrying northbound streetcar traffic to link back up at SW River Pkwy and Moody.

[hat]

This alignment makes a little more sense.

[cronked]

Interesting! Looks like Prometheus upgraded at least two of their planned buildings for the Southern end of South Waterfront. Does anyone know how high the "high rise" buildings will be? 300-550 apartments is a broad range.



This is from NextPortland:

GBD Architects have submitted two Type III Design Review applications for buildings on the Prometheus Property in South Waterfront:

Two high-rise residential towers, each building consisting of around 7,000sf of retail and 300-550 market rate apartments and below grade parking.

New construction of two seven story mixed-use buildings, each building consisting of approx. 5,000 sf of retail, 200-300 market rate apartments and 150-250 off-street parking stalls in one level of structured underground parking and a partial level of structured at-grade parking.

[innovativethinking]

Originally Posted by cronked

Interesting! Looks like Prometheus upgraded at least two of their planned buildings for the Southern end of South Waterfront. Does anyone know how high the "high rise" buildings will be? 300-550 apartments is a broad range.



This is from NextPortland:

GBD Architects have submitted two Type III Design Review applications for buildings on the Prometheus Property in South Waterfront:

Two high-rise residential towers, each building consisting of around 7,000sf of retail and 300-550 market rate apartments and below grade parking.

New construction of two seven story mixed-use buildings, each building consisting of approx. 5,000 sf of retail, 200-300 market rate apartments and 150-250 off-street parking stalls in one level of structured underground parking and a partial level of structured at-grade parking.

Glad you asked

[maccoinnich]

I created a new thread for it.

[cronked]

Originally Posted by innovativethinking

Hmm I wonder how tall those 2 "high rise" buildings will be

Me too!

So I assume it is a lot cheaper to build with wood but they can only go up to 6-7 stories with that. So if you are going higher than that I assume you aren't going to stop at 8-9 stories because you want to get your money's worth when building with reinforced concrete. What do you think the minimum height would be from an economical perspective? 12 stories? It will be interesting to see if these are right on the river lots or west of those.

[Derek]

12-19 is my guess.

[innovativethinking]

My guess is 15-23

[maccoinnich]

First look: Zidells unveil their latest designs for the South Waterfront (Renderings)



And, in what could be the most intriguing image of the lot, the former slip where Zidell for decades launched its giant barges into the river, gets transformed into a public river access point, where paddlers launch kayaks and canoes, sunbathers take in the rays and swimmers plunge into the water of the river and a cordoned off pool.

"It's a great access point for the river and a great opportunity that just hasn't been there before," said Tom Henneberry, chief operations officer for ZRZ Realty, the real estate arm of the Zidell family's company.

ZRZ was scheduled to go before the Portland Design Commission today for an initial preview of the Zidell Yards master plan, which has been in the works for the bulk of this year. Inclement weather postponed that meeting, but Henneberry provided a snapshot of the plan, including the renderings, to the Business Journal.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[2oh1]

Every now and then, I have to remind myself of what it was like to wander through the Pearl in the late 90s. That image looks straight out of fantasy land... but I remember being on a date in the late 90s, walking through the Pearl. She was telling me about what the neighborhood was going to become in a decade, but I rolled my eyes because I saw what looked more like a war zone.

Anyway... I love this and I want it... but I'm not convinced it's even a little bit realistic. The pools, in particular, are never going to happen. Damn does that look cool, but let's be real. We get maybe three months of pool weather here? Sometimes less.

[cailes]

Holy huge image batman!

[hat]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Every now and then, I have to remind myself of what it was like to wander through the Pearl in the late 90s. That image looks straight out of fantasy land... but I remember being on a date in the late 90s, walking through the Pearl. She was telling me about what the neighborhood was going to become in a decade, but I rolled my eyes because I saw what looked more like a war zone.

Anyway... I love this and I want it... but I'm not convinced it's even a little bit realistic. The pools, in particular, are never going to happen. Damn does that look cool, but let's be real. We get maybe three months of pool weather here? Sometimes less.

I hear you, having gone to dim sum in the 90s when my mom worked in what is now the Pearl. DC created something similar but with a little less Willy wonka. Here's the Yards Park. Notice the bathing pools next to the river.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by cailes

Holy huge image batman!

Haha yeah, I don't know why that image blew up so much. I was going to fix it when I got home from work but I didn't bother since it was at the bottom of the last page.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

I remember "other" renderings from Sowa

I will believe it when I see it---

[innovativethinking]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

I remember "other" renderings from Sowa

I will believe it when I see it---

Tell me about it lol