Portland South Waterfront | 35 acres of urban development | 20+ towers

[pdxstreetcar]

i've noticed that when i'm down in the sowa district and walk toward the meriwether and john ross construction sites the street and ground level increases the closer you get to the riverbank which would follow what markdaman said about homer williams raising the earth

[MarkDaMan]

South Waterfront is ready for its close-up
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Fred Leeson
The Oregonian

A neighborhood unlike any other in Portland will finally start to blossom this year after years of planning and talk.

People will begin moving into slender condo towers with stunning views of downtown, Mount Hood and Ross Island. Patients and doctors will meet in a new medical building. Airborne visitors will be whisked silently to and from the neighborhood in silvery capsules suspended from a cable running to Oregon Health & Science University. The Portland Streetcar will provide a vital artery to downtown.

Although completion will take a few more years, the South Waterfront Central District (the official name) will show its face, springing to life from barren former industrial land south of the Ross Island Bridge.

It's the real test for many top architects and planners who worked on it. "Here, it's all being designed simultaneously," says Michael McCulloch, chairman of the Portland Design Commission, which reviews each new building proposal.

Even in the fast-growing Pearl District, architects have had a decade to learn from successes and mistakes. Not so on the South Waterfront.

"These developments are happening in quick succession," McCulloch says. "They are in sympathy with each other, but they are not evolutionary in terms of learning from each other."

The design commission has tried to make sure new buildings fit with their neighbors and create a pleasing pedestrian environment for residents and visitors. Many buildings will offer retail spaces at street level for neighborhood-oriented restaurants and businesses.

Further, a Portland Office of Transportation plan offers a unified approach to street furniture such as benches, street signs, utility poles and newsracks intended to lend a tasteful uniformity to the new district. Will it all work?

The answer will lie in the eye of each beholder. "It has been a challenge to imagine something as good as it possibly can be," McCulloch says.

Key elements to watch for this year:

Opening of the first condo towers, a 21- and 24-story duo called The Meriwether.

Topping out of The John Ross, a 31-story elliptical condo tower that will be the first to hit a 325-foot maximum height allowed in the district.

Completion of Building One, the start of a new Oregon Health & Science University complex that represents the university's first major expansion off Marquam Hill.

Start of service by the Portland Aerial Tram, that will carry passengers between the main OHSU campus and the central district in less than three minutes.

Extension of the Portland Streetcar along Southwest Moody Avenue from RiverPlace to Southwest Gibbs Street.

Clearing and planting of interim turf for a two-block neighborhood park bounded by Southwest Moody and Bond avenues between Curry and Gaines streets. Planning will come later for a permanent park design. "We don't want to start planning before residents move in," says Larry Brown, a Portland Development Commission senior development manager. "People who live there deserve to have a say in their park's design."

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

[colemonkee]

I can't wait to see construction pics of the John Ross. Particularly because we should be getting twin 34-story versions of it in LA starting later this year [crosses fingers].

[MarkDaMan]

City needs more time to check its tram math
Portland - The PDC doesn't want to raise its contribution until it nails down a price -- now standing at $45 million
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
RYAN FRANK

City officials say they need another three weeks to figure out exactly how much its aerial tram will cost even as crews build foundations for the link between the South Waterfront district and Oregon Health & Science University.

The tram's construction has badgered City Hall for 21/2 years. The city-owned project broke its deadline and busted its budget. It's scheduled to open six months behind schedule, a timeline that might be extended again, and its price has nearly tripled to an estimated $45 million.

Leaders at the Portland Development Commission say they don't want to raise their contribution - now $3.5 million - until they know for sure what the tram costs. The commission, a semi-independent city agency, hired Pinnell Busch, a Portland-based construction management consultant firm, to search for savings and verify the city's transportation office cost estimate.

"We need to have a lot more confidence in the cost and the size of the problem we're addressing," said Larry Brown, a senior development manager at the development commission. "We really need to bring some outside expertise and fresh eyes to look at the project."

OHSU has worked on the tram idea since the 1990s. The City Council approved the idea in 2002, a move that persuaded the hospital to give up thoughts of a Hillsboro expansion in favor of the South Waterfront. The hospital's decision triggered $2 billion in private and public investments in the former industrial district.

At the time, city transportation staff said the tram would cost $15.5 million. But they left out contingency funds and fees for engineers and architects. Prices for steel, concrete and labor rose. And the tram's iconic design proved far more costly than anyone imagined.

Two years later, the cost surged to $28.5 million. In 2005, it hit $40 million. At that price, the city had a plan to pay for it.

OHSU, a public corporation that receives a slim part of its budget from the state, would pay $30.7 million. South Waterfront property owners would pay about $5.7 million through a local improvement district created to collect a special fee for the tram.

And property taxpayers within the North Macadam urban-renewal district would pay $3.5 million, up from $2 million originally.

Today, that leaves it $5 million short. That's where Pinnell Busch comes in.

Among its tasks, the firm will check the city's construction schedule. The tram was originally supposed to be done in March. But crews are now sprinting against the Sept. 30 deadline. The project is 31/2 months behind schedule, according to development commission documents.

Pinnell Busch will help figure out how much extra it would cost to meet the deadline.

"Sept. 30 is pretty optimistic," Don Gardner, the city's director of transportation engineering, acknowledges.

The firm's first report is due Jan. 31.

After that, the development commission will restart negotiations with people who represent two of the tram's primary funders: Steve Stadum, OHSU's chief administrative officer, and South Waterfront developer Dike Dame.

When they last left the tram, both sides favored the same idea to fill the $5 million gap. Under the proposal, the Portland Development Commission would double its investment to $7 million in property tax dollars. OHSU would kick in another $2.25 million.

Ryan Frank: 503-221-8564; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com

[JBinCalgary]

great news for portland

[MarkDaMan]

Planners declare tram must go on
Project passes ‘point of no return’ as consultant eyes cost
By JIM REDDEN Issue date: Tue, Jan 17, 2006
The Tribune Although the city has hired a consulting firm to determine a final cost estimate for the Oregon Health & Science University aerial tram, there is virtually no chance the project will be canceled no matter how high the tab climbs.
“We passed the point of no return a long time ago,” said Art Pearce, project coordinator for the Portland Office of Transportation, which is managing the project.
The tram will connect two OHSU-related buildings, a biomedical research building on the university’s Marquam Hill campus and the Center for Health and Healing in the South Waterfront area that will be owned by the nonprofit OHSU Medical Group.
OHSU insisted on the tram before approving construction of the South Waterfront building, which is expected to help inspire up to $2 billion in private investment in the area by 2010.
The estimated cost of the tram has increased from about $8 million when it was proposed in 2001 to $15.5 million when the City Council approved it in 2003 to $40 million today — $45 million if you include an as-yet-unbudgeted contingency fund.
The Portland Development Commission has retained the Pinnell Busch management consulting firm to review the project and provide an independent cost estimate later this month or early next month.
Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Sam Adams, who is in charge of the Transportation Office, have promised to investigate why the original estimates were so low. But even if the Pinnell Busch estimate is significantly higher than $45 million, Pearce said, the city is committed to finishing the project. More than $10 million has been spent on the two construction firms hired to build the tram, Pearce said. Much of the money paid for steel for the project.
“The steel has been purchased and is sitting on the floor of the supplier or is being fabricated to meet the project specifications,” Pearce said. “It can’t be returned.” He declined to speculate about whether any of the steel could be resold.

Deadline approaches

In addition, Portland is legally obligated to complete the tram this year. The South Waterfront Central District Project Development Agreement signed by the city, OHSU and area property owners requires the city to deliver a working tram by September. Pearce said that if the project is not completed on time, OHSU Medical Group could sue the city.
“The two buildings are designed to be able to move patients back and forth quickly on the tram,” he said. “If the doctors can’t use their offices as designed, there’s the possibility of suing for damages.”
Other key players involved with the project agreed that it is too late to stop construction. OHSU spokeswoman Lora Cuykendall said there are no circumstances that would prompt the teaching university to support canceling the project. OHSU has invested millions of dollars in the buildings at both ends of the tram route that specifically were designed to accommodate it, said Cuykendall, director of OHSU news and publications.
South Waterfront developer Homer Williams also said it’s too late to cancel the project.
“The bottom line is, this is going to be built,” said Williams, whose company, Williams & Dane, also owns property in the South Waterfront area. “The city needs to buckle down and get it done.”

City’s share is unchanged

Pearce, Cuykendall and Williams all stressed that only a small portion of the tram budget is coming from Portland taxpayers. The City Council has agreed to spend $3.5 million in urban renewal property tax dollars on the project.
Of the remaining amount, $30.5 million is coming from the property owners at both ends of the tram — a little more than $24.7 million from a local improvement district formed by OHSU and just under $5.8 million from a local improvement district formed by the South Waterfront property owners.
OHSU is putting an additional $4 million in cash and $2 million in energy tax credits into the project.
So far, the city has not increased its $3.5 million commitment to the project. When the cost estimate jumped from $15.5 million to $40 million, OHSU increased its local improvement district share by nearly $11.5 million.
Williams said that even if costs go up and the city puts more money into the project, Portland taxpayers still will end up paying only a fraction of the total.
“People talk like the public is paying for the entire project, but that’s just not the case,” Williams said.

[MarkDaMan]

new Meriwether construction pic posted by dkealoha

[MarkDaMan]

Potter shifts tram construction oversight to full council
South Waterfront - An upcoming work session will help decide who will manage construction
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
RYAN FRANK

Three months ago, Portland city Commissioner Sam Adams was the front man on the tram as its budget spiraled to $45 million. But the transportation commissioner is now seeing the spotlight of managing tram construction shift from his second-floor office to the full City Council.

Mayor Tom Potter sent out a memo Monday asking the entire council to call the shots on the project that Adams had led.

Adams says he's OK with Potter's ideas. After all, Adams says, he always consulted with his council peers anyway and knew they'd have to approve his ideas.

Potter said he's also opening the question of which department will manage the rest of the tram's construction to link South Waterfront to Oregon Health & Science University: Adams' transportation office or the mayor's Portland Development Commission.

"We need a clear sense of who is in charge and a clear path by which they keep the council involved," Commissioner Erik Sten said. The council must "get through the power struggle and into the management."

But the tram's management is the latest delicate diplomacy between Adams, the council's hard-charging junior commissioner, and the more laid-back Potter. They've butted heads more often than any other council members, most publicly on new reporting requirements for lobbyists.

Adams has taken some heat for the way he's handled the tram.

In October, the commissioner announced the aerial tram's long-spiraling cost jumped another $5 million to $45 million.

Within three weeks, he said, he hoped to figure out how to cover the cost bump. True to his hands-on management style, Adams led stomach-churning negotiations with South Waterfront developers and OHSU executives.

He backed away in December when the council asked the development commission to take charge.
Adams said he handed it over to the development commission because he got what he wanted: A commitment that the tram's rising costs wouldn't eat up money for South Waterfront's affordable housing, parks and riverfront greenway.

Originally approved at $15.5 million, the tram is projected to cost about $45 million and is due to start flying in September, six months behind schedule. A consultant's report is expected today to help verify the final cost.

After a Jan. 12 report in The Oregonian that gave details about the tram's increasing costs, Adams asked tram manager Vic Rhodes to resign as director of a non-profit managing construction. He announced Rhodes had stepped down even though he hadn't yet.

In his Monday memo, Potter called on the council to "provide policy oversight and direction for this project." The move matches with his call last year that the council, not individual commissioners, decide infrastructure issues.

The mayor plans to call a council tram work session on an undetermined date led by Bruce Warner, executive director at the Portland Development Commission. Portland's semi-independent redevelopment arm is contributing the city's share of the tram costs, at $3.5 million. Most costs will be paid by OHSU.

At the meeting, the council will help decide who will manage the rest of the tram's construction. City transportation staff worked on it so far. Adams said changing project managers could cost the city tram expertise and drive up costs further.

Commissioner Randy Leonard says the entire council is getting blamed for the tram's cost overruns, so they should all share responsibility for doing their homework.

"Clearly I need to start burrowing in on something that hasn't been burrowed in on enough," he said.

Ryan Frank: 503-221-8564; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/metro/oreg...900.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

one huge mud pit...can't imagine having to be out there after rain poured every day but two last month!

SoWa live pic, sometimes

[citybuilder]

MarkDaMan, you seem to have all the info on the South Waterfront. I have heard that a new developer is getting ready to start down there. Have you heard anything about Promethius? I think they are coming up from California. A new face breaking into Portland should be good.

[MarkDaMan]

I haven't. On the PDC website this is all I could find:

"A representative of Prometheus Development, a private property owner in the South Waterfront District, said that Prometheus supports the Central District Development Agreement. Concerned was expressed however about affordable housing requirements that may fall to other District developers. If the Central District property owners build 16% of the required affordable units, this could mean that Prometheus (with only 8 acres of development) may be required to construct a disproportionate amount of affordable housing."
http://www.pdc.us/ura/north_macadam/...07_minutes.asp

They also have a 2000 press release and in it is states:

"New developments in planning include a 9-acre waterfront development in Portland, OR, and two projects in Silicon Valley involving approximately 225 residential units and 200,000 square feet of office space."
http://www.prometheusreg.com/prom_ne...me_Change.html

It will be good for the district to get more than Willams and Dame developing. Adding in a little more diversity.

[crow]

SOWA looking east at Meriwhether / john ross

SOWA looking north OHSU / Meriwhether / john ross

meriwhether

various shots of ohsu - RCB1

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by citybuilder

I have heard that a new developer is getting ready to start down there. Have you heard anything about Promethius? I think they are coming up from California.

I posted the question on the NW Forum, here is some additional info
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=100636

[MarkDaMan]

aerial tram 40% complete. The towers are just starting to come out of the ground.

OHSU has posted a few pics on their website here
http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/landingpages/tramupdate/

[MarkDaMan]

Thanks to CouvScott. Rendering of Block 46. I think the two smaller buildings are in the process, but not the larger tower yet.

[tworivers]

does anyone have a comprehensive map, or know of a link to one, of south waterfront that includes the block numbers for every block from the ross island bridge south?

[MarkDaMan]

^There is one but I haven't been able to find it on the PDC website. I will keep looking if someone else doesn't post it.

[CouvScott]

From one of the original reports on the SWF District agreements. Sorry about the focus/resolution...

[colemonkee]

So far all the buildings seem to be using the same tan stone/blue glass color scheme, including Block 46. Hopefully some of the other buildings will vary the color a bit to keep this area from looking like variations on the same design.

[CouvScott]