South Waterfront News

[sowat]

12/2/08

[sowat]

12/2/08























I really like the material they used to screen in the garage. It has a sexy high-tech look to it. Notice how translucent it is in this shot when looking directly on/through it:







the Ardea and Alexan are very different buildings, it's surprising how well they blend together in this silvery afternoon light.

[sowat]

12/2/08

[NJD]

^ welcome to 'gray metal panel' land!

[Joeplayer19]

nice

[65MAX]

Great pics, Sowat!!!

You even got a shot of my house in the background of this one.

Originally Posted by sowat

[PacificNW]

Maybe it's the weather but it seems as though there are many "dislike/subjective" viewpoints from those who live in PDX when it comes to the architectural styles/projects currently rising in the city. (Maybe with all the new development "new, and diverse, architectural reviews" come with the territory.) These views keep the forum interesting and less boring. .... As a former long time resident of Portland I will add my 2¢. Personally speaking, I prefer "the look (reflective glass) and contemporary style" of the South Waterfront towers in comparison with all the "brick" incorporated in the Pearl towers/projects. Maybe each district could share some of the best architecture of the other to create a more diverse community/district in future projects, imo. I do like the Metropolitan and 937 in the Pearl. They stand out from the norm of the district. I remember (not that long ago) when neither the Pearl or South Waterfront developments existed. Incredible changes for such a short period of time....and I think each district can stand on its own merits.

[PacificNW]

Thanks for the great pics and updates!

[sowat]

Just noticed this snippet in IBD about senior housing. I wonder which "choice block of riverfront land" in SoWa is for sale??

potentially more senior housing in sowa? move over Mirabella.

BY MARILYN ALVA
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 11/26/2008

Realtors trying to sell a choice block of riverfront land in Portland, Ore.'s new South Waterfront District think it would make a perfect spot for a senior-housing complex.

It's by a hospital and public transportation. A park and walking trails are steps away. But such a project could stay at some distance from the real estate market whirlpool.

"We're identifying it as a senior housing opportunity," said Michael Berne, managing director at real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle. "In Oregon, 14% of the population is considered senior (65 and older) and there is strong demand for all types of senior housing."

No sector of the real estate market has been spared from the credit and economic calamities that keep piling on. But a lot of players in the industry say that senior housing is holding up better than the rest.

"A senior-housing-focused business is not necessarily reliant on or impacted as much by things like GDP growth, consumer spending, employment growth and business travel," said Keven Lindeman, director of real estate at SNL Financial.

SNL tracks premiums and discounts to net asset value, or NAV, that major U.S. real estate investment trust shares trade at. Then it analyzes them by 14 property types, showing what kinds investors favor.

Senior housing REITS top the list as the best-performing type. ...

the rest of the article is about REITs
http://www.investors.com/editorial/I...issue=20081126

[urbanlife]

actually senior housing makes sense down there. Actually senior housing makes sense anywhere....well almost anywhere.



Funny thing for the SoWa for me, I only see the tops of the buildings from where I live and have almost no interaction with that area, so it could easily be in another world. I think in time, when the neighborhood ages and fills in with businesses and residents, the district will feel decent, the use of "sustainable" practices for dealing with rain water will help the area on the street level to look more lush and green. If anything ever happens on the campus lot that OHSU owns, that should help as well.


As for the recent buildings in the Pearl....the developers and architects should be banned from the city for those ugly buildings.

[zilfondel]

omg, that district NEEDS COLOR! STAT!

[65MAX]

The Mirabella is supposed to have a lot of red at the top levels. Not sure what materials or how it will look when finished, but it sounds promising.

[sowat]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

omg, that district NEEDS COLOR! STAT!

it's true, I don't disagree at all. Though I think the gray, cloudy afternoon light I took those shots in did make everything more uniform in color than normal. I guess architects have to take the gray days into consideration when picking out colors.

[Valentij]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

Does anyone have access to PBJ's list of largest commercial buildings in Portland? I remember it ranked them by square footage.

Since I happen to have the Book of Lists on my desk:

The US Bancorp Tower has 1,036,566 rentable office sq ft, Montgomery Park has 800,000, Wells Fargo has 577,339, and Pacwest has 491,528. Pretty amazing how different all those areas can look from the outside, and that the Wells Fargo is taller, but has about half the sq ft of US Bancorp. So basically, 400,000-600,000 could look like anything. Brian Libby was hoping on his blog that they bring in a Danish architect. If they are really going to do this thing with a tower, I would love it to be a real shot in the arm. I think some new blood could really freshen up our skyline. While I don't think international starchitects are the end-all be-all, I do think that Portland has grown too insular in its design.

We'll see. I'm just happy that they're coming.

[Snowden352]

How is it that Wells Fargo is so comparatively smaller than the U.S. Bank tower?

[65MAX]

The floorplates of Wells Fargo are only about 100'x100'. The tower is significantly set back from the street on all 4 sides. That's 10,000sf/floor x 40 floors = 400,000sf. Plus there's a larger ground floor and below grade portion and the satellite building across the skywalk. That apparently totals 577,000sf, which is in the range that I thought, and similar to the range that Vestas is looking to build.

US Bank has a larger tower floorplate (I believe 100'x180' roughly) which comes out to around 720,000sf total. Plus there is a very large 3-4 story podium to the south which covers a full 1-1/2 to 2 blocks. That portion alone has to be 250,000sf+

[PacificNW]

Maybe Vestas and the SMART Tower people should get together and incorporate their tower(s) as a single project..

[dkealoha]

Originally Posted by PacificNW

Maybe Vestas and the SMART Tower people should get together and incorporate their tower(s) as a single project..

Maybe Vestas can come up with a similar product like the Turby they want to use in the SMART Tower.

[PacificNW]

Sounds like a plan..

[pdxman]

So assuming Vestas is looking at block 33, what are the height limits for those blocks? Are they the same 325' as the JR and Ardea?