A Neighborhood Rises From the Waterfront
By LINDA BAKER
Portland, Ore.
LAST summer, Cynthia Moore, a 40-year-old mortgage banker, decided to move from her 1,900-square-foot home in the suburbs near here to a condominium in the South Waterfront District, a development springing up south of downtown on the Willamette River.
Ms. Moore, who described other inner-city neighborhoods around Portland as "too hipster trendy," said she bought into South Waterfront because it offered "a mature relaxed lifestyle." She said she also liked the developers' focus on environmentally friendly design, as well as a planned greenway along the water and proximity to a new Portland streetcar line, which will connect downtown to the new neighborhood.
"The whole concept is spectacular," Ms. Moore said. Her 839-square-foot unit will be in the John Ross building, an elliptical glass tower that is still under construction.
The South Waterfront District, which consists of 130 acres on abandoned industrial land, is the biggest redevelopment project in Portland history. Construction is under way in the first neighborhood, the $2 billion Central District, covering 31 acres. When the entire project is completed, South Waterfront will include 5,000 residents, along with restaurants and retail shops, and a new campus for the Oregon Health and Science University, which is about two miles above the site in Marquam Hill.
In 1993, city leaders decided to invest in the country's first modern streetcar line. The goal was to spur development in the Pearl District, a former warehouse neighborhood that has become a national model for urban revitalization. In 1996, after a California developer tried unsuccessfully to build a gated community on the languishing South Waterfront property, city planners rezoned the site for another high-density, mass-transit oriented neighborhood.
"We were pretty clear about what we wanted to achieve in redevelopment," said Charlie Hales, a transportation consultant and former Portland city commissioner. "The best European city in America."
South Waterfront hinged on the university's decision to invest in the new area. As part of the agreement, the university stipulated that the city approve and help to finance an aerial tram linking the Marquam Hill campus to South Waterfront.
Unlike other hospitals in the area, Oregon Health and Science University chose not to expand in the suburbs, said Mark Williams, the university's project manager for South Waterfront. "We entered into a unique collaboration with the city and private investors in a burgeoning 21st-century neighborhood."
Homer Williams, South Waterfront's lead developer, said, "The key to the project are the connections." Thousands of residents and employees at South Waterfront, Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University, which is downtown, will eventually be connected by tram and streetcar, said Mr. Williams, who also spearheaded development in the Pearl District, which is north of the new district. The tram is scheduled to begin operating in December.
With its sculptured glass residential towers and active embrace of the natural landscape, South Waterfront embodies a new trend in high-density urban planning.
Modeled after the skyline in Vancouver, British Columbia, South Waterfront buildings are taller and thinner than the standard, said Phillip M. Beyl, executive architect of the project. A small footprint "gives you greater opportunity to see in and around the buildings," he said.
Sustainable design features include acres of "ecoroofs," natural roof systems designed to filter rainwater into vegetation and soil. A 1.2-mile river walk will include habitat meadows and tree canopy for migratory birds.
"This is a landmark urban development that's actually going to improve the quality of the natural environment," said Bob Sallinger, urban conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. "That's huge."
In April, the first wave of South Waterfront buyers moved into the twin tower Meriwether complex, which stretches 21 and 24 stories. "They call us 'urban pioneers,' " said Michelle Walsh, a retired school counselor who bought a 2,030-square-foot unit for $790,000. "It's the developers' way of getting us through the construction."
Mrs. Walsh, a Portland native, said she had always wanted to live on the Willamette. "You walk into the unit and are enveloped by the river," she said. "It's all windows."
She said she would take advantage of the wellness center at the Oregon Health and Science University, which is to open next fall, and was pleased with her lifetime supply of ecologically friendly cleaning products provided by the homeowners' association.
Patrick Clark, an agent with Realty Trust, said many of the buyers in South Waterfront are moving in from the suburbs. "They aren't totally ready to transition into a gritty downtown environment," he said.
The Discovery Center, a $2 million sales and event center, helps define that experience. "If I had my life to live over again," read floor-to-ceiling banners, "I would take more chances. Eat more ice cream."
Prices range from $169,000 for a 637-square-foot studio in the Meriwether to $4 million for a 5,000-square-foot penthouse on top of the John Ross, which is scheduled to open next March.
Not everyone is excited about the huge district rising on the Willamette. "The development has obliterated my view of Mount Hood and the river," said Kathleen Root, a social worker whose 1893 Victorian is 20 feet below the tram route. Ms. Root, who is considering selling her home because of the project, lives in Lair Hill, one of several surrounding neighborhoods opposing much of the construction.
Cost overruns for the aerial tram, which ballooned to $57 million from $15 million since 2003, have fueled criticism of the city's urban renewal process, as well as concerns about financing for public amenities.
The city wants South Waterfront to reflect the demographics of the metropolitan area, said Dee Walsh, executive director of Reach Community Development, a developer of affordable housing. "There has not been much progress to meeting that goal," she said.
To avoid traffic congestion in and around South Waterfront, city transportation studies show that at least 40 percent of all rush-hour trips must be made using alternative transportation. In addition to the streetcar and tram, a planned light-rail line will also stop near the district, but is not yet fully financed.
South Waterfront buyers said they would rise to the occasion. In July, Edward Thompson, dean of the Oregon Graduate Institute School of Science and Engineering, which is part of the Oregon Health and Science University, will move into an 1,830-square-foot unit in the Meriwether.
"My wife and I have never been users of public transportation," said Mr. Thompson, 62, who currently lives in Forest Heights, a Portland subdivision. "I'm hoping for the first time in our lives, we will hop on the streetcar to go to breakfast."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/re...gewanted=print
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