well looks like the PDC vetoed the stainless steel balcony railings but the building is getting a 35 million makeover
Park Blocks tower gains friendlier entrance
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By Fred Leeson
At 15 stories and 314 units, Ione Plaza loomed as Oregon's tallest and biggest apartment building when it opened in 1951.
The big concrete tower's footprint took the shape of an X facing the South Park Blocks. But despite its 1717 S.W. Park Ave. address, residents and visitors found the stairless back entry off Montgomery Street more convenient.
New owners would like to change that pattern -- or at least establish a better connection between the Ione's private entry plaza and the Park Blocks.
"The building is backward," says Graeme Gabriel, a principal with ColRich, a San Diego company that is the managing partner for investors who bought the Ione last year for $34.9 million. "We want to bring them in off the park."
Plans by Leeb Architects show two new stairways separated by a waterfall stepping down the eight-foot drop from the Ione's first-floor level to Park Avenue. A new glass canopy would protect pedestrians from the top of the stairs to the entrance.
A smaller canopy would be added at the Montgomery doorway, and new pavers and brick planters would provide a stylistic unity to three public plazas adjoining the tower in various places.
"There is definitely an idiom to this kind of building, built in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s," Robert Leeb says. "There's a simplicity and a clarity to the mass. We want to stick with that."
The new owner also wants to stick with something else traditional about the Ione: rental units. Portland State University once hoped to buy the building for use as a campus residence but lost out in a 2002 sale. Since then, several downtown apartment buildings have been converted to condos.
ColRich has been engaged in the condo development business for 20 years, but Gabriel says investors intend to keep Ione as a rental building. Target clientele includes students, young professionals and seniors.
ColRich investors also have purchased the Park Plaza at 1969 S.W. Park Ave., another 1951-vintage apartment building. Gabriel declined to discuss plans for the 149-unit building.
As for the Ione, he says, "It was a landmark building. It's not in that condition today." But he likes the building's layout, its Art Deco influences and terrazzo floor in the lobby. "There's a tremendous amount to work with."
Members of the Portland Design Commission persuaded the owners to drop plans to add stainless-steel cladding to upper-story balconies. But the commission unanimously endorsed the new entrance plan.
"If this could be used as a model for how to engage private space with public open space, the city would be better for it," member Michael McCulloch said. "This is the kind of project I hope to see more of."
The commission, which has stamped design approval on a river of condo projects in recent years, also was pleased that the Ione isn't converting. "I love the fact this will stay in the rental pool and that this group is not shooting for the high-end market," McCulloch said. "This balances our culture and our civilization."
Alas, there will be no rollback to historic rents. When it opened in 1951, the Ione's smallest studios rented for $65 a month. Spacious two-bedrooms: $144.
And now? Rents range from $630 to $3,000.
Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946;
fredleeson@news.oregonian.com