South Waterfront News

[MR. Cosmopolitan]

this is starting to look lyke the typical European road-side hotel, who is responsible for this!

[crow]

was there a designer?

[MarkDaMan]

South Waterfront planners in tough spot
POSTED: Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 04:49 PM PT
BY: Justin Carinci

To prepare the South Waterfront District for new jobs, homes and rail service, planners will have either time or money.

If they get the money to improve roadways and streetcar tracks, they’ll be on a tight schedule.

If they don’t get the money, they’ll have some hard choices, but a little more time to make them.

From the north, there’s only one road to the South Waterfront: Southwest Moody Avenue. It’s a slow, two-lane road that winds past brownfields and under bridges.

With the planned Willamette River transit bridge landing nearby, and with the district continuing to grow, Moody Avenue will become increasingly important. City planners expect traffic to increase more than fourfold over the next two decades, in a district with 5,000 homes and 10,000 jobs.

Portland put out a design-and-engineering solicitation Wednesday for improvements to Moody Avenue and the Portland Streetcar route. The roadway, sidewalks and bike lanes would be widened, the roadway realigned and the grade raised to meet the new transit bridge.

Streetcar tracks would be realigned and doubled in some sections, allowing for eventual connection to the new bridge.

Getting there will cost $66 million. So far, the city has $24 million available, from a mix of state, federal and system development charge sources, said Chris Armes, project manager for the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

City officials hope to obtain the rest of the money through a competitive federal stimulus grant. That grant is driving the project’s tight timeline, Armes said.

Under the grant, all construction must be completed by winter 2012. But Portland transportation officials still don’t know if they’ll get the grant.

“Initially, we thought we would hear back at the end of last month,” Armes said. Now, they’re expecting to find out by Wednesday.

Responses to Portland’s solicitation are due Feb. 25. To meet the 2012 completion deadline, design work would start immediately after City’s Council’s approval of the contract. Construction would need to start this fall.

“We’re going to be very busy,” Armes said. “But we’ll just need to make it work.”

If the grant doesn’t come through, transportation officials would decide how to use the $24 million, and see if they could find more money elsewhere, Armes said. They would decide which parts of the project need to be done first and which could wait.

“We’d look at the different segments, and what is needed in the district in the shorter term,” she said. “Maybe that’s a roadway without onstreet parking. Maybe it’s temporary streetlights.”

Separately, city transportation officials have been working with TriMet to bring MAX trains over a new bridge, between the Marquam and Ross Island bridges. That line would connect downtown Portland with the Oak Grove area of Clackamas County.

That project would cross over Moody Avenue, requiring some street improvements. If Portland doesn’t get the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, some of those improvements would be made as part of the light-rail project, said Rob Barnard, TriMet project director.

“If we didn’t get the TIGER, it wouldn’t delay the project, but it has cost implications,” Barnard said. “Some of the things TIGER would do, the project would have to do.

“But we’re not building out 3,000 feet of Moody just because we’re crossing it.”

The planned OHSU Schnitzer campus would be built between Moody Avenue and the Willamette River, relying on streetcar and light rail for many of the trips the campus generates. Long-term plans call for an extension of Bond Avenue north through the campus, said Mark B. Williams, vice president for campus development and administration. Until then, however, there’s just Moody Avenue.

“It’s a critical pathway for developing not just the OHSU campus but also the private property that’s down there,” Williams said. “It’s going to be a long time to have the wherewithal to create other major streets.

“Getting Moody in the right place and built in the right way is pretty critical to the development of this district.”

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/02/11...for-sowa-trpn/

[RoseCtyRoks]

Mirabella just posted their latest construction update (Feb.15th) :

http://www.mirabellaretirement.org/p...010/021510.htm

[MarkDaMan]

OHSU Child Care Center is proposed by the Tram in an existing warehouse.

http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...42263&a=285550

[dkealoha]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

OHSU Child Care Center is proposed by the Tram in an existing warehouse.

http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/in...42263&a=285550

The only part of this that bothers me a bit is the proposal to remove one lane of Whittaker and turn it into a play area. That's a pretty major entry into SoWa from Macadam and I5... taking away one of the two lanes seems like it might create a bottleneck, especially when there is a stop sign right at the bottom of that hill. Also, isn't that kind of a safety issue to put the play area next to a busy road? Even if there is a fence or barricade, I'd be nervous that someone would plow through it on accident.

Other than that, I've long thought that if they're not going to build any more towers right now they should utilize these empty warehouses all around us. Even if it is a child care center and nothing too exciting, I'm still glad it's being used.

Now if only we could get a New Seasons in one of the other empty buildings :-)

[sowat]

Originally Posted by dkealoha

The only part of this that bothers me a bit is the proposal to remove one lane of Whittaker and turn it into a play area. That's a pretty major entry into SoWa from Macadam and I5... taking away one of the two lanes seems like it might create a bottleneck, especially when there is a stop sign right at the bottom of that hill.

you're thinking of SW Curry St. see map

[dkealoha]

You're right! Sorry... bring on the play structures!

[Artist]

What did the warehouse house in its previous lives? Any toxins or asbestos present? I, too, want to see the warehouses used, especially in ways that benefit the community. But their past lives have to be part of the consideration.

[cronked]

This is no big surprise given we have already seen the plans.


PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Development Commission approved the sale Wednesday of more South Waterfront property to Oregon Health & Science University.

The PDC will sell its rights to Block 33, which is bordered by Curry Street, Macadam Avenue, Moody Street and Gaines Street.

Terms of the sale included the refund of $3 million from OHSU after the city paid to reserve parking spaces. PDC will also receive $1 million in transportation system development charge credits.

In addition, the city will receive 25 percent of the proceeds if OHSU sells Block 33 in the next seven years.

The development commission originally planned to build an affordable housing project on Block 33. Chair Scott Andrews said the PDC and the Portland Housing Bureau plan to move ahead with the project at a different South Waterfront location.

http://www.kptv.com/money/22659307/detail.html

[MarkDaMan]

Friday, February 26, 2010
Price cuts up sales at John Ross
Discounts are deepest in Portland
Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer

Deep price cuts have jump-started sales at one of Portland’s most troubled condo projects.

The John Ross condominiums are now 74 percent sold out after an uptick in sales in the second half of 2009. Seven units sold in both December and January.

The project has been closely watched since it opened more than three years ago. It was the residential backbone of the highly touted South Waterfront development, which has since ground to a halt. At one point, the city projected development in the area would create 10,000 jobs.

The $130 million, 303-unit project was co-developed by Gerding Edlen Development and Williams & Dame Development.

Prudential Real Estate, which issued the original construction loan, took control of John Ross in March 2009 after the highly touted South Waterfront development stalled. Prudential cut prices by approximately 33 percent in mid-2009. At the time, there were 110 unsold units.

According to Multnomah County property records, 84 units in the John Ross remained unsold earlier this week, with the highest concentration occupying the expensive upper floors.

Todd Prendergast, principal director for Realty Trust Group Inc., listing broker for the John Ross, said the actual number is 78, with pending sales accounting for the difference.

John Ross offered the deepest discounts of any project in Portland. In comparison, the 104-unit Westerly in the Uptown Shopping Center discounted prices by an average of about 24 percent and sold 30 units in 2009.

Like the John Ross, the Westerly is about 74 percent sold. Unlike the John Ross, it is one to three sales away from being able to partly repay its original investors.

It’s unclear if the current pace of sales is fast enough for Prudential, which holds a $32 million note on the John Ross.

Rumors are circulating that many unsold units will be auctioned off much the way units at its sister project, Atwater Place, were sold last September. Forty units sold during that auction. All were advertised at about half the initial list prices.

The company that conducted the Atwater auction declined to say if it has been booked to sell the John Ross. Prendergast has not been told about an auction and is operating as if sales will continue.

Examples of recent sales include a 12th-floor unit with 631 square feet and one bath that sold in November for $184,000, or about $291 per square foot. A third-floor unit with 1,970 square feet sold in November, for $450,000, or $228.42 per square foot.

The Regional Multiple Listing Service has John Ross units listed between $156,800 for the smallest floor plan and $2.49 million for a four-bedroom, four-plus bath penthouse with more than 5,000 square feet.

A spokesman for Parsippany, N.J.-based Prudential could not be reached for comment.

Ben Andrews, owner of Willamette Realty Group, has represented buyers in five recent sales at John Ross. He has heard rumors about an auction, but nothing substantial.

A John Ross investor who wrote off $10 million in bad debt on the project said an auction could make sense. Discounting prices by a third should have yielded more than 32 or so sales, said Bob Scanlan, chairman of Portland’s ScanlanKemperBard Cos.

“I wouldn’t expect to have 75 units left,” he said.

SKB provided more than half the equity for John Ross and wrote off the investment in 2008.

Scanlan, who also provided more than 60 percent of the equity for the Westerly project, said John Ross has suffered from the recession and collapsing demand for condos, but also from a lack of neighborhood amenities in the immature South Waterfront district.

The economy has prevented more office and residential project growth, which in turn has either deterred retailers from entering the area or hampered businesses looking to attract foot traffic.

The lack of activity marks a slow start to what the city once called the largest economic development project in Portland’s history. Some $2.5 billion worth of projects were scheduled to dot the neighborhood by 2014.

The John Ross itself has struggled to find tenants for its 21,400 square feet of street-level retail space.

Last summer, it leased 5,000 square feet of unfinished space to entrepreneur Carolina Olsen for her temporary “pop-up” imported teak furnisher business, Greentoko LLC.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415

http://portland.bizjournals.com/port...ml?t=printable

[sowat]

SIGNING OFF

No more roving photo updates from me. Tomorrow I move back east. I have enjoyed my brief, two-year stint in Portland, but decided to build a house on 20 serene acres that I recently purchased.

I hand the photo updates off to you guys, and will check in from time to time to see how things progress. Unfortunately it looks like it will be a while before anything new gets off the ground, but this delay will help the city and developers rethink and re-assess future projects.

cheers,
T

[PacificNW]

Good luck, sowat.... I will miss reading/viewing your posts. Don't forget about us.

[JordanL]

Originally Posted by sowat

SIGNING OFF

No more roving photo updates from me. Tomorrow I move back east. I have enjoyed my brief, two-year stint in Portland, but decided to build a house on 20 serene acres that I recently purchased.

I hand the photo updates off to you guys, and will check in from time to time to see how things progress. Unfortunately it looks like it will be a while before anything new gets off the ground, but this delay will help the city and developers rethink and re-assess future projects.

cheers,
T

You ever coming back to Portland?

[Shilo Rune 96]

Originally Posted by sowat

SIGNING OFF

No more roving photo updates from me. Tomorrow I move back east. I have enjoyed my brief, two-year stint in Portland, but decided to build a house on 20 serene acres that I recently purchased.

I hand the photo updates off to you guys, and will check in from time to time to see how things progress. Unfortunately it looks like it will be a while before anything new gets off the ground, but this delay will help the city and developers rethink and re-assess future projects.

cheers,
T

Man, this is such a sad first post. I'll miss reading your info and viewing the photos. Good luck! If you don't mind, did you own a condo in the South Waterfront area??

[Artist]

Sowat, thank you for all the images and information you provided us and others on our future home and community. You have made our transition much easier. Best wishes to you and your family in your move.

[cronked]

Thank you Sowat for all of your contributions! You will be missed. The best of luck to you and your new home!

Bob

[RoseCtyRoks]

sowat--- Thanks for all of your updates & opinions the last couple years. If you ever get tired of all that acreage, come on back to a nice highrise in PDX, with no upkeep!
We'll leave the light on for ya.

[Artist]

New update on Mirabella's website http://www.mirabellaretirement.org/p...010/022610.htm
Nothing spectacularly new.

[MarkDaMan]

South Waterfront tackles housing void
POSTED: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 12:10 PM PT
BY: Nathalie Weinstein
Daily Journal of Commerce
Tags: Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, Block 49, Margaret Van Vliet,

Portland’s South Waterfront has been nearly a decade in the making. But to date, a vital portion of the neighborhood’s master plan, affordable housing, has been conspicuously missing.

That’s something Portland Housing Bureau director Margaret Van Vliet wants to remedy this year with $23 million in tax increment financing from the Central City Urban Renewal Area for an affordable housing project on Block 49. The only problem is that the TIF money is available over the next five years, and Vliet needs it in two.

“I need that money sooner,” Vliet said. “There has never been enough money to get an affordable housing project out of the ground at South Waterfront. We’re seeing a lot of homeless veterans coming back and struggling with housing and employment.”

Vliet plans to resurrect an Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects project for affordable housing for veterans at Block 49, a chunk of land bordered by Southwest Bond and Moody avenues and Lowell and Bancroft streets.

Walsh Construction was scheduled to start work on the project, on the boards for nearly two years, in summer 2008; construction was put on hold when private financing dried up due to the recession. Later attempts to get the project, now called The Tamarack, under way were thwarted when developers failed to obtain enough housing vouchers from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to make the project pencil out.

Though the Housing Authority of Portland and Portland Housing Bureau now have 105 vouchers, and the Portland Veterans Administration has applied for 300 more from the federal government, a funding gap still exists for the $49.85 million project.

“The land is very expensive down in South Waterfront, so trying to get a project built that is genuinely affordable is difficult,” said Kip Richardson, business development director for AMAA. “I’m hoping the city will step in like they did on the Resource Access Center.”

“The Housing Authority of Portland has helped us make connections with the VA, but there are still far more veterans in need of housing than we have vouchers,” Vliet said.

Now, the Housing Bureau will enter negotiations with the Portland Development Commission, South Waterfront developer Williams and Dame and the city’s debt management office to see how they can close the gap and get a crane on the site by late summer or early fall. Vliet said the stakeholders will begin meeting this week to see what lines of credit are possible. Once a funding plan is approved by the city and the PDC, the Housing Bureau will take The Tamarack’s existing plans back to Williams and Dame and decide how to move forward.

“I’m hoping this will culminate in a development agreement approved by the PDC this year,” Vliet said. “The bedrock of these negotiations is making sure the city can do this in a fiscally responsible way.”

In 2006, a deal was struck between Williams and Dame Development, Oregon Health and Science University and the city for construction of 430 units of affordable housing in the South Waterfront District. But affordable housing projects planned at both Block 49 and Block 33 have fizzled over the last few years due to a lack of private financing.

The PDC recently approved the sale of Block 33, bordered by Southwest Curry Street, Macadam Avenue, Moody Street and Gaines Street, to OHSU after plans for an affordable housing project atop an OHSU parking garage fizzled.

“We’re at a point where housing advocates are worried that the sale of Block 33 means we have lost ground,” Vliet said. “But I’m a longtime housing person, and I’ve never thought the Block 33 project would be viable. Right now I’m focused on using the money we have for Block 49 to get something built.”

Getting boots on the ground is a concern for AMAA project manager Jeff Hamilton, who was a project manager for the Tamarack.

“There could be so many jobs created by this one project for Walsh Construction and all of its suppliers,” Hamilton said. “Work has gotten so slow for everyone. It seems important to keep this project going.”

The design and name of the Tamarack project could change as it enters the construction phase. Presently, the mixed-use project includes retail and office space on the ground floor and five floors of housing, as well as a private green space for tenants.

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/03/03...ing-void-redv/