Slabtown (formerly Conway) Developments

[NewUrbanist]

"The plan includes rebuilding the intersection at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Vaughn Street, open space including a park and plaza, and a grocery store."

Although I am thrilled to see this intersection fixed, construction will heavily impact traffic. I am interested to see how they will stage the construction to minimize congestion and road closures.

[MarkDaMan]

Con-way development will help attract workers
Portland Business Journal by Wendy Culverwell , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 10:01am PDT

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...t.html?s=print

Con-way Enterprises Inc. employs more than 800 people in a pair of Class A offices sandwiched between two of Portland’s most desirable neighborhoods — Northwest 23rd to one side and the Pearl District to the other.

J. Craig Boretz, vice president for development for the $5 billion transportation giant, wants Con-way’s great location to keep and attract employees well into the future.

Con-way’s redevelopment vision for its massive Northwest campus is no secret. The company has long toyed with ways to make use of its 16-block, 20-acre campus, swathed in parking lots. It considered selling it, then redeveloping.

Now, after two years of planning, Con-way has the city’s blessing for its master plan. The document, approved in August, lays out development standards, building density and zoning.

Its first development partner, C.E. John Co. Inc., is expected to break ground on a grocery-anchored residential project in early 2013, becoming the first in a decades-long series of projects that could transform Northwest Portland.

The debut project will include a 30,000-square-foot grocery and a 150- to 200-unit apartment complex.

Monday, Boretz shared Con-way’s current thinking about the property it has owned and occupied for over eight decades.

Two years ago, when it revisited its plan, Con-way was direct: It wanted to tap into the value of its real estate to benefit its shareholders.

That’s not a driving force any more. Today, the company is sensitive to the role location and amenities play in attracting talented employees. With more than 800, that’s a big issue. Though based in San Mateo, Calif., Con-way houses a sizeable portion of its corporate operations in Northwest Portland.

“We want to control what happens. This is our home. We live here. We want to build around us a community that will attract the best and brightest employees we can,” he said.

Con-way is hardly alone. To recruit talent — particularly young tech-savvy talent — Portland employers compete with well-appointed offices in desirable areas. That translates to offices on transit lines with food carts handy at lunch time and an abundance of residential choices.

It’s a common refrain these days. Most recently, New Relic Inc., a San Francisco-based software firm with an engineering unit in Portland, said it would move to a 20,000-square-foot suite at U.S. Bancorp Tower, 111 S.W. Fifth Ave. It selected the building for its downtown location, proximity to food carts and its landlord’s willingness to entertain bike parking and a creative office design.

Boretz said Con-way has a large IT department in Portland. The company is competitive on wages and considers its location a winning advantage in the competition for the best employees.

But, Boretz said, Con-way’s workforce is older than average and turnover is a consideration.

Con-way will profit from the redevelopment by engaging developers such as C.E. John who want to create a new community in Northwest Portland. But Boretz said that isn’t the company’s prime consideration.

“The cash we get from this is not really material to our balance sheet. We are a $5 billion company with almost $500 million in cash in the bank.


Wendy Culverwell covers real estate, retail and hospitality.

[pdxstreetcar]

APPLICANT: Tom DiChiara � CE John
ADDRESS: 1717 NW 21st Ave

The proposed project will contain approximately 185 apartment units with underground parking, and approximately 15,000 sf of ground floor retail space composed in two 6-story buildings. The project also includes the adaptive re-use of an existing 1950s-era warehouse for a 30,000sf grocery store, with
associated surface, covered, and underground parking. A 40� wide pedestrian plaza will bifurcate the 92,000 sf site. (Note: The Conway Master Plan land use review is currently pending, LU 12-135162 MS.)

Source:
http://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/web...&count&rows=50

Rumored New Seasons moving forward, not only likely NS given they are the only supermarket chain not located in the area but they reusing an old building and having surface parking, so you know its New Seasons since they only build greenwashed suburban styled crap (like Burgerville).

[bvpcvm]

The latest NW Examiner has a big article about the Conway/Slabtown redevelopment, including, on p.23, renderings I hadn't seen previously of a smaller project (3 stories) at 20th & Raleigh.

[MarkDaMan]

Jan 22, 2013, 10:52am PST
New Seasons to anchor Con-way redevelopment
Wendy Culverwell
Business Journal staff writer- Portland Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...&ed=2013-01-22

New Seasons Market will anchor the redevelopment of the 16-acre Con-way site in Northwest Portland.

The Portland-based grocery chain said it has reached a deal with C.E. John Co. to convert a former freight warehouse, 2170 N.W. Raleigh St., into a full-service market.

...

C.E. John Co. is also developing additional retail as well as a six-story residential project with 110 units at the Con-way property.

...

[Derek]

I don't shop at New Seasons (there aren't any close to me), but that's awesome news! I would be compelled to check it out once it gets built.

[MarkDaMan]

Jul 16, 2013, 2:46pm PDT
New Seasons to anchor Con-way redevelopment
Wendy Culverwell
Real Estate Daily editor- Portland Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...T&t=1374013385

Pioneering Pearl District residents waited years before the first grocery store opened in their neighborhood.

Residents of the future Con-way neighborhood in Northwest Portland won’t have to wait so long.

New Seasons Market will anchor Slabtown Marketplace, a mixed-use development that will kick off development at the Con-way property.

Vancouver-based C.E. John Co. closed a $6 million deal to buy two acres at Northwest 21st Avenue and Raleigh Street from Con-way Inc. in June.

...

NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson, which brokered the land deal, said New Seasons will occupy a 36,000-square-foot warehouse that will be redeveloped for the Portland grocery retailer’s 15th store. Construction starts in 2014 with the store slated to open in early 2015.

Vancouver-based C.E. John also intends to construct a 115-unit LEED Gold apartment project with 10,000 square feet of retail space and a pedestrian plaza fronting New Seasons.

...

[bvpcvm]

Here are a few renderings I've found:

[digme]

I like the New Seasons, but a one story building makes me cringe. Can't we get some housing of offices above it?

[maccoinnich]

While I agree with you in general, in this case it is an existing building. It would be extremely difficult to add housing above it.

[2oh1]

Boy is that going to change the neighborhood. For the most part, I think I like it, though it looks like it belongs in the Pearl, not in NW. I wonder how this will be received.

What's the big wall of white on the left side of a few of those images, including the bottom one? Is that to represent the office building at 21st & Savier?

[cab]

Pedestrian plaza, sure. Lets be clean its a parking lot that those some trees in to appear pedestrian friendly. Terrible use of ground space. Kind of a lie to be honest. Im glad we're getting something built, but we should be way past this.

[tworivers]

Agreed, cab. Classic lipstick on a pig, the pig in this case being ground-level parking in the building. Interesting that there's no rendering of the interface between parking and "plaza". Or, wait... is the so-called plaza at the level of the second story, with parking underneath it?

Of course, we do love our cars here, mythology notwithstanding . Other than the horrible contemporary architecture, the neighbors should be VERY, VERY HAPPY.

All that being said, that is the nicest-looking New Seasons I've yet seen. Too bad they didn't use a more subdued/tasteful approach with the Williams store, which is coming along hideously.

[2oh1]

Note the drawing of the girl in a skirt and hiking boots. They know they're in Portland. HA! I don't really mind the way this surface level parking was done. In a perfect world, there would be underground parking, or perhaps the ability to park the cars on the roof of the New Seasons. I really do wish rooftop space would be considered for its potential use (though, in this case, it's an old building, so that's not realistic).

Those renders are awkward. They show a shell with nothing - not even walls - inside. Second image from the bottom. Follow the ceiling lines in the apartment windows. The error is most easily seen in the top story. It's a shell with no walls inside, as if each floor is one apartment. LOL! Anyway... I really don't mind this project at all. Surface parking and all. Maybe I'll feel different once it's built. I don't know.

[bvpcvm]

I don't know, I live close by and will probably go there fairly often, since anything is cheaper than Food Front. I am disappointed by the parking lot, but I didn't really expect anything better. But as far as parking lots go, it could be a lot worse. And the housing I think looks pretty nice. I like the black and white sections, and the lack of staggered windows is kind of refreshing. (Disclaimer: no art degree here, maybe not qualified to comment)

[2oh1]

bv: you just summed up my thoughts perfectly, all the way down to the lack of staggered windows!

[tworivers]

Well, I just read through those last 3 posts and found myself repeatedly saying 'yep', 'yep', 'yep'... so true about the non-staggered windows, too.

Other than the large amount of pedestrian-level space devoted to storing cars it looks promising -- like the architects have at least tried to be thoughtful with the parameters they were given. I just keep imagining what it would be like if the space between NS and the apt building actually contained a block-length plaza of sorts, along the base of the building with a row of retail facing the grocery store. More of a courtyard/neighborhood scene, less car.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

What's the big wall of white on the left side of a few of those images, including the bottom one? Is that to represent the office building at 21st & Savier?

Planned future stages of the Con-Way redevelopment.

Overall, I like it. They're reusing and old building, replacing a parking lot with a six floor residential building with underground parking, and the building isn't ugly.

I used to live in that neighborhood, and wandering through the seas of parking lots over there sucked. This will be a huge change in a good way for NW.

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by tworivers

I just keep imagining what it would be like if the space between NS and the apt building actually contained a block-length plaza of sorts, along the base of the building with a row of retail facing the grocery store. More of a courtyard/neighborhood scene, less car.

Keep in mind also that the master plan approved by the city calls for a plaza to be built one block east of there (or maybe south east, can't remember).

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

While I agree with you in general, in this case it is an existing building. It would be extremely difficult to add housing above it.

This makes more sense, I didn't like that it was just a one story building until you mentioned it is a reuse of a current building....though I don't remember any of the buildings over their having any real historic context, thus I would of thought it would make more sense to tear down and rebuild bigger. Either way, this looks like a great group of buildings and can't wait to see that area turn into it's own dense urban neighborhood. I actually like what I have been seeing in renderings so far more than the point-tower idea that was floated in the very beginning.

Originally Posted by davehogan

Planned future stages of the Con-Way redevelopment.

Overall, I like it. They're reusing and old building, replacing a parking lot with a six floor residential building with underground parking, and the building isn't ugly.

I used to live in that neighborhood, and wandering through the seas of parking lots over there sucked. This will be a huge change in a good way for NW.

I agree, I remember whenever I would ever cut through that area, it was always so surreal to see so much surface parking lots within inner Portland. I am very happy to see it begin to disappear and turn into its own unique modern neighborhood.