Portland Infill | North Portland

[MarkDaMan]

Finally! A stop to the LRS shit being thrown up around town.

North Williams Avenue six-story building loses Portland Design Commission appeal
By Casey Parks, The Oregonian
on August 28, 2013 at 9:10 AM, updated August 28, 2013 at 11:06 AM


LRS Architects presented a revised look at one side of their proposed Cook Street Apartments. (LRS Architects)

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i..._river_default

The developers of a planned six-story mixed-use complex on North Williams Avenue will have to make changes before the city approves their proposal. The Portland Design Commission denied an appeal made by LRS Architects to approve its North Cook Avenue complex with 208 apartments.

...

The design commission did not approve of the “overall composition of the exterior materials,” Adams said. That is, the commission disapproved of the materials used and of the look of the complex. The commission wants the building to blend better with the neighborhood by using design features that match the nearby historic district.

The two sides dissected the finest of details in a three-hour discussion Aug. 15. The commission disapproved of the architect’s use of 12 different window patterns and varying sill heights. It also disapproved of the fiber cement panel displayed on the ground-floor on the North Cook side.

“The overall combination of the changes just adds to the sort-of chaotic feel,” Adams said in the meeting.

Designer Greg Mitchell of LRS Architects said the pattern changes are deliberate and dynamic. The fiber cement is an accent material, he told Adams.

“I’ve done quite a few projects in this area. I’ve come under a lot of fire,” Mitchell said. “I have to say, out of all the projects we have done so far, we really have tried to raise the bar on this one. I mean we really are stepping up and putting some really quality products on this building.”

...

[2oh1]

Who could have possible thought for even one moment that a neon drawing was a good idea? OK, maybe it isn't quite neon, but still... those colors...? Yikes. Even the colors of the car windows are dumb. If one wants to showcase their work, why would they choose to use a drawing like that? It makes no sense.

[tworivers]

I love seeing LRS shot down, because they suck. But this gave me pause:

The commission wants the building to blend better with the neighborhood by using design features that match the nearby historic district.

Nearby historic district? Huh? What nearby historic district, it's been a bunch of vacant lots forever. They didn't blink an eye when the House Of Music building was demolished for the hideous Albert. There's barely a "historic" building left on the entire street... and please, Portland doesn't need any more faux-historic architecture that is trying to "blend better" .

[Derek]

Have a 26 story tower in the Pearl that looks like shit, nobody bats an eye. A "colorful" 6 story infill project in North Portland and everybody loses their minds.

[urbanlife]

“I’ve done quite a few projects in this area. I’ve come under a lot of fire,” Mitchell said. “I have to say, out of all the projects we have done so far, we really have tried to raise the bar on this one. I mean we really are stepping up and putting some really quality products on this building.”

Lamest response from a designer I have heard in a long time. Seriously, how did this idiot make it out of college and into an architecture job making excuses for poor architecture like this. We really tried harder this time isn't a good response to bad architecture.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by Derek

Have a 26 story tower in the Pearl that looks like shit, nobody bats an eye. A "colorful" 6 story infill project in North Portland and everybody loses their minds.

From reading the article, it's not the color of the building that raised concerns, it was the materials. Developer was proposing white vinyl windows and cement fiberboard, rather than brick and nicer windows. Can't blame them for trying though.. They want to make more $$$..

[downtownpdx]

Green renovation for Green Zebra Grocery 3 blocks from my place

POSTED: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 02:01 PM PT
BY: Sam Tenney Daily Journal of Commerce - Oregon

R&H Construction is performing a full renovation on a building at 3011 N. Lombard St. for Green Zebra Grocery, the first location in a chain of small grocery stores primarily selling local fresh foods and healthy prepared foods. The 6,500-square-foot building was originally built as a Safeway store and is being renovated to bring it back to how it looked in the 1950’s while keeping it structurally modern and up to code.

Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2013/08/30...#ixzz2dfk3Q2Ck

[FishB8]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Finally! A stop to the LRS shit being thrown up around town.

North Williams Avenue six-story building loses Portland Design Commission appeal
By Casey Parks, The Oregonian
on August 28, 2013 at 9:10 AM, updated August 28, 2013 at 11:06 AM


LRS Architects presented a revised look at one side of their proposed Cook Street Apartments. (LRS Architects)

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i..._river_default

GOOD FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD. someone HAS TO STAND UP AND STOP THIS CRAP FROM FLYING UNDER the radar and being built. It looks like a cut out that a child then rubbed crayons on. Barf.

[downtownpdx]

Development will provide affordable business spaces in hot corridor

by Lee Fehrenbacher

North Rim Partners is renovating five attached warehouse buildings at the northwest corner of North Williams Avenue and Shaver Street into as many as nine "re-flex" (retail and flex) spaces. The plan is to undercut rents at nearby properties and create opportunities for production-oriented businesses in a location close to downtown.

(paywall)
Read more: http://djcoregon.com/#ixzz2ej8LtXyR

[Shilo Rune 96]

Affordable Housing coming to North williams Ave?

DJC reports, "High-quality units in the works for low-income renters." Based on the rendering, I think they're talking about this:

http://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/web.../5449844/view/

http://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/web.../5875000/view/

[mmeade]

Renderings like that drive me nuts. Is there really NOTHING around this building? When I review college student work this is the FIRST thing I comment on as it is lazy and irresponsible to design in a bubble like this.

[tworivers]

While we're on the issue of what drives us nuts... the name of this development is the WILMORE. Gee, I wonder how they came up with that? I'm hoping that it's just a placeholder -- but I think it's time for the names of new apt and condo buildings to be regulated. I'm not kidding, either. We should add naming to the list of things the Design Commission gets a say on.

That said, I'm happy to see more affordable housing in the works, especially in that corridor. The design needs some work, though, especially at street level.

[crow]

Originally Posted by tworivers

While we're on the issue of what drives us nuts... the name of this development is the WILMORE. Gee, I wonder how they came up with that? I'm hoping that it's just a placeholder -- but I think it's time for the names of new apt and condo buildings to be regulated. I'm not kidding, either. We should add naming to the list of things the Design Commission gets a say on.

That said, I'm happy to see more affordable housing in the works, especially in that corridor. The design needs some work, though, especially at street level.

No disrespect, but letting design commission weigh in the name of a building or development would be a disaster. All architects would have to double or triple their fee for the design review process....which is already lengthy and full of pointless philosophical diatribe and rhetoric.

[bvpcvm]

yeah, besides, who ever remembers the name? nerds like us may know what various projects are called, but the general public probably has no idea. and almost certainly doesn't care.

[tworivers]

crow: No disrespect, but letting design commission weigh in the name of a building or development would be a disaster. All architects would have to double or triple their fee for the design review process....which is already lengthy and full of pointless philosophical diatribe and rhetoric.

Well then, they should just let me do it . The lazy combining of the two nearest streets into a name must be stopped. Are we really living in that much of a social and cultural vacuum?

Totally disagree, bvpcvm. I think the name is an important piece of any project. Particularly in a rapidly-changing city like PDX where so many newcomers don't seem to know anything about their adopted home beyond Portlandia. It can be a nice way to honor people and we have tons of forgotten/little-known history to work with, especially along a street like Williams. 'Wilmore' is a sorry reflection of a serious vacancy of thought and care.

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Are we really living in that much of a social and cultural vacuum?

hahaha

Originally Posted by tworiver

Totally disagree, bvpcvm. I think the name is an important piece of any project. Particularly in a rapidly-changing city like PDX where so many newcomers don't seem to know anything about their adopted home beyond Portlandia. It can be a nice way to honor people and we have tons of forgotten/little-known history to work with, especially along a street like Williams. 'Wilmore' is a sorry reflection of a serious vacancy of thought and care.

when i think of projects in the pearl from more than a year back, for the vast majority i can't remember the name. i can picture it in my head, but have to really think about what it's called. and i pay attention to these buildings. i guess it's nice that buildings like the franklin ide can honor some forgotten historical figure, so, ok, but really, this is probably the least of our problems.

[mmeade]

I've watched a few buildings go through the naming process here in Portland and I can assure you that even the historic sounding names are frequently quite arbitrary. In the long run, most of the weight of how a building is named is placed on making the building sell or rent.
Right now, shortened names are considered hip by a certain crowd of people. Think about how many hollywood couples are cheekily referred to by a joining of their names. It may not be cool to you, but it certainly sells in tabloid magazines.
Developers are trying to cash in. They always will.

[tworivers]

[BrG]

Originally Posted by mmeade

I've watched a few buildings go through the naming process here in Portland and I can assure you that even the historic sounding names are frequently quite arbitrary.

True. Shoot. John Carroll often just used his kids and close relatives' first names.

The Eliot, The Elizabeth, The Gregory, etc.

[tworivers]

Probably good news IMO. Better to have a bunch of smaller-scale businesses in there.

Orchard Supply not coming to North Williams Avenue, developer says

Orchard Supply is not coming to North Williams Avenue, representatives from Security Properties told the Boise Neighborhood Association last night. The hardware store pulled out of negotiations Friday night at 5:30, said Michael Nanney, Security's director of Multifamily Development. Security had planned to submit its proposal for design review in October, but that timetable is now pushed back.

Rest of article here.