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Portland project could be on top of the world
By: Stephen Alexander in Real Estate and Development October 19, 2015 1:01 pm
Portland could soon become home to the world’s tallest cross-laminated timber (CLT) building.
An application requesting design advice for a 19-story mixed-use tower in Northeast Portland was submitted recently by Mark Nye of Works Partnership Architecture, on behalf of Block 75 LLC. A 10-story concrete and steel-frame building is already being constructed on Block 75; however, this proposed second building – at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Couch Street – could differ significantly. That is because Brad Malsin, owner of Beam Development, the project’s developer, is considering using CLT.
“We consider ourselves pioneers in a lot of the real estate and development that we have done,” Malsin said. “Our general mindset is not just building things, but trying to provide opportunities for ourselves, for the city, for others. It’s important to identify new construction types, especially if it produces jobs. We realize the impact that CLT construction could have on the Oregon economy in stimulating the lumber business. We’re aware of both the direct and the indirect benefits of doing a first-of-its-kind high-rise CLT building. We’re hoping that this could really, really stimulate a lot of people to take a look at what the opportunities are.”
Of course, before a CLT building taller than six stories could be constructed in Portland, city building codes would need to change. The possibility of modifying those codes is already being reviewed.
“Recently the (International Code Council) sent out a call for an ad hoc committee,” said Catherine Heeb, building plans examiner with the Bureau of Development Services. “The American Wood Council requested that ICC start this committee to look at code change, so it’s at the very beginning stages.”
Beam Development’s proposed building could be either 19 or 20 stories. Currently, an 18-story building planned in Vancouver, British Columbia, is on track to become the world’s tallest constructed with CLT.
Before deciding whether to use CLT for the second building at Block 75, Malsin said that he will have to consider numerous factors. Those include constructability, cost, permitting and possible financing obstacles.
That said, after checking out some University of British Columbia buildings that have used CLT, Malsin wants to follow suit.
“We’ve gotten comfortable enough to try to see if we can make sense of it,” he said. “We would prefer doing it. I want to make it clear that we are continuing to investigate. We’d like to do a CLT building, but (we do not know) whether it’s feasible to go 19 to 20 stories.”
Ethan Martin, Northwest regional director for WoodWorks, an initiative of the Wood Products Council, said that with city codes currently limiting mass-timber buildings to six stories, one 19 or 20 stories would have a dramatic impact on the industry.
“It will be a landmark opportunity,” he said. “It will put us into a section of our building code that has never allowed the use of wood. It will really open up the door for people to use mass timber in buildings in the six- to 20-story range.”
On Tuesday, Beam Development hosted a “topping off party” to celebrate the last floor being poured for the 10-story building representing phase one of the project.
Malsin said that he has received a number of letters expressing interest in leasing commercial space in the first building. The team has not started to market the residential units yet, but occupancy is expected to begin sometime next summer.
Malsin added that he believes the use of CLT in the second building would add to the aesthetic value of the first building, which will have a modern appearance.
“The (CLT) buildings themselves are so unique with the warmth of the wood and the feel and fit and finish,” he said. “It’s really a different experience. Instead of building a monolithic type of development, with a number of buildings that kind of mimic each other, we’re really set on trying to have an array of different types of buildings and different types of ideas and different types of forward thinking.”
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