Hyatt Centric (619 SW 11th Ave) | 150' feet | 15 floors | Complete

[downtownpdx]

Now here is a perfect example of the type of high-rise development opportunities I'd love to see more of in Portland. Neither this building nor the parking lot would be missed (sorry for the tiny image):



With hot market in mind, United Way looks to sell downtown building and adjacent lot

Mar 6, 2015, 12:42pm PST

Jon Bell
Staff Reporter-
Portland Business Journal

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette's Board of Directors has made a decision to explore the sale of its building in downtown Portland as well as a nearby surface lot that the organization also owns.
The nonprofit is working with longtime partner and supporter Melvin Mark Brokerage Company. The 30,000-square-foot building is at 619 S.W. 11th Ave. While its current market value is around the $5 million mark, the structure and the lot could attract a healthy purchase price because of its downtown location and recent development trends in Portland's West End.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...s-to-sell.html

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Now here is a perfect example of the type of high-rise development opportunities I'd love to see more of in Portland. Neither this building nor the parking lot would be missed (sorry for the tiny image):



With hot market in mind, United Way looks to sell downtown building and adjacent lot

Mar 6, 2015, 12:42pm PST

Jon Bell
Staff Reporter-
Portland Business Journal


http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...s-to-sell.html

Is that lot in the 460'-unlimited zoned area? Can we please get something over 500 here? Maybe break the block down and make 4 towers that are varying heights over 500-600? Fine grained, super high density. Ugh, I can dream.

[2oh1]

Wow, this is a nice surprise. Getting rid of that awful United Way building would be fantastic, though we've got plenty of lots downtown in more need of redevelopment than this spot. Still, I wouldn't be sad to see this one go.

[ablerock]

Anyone know which surface lot nearby is theirs?

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Now here is a perfect example of the type of high-rise development opportunities I'd love to see more of in Portland. Neither this building nor the parking lot would be missed (sorry for the tiny image):



With hot market in mind, United Way looks to sell downtown building and adjacent lot

Mar 6, 2015, 12:42pm PST

Jon Bell
Staff Reporter-
Portland Business Journal


http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...s-to-sell.html

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

Is that lot in the 460'-unlimited zoned area? Can we please get something over 500 here? Maybe break the block down and make 4 towers that are varying heights over 500-600? Fine grained, super high density. Ugh, I can dream.

460' will remain the height limit downtown, so no one will be building 500-600' tall towers any time soon. At present the site has a 150' height limit, or 325' if the extra height is entirely used for housing:

Height standard for housing on specified sites in the West End subarea. In the area shown on Map 510-14, building heights 175 feet higher than shown on Map 510-3 are allowed if all the floor area constructed above the limits shown on Map 510-3 is used exclusively for housing.

[Abide]

Originally Posted by ablerock

Anyone know which surface lot nearby is theirs?

Was wondering the same thing.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Now here is a perfect example of the type of high-rise development opportunities I'd love to see more of in Portland. Neither this building nor the parking lot would be missed (sorry for the tiny image):



With hot market in mind, United Way looks to sell downtown building and adjacent lot

Mar 6, 2015, 12:42pm PST

Jon Bell
Staff Reporter-
Portland Business Journal


http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/...s-to-sell.html

Good news, I would definitely like to see this building replaced.

[babs]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Good news, I would definitely like to see this building replaced.

Here's the problem, I don't think there is a demand for a high rise in that location when you could easily remodel that building with lots of retail on the ground floor and offices above. Values aren't where they should be to justify ripping that building down and replacing it with something much larger.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by babs

Here's the problem, I don't think there is a demand for a high rise in that location when you could easily remodel that building with lots of retail on the ground floor and offices above. Values aren't where they should be to justify ripping that building down and replacing it with something much larger.

It would be tough to remodel that building given that the exterior walls appear to be the primary structural frame. Plus, it's a fairly unusual half block redevelopment opportunity not owned by the Goodmans. I wouldn't necessarily bet on a high rise, but I wouldn't bet against it either.

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

It would be tough to remodel that building given that the exterior walls appear to be the primary structural frame. Plus, it's a fairly unusual half block redevelopment opportunity not owned by the Goodmans. I wouldn't necessarily bet on a high rise, but I wouldn't bet against it either.

You really think the exterior walls are part of the structural frame? I was assuming it was the columns. Part of my thinking is that it could be one large retail space that you likely wouldn't have in a high rise. I'm not sure who the tenant would be. Maybe a drug store?

I've always been surprised by the lack of drug stores in the central city. In most other cities I've been to, there are several Walgreens and CVS stores downtown that seem to do well. The only drug store that I can think of downtown is the Rite Aid on Alder. I know Walgreens backed out of the basement location of the Portland Executive Hilton tower many years ago. Seems odd we don't have more drug stores downtown.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by babs

You really think the exterior walls are part of the structural frame? I was assuming it was the columns.

I certainly could be wrong, but when I look at the building in Google Streetview it looks like the exterior is all in-situ concrete. Just remodeling that to add storefront windows along SW 11th could be a major undertaking. That said, it's not a construction type I'm very familiar with given that it's almost never done these days.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I certainly could be wrong, but when I look at the building in Google Streetview it looks like the exterior is all in-situ concrete. Just remodeling that to add storefront windows along SW 11th could be a major undertaking. That said, it's not a construction type I'm very familiar with given that it's almost never done these days.

My guess is the building will probably just be reused as office space for the short term and any developer who buys this building will probably just hold onto it until there is a demand for an office building on site.

[maccoinnich]

So the parking lot they own is at SW 13th & Washington, adjacent to Blackbox.

Why the time is right for United Way to sell its prime Portland properties



What a difference a year — not to mention two or three — can make.

Since 2011, brokers Peter Andrews and Nick Ehlen of Melvin Mark Brokerage Company have been working with United Way of the Columbia-Willamette to assess whether the time was right to put the nonprofit's two prime West End properties on the market. That first year wasn't a good fit; property assessments over the next couple years, even including last year, came up with the same recommendations: not yet.

But this year, according to Andrews and Ehlen, is the year.

"Just the sheer velocity of the marketplace alone compared to even a year ago is such a strong indicator," Andrews said.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[Abide]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

So the parking lot they own is at SW 13th & Washington, adjacent to Blackbox.

That's fantastic news! I always thought that quarter block lot would make for an amazing tall, skinny residential tower.

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

So the parking lot they own is at SW 13th & Washington, adjacent to Blackbox.



...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

So according to the PBJ, this was two separate buildings:

"The office complex, at 619 S.W. 11th Ave., encompasses two buildings, one built in 1928 and one built in 1979. The two were joined in 1979 and given uniform facades."

It was be awesome to look at pics of the original building. I had no clue but you can see the windows are different on each side of the building. Anyone have photos?

[Abide]

Not a very close shot, but here is a pic:
https://vintageportland.files.wordpr...hwest-1964.jpg

[crow]

That is an amazing photo. You can see Henry's brewery or Blitz back then perhaps. You can also see the Cathedral Church and so much more.

[maccoinnich]

I think I could look at that photo for hours, and not just because you can see my apartment in it.

[babs]

Originally Posted by Abide

Not a very close shot, but here is a pic:
https://vintageportland.files.wordpr...hwest-1964.jpg

Thanks for posting!
Great to see the buildings where 405 is now. Actually looking at that photo, it makes me wonder how much further ahead that neighborhood would have been without 405. A lot was taken out for the freeway and it's amazing to see how little things have changed.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I think I could look at that photo for hours, and not just because you can see my apartment in it.

Seriously! Two apartment bldgs I lived in along Burnside are in the shot. So weird, and also sad, to see the stretch of blocks running north-south that would soon be razed for I-405. Great pic.