Portland Infill | North Portland

[NewUrbanist]

I was initially a fan of this project when I heard about it. After seeing the gigantic parking structure underneath and now the massive scale, I feel as though it is completely out of touch with the neighborhood.

Hopefully the bulk will be broken up by some decorative touches on the exterior.

That said, I hope this project, the redevelopment just a block away, and the mississippi lofts will help enliven this district's appeal and not suffocate it.

[MarkDaMan]

I thought I read the point of the wood, brick, wood facade was to make it appear as three different buildings. However, having the EXACT SAME architectural form for each building doesn't differentiate at all. It just looks confused, as other have stated.

[Aya Murase]

i'm also confused by the Chateau Mississippi. it looks like it should be the set for an old-timey movie.

[pdxman]

^^^I'm confused as well. I was over in Miss. last week and saw that building for the first time and my initial reaction was huh? Now THAT looks out of place...

[sowat]

Originally Posted by tworivers

High expectations greet loft project
...Architect Hilary Mackenzie isn't losing any sleep over the slowing housing market.

That's impressive for an untested developer with a $4.3 million condominium project in construction on an untested stretch of Northeast Portland.

Mackenzie broke ground earlier this year on Graham Street Lofts, a 12-unit complex being constructed on a former parking lot that fronts Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Northeast Graham Street...

Sales are slow at the Graham St Lofts project, only 2 smaller units (of 12 total) have sold
http://www.grahamstreetlofts.com/pricefloor.php

(Prices on this web page are not up-to-date, they're lower on the MLS)

Not great design, busy/noisy frontage on MLK.

[NewUrbanist]

Our school group toured this building last year. The interiors are poorly laid out too. The developer/ architect constructed expensive luxury homes before this, and used a lot of her own money to get this project underway. The target market for the condos were empty nesters, but there isn't an elevator in the 4 story building and the parking is uncovered.

They were quiet inside. The construction materials yielded a quiet building when the windows and doors are closed. But walk onto your balcony that looks over MLK and the sound is deafening.

[sowat]

The Planned Parenthood project at Beech and MLK is finally under construction. Heavy equipment on the site digging out the foundation.

[65MAX]

Glad to hear the anti-choice/pro-death penalty hypocrites couldn't stop it.

[NewUrbanist]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Builder of Planned Parenthood project in Portland pulls out

Really? That was the title of this article? Can they be anymore blatant with the sexual innuendo? Oh Mark Larrabee, you are one funny guy.

[Joeplayer19]

those places are helpful

[sowat]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist

Really? That was the title of this article? Can they be anymore blatant with the sexual innuendo? Oh Mark Larrabee, you are one funny guy.

I completely missed that title gaff, that's Jay Leno's "Headlines" worthy!

[sowat]

Graham Street Lofts might be trying out the rental market

http://portland.craigslist.org/searc...=max&bedrooms=

[zilfondel]

^^^ I thought of a good name for that project: the pumpkin!

[tworivers]

The Hacker bit at the end seems like good news. I'm assuming that by "traditional townhouses" they mean in scale only.

PDC decides future for MLK Grant Warehouse site
Submitted by Sentinel News Service on Wed, 04/01/2009 - 11:25am.

SENTINEL NEWS SERVICE~ William Crawford

The Portland Development Commission arrived at a decision mid-March on development plans for the site of the former Grant Warehouse on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just south of Northeast Fremont Street.

Although the details remain tentative, the unused property between Cook and Ivy streets will be converted into a 30-unit housing complex comprised of two buildings and developed by Vern Rifer and Ivy City Homes, says Karl Dinkelspiel, PDC’s senior project coordinator. The PDC lists the 32,400 sq. ft. lot at an estimated $972,000.

The property sits on land recently deemed safe for development by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in a 2006 No Further Action letter. According to the PDC, the site was part of an emergency abatement action of hazardous materials undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency in late 1998.

“Mr. Grant had been storing hazardous chemicals while reclaiming various industrial materials,” explains Dinkelspiel. “There was remedial action [by the EPA] which PDC finished up — disassembled the warehouse, cleaned up the soil and bought the neighboring auto warehouse.”

Last year’s Request for Proposals required a minimum build-out of at least 24 home ownership units. “We worked with development teams and decided this one makes the most sense,” he said.

Rifer notes that the details are still in negotiation, but that the general plan is to designate 10 units along MLK as live/work spaces with a terraced space, and an additional two floors of 10 more units set back from the street. A second building would then sit behind the first with 10 additional units and a drivable access path between. Though the maximum build height is 75 feet, Rifer says his plan will reflect a “traditional townhouse” model of three stories at approximately 40-45 feet high.

As per the requirements set by the PDC, Dinkelspiel estimates 18 units would be “affordable” and range from $125,000 to $175,000 and 12 around $270,000.

“We are hoping to finish negotiating the deal in three to six months and begin construction in 2010,” explained Dinkelspiel.

Rifer says he will work with architect Thomas Hacker and contractor Andrew Colas of

Colas Construction, Inc.

[sowat]

Tupelo Alley web site is updated with flo'plans, photos, virt tours, & usual generic "lifestyle" shots. No prices yet, or anything on craigslist

http://www.tupeloalley.com/

[Valentij]

Unfortunately, all of these developments seem really heavy-handed and out of step with the ethos of the neighborhood. The Mississippi Lofts seem okay, and I really like the wood facade (while reserving other questions for the brick and layout), but the scale and style of the Tupelo just crushes the streetscape. As I remember, it has almost no set-back and casts a huge shadow on the street and it's nursery neighbor. For the sake of the residents, I hope that the neighborhood is resilient enough to absorb this amount of corporate and still function in the way that it has heretofore.

BTW, I almost never side with the too tall/too modern/doesn't address the surrounding area arguments, but the Tupelo just seems like such a clear example of why these things are important.

[tworivers]

BTW, I almost never side with the too tall/too modern/doesn't address the surrounding area arguments, but the Tupelo just seems like such a clear example of why these things are important.

I'm with you. That building, due to its scale, is of central importance to the street and at this point it looks like it is going to be an art-less and very bulky failure. It looks extremely cheap and generic. Compare it to the LEED-Platinum Shaver Green affordable apartments going up on MLK -- well, there is no comparison, actually. Of course, I don't know the fine points of the financial realities and choices faced by each developer (Shaver Green is state subsidized to a significant extent). But the firm that designed Shaver Green obviously did a bang-up job designing a quality building within whatever constraints were handed to them. Sera did not, though who knows what Trammell-Crow demanded of them.

I'll take some pics this weekend. One thing I noticed riding by earlier today was that the backside of the development looks much better -- more townhouse-style, with bioswales, alternating colors, and pitched roofs.

[MR. Cosmopolitan]

so glad to see debelopment going on in the inner-suburbs, I wonder why dosen't it happen so much in East Portland, would have more sense to me.

[JordanL]

Originally Posted by MR. Cosmopolitan

so glad to see debelopment going on in the inner-suburbs, I wonder wonder why dosen't it happen so much in East Portland, would have more sense to me.

Zoning.

See: 60th & Glisan (which is actually being considered for rezoning)

[Artist]

The architect's design doesn't bother me--this is low-key residential/commercial. Imagine it with underground utilities and larger trees edging the sidewalk. Replace the streetlamp and pole with something more tasteful and you've got a comfortably nice facade.