91视频

The Portland Development Commission says it’s time to look at how to develop the delayed Burnside Bridgehead project. And this time, the agency is serious.

Given the slowdown in development and building in the city, the agency thinks this is the perfect time to come up with a framework plan for the 176,000-square-foot property, according to PDC project coordinator Geraldine Moyle

鈥淲e wanted to use this time, while the economy wasn’t good, to plan how the site was going to be used,鈥� Moyle said.

The Burnside Bridgehead project has been in the planning stage since 2005, but this will be the first time it will have a full-fledged framework plan. The PDC is soliciting requests for proposals from consulting firms to provide a pre-development study for the site. The consulting firm that wins the contract will outline the type of development that could lead to 鈥渃atalytic鈥� development in the former warehouse district, according to the RFP.

At a Thursday morning discussion of the RFP with interested consulting firms, developer Brad Malsin of Beam Development said he’s as interested in affordability as he is sustainability.

鈥淲hat ideas can the design community come up with that can drive costs down?鈥� Malsin said. 鈥淭hat’s what I want to see.鈥�

Beam isn’t the original developer on the project. Opus NW was first attached to the project at a time when the goal was to have one major development spanning all four blocks of the property at the eastside base of the Burnside Bridge. But when Opus NW couldn’t find an anchor tenant, PDC let the company’s contract expire in February 2008.

Beam, which had vied against Opus for the developer’s spot back in 2005, joined the project this past January. Under new goals for the project, Beam has development rights for at least 20 percent of the project.

The PDC expects the framework plan to address some of the nagging questions still surrounding the project.

The questions include whether to keep the old and underused Convention Plaza building, how to incorporate the project with the potential expansion of the streetcar to the eastside and how to make the project work with the Burnside-Couch couplet. The couplet will turn聽 portions of the two streets into one-way thoroughfares.

On Wednesday, the couplet had its ground breaking ceremony. For Dan Yates, president of the Central Eastside Industrial Council, it was a disappointing day. His organization had envisioned the Bridgehead project and the couplet moving forward at the same time.

鈥淭he delay has impacted our ability in the urban renewal area to raise (tax increment financing),鈥� Yates said.

Business owners are disappointed, he said, that the project will see further delays. But he adds that he’s optimistic because Beam Development is attached to the project. Malsin brings a 鈥渞eal world business approach,鈥� he said.

Moyle said both the PDC and Beam Development will have a clearer understanding of how to move forward with the project once the framework plan is completed. 鈥淲hat comes out of the framework will be a guide, I think,鈥� Moyle said.

The framework is expected to be done by spring, 2010, which is far enough in the future that the agency believes the economy will have rebounded. After that, the development commission and the PDC will review the findings and continue developing the layout of the site.