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A few issues remain to be ironed out at the Con-way development site in Northwest Portland.

On Wednesday evening, Con-way Vice President of Corporate Development J. Craig Boretz joined principal Phil Beyl, Vice President of Development Sam Rodriguez and Northwest District Association President Ron Walters at the Lucky Lab Beer Hall in Northwest Portland to present an update of their efforts to develop a master plan for the project. The event, which was organized by the Portland Young Leaders Group,聽drew approximately 90 people.

鈥淧robably the biggest open issue is in the location of open spaces 鈥� i.e., parks,鈥� Beyl said in an interview before the presentation.

Beyl said Con-way donated approximately 23 percent of the total land area to Portland Parks and Recreation for use as open space. GBD’s preference, Beyl said, is for two distinct spaces: a vibrant urban plaza and a smaller, traditional green space with playground equipment. But Portland Parks and Recreation’s preference is for one large area, he said.

Overall, the 17-acre site is slated to include 1,100 to 1,500 residential units, 368,000 square feet of office space and 144,000 square feet of retail space 鈥� approximately 1.9 million square feet of new development using a proposed 3-to-1 floor-area-ratio.

鈥淏ut the caveat to that is our master plan is completely focused on being responsive to the marketplace,鈥� Beyl said. 鈥淪o we’re not locking ourselves into providing specifically any of those numbers. But everything we’re doing 鈥� from traffic analysis, from a massing standpoint, how we address parking 鈥� we’re using those numbers as our expected target.鈥�

Beyl did propose a building height of 87 feet, which translates into a 17-foot-tall ground floor to accentuate retail spaces, and seven 10-foot floors stacked on top.

Rodriguez, however, said that if an eight-story minimum were required for the neighborhood, Mill Creek’s development plans would become less certain.

Mill Creek is building a 179-unit market-rate apartment complex called Savier Flats at 2244 N.W. Savier St. Rodriguez said the firm would like to build housing on the nearby Con-way site, but feasibility will depend on terms of the master plan.

鈥淚f they make me do eight stories, I won’t be able to buy land from them,鈥� he said.

It’s a question of the economics, Rodriguez said. Mill Creek can build everything up to six stories with wood, or a combination of wood and concrete. But everything taller than six stories must be built with concrete, and that is expensive, he said.

鈥淭rying to do eight-story buildings is a bad idea,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淵ou’re using a very expensive building type to do the minimal density you can do for that building type. If you’re going to do concrete construction, high-rise doesn’t even work today unless 鈥� you need to do at least 22 stories.鈥�

It was unclear at the meeting Wednesday whether eight stories would be a minimum or maximum building height.

The team has decided to place all parking underground. Beyl said that will allow the team to meet its density goals and enhance the neighborhood’s character.

鈥淚t’s simply the right place to put it if we’re going to try and maintain all of the ground-floor space to be active and vibrant and pedestrian-oriented,鈥� he said.

One parking question that remains is how Con-way will meet the needs of its 750 employees, because the company is planning to repurpose its existing parking land for development. Beyl said the company will need approximately 800 parking spaces and that a kind of shared-use plan between employees and residents is being considered.

Plans for a neighborhood grocery store also are still on the table, and Boretz said officials are working with a local developer to attract a client to a vacant warehouse on the site. Beyl said that effort will require amendments to the Northwest District Association’s district plan, which limits retail spaces to 20,000 square feet.

鈥淭here happens to be one project in play, one developer in play, that is fairly confident they can attract a neighborhood grocer to a certain site, and we want to make accommodations for that because groceries are usually larger than 20,000 square feet,鈥� Beyl said.

At the end of the presentation, several questions were issued by attendees. Josh Lehr, an associate broker for , asked about the level of housing diversity planned.

鈥淚 think affordable housing is a key ingredient to a thriving neighborhood,鈥� Lehr said after the meeting. 鈥淚 think it’s always important to have a different set of levels between high income, middle income and then service or low income.鈥�

Boretz said that while the team is considering a range of affordable to market-rate housing options, it is tough to make that pencil out in the current economy. Beyl said it becomes especially difficult because no urban renewal money will be available.

鈥淭hat may come back someday, but not within the time we have for this land-use application, that’s for sure,鈥� Beyl said.

He said the team is planning to seek a second design review from the city in early spring.