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Portland’s downtown skyline is poised to continue rising.

With plans on the table for a 28-to-30-story condominium project in the Pearl District, announced Tuesday that it is also working with Wood Partners, a national multifamily developer, to build an $80 million high-rise nearby, on Block 17. It’s bordered by Northwest 11th Avenue and Overton Street, and is directly across from The Fields Neighborhood Park.

Early schematic designs are for a 21-story building with 250 luxury apartments. Construction could begin as early as fall 2013.

鈥淲e’re known 鈥� as a developer that knows how to get stuff into production,鈥� said Frank Middleton, director of western region development for Wood Partners. 鈥淥ur forte is really in the vertical field as opposed to processing entitlements and procuring land from developers. Most of the projects on the West Coast are those that we’ve taken through entitlements from a group that is looking for a group to come in and capitalize and move into construction.鈥�

In August, announced it would develop a 27-story, 298-unit tower in downtown Seattle. Middleton said the Pearl project will be similar, and include as much glass as energy codes allow. The company is working with on design.

Wood Partners’ relationship with Hoyt Street Properties evolved from its desire to enter the Portland market. Middleton added that the Pearl District’s reputation preceded itself.

Tiffany Sweitzer, president and partner of Hoyt Street Properties, said Wood Partners brought the right amount of weight to the site.

鈥淲e were particularly attracted to Wood because of what they were doing in Seattle, and because they have that proven track record, which was a comfort to us,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e thought that particularly the area around the park deserved more density and a building of this stature.鈥�

Hoyt Street Properties will help guide the project through design review and permitting before handing the reins over to Wood Partners for construction. Sweitzer said that while Hoyt Street Properties is not a project partner per se, several members of its executive team are.

The tower will be the first significant project to break ground since the adoption of the North Pearl District Plan 鈥� a two-year process, involving hundreds of people, to change the code to allow taller buildings. The plan increased floor area ratios from 2:1 to 9:1 with zero height restrictions, in exchange for more public spaces, family-size units and green building designs.

Sweitzer said the entire area between Northwest Hoyt Street and the Fremont Bridge is rated as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum neighborhood.

鈥淚 think the neighborhood will embrace it,鈥� Sweitzer said of Wood Partners’ high-rise. 鈥淭he process with the (North Pearl District Plan) was a good one. Many neighborhood residents and businesses were involved. Unlike so many other neighborhoods in Portland that are afraid of change, the Pearl has really embraced that. It has been a long process, but they have felt, particularly with the Encore, the Metropolitan and the Pinnacle, that you can build taller buildings and have a taller feel that works.鈥�

Kate Washington, communications chairwoman for the , agreed with those sentiments. She said a neighborhood like the Pearl requires a lot of density to make infrastructure investments pencil out.

鈥淭he north end really needs to be developed, if just for safety’s sake,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he car break-ins are crazy up here. There’s no sidewalks up here. We know that the equation is to develop it so that there’s more people and less crime.鈥�

Residents continue to advocate for high-rise buildings not becoming skyscrapers and new housing being able to suit families. Washington said couples who moved to the Pearl several years ago and now have children are finding that the neighborhood doesn’t have spaces large enough for them.

Others are concerned that their living room views may disappear behind the new tower. Washington said a general rule of thumb in the Pearl, however, is for residents to expect development on sites where it would be feasible.

The neighborhood association will host a meeting about the Wood Partners-Hoyt Street Properties project on Jan. 15 at the PREM Group building, at 351 N.W. 12th Ave. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Hoyt Street Properties is in the process of selling its Block 27 property, at the corner of Northwest Raleigh Street and 13th Avenue, to San Francisco-based , which hopes to build a 185-unit affordable housing apartment building.

Also, Oseran Investment Co., a local developer, has expressed interest in constructing an 18-to-24-story apartment building on Northwest 12th Avenue. The company last month submitted a land-use intake for the project.

When Middleton was asked what he sees in his crystal ball for the Portland apartment market, he said 鈥渙pportunity.鈥�

鈥淥bviously, we’re very optimistic about what the future holds for the Pacific Northwest as a whole,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I think Portland is a big part of that.鈥�