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Hoyt Street Properties is continuing to develop a 28-story condominium project in the Pearl District, and now a big obstacle is looming for the hundred-million-dollar-plus project: financing.

Design commissioners last week officially approved plans for Block 15 (between Northwest 10th and 11th avenues, and Fields Neighborhood Park and Tanner Springs Park), where a vacant lot exists. The team is looking to build a high-end point tower with a sleek, glass facade.

Commissioners were ready to approve the project on July 11, but their vote was delayed until inadvertently omitted public testimony could be added into the public record.

Andersen Construction Co. is working out a price for the project, and Tiffany Sweitzer, president of Hoyt Street Properties, said she anticipates a dollar amount by the end of the month. She’s hoping ground will be broken next spring – if the market allows.

“The challenge going forward is: Is the market healthy enough given the cost that the building will be at, and can we get the revenue to support it?” Sweitzer said.

The plan is especially dicey, she said, in consideration of recent market fluctuation. For instance, Hoyt sold just nine units in the Encore – a 16-story condo building – the year it was delivered in 2008. Now, just nine units remain in the 177-unit building, and Sweitzer said that limited inventory of condos for sale could spell opportunity for Block 15.

Design commissioners were elated when they got their first glimpse of the project in April. Sweitzer said they did offer some constructive criticism, however, and one of the things that changed was the conversion of some retail space on Northwest 10th Avenue into additional bicycle storage space. The company plans to paint a bicycle mural on the side of that wall as well.

“What I’m learning about these buildings is everyone has at least one bike if not much more,” she said. “So it’s become a big issue … People are starting to pay for biking spaces. It’s amazing how important the issue has become, so we thought why not embrace it more than we have in the past.”

Developer Joe Weston, a partner at Hoyt Street Properties and a key investor in Block 15, attended the design commission meeting on July 11. It was the first time he appeared at such a meeting for one of the company’s projects.

Sweitzer said she hopes to hear the sound of pile drivers setting foundations before long.

“That will be music to my ears,” she said.