By: Inka Bajandas//September 26, 2013//
Inka Bajandas//September 26, 2013//

Labor union SEIU Local 49 has appealed an updated design for the Park Avenue West tower project in downtown Portland because it will lack affordable housing.
The union, which represents workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington, is worried about an imbalance between the number of jobs and the number of affordable units in downtown Portland, said David Noren, an attorney for SEIU.
“If SEIU workers are working downtown, it would be nicer if they could live a bit closer instead of having to take the bus in from Gresham,” he said.
The city of Portland last month approved TMT Development‘s proposal to add four floors to the midsection of the tower and make it 30 stories. The building, on a block bounded by Eighth and Ninth avenues and Yamhill and Morrison streets, will have two floors of retail space, 15 floors of housing and 13 floors of office space.
Noren said SEIU would like to see the proposed high-end housing units be more affordable.
The city first approved the design of Park Avenue West in 2007 as a 33-story mixed-use building. Two years later, the city signed off on a revised design for a 26-story mixed-use tower before the project stalled because of financing difficulties.
TMT Development in 2011 announced plans to resurrect the project with Hoffman Construction as the contractor.
A hearing for the SEIU appeal will take place on Oct. 10, at 1:30 p.m., at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave., in conference room 2500A.