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For the past few months the proposed design of a $65 million point tower in the Pearl District was a bit hazy. Last week it became a lot clearer.

Seattle-based Unico Properties went before Portland design commissioners with its plans for a 26-story tower development on the block bound by Northwest Pettygrove and Overton streets, and 12th and 13th Avenues. The firm in August applied for early assistance from the Bureau of Development Services, but images weren’t refined.

On Thursday, ZGF Architects, the project’s designer, presented plans revealing a sleek, glass tower rising from the center of a two-story podium with a dark brick facade. Commissioners generally supported the design, but stressed that vehicles should not be given access to a large, ground-floor pedestrian courtyard.

“We’ve had a couple projects come through where they try to wedge a suburban model in an urban space,” said Commissioner David Wark, a principal at Hennebery Eddy Architects. “I think you need to make a choice. We’ll advise you to what we’d like to see, but I don’t think it’s going to be for automobiles.”

Unico planned to allow vehicle access to the courtyard from “time to time.” ZGF called the space an “outdoor room,” and with few furnishings or landscaped features, envisioned it being used for things like pumpkin carving parties, weddings and farmers markets – as well as occasional drop-offs.

The space would flow from Northwest Overton Street, into the lobby and onto a small, open patio on the north side of the podium, which would also include retail spaces and live-work townhome units.

“If you look at the number of trips to and from the building, the preponderance of people will be on foot going to streetcar,” said Brian McCarter, a principal at ZGF’s Portland office.

He proposed, however, a situation in which a couple returns from Europe with too many bags to carry from a block away. In that case, he said it would be nice if they could be dropped off in the front courtyard for easy access to the lobby.

Commissioners advised that even occasional vehicle access would essentially ruin the courtyard’s pedestrian objectives.

“It’s been designed for the automobile; it’s not a people place,” Wark said. “It’s not really designed intrinsically for people being there. It’s a leftover space … There’s 15 years of towers being built in this neighborhood that don’t have those things. They’re not necessary.”

Commissioners pointed to the Marriott Residence Inn, which Williams & Dame Development is building four blocks to the east. That project team tried to include vehicle access in its courtyard, but commissioners squashed the idea.

Wark proposed separating vehicles from the courtyard completely by bringing the parking garage entrance to the street. Another idea called for landscaping as a barrier.

Overall, the tower would include 275 to 285 luxury apartment units and rise from an amenity-laden podium structure with rooftop deck space, barbecue areas, water features, dog walks, and fitness and gathering rooms with kitchens. Residential units would have either one, two or three bedrooms. Unico also may include several large townhome units high in the tower.

“We want to build the podium in a material that is very rich and grounded, while the tower should appear much lighter as though floating,” said John Chau, a principal at ZGF Architects in Seattle.

To do that, the firm is exploring for the tower several color schemes that range between simple grays and whites to more colorful splashes – such as a dark yellowish-orange that would fade as it climbs to the roof. Chau said the goal there was to make the building more playful.

“The hesitation again is it could be the wrong colors in five years,” he said.

Notably, ZGF has rotated the tower out of alignment with the city’s grid system, and so units would not peer directly into buildings across the street – Wood Partners and Hoyt Street Properties are planning to break ground in January on a 16-story development across Northwest 12th Avenue.

ZGF previously explored concepts with the tower on the north or east side of the block, but decided that center placement would maximize the airspace between its walls and those of neighboring buildings.

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said he liked the yin-and-yang relationship between the tower and the podium, and Commissioner Jane Hansen added that she was a fan of the building’s indoor-outdoor flow.

“It’s a really tricky project with lots of great moves,” Commission Chairwoman Guenevere Millius said.

Unico is set to receive more design advice at another meeting, on Dec. 5.