Lee Fehrenbacher//December 13, 2013//
Five years after finishing the Grand Central Building on Southeast Belmont Street, Foresight Development has big plans for a surface parking lot across the street.
The development company is planning to build a six-story, 120-unit mixed-use multifamily building on the lot at 915 S.E. Belmont St. John Plew, one of Foresight’s principals, said the company is about six months away from breaking ground on the estimated $23 million project, and is close to closing on a financing package for construction.
Plew and his partners also run the hospitality management company Concept Entertainment Inc., which has been expanding its iconic pub, the Thirsty Lion, throughout the region and in other states.
Foresight recently applied for a pre-application conference with the city of Portland Bureau of Development Services, and will need to go through design review shortly thereafter. Ankrom Moisan Architects is finishing up design work on the project, but preliminary drawings feature a light brick façade in keeping with the industrial character of the surrounding buildings. All of the units will be loft-like as well, Plew said.
Kitty corner from Foresight’s new project, Killian Pacific is planning its own mixed-use development on a 92,000-square-foot superblock, known as the “Goat Blocks” for the herd of goats that formerly grazed there. That project will have up to 200 residential units, and is rumored to include a locally oriented grocer and hardware store as its anchors.
Plew said Foresight and Killian have been working closely to coordinate the two developments. His own project will have approximately 7,500 square feet of retail space.
“We’re hoping that between us and the Killians, that that corridor becomes its own section within the Central Eastside,” Plew said.