91视频

(This story has been updated to correct the name of the block Hoyt Street Properties is selling to BRIDGE Housing, and the starting price per square foot for Park Central condos.)

Portland streets weren’t the only things closing Friday as snow descended on the city.

“In the midst of it all we did close on Block 17,” said Tiffany Sweitzer, president and partner of Hoyt Street Properties, the Pearl District‘s largest landowner.

The full city block of vacant land (bordered by Northwest 11th and 12th avenues, and Overton Street) was sold by HSP to a new development partnership for $7.55 million. The partnership includes Sweitzer, HSP partner Clay Fowler and national multifamily development company Wood Partners. Andersen Construction is slated to soon begin work on an $86 million development that will include 280 luxury apartments among a 16-story tower and a five-story building.

“鈥� We’re mobilizing this week,” Sweitzer said. “In fact, as you and I are talking, I’m looking at whoever Andersen has surveying the property now. They should start mobilizing (soon) depending on when the snow clears out.”

Block 17 is only one of several sizable projects on tap in the Pearl District’s north end this year. HSP has a 28-story condo tower proposed for Block 15 鈥� kitty-corner from Block 17, and just south of the Fields Neighborhood Park.

“My biggest goal is to get Block 15 鈥� Park Central 鈥� under way,” Sweitzer said. “Our goal is to break ground in the summer 鈥� maybe June or July.”

Backed by real estate mogul Joe Weston, Sweitzer announced in December 2012 plans to build a luxurious, glass point tower in the Pearl District. HSP immediately began working through the city’s approval process (securing Portland Design Commission approval last July), but remained skeptical about the demand for condominiums in Portland. Numerous high-profile properties in the city were sold at auction or converted to apartments during the recession.

HSP’s most recent development 鈥� The Encore, a 176-unit condo building 鈥� struggled to attract buyers when it opened in 2008; however, Sweitzer said 30 units sold last year and now only five (priced between $700,000 and $1.85 million) remain. She added that only 50 to 60 resale units are available in the entire market.

Additionally, Sweitzer said HSP has received more than 400 inquiries from people interested in buying condos in Park Central.

“So there’s very little inventory, there’s nothing new, and we have a great block sitting in the middle of the two parks and the streetcar (line),” Sweitzer said. “We feel the timing is right because we’d open in 2016.”

Meanwhile, HSP plans to close in June or July on the sale of Block 27 to San Francisco-based BRIDGE Housing, which recently obtained Portland Design Commission approval for a 143-unit affordable housing project there. Construction on the Abigail is expected to begin in July.

And then there’s Unico Properties’ plans to build a 26-story tower on the block due west of Block 17. The proposal is on tap to go before the Portland Design Commission soon, and Jonas Sylvester, Unico’s chief investment officer and chief operating officer, said in an email that the company hopes to start construction this summer. Driving the project is a national trend Unico has observed among consumers to buy luxury items.

“We are creating the right product for the discerning consumer seeking accessible luxury from their residential experience,” Sylvester wrote.

HSP also is marketing to those consumers. Sweitzer expects future residents to be mostly existing Pearl District residents looking to upgrade or younger affluent professionals arriving in the city. She said the Abigail’s affordable units will help balance that out.

Also, Astor Pacific鈥檚 177-unit apartment building called The Parker 鈥� just north of Unico’s project 鈥� is scheduled to open at the end of July. Robert Ball, a principal at Astor Pacific, said he鈥檚 looking forward to the neighborhood filling out.

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 nice to see the last part of the Pearl get filled out,鈥� Ball said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to see a number of real high-quality buildings, and I think that only adds to the attractiveness of all of the buildings 鈥� when it鈥檚 filled in, and there鈥檚 life and activity. I鈥檓 excited about it and glad I was able to get The Parker (started), which is really going to be the first one finished down in that area post-Great Recession.鈥�

Both Block 17 and Park Central will emphasize amenities 鈥� such as fitness rooms, community rooms, suites for rent, views, or electric car stations 鈥� and charge accordingly. Apartments at Block 17 will rent for approximately $2.75 to $3 per square foot (nearly $1.20 higher than the average rent in downtown Portland); condos at Park Central will start at $650 per square foot. Prudential Commercial Real Estate and PNC Bank have already signed on to provide financing for Block 17.

HSP is negotiating with Wells Fargo on a financing package for Park Central, and seeking an approximate $108 million loan. The biggest hurdle is that few comparable sales exist for assessment of the market value of a 28-story condo tower. But Sweitzer has faith.

“It’s looking more and more likely 鈥� let’s put it that way,” she said. “As the market improves, that makes us more optimistic obviously. Financing is a big piece of it. Currently we’re working with Wells Fargo and that’s going very well. The feedback we’ve gotten from people and the interest level leads us to say, ‘Let’s move forward.’ “