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Developers are queuing up another mixed-use building in the convoy of development on the Con-way Master Plan site.

Alex Yale, co-founder and principal at Portland-based YBA Architects, has applied to the Bureau of Development Services for design advice on a proposed seven-story, mixed-use building on the west half of Block 290 (developers call it Block 290W), at 1417 N.W. 20th Ave.

鈥淲e’re going in very early to get design advice on the overall mapping of the project,鈥� Yale said. 鈥淲e’re looking at having buildings fully enclose a public square in the center of the block.鈥�

Yale’s team designed a pinwheel-shaped set of buildings around a public courtyard. The design is intended to maximize visibility of ground-floor storefronts and provide a 鈥済ateway鈥� from the new developments to the west into the public park planned for development on the property directly to the east (on Block 290E).

鈥淲e worked a lot with the neighbors on the project and got a tremendous amount of feedback,鈥� Yale said. 鈥淭hey really wanted an enclosed European-style square, which is very unique to Portland.鈥�

Preliminary plans for the Block 290W project include graduated building heights of between one and seven stories.

鈥淚t’s unique in that the height steps all the way down to one story to get variety and improve sight mapping in the public square,鈥� Yale said.

Though plans are far from final, he said that Block 290W will have approximately 100 residential units on the upper floors, with the ground level dedicated to commercial tenants. In addition, the development will have underground car parking.

鈥淭here’s going to be a full-plate parking lot underneath and we’re way over a one-to-one ratio,鈥� Yale said. 鈥淚 think we’ve got room for about 180 parking stalls for about 100 units.鈥�

The plans that the design team will submit for design advice are very conceptual at this point, Yale said. The number of parking stalls could change, and the developer isn’t certain whether the housing will be apartments available for rent or condominiums available for purchase.

鈥淚t depends on what the market calls for by that time,鈥� Yale said.

The Block 290W project site is the southwest portion of a superblock bounded to the north and south by Northwest Raleigh and Pettygrove streets, respectively, to the west by 21st Avenue and to the east by 20th Avenue.

When the superblock is fully developed, Northwest Quimby Street will bisect the parcel, creating a private drive for residents, Yale said.

Block 290, on the southernmost property within the 17-acre Con-way Master Plan approved by Portland City Council in 2012, is the third Con-way project to move ahead. This summer, the $150 million Con-way Slabtown development will open with a New Seasons Market and an adjacent 113-unit apartment complex. Meanwhile, the permitting process has begun for an effort to add two mixed-use buildings featuring about 370 residential units, 600 vehicle parking spaces underground and 500 bicycle parking spaces.

Crews also are renovating the 32,000-square-foot LJC Building as part of the master plan development.

Outside of the master plan, YBA Architects is working on another project 鈥� Q21 鈥� on the block to the west and adjacent to Block 290W. The mixed-use building will have 160 market-rate apartments, 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 12,000 square feet of office space.

鈥淢y goodness it’s really happening fast down there,鈥� said Mark Barry, an appraiser and owner of Barry & Associates. 鈥淭he whole Con-way area is really seeing a lot of movement.鈥�

Barry on Wednesday spoke at a forecast luncheon, saying that although vacancy rates in Northwest Portland are marginally higher than elsewhere in the metro area, he still believes demand will absorb the new units coming online over the next year.

鈥淔inally, Portland-metro is getting some traction,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his will be, by far, the busiest year ever for multifamily construction in Multnomah County.鈥�