91视频

After six hours of discussion at a Thursday meeting, the Portland Design Commission seemed pleased with parts of the latest design of a huge development in the Lloyd District. But other areas need more work, so the developer was asked to come back for another review in October.

Plans for the Oregon Square, which is being developed by San Diego-based American Assets Trust, call for four mixed-use buildings situated around a large public plaza. Two of the buildings will be 11 stories, a third will be 21 stories and a fourth will be 30 stories.

鈥淭hey still have some work to do,鈥� city planner Staci Monroe said. 鈥淭here was support for a lot of the elements in the plaza and the northwest building. But other buildings needed some more work, and they were given some pretty specific guidelines.鈥�

The project, bordered by Northeast Seventh Avenue, Northeast Oregon Street, Northeast Ninth Avenue and Northeast Pacific Street, will provide 940 residential units, 50,000 square feet of retail and underground parking for 200 cars.

Plans for the public plaza include a large, shallow reflecting pool that can be drained for events, a dog run, seating areas, plantings to help mitigate stormwater and treat wastewater from the buildings, and an open-air pavilion leading to stairs and an elevator to underground parking.

Plans also call for plantings and resident areas for rooftops and pass-through lobbies for ground-floor retail outlets.

Oregon Square is the second Lloyd District superblock redeveloped by American Assets Trust. The first is the Hassalo on Eighth project, a development consisting of three mixed-used buildings. The first of those buildings, the Velomor, opened in July.

Kyle Andersen of GBD Architects led the presentation along with Mauricio Villarreal of PLACE Studio and Wade Lange, vice president and regional manager of the Portland area for American Assets Trust. Lange pointed to the success of Hassalo on Eighth.

鈥淧hase one is currently occupied and under leasing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s a unique place in the city to living across from office buildings.鈥�

The Lloyd Center has been dominated by office space for years. With the development of the superblocks, Lange has said he wants to make the Lloyd District more of a residential neighborhood and a second city center.

Oregon Square will add to that atmosphere, Andersen said.

鈥淲e are creating a neighborhood on the coattails of commercial development,鈥� he said.

Design Commission vice-chair Ben Kaiser said his main concern with the Oregon Square design is the massing of the four buildings, which he thought should be concentrated in the southwest corner of the 300-foot by 300-foot site.

鈥淪o far that is the most unfortunate aspect of a terrific project,鈥� he said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar complained about the lack of a plan for artwork to be included in the project. He stressed that planning for the type and preservation of artwork should have been part of plans from the beginning.

鈥淲hat’s going to give it soul?鈥� Savinar said. 鈥淚t needs to be something beyond bricks and mortar, and it doesn’t have that.鈥�

Kaiser agreed that 鈥渁rt drives development,鈥� but he said there are still many good aspects of the overall plan for the project.

鈥淚t’s fantastic to see a setting with such a high bar for LEED platinum and treating 60,000 gallons of water onsite,鈥� he said.

Commissioner Julie Livingston said she likes the idea that the plaza area will be able to accommodate food carts. She also gave a thumbs up to the overall design, but echoed Kaiser’s concerns about the massing of the buildings.

鈥淚 think the overall design is just lovely, sophisticated but also light-hearted,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat’s not working for me is the way the sun travels across the sky, and the southwest corner is most problematic.鈥�