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In response to a highly noticeable design change to a prominent high-rise project, the design approval process in Portland should change, according to some city officials.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Bureau of Development Services Director Paul Scarlett are two of them. Both called the difference between renderings of a new Burnside bridgehead tower and the way it looks now, under construction, a 鈥渃oncern.鈥�

鈥淚 think this raises a larger policy issue,鈥� Saltzman said. 鈥淲e need to look more closely at who’s making sure that what’s going up was designed and approved by the (Portland Design Commission).鈥�

Central Eastside gateway

Designed to hold a conspicuous place across the Willamette River from downtown, the Yard tower is intended to function as an urban gateway to the historically industrial Central Eastside. The 21-story mixed-use building features landscaped terraces level with the adjacent bridge. The main tower, nearly a parallelogram, is situated diagonally against the surrounding streets.

The project is Skylab Architecture‘s largest to date, and Hood River-based Key Development‘s first in Portland. When completed, it will hold 276 residential apartments, 400 parking spaces and nearly 20,000 square feet of office and retail space.

But the issue here is the building’s exterior.

show a glittering facade of intermixed glass and metal, with more glass panels near the top. But some observers are dismayed that unlike those drawings, the building has more metal and less glass.

The project team 鈥� which also includes Portland-based Guardian Real Estate Services and Andersen Construction 鈥� this week held a topping-out ceremony, signaling that construction is coming to an end. Completion is set for this summer.

Rendering vs. reality

Kevin Cavenaugh’s firm, Guerrilla Development, is behind one of the other two buildings going up at the Burnside bridgehead 鈥� the Fair-Haired Dumbbell. That project received its share of criticism when its designs were unveiled, so it’s surprising, he said, that Yard, with a more conventional design, has drawn so much ire from the public.

Cavenaugh commutes to the Central Eastside. He said he watched with growing concern last fall as Yard gained its skin.

鈥淓very day I waited for more glass, and every day I’d drive across the bridge, it wouldn’t come,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 said to everyone, 鈥楯ust wait. Jeff (Kovel, Skylab’s founder) is one of the most talented guys on the West Coast, let alone in Portland. It’s going to look great.’ Now I feel like calling up my friends and saying, 鈥楽orry, I was wrong.’ 鈥�

And Cavenaugh wasn’t alone. Beginning in October 2015, commenters began to turn on the much-anticipated Yard project as soon as the glazing and metals started going up. One person compared its look to a prison.

鈥淚 thought this was going to be sexy as hell, but it’s looking more like it’s going to be imposing and foreboding,鈥� wrote a commenter named 2oh1.

Another commenter, Derek, wrote, 鈥淚’m thinking this is going to be another project where the renderings were almost too good to be true.鈥�

Meanwhile, architect Shawn Sullivan of Sullivan Architectural, was suspicious of the project plans from the start.

鈥淚 wondered 鈥� when I looked at their sketches 鈥� how are they going to meet the energy code?鈥� he said.

听

What happened?

The problem that city officials and observers in the building community have with the tower isn’t necessarily that it looks bad; rather, it’s that builders are constructing what they’re permitted for, and what they’re permitted for isn’t what the Portland Design Commission approved.

鈥淲e need to honor the permit they’ve been issued,鈥� said Kara Fioravanti, a supervising planner with BDS and a staff liaison with the seven-member design commission. 鈥淭hat’s just the situation we’re in.鈥�

Following an initial meeting with the design commission, the Yard project team responded by making approximately a dozen requested changes, and returned for a Type II review with city staff. Windows were not discussed. A permit was issued.

The process rolled along and plan examiners in the building life-safety division identified that Skylab’s designs allowed too much heat loss to meet current energy code. The project team had its choice among different ways to meet the code, and elected to add metal and remove some glass.

Rebecca Esau, head of BDS’ land use division, said Skylab could have learned about the need for fewer windows had it checked in with personnel in the building life-safety division.

鈥淲e encourage applicants to work with the building life-safety portion of reviewers, which typically happens at the building permit stage,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey opted not to do that at the building permit stage.

鈥淲e suggest it to applicants. At this time, we don’t have a tool to force them to spend that time and money to do that analysis.鈥�

Scarlett said citizens have complained, and the bureau has already responded with changes. Examiners now look for energy code compliance earlier in the process. But around half of the BDS staff was hired after the recession ended.

鈥淭his is the last thing we want happening; I can tell you that for sure,鈥� said Terry Whitehill, BDS’ section manager overseeing plan review.

Skylab principal Jeff Kovel said he followed the city’s process to the letter, and did so working within a limited budget.

鈥淒esign review is not something you just go and do voluntarily,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e rely on the planners to define the process. We submitted our plan to the city and they reviewed and approved it and issued a permit.鈥�

Plus, energy code has tightened in recent years and most buildings around town wouldn’t conform to it, he said.

Kovel also claimed that the renderings aren’t as different from reality as some people have said.

鈥淭hey’re actually very, very similar,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey’re extremely similar.鈥�

Disconnected

Michael McCullough served 12 years on the Portland Design Commission, leaving in 2007. He said that in many cases, including this one, an architect should be aware of all the design requirements that could be applied to a project.

鈥淚 think there’s some culpability on both the part of the architect and the regulatory agencies,鈥� he said.

McCullough called the Yard issue a 鈥減rototypical鈥� example of a lack of communication between the BDS and the design commission. Another from his tenure on the board was the Mosaic Apartments at 1410 S.W. 11th Ave., he said. That project was rendered with crystal-clear glazing, but mechanical engineers added highly-tinted, reflective glass that gave the finished product an 鈥渆ntirely different鈥� look.

鈥淭he design commission was outraged by that,鈥� McCullough said, 鈥渁nd the architect kind of shrugged his shoulders and said, 鈥榚h, it happens.’ If design commission approves something and some other building gets built, it negates the whole process. If it isn’t adhered to, those people are wasting their time.鈥�

Part of the problem is that the design commission is looking only at rough sketches, Esau said. 鈥淎nd BDS is looking at 鈥� building elevations and construction drawings,鈥� she said.

Renderings can sometimes give the public unrealistic expectations, according to Barbara Sestak, an architecture professor at Portland State University.

鈥淭hey can’t possibly capture all the intricacies,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he purpose of a rendering is to persuade people, and give a flavor. They’re not exact.鈥�

Now what?

PSU urban studies professor Ethan Seltzer sees two issues here. The first is staffing at the city. The BDS was cut in half when the recession hit, from about 330 staff members in 2008 to around 160 three years later. In most cities, staffing waxes and wanes along with building activity. Permit fees more or less pay the wages of plan reviewers.

鈥淲hat that means is that you have kind of a feast-or-famine approach to staffing,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it’s hard to build up a consistent, dedicated core of expertise to do design review. It’s not that the people doing it don’t have expertise; it’s just that institutionally, there’s not enough memory. And there’s not enough commitment over the long haul to do it well.鈥�

The other issue Seltzer sees is a lack of attention to design review as a policymaking issue.

鈥淚 think it’s been a while since the City Council weighed in 鈥� on what it’s trying to do with design review,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t feels like there is a tremendous amount of process involved 鈥� lots of reviews, lots of re-reviews 鈥� I’m not sure the process we have now is the process we intended to have.鈥�

Saltzman, the city commissioner who oversees BDS, said Scarlett has already approached him about realigning staff to bolster enforcement. But there are myriad issues that examiners must watch for, and that number grows with each new law.

鈥淚 think a more focused enforcement division would lead to less confusion on something like the Yard,鈥� Saltzman said.

Many professionals in the Portland building community are critical of the design review process. Sullivan said designers often don’t know a definitive project cost until working through the city’s entire preconstruction process, at which point a project might no longer be economically feasible for a developer.

鈥淒esign review pushes for this big, beautiful building to anchor a rapidly developing extension of downtown, without ever discussing the cost,鈥� he said.

Cavenaugh was more blunt.

鈥淚 hate the design review process,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hate the concept of other people designing my building for me. And some of their requests are really onerous. But to prop up the commission and staff, I’d really like to see some more teeth in what their final edict is. Obviously, I think most people in town would agree with that.

鈥淭his is a pretty big freaking deal, and my guess is there’s going to be some changes.鈥�