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The design of Menashe Properties‘ planned six-story mixed-use building in downtown Portland received approval from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday, after only two hearings.

Before giving the green light, several commissioners offered high praise to designs by LRS Architects and Design Department for the building planned at 1127-1139 S.W. Morrison Ave.

鈥淚 love the building and am excited about it,鈥� Commissioner Tad Savinar said. 鈥淚 think it will be a great building on the west end.鈥�

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said it was one of the best designs he had seen in a while and Commissioner Julie Livingston said it was 鈥渁 small, elegant building.鈥�

Commission Chairman David Wark agreed wholeheartedly.

鈥淚 like its clean lines, and my only regret is that I would like to see more of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would like to see a building twice this size and I hope you add floors to it.鈥�

Livingston introduced the resolution to approve the project with the following conditions: Designers work with city staff and gas company NW Natural on the location of gas meters on Southwest 12th Avenue; establish separate controls for exterior and interior lighting; and follow up with staff for review of lighting levels.

The design underwent several changes after its previous review last month. City planner Staci Monroe said the design team addressed commissioners’ concerns by removing a small oriel window at the southwest elevation, adding glass canopies over retail entrances and revising the utility gate.

Glazing was discussed because the building will have aluminum curtain walls covered with both clear and fritted glass. Commissioners even placed samples of the fritted glass in windows of their meeting room so they could walk outside and see its effect.

Monty Hill, senior architect at LRS, told commissioners that rain protection will be provided over two retail entrances via a canopy of a single sheet of laminated glass. Clear glass will be used on the first and sixth levels.

The 58,862-square-foot building will cover a quarter-block and include ground-floor retail space. Terraces will be located at the second through sixth floors and upper-floor oriel windows will project up to four feet deep over Southwest 12th Avenue and Morrison Street. The exterior will include two-coat stucco party walls, painted metal accents, painted steel box-rib mechanical screening on the roof, tongue-and-groove soffits at levels one and six, and sealed architectural concrete bulkheads at sloped sidewalk edges. Bike parking will be provided, but vehicle parking will not.

The site is in the vicinity of several historic buildings, including the First Presbyterian Church. The surroundings were taken into consideration as the building was being designed, Hill said after the meeting.

鈥淭he aesthetic expression blends well with the urban fabric in scale and proportion and draws inspiration from many of the historic modern buildings in Portland, such as the Commonwealth Building, Federal Reserve, Memorial Coliseum and many others,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he design team feels this is the perfect example of how the city’s design guidelines help to shape excellent design solutions.鈥�

Approval for the project came at its second design review following about an hour of discussion 鈥� a relatively short process. Hill was quoted in a previous 91视频 story saying that he hoped the project would be approved at its first review. Hill said this week that he was misquoted in the Dec. 21, 2015 story and that he stated the opposite. He would not 鈥渂e so presumptuous鈥� as to assume a first-pass approval, he said.