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LAKE OSWEGO 鈥� A big-city project sited smack-dab in the middle of a sleepy Portland suburb has been drawing looky-loos since getting going.

鈥淚t’s the kind of thing you see all your life and you never stop and really look at,鈥� said resident Glen Williams, who was peering through the cyclone fencing along First Street last week with his wife, Bonnie. 鈥淣ow that I’m retired, I’ve been watching this every day. It’s amazing, the logistics of it 鈥� I think this project will definitely be good for the city.鈥�

After a fraught development path involving a stop at the state Supreme Court, developer Patrick Kessi’s Wizer Block project is now a reality. Matt Baker, project manager for contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis, said the team is on track to top out concrete work on buildings A and C by September, and building B by late November.

鈥淩ight now this is probably the most complex post-tension project we’ve done,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淭his building was designed from the outside-in. None of the floorplates really stack. None of the units really stack. There’s only a few really typical units 鈥� a lot of the other units are going to be unique.鈥�

Whether it’s the initial controversy or the site’s central location, the public seems interested in the project, Baker said. Lease Crutcher Lewis spent extensive time doing outreach in pre-construction, including meeting door-to-door with business owners.

Baker said people passing by have commented on the cleanliness of the site, but the project started as a wet mess. This December was the rainiest in 75 years, and the initial geotechnical report for the site did not show nearly the amount of boulders buried below. In the end, Lewis hauled away 11,000 pounds of boulders.

With the site now cleared, the $86 million (hard construction costs) mixed-use development is humming along, and now about 25 to 30 percent complete.

For years, the lakeside community had avoided the heavy development common to other Portland suburbs. When Kessi proposed a multi-building project on a block in the middle of town, it drew criticism for being out of step with the town’s 鈥渃haracter.鈥� A petition filed by two community groups wended its way through the state Land Use Board of Appeals, before failing at the Oregon Supreme Court.

Lease Crutcher Lewis is self-performing all the concrete work for two of the three buildings. With only one surrounding street open to haulers, concrete is pumped from B Street to one of the four masts at different sites around the block.