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After more than three hours of discussion, the Portland Design Commission voted 3-2 to approve the design of a 16-story residential tower and an adjoining pocket park planned in the Pearl District 鈥� with some conditions.

Much of the discussion on Thursday centered on the 900-square-foot park, and the commission attached three conditions to its approval: sound attenuation in the park must be addressed, security plans should be established and it must be publicly accessible. Also, those conditions must be approved by city staff within one year and park construction must be complete no later than when a certificate of occupancy is issued for the tower.

Commission Chairman David Wark and commissioners Julie Livingston and Jessica Molinar voted to approve the project at Northwest Glisan Street and 14th Avenue, while commissioners Tad Savinar and Don Vallaster voted against it.

City planner Hillary Adam told commissioners that staff supported a request from the Ankrom Moisan Architects’ design team to reduce the number of loading areas to just one and reduce the width of bicycle and vehicle parking slightly.

Allowable building height in the area is 145 feet, Adam said, but staff recommended 174 feet. The increased height was made possible by transferring to the building 22,250 square feet of floor area from the proposed pocket park at the northeast corner of Northwest Glisan Street and 15th Avenue.

Plans call for the 240-unit tower including ground-level retail space, below-grade parking for 206 vehicles, a rooftop community room and upper-level terraces.

Isaac Johnson, senior associate at Ankrom Moisan Architects, told commissioners the project will be 鈥渁 special place鈥� with two design influences: the rows of buildings along Interstate 405 to the west of the site and the neighboring historic district.

Also, 46 of the 240 apartments will have affordable rates to reflect a recent resolution by the Portland City Council, he said.

The design team heeded the advice given at previous design advice meetings, Johnson said, and planned a strong pedestrian experience along Northwest 14th Avenue and a step-down to the historic district.

鈥淭he tower is a gateway element as you approach from the west,鈥� he said.

Equitone, an architectural fiber cement material, will be used for the building’s facade, Johnson said, and concealed fasteners will be used for the first five levels.

According to a city staff report, the building exterior will also include fiberglass windows, an aluminum window wall, aluminum storefronts and glass railings on balconies.

Balconies were added to the corners on the east elevation, Johnson said, and at the top two floors.

Previously, the lobby included a fitness room. Now it will have office work space with four-person pods and movable privacy screens. The change to an open office environment will provide a better pedestrian experience, Johnson said.

The two-story lobby entrance, off of Northwest Glisan Street opposite the park, will have raised canopies, he said.

Kurt Lango of Lango Hansen Landscape Architects told commissioners the small park will be lined with concrete pavers, both stone and wooden seating and possibly more trees.

A structural screen was proposed along Northwest 15th Avenue along the freeway, and more cobra head lighting poles were included in the design.

But commissioners expressed concerns that the decorative screen wouldn’t muffle noise sufficiently and that the park would attract illicit behavior.

Molinar said the site was inappropriate for a park while Livingston warned that it could become 鈥渁 great place to sleep, camp and shoot up.鈥�

鈥淚t would be a full-on green space and would provide a visual amenity, but the noise from the freeway is almost deafening,鈥� Savinar said.

Vallaster said the neighborhood itself might eventually find a use for the park and that it could change over time.

鈥淚t’s a bit of an experiment and we won’t know until we have it in place,鈥� he said.