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Developers of a proposed 13-story mixed-use building got their first feedback from the Portland Design Commission during a design advice hearing on Thursday.

Commission Chairman David Wark and commissioners Sam Rodriguez and Julie Livingston listened to the team of Works Progress Architecture, Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners present early plans for an estimated $40 million project at 550 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The building would sit on what is currently a parking lot, and include two or three levels of hotel rooms and eight or nine levels of market-rate apartments. Also, two levels of parking would be constructed underneath the structure.

Plans call for a 146-foot-tall building that would tower over surrounding ones 鈥� including several that are within a historic district. The proposed floor-to-area ratio (FAR) would be 9 to 1.

The commissioners in attendance took issue with elements of the proposed project, but height wasn’t one of them.

鈥淚 don’t have a problem with the height,鈥� Wark said.

One of the bigger issues for commissioners is the building’s strong vertical presence compared to the horizontal aspects of the surrounding buildings.

Commissioners also expressed concern that plans call for part of the development to jut into the East Portland/Grand Avenue Historic District. However, the proposed building would be set back from the neighboring historic Hotel Chamberlain 鈥� a move that commissioners praised.

鈥淚 think it’s great that you pulled back from the historic structures,鈥� Livingston said.

The Hotel Chamberlain could be incorporated into the overall design. One idea suggested was to create a walkthrough between the lobbies of the Hotel Chamberlain and the new building.

Preliminary plans also call for a covered public area that could feature anything from trees and green space to lily pad structures.

Wark cautioned the developers about the way the building was configured relative to the historic district. He suggested that builders may want to look at reducing the building’s massing on the side facing the historic district. He also urged the developers to come up with a creative way to separate the building and the historic district.

Developers stressed that all ideas are still on the table and that plans are 鈥渧ery preliminary” at this point.

Also on Thursday, the Design Commission took a second look at the Pearl Apartments project proposed for 1319 N.W. Johnson St. The development would extend a quarter of a block and consist of five levels of market-rate apartments.

Changes were made to the facade and balcony configuration to comply with the commission’s previous recommendations.

The three commissioners in attendance praised changes that developers made following an earlier design advice hearing.

鈥淚t’s a fantastic project and it’s well on its way,鈥� Rodriguez said.