91视频

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday voted 5-0 to approve plans for a mixed-use tower at聽140 S.W. Columbia St.

鈥淚 think the team has done a remarkable job of responding to guidelines that address the active intersection,鈥� Commission Charwoman Julie Livingston said. 鈥淭he fact this above-grade parking garage now has really useful space that has presence on the facade of the building on the southeast corner is fantastic.鈥�

The proposal calls for a 20-story, 200-foot-tall project with 349 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail and office space. The project will include balconies at the sixth, 15th and 20th levels, rooftop decks and courtyards.

Incorporating the 244 parking spaces that developer Alamo Manhattan wanted was a major sticking point previously. The development team had hoped to extend the parking into a section that had a residential facade. The commission wanted a clear delineation between residential space and parking.

The team ultimately settled for 236 parking spaces and adding three residential units on the third level. They also changed the look of the windows on the building’s southeast facade.

鈥淲e are looking at a more playful pattern of punched gradient openings,鈥� GBD Architects Associate Principal Craig Mendenhall said. 鈥淲e are going to look at adding residential into the third floor to better contribute to the pedestrian realm.鈥�

For the facades on Southwest First Avenue and Clay Street, the designers plan to use a gradient pattern stretching from the residential tower to the parking structure. The pattern will begin solid with smaller window openings and become more transparent with larger windows as it approaches the corner of First Avenue and Clay Street.

鈥淭he comment we got (from the commission) was this was parking disguising itself as residential,鈥� Mendenhall said. 鈥淭he idea on the lower elevation was to create a gradient of punched openings that works its way from west to east.鈥�

Designers also used window treatments to help keep light from motor vehicles in the parking garage from spilling out into the public street. The revisions won over the commissioners.

鈥淭his project has come a long way and I really appreciate the work you have put into it,鈥� Commissioner Jessica Molinar said. 鈥淚 think the revisions you made go a long way to contributing to a vibrant streetscape and design corners that build active intersections.鈥�

Commissioners debated the need to use a shadow box to help differentiate the parking and residential even further, but ultimately left that decision up to the architects.

鈥淭his is a remarkably strong project for this neighborhood,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淭here is such a strong ground floor, such nice building massing and great materials.鈥�

Also on Thursday:

550 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Design Commission informed the team proposing a seven- or eight-story mixed-use building that its design needs more work. Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners are developing the project.

Works Progress Architecture presented an eight-story, 94-foot-tall option and a seven-story, 84-foot-tall alternative. Both versions would include three levels of hotel space and a level of restaurant space. The main difference is that the taller version would have four levels of residential units, while the shorter one would have three. Each design was shown with or without below-grade parking.

鈥淭he issue the team is going to study is primarily in regards to contextual response,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淭he difficulty is in fitting a residential building into the Central Eastside. They were going to take a look at how the skin might be modified to fit in better with the existing context.鈥�

Both versions would devote approximately 8,650 square feet to the hotel and restaurant, and 107,544 square feet to residential and retail uses.

The project will return before the Design Commission on Dec. 14.

1500 N.E. Irving St.

The Design Commission approved plans for the Glisan Street Apartments with a 5-0 vote. C2K Architecture made additions to the canopies on the east side, revisions to a wall treatment on the north elevation, revisions to a rooftop unit and better definition of the program for a glass display case.

Second City Real Estate’s 69,130-square-foot project will include 750 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 22 parking spaces and 86 residential units.