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Designers with Mithun, a Seattle-based architecture firm, are working to integrate a public plaza into the multi-block Pepsi Blocks development planned off of Sandy Boulevard in Northeast Portland.

The Pepsi Blocks, a 4.7-acre site that for decades held a beverage packaging and shipping facility, will also feature a woonerf 鈥� a slow-speed, one-way street. It will run westbound through the site, filling a gap in Pacific Street.

The woonerf will bend through the site to encourage slower speeds, said Dorothy Faris, a Mithun principal and landscape architect.

The project appeared before the Portland Design Commission for design advice on Thursday. The Pepsi Blocks team is likely to return for a meeting that focuses on building design before proceeding to a Type III design review.

The project is poised to be the first to undergo the city’s new planned development review process. That will make the project eligible for a 5-to-1 floor-area ratio, in exchange for meeting affordable housing, open space and other requirements.

Some design commissioners said the site plan appears too crowded, particularly next to the plaza and the existing pavilion building, which would be retained, according to current plans.

鈥淚 wonder if we’re pinching the pavilion too much,鈥� Commissioner Tad Savinar said. He suggested notching surrounding buildings to give the pavilion 鈥渕ore breathing room.鈥�

The highest buildings 鈥� 120 feet 鈥� are proposed along Northeast Holladay Street, stepping down to 60 feet for the buildings facing Sandy Boulevard.

Security Properties‘ first phase would include the pavilion renovation, construction of two new apartment buildings with underground parking and construction of the public plaza.

The multifamily buildings would have a total of 335 units and 28,500 square feet of retail space. Parking would total 350 spaces.

Commissioner Andrew Clarke said the proposed retail spaces should reflect the 鈥渙rganic nature鈥� of the existing shops on Sandy Boulevard.

鈥淭here’s kind of a sterility to the (proposed) retail,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s more oriented to a different kind of neighborhood.鈥�

Elevated hallways also caught the attention of commissioners. They debated whether the hallways constitute sky-bridges, which are discouraged by city design guidelines.

Mithun partner Bert Gregory said the elevated walkways did not meet the definition.

鈥淭hese are not sky-bridges,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are not over the public right of way.鈥�

The Design Commission rarely approves sky-bridges, Savinar said.

鈥淚t’s just a heads-up that there may be a discussion later on,鈥� he said.

Commissioners also signaled the design elements facing Sandy Boulevard and Holladay Street will be reviewed carefully.

Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said the Sandy Boulevard-facing aspect will be important to the project’s appearance.

鈥淭his is so incredibly visually important as one travels westbound on Sandy,鈥� she said.

Security Properties is considering building live-work units to face Holladay Street, Gregory said. The units would have ground-floor 鈥渕aker space鈥� with residences above. Townhouses would not work well on Holladay, he said.

Commissioners said Holladay Street would benefit from ground-floor activity.

鈥淭hat is a very obscure street,鈥� Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

Security Properties purchased the site from PepsiCo in August 2017 for $27 million, according to public records. The property at 2505 N.E. Pacific St. encompasses four city blocks off of Sandy Boulevard between 25th and 27th avenues.