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Prosper Portland‘s board has endorsed a development concept for the Broadway Corridor that carries the lowest price tag for public improvements.

The board on Wednesday formally endorsed the 鈥淧lay鈥� concept 鈥� one of three development scenarios put forward by Prosper Portland staff, along with consultants from ZGF Architects and master developer Continuum Partners of Denver. The board endorsed Play by acclamation.

The Play concept features the strongest extension of the Park Blocks and the greatest flexibility for recreational and community programming, said Sarah Harpole, Prosper Portland’s project manager for the Broadway Corridor.

Prosper Portland put a $50 million price tag on 鈥減ublic realm investments,鈥� such as open space, for the project. That’s part of the public-sector investment expected to reach $228 million.

A budget gap of about $100 million remains that city officials will need to fill to support the massive redevelopment of 34 acres in the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown. The Broadway Corridor Framework Plan calls for 3.8 million square feet of development, more than half of which would be residential. The U.S. Postal Service site alone is expected to be home to 2,400 new households.

Prosper Portland will work with the Portland Housing Bureau on affordable housing aspects of the project, and with the city’s infrastructure bureaus, to close the budget gap, Harpole said.

The open space configurations are still being planned, but they’re intended to be convertible for different uses.

鈥淭he fundamental idea is that it’s flexible and it can do many different things at different times of the year, different times of the week, different times of the day even,鈥� said Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban design at ZGF.

Open spaces are likely to be in strong demand, board member Peter Platt said.

鈥淭hose types of interstitial places are widely used, particularly in a dense urban environment,鈥� he said.

Lienhart said the planners have looked to Union Station in Denver, a mixed-use area redeveloped by Continuum Partners, as a precedent. They’ve also examined concepts similar to the Green Loop 鈥� a planned linear park and transportation network through central Portland 鈥� in European cities such as Copenhagen, and at New York City’s High Line.

Redevelopment in the Broadway Corridor is expected to create space for thousands of new residents. Glenn Traeger, a Pearl District resident, said the city should ensure it’s prepared.

鈥淔or this project to be successful, transportation impacts must be actively considered now,鈥� he said.

Some stakeholders are pushing for written goals for minority representation in construction contracting. Jay Richmond, workforce equity manager for Oregon Tradeswomen and a member of the Healthy Communities Coalition, said there should be a 鈥渟trong, legally binding community benefits agreement,鈥� including a high number of deeply affordable housing units and a mitigation fund for Cully. Richmond said he supports the Play concept.

Prosper Portland has received 1,046 public comments regarding the Broadway Corridor, and more than 1,000 people have attended public meetings regarding the project, according to the agency.