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Though the Great Recession ended slightly more than a decade ago, Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood hasn’t since experienced much growth 鈥� until now.

Two buildings that until 2015 were used for printing The Oregonian newspaper on a daily basis are being replaced by a new mixed-use complex. The Press Blocks development will feature office, residential and retail space in three new buildings on one and a half blocks.

Lease Crutcher Lewis is constructing the first one 鈥� Canvas at Press Blocks 鈥� on a half-block directly east of Providence Park. The mixed-use building will feature ground-floor retail space, seven stories of Class A office space and ninth-floor amenity space; the designer is GBD Architects.

鈥淭his project means a lot to the neighborhood,鈥� said Mike Sager, senior project manager for general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis. 鈥淕oose Hollow is a forgotten part of the downtown area. And there’s a homeless situation here, and that contributed to what was previously undesirable real estate. This is the first big development to gentrify the area, and when they went through design review and pulled permits it was the first (post-recession) project in this area.鈥�

The full-block portion of the development on a block east of Canvas will include a 23-story, 250-foot-tall residential tower and a three-story building with office and retail space. Those buildings are being designed by Seattle-based Mithun. Urban Renaissance Group, which is developing the project in partnership with Security Properties, will manage the entire complex upon completion.

Work on Canvas began in August 2018 with what Sager called the 鈥渟uper technical鈥� demolition of the building at 817 S.W. 17th Ave. It stored rolls of newsprint, ink and other supplies used by The Oregonian.

鈥淭here were 60-foot-tall, clear spans inside the building,鈥� Sager said. 鈥�60-foot-tall, freestanding concrete panels made up the walls, and they were tied to concrete, double-T roof panels that held each other up.鈥�

To safely demolish the building, a temporary support structure was constructed to hold up the walls while the roof was removed. Then the temporary structure was dismantled and the walls dropped inside.

A below-grade tunnel used for moving materials and supplies between the two old buildings is being used during construction of Canvas. The tunnel will remain and connect parking areas.

鈥淎cross the street was the press building originally and on this side it was used for paper roll and ink storage for the printing operation,鈥� Sager said. 鈥淭hey’d deliver stuff and store it in this building and drop it down onto robots on an underground tunnel on 17th (Avenue) and then over to the other building.鈥�

Canvas is being constructed with post-tensioned concrete decks and reinforced concrete support columns. The exterior will predominantly be pre-cast concrete panels made by ARCIS Technology. The panels have deep window boxes that don’t articulate but provide a deep return leg to add texture and depth to the exterior. It’s a look intended to resemble the previous buildings.

鈥淭hey wanted to honor the original building,鈥� Sager said.

Lease Crutcher Lewis is using 3-D modeling extensively for this project. The contractor is using a robotic tool station to lay out building components as needed.

鈥淚n the last five years that’s been cutting-edge, and some people are doing more of that,鈥� Sager said. 鈥淲e’ve been doing it for a long time, and basically we take the design team’s model and take it over at a certain point. Then we re-detail the concrete and generate our own drawings, extract points from the embeds and export it all to the robotic layout equipment so our crews can efficiently lay out the building.鈥�

Completion of Canvas is expected in late spring 2020. The construction schedule for the 23-story residential tower and the three-story office building will be determined once financing is secured.