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NBP Capital‘s ambitious plans for a mixed-use neighborhood in the RiverPlace area in Portland will have to overcome issues with the site and transportation challenges, in addition to complaints from hundreds of current residents who would be displaced.

The Portland developer proposes for the 8-acre site near the South Waterfront District a series of towers that would have thousands of new housing units, perhaps a hotel, retail shops and public spaces. The Portland Design Commission held a design advice request hearing on Thursday.

GBD Architects of Portland is working with Kengo Kuma and Associates, a well-regarded Japanese architecture firm on designs for the massive project. A Central City master plan is required.

NBP Capital’s plans would result in the demolition of existing buildings, including The Douglas apartments and townhomes. Dozens of residents overflowed the hearing room to give their thoughts on the project.

Much of the public testimony was organized by the Portland Downtown Neighborhood Association and residents of the Strand condos on River Drive, which border the development site.

Agustin Enriquez, a GBD Architects principal, presented plans for the site, including a Kengo Kuma concept for what’s called the Portland Steps. Renderings show a cascading series of horizontal plates organized in a 35,000-square-foot public square planted with native vegetation. Retail shops would be incorporated into the steps.

鈥淲e envision retail being in, around and actually within these Portland Steps,鈥� Enriquez said.

The images were 鈥渙bviously very early and conceptual,鈥� he added.

Kuma’s involvement sparked buzz about the project when it began circulating at City Hall months ago. The architect responsible for the new National Stadium in Tokyo previously worked on an expansion of the Portland Japanese Garden and an interior redesign of Shizuku, a downtown Portland restaurant.

RiverPlace’s development program is not yet set and will depend on the arrangement of blocks within the site, architects and planners said. A hotel is being considered at the site’s northwest corner, Enriquez said. Multifamily development is also likely. Overall, four towers and open space are planned.

Maximum allowable building heights on the site range from 150 feet to 325 feet.

A block on the western side of the site would be 300 feet by 725 feet 鈥� more than five times the typical Portland block size 鈥� sparking staff concerns. Designers must also contend with view corridors, including one from Terwilliger Boulevard to the Willamette River that shows Mount St. Helens.

A pedestrian bridge being considered would stretch over Harbor Drive and link RiverPlace to downtown, according to the applicant’s presentation.

Neighbors were critical of plans. Phil Gilbertson, who lives a few blocks west of the proposed development, said the project would not integrate well with downtown.

鈥淭he problem is that the boxed-in building site is not reasonably accessible to downtown to the west,鈥� he said. 鈥淩iverPlace, as proposed, has its back turned to downtown.鈥�

Gilbertson also criticized the Portland Steps.

鈥淭he grand staircase is more of a grand impediment,鈥� he said.

NBP Capital is a Portland-based firm backed by Los Angeles billionaire Nicolas Berggruen. It has been among the busiest real estate development and investment firms in post-recession Portland, buying the historic Multnomah County Courthouse for office redevelopment and the Sunshine Dairy site for a major mixed-use project. NBP Capital has also recently created the Woodlark Hotel via renovation in partnership with Gordon Sondland’s Provenance Hotels and Arthur Mutal, and constructed a full-block apartment building in Sellwood-Westmoreland.