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The Portland Design Commission has delayed making a decision on a proposal for a 23-story hotel and multifamily project that has raised opposition from neighbors in the Pearl District.

The design by Otak Inc. has improved from earlier iterations, design commissioners said. But they opted not to take a vote at a Thursday hearing, leaving the record open for more written testimony.

The proposed tower would be the first in the Pearl District under Central City 2035 zoning that raised height limits. The developers plan to use the full height limit, with bonuses, of 250 feet 鈥� an increase from the previous limit of 175 feet.

Neighbors have objected to the height and bulk of the Hyatt Place design. The building would be constructed on a quarter-block lot at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street.

鈥淭he central problem here is there is too much mass and too much height and it is not contextually appropriate,鈥� said Carrie Richter, a land use attorney representing the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design, a community group that has challenged tall building projects in the area. PNID is distinct from the city-recognized neighborhood association.

The Hyatt Place project comes from a development team of Seattle developer Vibrant Cities and The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi.

The 197,118-square-foot building would hold 160 hotel rooms on floors two through 11, and 113 studio and one-bedroom units on floors 12 through 23. The project was valued at $66 million by the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

Otak’s Gary Larson said the design team had used setbacks and other architectural moves to reduce the apparent mass.

鈥淲e have created a dynamism here with also the goal of bringing the height of the building into the context of the neighborhood,鈥� he said.

Richter told design commissioners that they should follow the previous zoning rules because the Central City 2035 plan was remanded in August by the state Land Use Board of Appeals. The city lacked a factual basis for the height limits, LUBA said.

鈥淭he tallest building that you can approve is 175 feet,鈥� Richter said.

City officials said they would follow the 250-foot height limit, which has been declared effective but not formally 鈥渁cknowledged鈥� 鈥� the final step of approval by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Architectural changes made since previous meetings with design commissioners won praise. Reza Farhoodi, a resident representing the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, said the design appeared 鈥渕ore cohesive.鈥�

鈥淭his project will set a precedent for height in the Pearl District neighborhood, so it’s important to get the design details right,鈥� he said.

Design commissioners said a required water feature was better integrated into the ground floor fa莽ade. They also praised the stouter appearance of the building’s base, which was criticized in earlier designs as too weak.

鈥淭he base-middle-top expression is a clear improvement over earlier expressions,鈥� Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

McCarter, however, voiced one significant concern.

鈥淢y one disappointment is urban street trees,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t really bothers me in a quarter-block building that we’ve set a precedent for one street tree in a hundred feet. 鈥� To have a single tree in a hundred feet, it seems like we’ve got to do better than that.鈥�

The project team will return before the Design Commission for final deliberations and a decision on Jan. 9.