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The Portland Bureau of Development Services is in the midst of carrying out a slow-rolling, 鈥渘otes only鈥� pre-application conference with applicant SERA Architects to discuss a proposal for a seven-story mixed-use project.

The development would be built on a flatiron parcel surrounded by Southeast Eighth Avenue, Pine Street and Sandy Boulevard.

The conference, originally scheduled for March 26, was changed to a written format to avoid interpersonal meetings and work around the closure of BDS offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SERA Architects principal Kurt Schultz said he was told the city will use this process over at least the next month, and possibly longer.

鈥淭hey’re not holding public pre-app conferences; we just didn’t have a meeting,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e submit all the information and in a couple of weeks we’ll get our notes back. It will be the same with design advice requests; you send them the drawings, and staff and design commissioners write their notes and send them back to you.

鈥淩ight now we don’t get to talk to anyone in person.鈥�

The project itself is actually a new version of a previous concept.

In June 2017, the Portland Design Commission approved a proposal for a seven-story mixed-use building at 306 S.E. Eighth Ave. It would have contained 123 market-rate apartments, ground-floor retail space and below-grade parking.

But property owner Specht Properties put the project on hold and ultimately chose to sell the site. In 2019, Southern California homebuilder SummerHill Apartment Communities, a division of Marcus & Millichap, placed the property under contract with the intention of pursuing essentially the same project; only a few relatively small changes would be made.

Too much time has passed to use the original plans, Schultz said.

鈥淵ou need a building permit within three years of design review approval,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat expires in two months.鈥�

The new iteration of the project is much the same, however. A seven-story building with 113 apartments is now envisioned, also with ground-floor retail space.

鈥淚t probably would be pretty similar,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淭he zoning hasn’t changed. The height and (floor area ratio) haven’t changed. It’s seven stories like before. The only thing they may change is they may not do a full basement for parking. It may use stackers on the ground floor, and maybe there will be a change in the unit mix. The exterior design and massing are pretty similar to before.鈥�

If SummerHill Apartment Communities follows through with the acquisition, applicants will undertake a new design review process.

鈥淭hey’ll probably make adjustments if we go forward,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淭hey’re in their due diligence period studying the site and deciding if they want to go forward.鈥�