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The team developing a 175-foot tower in the Goose Hollow neighborhood is continuing to refine the design. The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got another look at plans.

Modera Main Street was proposed as a 16-story building with 340 residential units at the southeast corner of Southwest 20th Avenue and Main Street 鈥� slightly south of Providence Park. The lower four stories would be a podium with 408 structured parking spaces and residential units wrapping around. Atop the podium would sit a 12-story L-shape tower with more residential units.

The applicant, Francis Dardis of Ankrom Moisan Architects, filed for the request for design advice on behalf of property owner Mill Creek Residential Trust. This was the second design advice hearing; the first was held in November 2020.

Commissioner Sam Rodriquez is the senior managing director for Mill Creek Residential Trust in Portland. As such, he recused himself from the meeting.

The Design Commission expressed concerns need for a more dramatic setback of the tower from the podium.

The podium would sit on a hillside from 20th Avenue, Madison Street and 19th Avenue. The tower would step down to the southwest corner. The 19th Avenue fa莽ade would start at the base and go 16 stories up without a break.

鈥淚t feels much larger than it actually is,鈥� Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

The tower’s proposed mass drew outcry from the community because of neighborhood context.

鈥淚t’s absurdly larger than the surrounding (buildings),鈥� community member Sean O’Donnell said. 鈥淚 think the public realm is disadvantaged by this design.鈥�

While the tower’s height received the most disputes, the Central City plan allows for a building up to 175 feet high.

鈥�(We) wrestled with how we break the massing down,鈥� said Paul Jeffrey, design lead at Ankrom Moisan.

The team is looking at two slightly different design schemes. The first approach would keep the base, midsection and top one color. The other would make each one a different color.

The podium would be a highly textured brick, and as it goes into the mid-section of the tower, it would smooth out. The top of the tower would transition to metal panels to give a completely smooth look.

鈥淲e had hoped to see some more aggressive sculpting of the tower,鈥� Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

Commissioners agreed that materials and details are moving in the right direction, but there needs to be a clear shift from the tower’s lower and upper portions.

The next step for the project is a land-use review hearing.

In the meantime, the team is developing the project’s public realm. The site is an empty lot that has operated as a community green space for many years.

The community expressed loss for the green space, and Jeffrey said the team would work to incorporate a soft, grassy landscape into the design to make up for it.