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At Mercato Grove, visitors will find a mix of suburban swankiness, contemporary Portland brands and a construction type that is more common in Sun Belt metropolises.

The Lake Oswego mixed-use community is now open at 4055 Mercantile Drive. It includes 206 apartments and almost 50,000 square feet of retail space.

For developer Trammell Crow, Mercato Grove comes as interest has grown in suburban living amid social turmoil in urban Portland.

In many ways, Mercato Grove brings Portland to Lake Oswego: The restaurant group ChefStable has invested heavily in Mercato Grove with five restaurants: St. Jack, Tasty, Oven & Shaker, Grassa and Lardo. Complementing the ChefStable offerings are Fills Donuts, Ovation Coffee and Clean Juice.

The retail is anchored by a CVS pharmacy and Orangetheory Fitness.

The buildings, designed by SERA Architects, balance Lake Oswego’s approved architectural styles.

鈥淓veryone wants to live in a boutique environment,鈥� said Damin Tarlow, senior vice president for Trammell Crow’s Portland office. 鈥淣o one wants to live in a big building, so how do we break these up?鈥�

Trammell Crow launched the project as part of its High Street Residential brand. Mercato Grove is a joint venture with CenterCal Properties, the property owner.

The property formerly held a series of small Providence medical buildings. CenterCal brought the properties under contract, and linked up with Trammell Crow 鈥� the developer had previously worked with the real estate firm on Cascade Station.

鈥淲e decided to do it together,鈥� Tarlow said.

Deacon Construction was brought on as general contractor. The Portland-based firm helped create a wrapped parking structure, with buildings surrounding central parking. This construction type is sometimes called a 鈥淭exas donut鈥� because it’s more common in cities with ample space, Tarlow said.

Portland’s small blocks make a wrapped parking approach difficult within the city, although a proposal from Mill Creek Residential Trust for Goose Hollow (design review is ongoing) would have a wrapped parking structure.

Deacon brought in from its Sacramento office a project superintendent, Johnny Seuferling, who had experience building a wrapped parking structure.

Befitting its suburban location, Mercato Grove has 550 parking spaces, including 211 for retail use.

The residences comprise more than 60 unit types, said Eric Henry, project executive at Deacon. The apartments come in configurations from studios to three-bedroom units of up to 2,200 square feet. The average unit size is 972 square feet.

鈥淲e really took a single-family approach,鈥� Tarlow said. 鈥淲e wanted it to read as a single-family home.鈥�

Leasing of the apartments began in April. They’re approximately 50 percent leased, Tarlow said.

Mercato Grove’s interior design is by CID Design Group of Naples, Florida. Interior elements seek to balance individual and group living. There’s a shared kitchen with large appliances such as a juice maker and a bread maker that residents may not have in their own units. A kids’ maker space comes equipped with chalk, toys and hiding spaces.

Mercato Grove has no commercial office space, but that doesn’t mean the project team has forgotten about the workplace. Residents have access to three conference centers with large TV monitors, shared tables and break-out rooms.

鈥淭his is our interpretation of how people work these days,鈥� Tarlow said.

He hopes the amenities will prove appealing among office workers who expect to enjoy increased flexibility to work from home once the pandemic subsides.

鈥淪ome of this looks like it was designed for the post-pandemic world, which it was not because it was designed two to three years ago,鈥� he said.

The project was completed after 25 months of construction. Some of the exterior panels were prefabricated, which sped construction.

鈥淲ithout that prefab, it would have been really hard to stay on schedule,鈥� said Chip Laizure, vice president of Deacon Construction.

The project was delayed by numerous obstacles, including wildfire smoke in September 2020 that paused construction for four days, a February ice storm that crippled the region and a flooded wetland in September 2019 that interfered with foundation work.

Deacon also dealt with labor shortages related to the pandemic, including 22 positive COVID-19 tests during construction.

Now that Mercato Grove is done, visitors may notice a duck theme throughout the premises. There are live ducks in a pool, duck murals, a duck phone, even a duck statue. The idea came from the marketing team and quickly snowballed.

鈥淚 lost control of the duck situation,鈥� Tarlow said.