Alex Jensen//August 13, 2021//
The Portland Design Commission meets throughout the year on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Here is a glimpse of projects the commission is scheduled to examine on Aug. 19:

Modera Main Street
Address: full block bounded by Southwest Salmon and Main streets and 19th and 20th avenues
Developer: Mill Creek Residential Trust
Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects
This is continuation of a design review hearing that began Aug. 5. Previously, the project team proposing a 17-story, 434,720-square-foot building faced significant questions from the Design Commission.
The commission’s chairwoman, Julie Livingston, said she would vote against the project as designed currently because it would fail to activate its Main Street frontage.
“We are allowing a building to go up that acknowledges the nothingness of this block of Main,” she said. “All four of these frontages need to be active to be a strong response to public realm guidelines. I feel strongly enough about this that it will cause me to vote no.”
One hour is allotted for Thursday’s meeting. A final vote may or may not take place.

Cambria Hotel Portland
Address: 105 and 135 N.W. Park Ave.
Developer: HighSide Development
Architect: SERA Architects
Engineers: Vega Civil Engineering and KPFF (structural)
HighSide Development of Denver, new to the Portland market, is seeking design advice for its proposed Cambria Hotel. It’s one of the Choice-branded hotels the developer is working on across the U.S., including downtown L.A.
The six-story Cambria Hotel Portland, designed by SERA Architects, is planned for the Pearl District. It would have 174 guest rooms and look out onto Portland’s North Park Blocks.
The first floor would contain the hotel lobby, a restaurant and bar, meeting rooms, a fitness space, and a 1,900-square-foot tenant space.

Two office buildings
Address: 1706 N.W. 24th Ave.
Architect: LEVER Architecture
LEVER Architecture aims to make another notch in its mass-timber belt – this time with a 40,000-square-foot office building to serve as the new headquarters for a Portland-based creative agency. A design advice hearing is planned for Thursday. Patrick Kessi of 1706 LLC is the owner’s representative.
The proposed plan places the four-story mass-timber structure at the corner of Northwest 24th Avenue and Savier Street. A one-story accessory office building would be oriented along Northwest Thurman Street.
The project team is seeking adjustments to the minimum FAR (floor-area ratio) and building height.