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A bold design for a 12-story, 271-unit residential building on Southeast Sandy Boulevard drew a largely positive initial reception from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

The podium and tower concept from developer SolTerra Capital Inc., with a design by LEVER Architecture, would be constructed from cross-laminated timber at 900 S.E. Sandy Blvd. The building would rise to 124 feet, just below the 125-foot height limit for the property with bonuses.

The project team plans to incorporate rent-restricted inclusionary housing units, Bureau of Development Services planner Staci Monroe said during Thursday’s design advice hearing.

SolTerra’s move to develop a large-scale residential building on Sandy Boulevard comes as developers increasingly target the thoroughfare with projects: Security Properties is tackling the Pop Blocks and Guerrilla Development is pursuing several small-scale commercial projects. The Troy Laundry building is located nearby.

LEVER on Thursday presented commissioners with early schematic drawings for SolTerra’s building. The V-shaped design takes advantage of the lines from Sandy Boulevard, which slices diagonally across east Portland’s street grid.

鈥淪andy was originally a Native American path that connects the Willamette and Columbia (rivers), and it breaks the grid of Portland,鈥� said Thomas Robinson, founding principal at LEVER. 鈥淲e think the building could reinforce that path with its shape and how it works in context.鈥�

The design’s treatment of its context with Sandy Boulevard is excellent, Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

鈥淭his is thrilling,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s like a meta-response to guidelines.鈥�

Commissioner Jessica Molinar questioned whether the project’s orientation could be changed to have the tower along Southeast Ninth Avenue. Robinson said LEVER considered many massing strategies before settling on the one presented Thursday.

鈥淚 feel pretty strongly that the orientation that we have is the right one, but I respect what you’re saying,鈥� he said.

Commissioners praised LEVER’s overall approach.

鈥淚 think it’s a really strong design, and the neighborhood could handle a really strong design,鈥� Commissioner Don Vallaster said. 鈥淎long Sandy, there’s been a tradition of that.鈥�

The property, unusually, has five sides. It’s bounded by Southeast Pine, Sandy and Oak streets, and Southeast Ninth and 10th avenues. Because of the way Sandy Boulevard cuts diagonally, the site is just less than a full block, totaling 39,584 square feet.

The proposed building would loom large, at approximately 250,000 square feet, including 18,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. A slight taper of the mass, as well as the shape, will reduce the apparent size, said Jonathan Heppner, a LEVER architect who was promoted to principal in June.

The program also calls for live-work units on the ground floor. Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said pedestrian activation will be critical for the project, and he warned that live-work units can be tough to pull off.

鈥淭hey have to really be functional so they don’t become a dark space that’s not going to activate the ground floor,鈥� he said.

The building would have two floors of underground parking, with at least 0.5 spaces per resident, Robinson said.