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Design review for a 30-story high-rise in Portland鈥檚 RiverPlace area is under way.

The Portland Design Commission got its second look at the proposal on Thursday, after a design advice meeting in April. Overall, commissioners signaled favor for the proposal, but a vote will not be called until the next hearing on Aug. 4.

The NBP Capital development, designed by GBD Architects, is anticipated to be the first to advance within the newly approved RiverPlace Central City Master Plan. It gained the City Council鈥檚 OK in early June.

The building would rise to the maximum height allowed 鈥� 325 feet 鈥� on the southern parcel of Block 1, at 150 S. Montgomery St. It would include approximately 344 residential units 鈥� 15 more than proposed previously. A recent addition to the master plan states that Phase 1 (including the Block 1 tower) must provide at least 100 multi-bedroom units.

As proposed Thursday, the development would have a mix of studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments. Of the multiple options to meet inclusionary housing requirements, the Block 1 team is choosing to offer 10 percent of units at 60 percent of median family income via 48 two-bedroom apartments.

The building would feature two amenity floors: one atop the podium building with outdoor spaces for residents and some guest suites, and the other at level 27 with multiple rooftop terraces, an indoor pool, and a resident lounge.

An inspired design

Michael Marcus, a GBD Architects associate principal, said the tower鈥檚 design was inspired by the Willamette River nearby.

鈥淭he massing form of the tower is shaped from the movement of water,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes water can be very calm and slow-moving, while other times (it鈥檚) more rapid and unsettled.鈥�

Protruding balconies are intended to give the exterior a 鈥渞ippling鈥� water effect.

Commissioner Julie Livingston called the design architecturally elegant. The 鈥減ancake expression鈥� of the podium with the point tower anchored at one end is a great massing strategy, she said.

Atop the podium would be a heavily landscaped eco-roof. Due to a grade change ranging from 10 to 18 feet, the podium would be slightly embedded. At some points it would be one story from the street, and at other points it would be two stories. But it would open along the western frontage for a grand lobby entrance with an overhanging roof.

To the north of the building, a lush, 6,600-square-foot pedestrian connection would connect South Harbor Drive to the interior of the site. Another would be created south of the building. Plans call for a mixture of seating options along both walkways.

The project team is working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to improve the South Harbor Trail segment slightly north of the site.

Modifications requested

The project team is seeking five modifications: one to allow 12,500-square-foot floor plates on the upper floors rather than 10,000-square-foot ones as stipulated in the master plan; one to alter the definition surrounding the building鈥檚 north-south orientation; two to reduce the ground floor window requirements on the north and south elevations; and another to slightly reduce required eco-roof coverage.

In April, the development team asked for the eco-roof requirement to be waived altogether due to the potential for plants to not survive above 300 feet. However, since working with an eco-roof manufacturer, the team has changed its stance.

Agustin Enriquez, the applicant and a GBD Architects design director, said the team will plant anywhere it can on the roof not occupied by mechanical equipment. The eco-roof manufacturer recommends only that no plants be placed within four feet of the roof鈥檚 perimeter because of high wind gusts in those areas. Because of that, the team is asking for a 2 percent reduction from the 60 percent coverage requirement.

All commissioners agreed with that request as well as the one for larger floor plates and the one for the language change regarding the north-south building orientation. Public testimony presented Thursday expressed adamant opposition to larger floor plates, but Commissioner Chandra Robinson said they would make the building much more elegant. The development team said the extra square footage would allow the exterior to be sculpted.

However, commissioners weren鈥檛 thrilled with proposed ground-floor window reductions. The team asked to reduce the requirement for coverage on the northern elevation from 40 percent to 26 percent. Livingston called the development team鈥檚 reasoning for it not being a streetscape due to the building鈥檚 setback and landscaping an 鈥渆xtraordinarily weak justification.鈥�

Enriquez said the team would work to improve it.

Looking ahead

The RiverPlace high-rise will be joined by a development on the block鈥檚 northern parcel. That project is expected to enter the design phase immediately after building permit applications are submitted for the 30-story tower.

On Thursday, Enriquez indicated that the northern development would likely be a five-over-two wood-framed structure roughly 85 feet tall.

Two city bureaus 鈥� Environmental Services and Transportation 鈥� still need to approve the current proposal. The Bureau of Development Services indicated it鈥檚 missing components: light fixture locations as well as material samples of the wood-toned metal planned for the podium soffits and the tower鈥檚 corrugated metal paneling.

Commissioners asked the development team to present physical samples of the materials at the next hearing.