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The project team proposing a sizable mixed-use development at the north end of the Pearl District received design advice on Thursday.

The Portland Design Commission weighed in on plans for Pearl Block 24, which would be a primarily residential building with approximately 440 units. The six-sided project site is bordered by railroad tracks diagonally to the north, The Fields Park to the east, Northwest Quimby Street to the south, and The Abigail and another building under construction to the west.

Pearl Block 24 would include a 22-story (approximately 250 feet tall) tower, a seven-story, angled bar-shaped portion, and a three-story podium. There would be slightly more than 450,000 square feet above grade and around 300 parking spaces below grade.

The ground floor would include an approximately 3,000-square-foot retail space at the site’s southeast corner, a residential lobby, residential amenity spaces, and some residential units facing both Quimby Street and the pedestrian pathway/bikeway extending north from 12th Avenue.

GBD Architects is designing the project for developer Greystar. The project team also includes landscape architect Lango Hansen and structural engineer DCI Engineers.

The proposal is 鈥済enerally compliant鈥� with zoning code standards, according to a Bureau of Development Services staff report.

Proposed building massing is conceptual at this stage but currently reflects existing zoning rules, development context, site constraints, and ground-level surroundings. The podium mass would shift at the southeast corner to help make a more regular intersection with the slanted northern edge. After studying possibilities for tower placement, the design team slid it north to open it to views, GBD Architects principal Kyle Andersen said during Thursday’s hearing.

Structured parking would be at the building’s edge along the railroad-facing frontage.

鈥淲e’re really going to have to work on the design with how (the railroad-facing frontage) is screened and is interesting and beautiful and conceals parking that is happening behind it,鈥� Andersen said.

The most active building frontage would be at the south end, with a retail space facing The Fields Park and the lobby at the intersection of Northwest 12th Avenue and Quimby Street.

Ground-level residential units would face Quimby Street and a portion of the pedestrian pathway/bikeway along 12th Avenue. BDS staff believes it is important for the most private residential uses to be on a mezzanine level, with more public-facing uses at ground level.

There would be no on-site driveways for motor vehicles, but rather a singular garage entry with access from Quimby Street.

鈥淪taff does believe this driveway location is probably the most successful and maybe the best choice of where to put such a driveway,鈥� senior city planner Ben Nielsen said.

Some of the commissioners expressed concerns about plans to locate retail space on the site’s southeast corner, near the dog park portion of The Fields Park.

The project team had originally intended to request a modification to the eco-roof requirement atop the tower, GBD Architects associate principal Marcus Lima said, because of concerns about an eco-roof’s survival at that height. However, now the team likely will not make such a request, he said.

Commissioner Chandra Robinson said it is a great idea to place an eco-roof on lower levels for birds that cannot fly up the tower.

Composition of building materials is conceptual currently. The team’s goal is for a simple selection of materials, with three main elements, Lima said.

The project team is wrapping up schematic design and expects to return before the Design Commission for design review in mid-to-late December.