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The design team working on a five-story multifamily development in the North Interstate Plan District received advice from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

West Architects is designing the Maryland Apartments for Seneca Development, which acquired four separate tax lots at 6319-6346 N. Maryland Ave. for the project. Hamilton Building Co. will be the general contractor.

As proposed, the 64,043-square-foot building will have 70 units 鈥� most with private balconies. There will be a mix of studios, one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom apartments; some will be inclusionary housing units, architect Josef West said.

鈥淭he studios, we’ve decided to really focus on enlarging them and always providing, as much as we can, outdoor private space for these units,鈥� West said.

Maryland Avenue is lined with mainly single-family houses on both sides, with a newer building adjacent to the development. The apartment building will be the largest building on the Arbor Lodge block.

The development will be about a block away from the Rosa Parks light-rail station. A goal of the design is to provide substantial pedestrian access, West said. Benches in front of the building will provide public seating.

The building will include an outdoor amenity space on the fourth floor and an indoor-outdoor sheltered community space on the ground floor. The latter space will feature a shared family room, living room and lounge. Personal lockers and cubbies would be included in the lounge.

A patio canopy will sit below the first level of residential balconies, West said. Planters are proposed atop the canopy to offer separation from the balconies to the patio below. Commissioners expressed that would make the space feel more confined and suggested modifying it.

A maximum height of 65 feet is proposed for the building. The project team is looking to add windows to the street frontage.

On-site parking is proposed with a mid-block garage entrance from Maryland Avenue at the building’s northwest corner. A total of 13 parking spots are proposed.

鈥淭he LCDC (Land Conservation and Development Commission) has proposed wide, sweeping state rules, known as the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities rulemaking, which was subsequently approved by the LCDC last summer,鈥� said Tanya Paglia of the Bureau of Development Services. 鈥淭hese provisions need to be placed in our zoning code by June 30, 2023.鈥�

The provisions will eliminate all parking minimums. The project will likely not have a minimum parking requirement, Paglia said.

Commissioners agreed that the roof should be modified or thinned down because it would be out of proportion with the building and make it appear larger than it would be.

Also, commissioners agreed that the balconies significantly help give the development a residential feel.

The project is valued at $12 million, according to BDS. It’s set to go through type II design review, with land use review processed by staff. The project will not return before the Design Commission unless the decision by staff is appealed.

Construction could begin later this year.