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For nearly six years, plans for a large-scale multifamily development in the heart of Portland’s Central Eastside remained dormant. But thanks to an emergency land use measure taken during the COVID-19 pandemic and the entrance of a new developer, ground is set to be broken on the project this fall.

Pine Street Lofts, previously SE 8th Ave Apartments, will be a seven-story building with 144 market-rate apartments (including five live/work units) and retail space at 830 S.E. Pine St. The site is across Sandy Boulevard from where the 12-story Sandy Pine mass-timber development will be built.

The Portland Design Commission approved the former Specht Development project, designed by SERA Architects, in June 2017. During that hearing, Commissioner Sam Rodriguez described the brick-laden, 鈥渇lat-iron鈥� building as 鈥渟imple without being simplistic.鈥�

But due to escalating construction costs and a slowdown in rent increases following approval, the project was placed on hold, Specht Vice President Peter Skei said.

Projects approved through design review typically have three years to begin construction; otherwise the land use review entitlement expires.

鈥淚n 2020, the assumption of Specht Development was that since they actually hadn’t started construction on this project,鈥� SERA Architects principal Kurt Schultz said, 鈥渢he project wasn’t going to get built 鈥� wasn’t going to move forward.鈥�

But in summer 2020, Portland City Council enacted an emergency measure that extended expiration of land use approvals to Jan. 1, 2024 (an additional three years) for developments approved from July 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2020. That gave developers and construction firms more time to break ground on projects amid economic and development review process challenges.

鈥淭hat was huge and actually brought the project back to life,鈥� Schultz said.

However, with construction costs still at record highs, Specht Development did not want to advance the project, Skei said. Instead, Pine Street Lofts was dusted off and sold to Chicago-based developer 29th Street Capital, which bought the property and development rights for $4.6 million in 2021.

Pine Street Lofts will be 29th Street Capital’s first project in Portland. The firm, since being founded in 2009, has amassed more than 30,000 units across 21 U.S. markets, said Jesse Maas, vice president-Pacific Northwest of 29th Street Capital.

鈥淲e’ve been looking at expanding into the Seattle and Portland areas,鈥� Maas said. 鈥淲e typically look at suburban multifamily, but in this case, there was an opportunity to do development.鈥�

Three main changes have occurred to the project since 2017. One is the addition of a fitness and club room. Another is that vehicle parking will be via a mechanical stacker in the building’s center instead of in an underground parking garage.

The most significant alteration is to the ground floor. A new Portland General Electric policy no longer allows underground sidewalk utility vaults, so more than 800 square feet had to be taken from building programming to include an electrical room. As a result, one of the live/work units was relocated and the lobby and retail space were reconfigured.

The Portland Bureau of Development Services has approved issuance of a building permit for Pine Street Lofts. Emerick Residential Builders聽will serve as the general contractor.

Editor’s Note: This story was corrected on March 27 to note that Emerick Residential Builders will serve as the general contractor for the project.