A 93-year-old single-story retail building in downtown Portland is being demolished to make way for a new six-story office building developed by Menashe Properties. Konell Construction and Demolition began demolishing the building this week for general contractor Turner Construction. The demolition is expected to last approximately one more week, at which point crews will begin digging for the quarter-block building’s foundations.

A tower crane will be erected at the site in November, and topping out of the post-tensioned concrete building is expected for May 2017, with core and shell completion slated for mid-August of that year. The LRS Architects and Design Department-designed building will have five stories of office over ground-floor retail, and a basement with M.E.P. systems and bike facilities.

Interface Engineering is the project’s mechanical engineer, Nishkian Dean is the structural engineer, and Shapiro Didway is the landscape architect.

The post Photos: Downtown takedown makes space appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The design of Menashe Properties‘ planned six-story mixed-use building in downtown Portland received approval from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday, after only two hearings.

Before giving the green light, several commissioners offered high praise to designs by LRS Architects and Design Department for the building planned at 1127-1139 S.W. Morrison Ave.

“I love the building and am excited about it,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “I think it will be a great building on the west end.”

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said it was one of the best designs he had seen in a while and Commissioner Julie Livingston said it was “a small, elegant building.”

Commission Chairman David Wark agreed wholeheartedly.

“I like its clean lines, and my only regret is that I would like to see more of it,” he said. “I would like to see a building twice this size and I hope you add floors to it.”

Livingston introduced the resolution to approve the project with the following conditions: Designers work with city staff and gas company NW Natural on the location of gas meters on Southwest 12th Avenue; establish separate controls for exterior and interior lighting; and follow up with staff for review of lighting levels.

The design underwent several changes after its previous review last month. City planner Staci Monroe said the design team addressed commissioners’ concerns by removing a small oriel window at the southwest elevation, adding glass canopies over retail entrances and revising the utility gate.

Glazing was discussed because the building will have aluminum curtain walls covered with both clear and fritted glass. Commissioners even placed samples of the fritted glass in windows of their meeting room so they could walk outside and see its effect.

Monty Hill, senior architect at LRS, told commissioners that rain protection will be provided over two retail entrances via a canopy of a single sheet of laminated glass. Clear glass will be used on the first and sixth levels.

The 58,862-square-foot building will cover a quarter-block and include ground-floor retail space. Terraces will be located at the second through sixth floors and upper-floor oriel windows will project up to four feet deep over Southwest 12th Avenue and Morrison Street. The exterior will include two-coat stucco party walls, painted metal accents, painted steel box-rib mechanical screening on the roof, tongue-and-groove soffits at levels one and six, and sealed architectural concrete bulkheads at sloped sidewalk edges. Bike parking will be provided, but vehicle parking will not.

The site is in the vicinity of several historic buildings, including the First Presbyterian Church. The surroundings were taken into consideration as the building was being designed, Hill said after the meeting.

“The aesthetic expression blends well with the urban fabric in scale and proportion and draws inspiration from many of the historic modern buildings in Portland, such as the Commonwealth Building, Federal Reserve, Memorial Coliseum and many others,” he said. “The design team feels this is the perfect example of how the city’s design guidelines help to shape excellent design solutions.”

Approval for the project came at its second design review following about an hour of discussion – a relatively short process. Hill was quoted in a previous 91ĘÓƵ story saying that he hoped the project would be approved at its first review. Hill said this week that he was misquoted in the Dec. 21, 2015 story and that he stated the opposite. He would not “be so presumptuous” as to assume a first-pass approval, he said.

The post A quick, smooth trip through design review appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The proposal for a new six-story, 58,862-square-foot building in downtown Portland didn’t get the fast approval the developer had hoped for at last week’s Portland Design Commission meeting. However, the team will return before the commission next year.

Menashe Properties‘ plans call for constructing the building on the northeast corner of a 10,000-square-foot site at 1127-1139 S.W. Morrison St. LRS Architects and Design Department Architecture are designing the building, which will replace an existing one-story retail structure targeted for demolition.

Although plans for the new building were not submitted for design advice from the Design Commission, Monty Hill of LRS said before the meeting that he hoped the project would be approved quickly. But after about an hour of discussion, the commission scheduled another design review for Jan. 21.

Commissioners discussed several aspects of the design that need more attention, particularly the percentage of the glass that will be fritted, covers for gas meters and lighting at higher exterior levels.

“The concern is: Will exterior lighting on the sixth floor have a negative effect on the city skyline?” city planner Grace Jeffreys said.

The developer also asked that the requirement for loading spaces be reduced from two to one, Jeffreys said. That request was supported by city staff and the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Commission Chairman David Wark questioned why fritted glass is proposed, and Ben Hufford of Design Department Architecture replied that it was the best design solution for west- and south-facing elevations.

“We did a sun shading study and the result was the best way to deal with the sun is super-high-performance glass,” he said. “The fritted glass is a very innovative solution to address that question.”

The building’s design calls for a full-height glazing system. It’s claimed that the ceramic pattern printed within the fritted glass will reduce both interior glare and heat gain by as much as 30 percent.

Plans call for oriel windows up to four feet deep on upper floors, outdoor terraces on the second through sixth floors and no provision for parking. Long-term bike parking will be provided on site.

The post More design review ahead for planned building appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A proposal for a new six-story office building at Southwest 12th Avenue and Morrison Street will go before the Portland Design Commission for the first time this week, and developers are hoping for quick approval.

Menashe Properties is developing the project and a team from LRS Architects and Design Department Architecture is designing it. The building will replace an existing one-story retail building – on the quarter block at 1127-1139 S.W. Morrison St. – that is set to be demolished. Plans call for the new building to occupy the northeast corner of the 10,000-square-foot site.

The developer did not request design advice from the Design Commission prior to the hearing later this week. Although most project teams receive design advice from the commission prior to the hearing approval stage, others “sometimes” secure approval at their first appearance before the commission, city planner Grace Jeffreys said.

“I have recommended approval with the stipulation of three items needed to show the commission,” she said. “They have to do with the fritted glass, lighting at higher exterior levels and covers for gas meters. It’s left in their hands to show the commission.”

The building’s design calls for a full-height glazing system with a ceramic pattern printed within the glass that will reduce both interior glare and heat gain by 30 percent. According to the proposal filed with the city, exterior materials include an aluminum curtain wall with clear and fritted glass, aluminum composite panels, two-coat stucco party walks, painted metal accents, painted steel box-rib mechanical screening on the roof, tongue-and-groove ipe wood soffits at the first and sixth levels, and sealed architectural concrete bulkheads at sloped sidewalk edges.

The proposal includes upper-floor building projections of oriel windows up to four feet deep, outdoor terraces on the second through sixth floors, loading and service areas off of Southwest 12th Avenue and no provision for parking. Long-term bike parking is proposed at the ground level and the developer will pay into the city’s bike parking fund for short-term bike parking.

Monty Hill of LRS Architects said this is the first ground-up development for Menashe Properties, and the design reflects the downtown neighborhood’s history.

“The aesthetic expression blends well with the urban fabric scale and proportion and draws inspiration from the many historic modern buildings in Portland such as the Commonwealth Building, the Federal Reserve Building, Memorial Coliseum and many others,” Hill said.

Designed by renowned architect Pietro Belluschi, the Commonwealth Building on Southwest Sixth Avenue was the first glass box tower in the country. It’s sheathed in aluminum with double-glazed window panels and fully air-conditioned.

“At the time Portland was a big producer of aluminum,” Hill said. “The developer feels that this (new project) is a perfect example of how using the city’s design guidelines helped to shape excellent design solutions.”

The building will offer creative office space on floors two through six, ground-level retail space, a green eco-roof and long-term bike storage with lockers and showers.

CBRE Group was selected by Menashe Properties to handle leasing for the new building.

The post Downtown project revving up appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Design Department Architecture has asked for a pre-application conference from the city for a proposed new six-story office building at 1139 S.W. Morrison St.

Ben Hufford of Design Department Architecture said the Menashe family, which owns the property, originally planned to rehabilitate a one-story building on the property. They have since decided to tear down the old building to construct a new structure that will have 58,000 square feet on six floors plus a 10,000-square foot basement, he said.

“It’s preliminary at this point, but we’re looking at five floors of office space and one floor of retail,” Hufford said.

Hufford said he is meeting with the Menashe representatives this week to pick from three different renderings for the project.

The post Six-story office building planned for downtown appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.