Two new mixed-use buildings are coming to the South Waterfront District.

The Portland Design Commission conditionally approved the Block 40 project at 3714 S.W. Macadam Ave. on Thursday.

“It’s going to be a good addition to the neighborhood,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said. “It’s going to be a really positive contributor to the context of this whole area.”

The buildings are bordered by Southwest Macadam Avenue to the west, Southwest Moody Avenue to the east, Southwest Gaines Street to the north and Southwest Abernethy Street to the south.

The Alamo Manhattan Properties project designed by Hensley Lamkin Rachel Architects, both of Dallas, Texas, includes two buildings, both seven stories and 82 feet tall. Both residential lobbies will be accessed from Moody Avenue. The project includes partially below-grade parking with vehicle access from Gaines Street and Abernethy Street.

The north structure will feature white brick with aluminum panel accents. It will include 190 market-rate residential units above 4,373 square feet of ground-floor retail space. There will be 176 vehicle parking stalls and 289 long-term bike parking stalls.

The south building will feature red brick with cement panel accents. There will be 213 residential units and 1,925 square feet of retail space, 177 vehicle parking stalls and 324 long-term bike parking stalls.

Overall, commissioners were satisfied with design changes made since the previous hearing.

“This is probably one of the strongest responses to an industrial neighborhood like South Waterfront,” Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said.

However, most said they wanted the public plaza between the buildings to be redesigned to make use of the green space.

“I think this swath has a huge opportunity not only for the buildings immediate to it, but also even for the district,” Vice Chairman Tad Savinar said. “I’m wondering what that landscape might really be as a destination.”

Other commissioners agreed, saying they would like a way for people to access the upper area of green space from the lower plaza.

“It seems as though this is an opportunity to reconsider the potential of that space,” Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

Commissioners approved the proposal with the condition that the upper and lower plaza between the buildings be redesigned, including the addition of seating and lighting.

“I think it’s a great pair of buildings that really have a fascinating conversation joined at the hip through this public space,” Savinar said. “I think it’s really going to be a very strong addition to this neighborhood that has been, up to now, kind of made up of boxes.”

Also on Thursday:

Mixed-use project still awaiting approval

Although city staff recommended approving plans for a Northwest Portland mixed-use building, the Design Commission did not hold a vote on the project.

Instead, after hearing public testimony, commissioners decided to hold the record open for several weeks to allow time for arguments for or against the project to come forward and for the applicant to submit a rebuttal.

If approved, the seven-story building would be constructed on the southwest corner of Northwest 19th Avenue and Pettygrove Street. Owner DD Pettygrove is planning 107 market-rate residential units above 1,150 square feet of ground-level retail space, 34 vehicle parking spaces and 120 long-term bike parking spaces.

YBA Architects‘ design features ribbed and flat metal paneling, black vinyl windows, glass guardrails, steel plate canopies and planters, concrete piers, black aluminum storefronts and wood doors and seating accents.

Jennifer Bragar, representing Pearlman Properties, owner of the adjacent Muse building, told commissioners that the proposed building’s southern wall facing the Muse would be mostly blank and unappealing. Neighbors are unhappy that the structure would be built close to the property line.

“You see the concern of staring out at a blank wall,” Bragar said. “We request that more be done here. This should take into account the massing for the people who live right next door.”

Pearlman Properties also wants the building to provide more off-street parking.

“Just because something is allowed doesn’t mean it should be endorsed by this commission,” Bragar said.

However, Grace Jeffreys with the Bureau of Development Services said the Design Commission does not have the authority to require more off-street parking; that lies with the Planning and Sustainability Commission.

As for the building’s proximity to the Muse, Jeffreys said the structure is allowed to be up to the property line, and is set 18 inches back.

Alex Yale of YBA Architects said the design team took surrounding buildings into consideration when it designed the building.

Commissioners discussed several issues they had with the design. All agreed they wanted to see samples of shades of gray proposed for the concrete. Commissioner Jessica Molinar took issue with the metal paneling featured on the building’s exterior, saying it wouldn’t fit in the context of the neighborhood.

Discussion also focused on an issue brought up at a hearing on Feb. 15: plans for some of the windows. As designed, they would face directly into the parking area, and some commissioners are concerned that views into a parking structure are unattractive.

Because Bragar requested the record be left open, the city will accept new evidence and arguments on the proposal. After responses to the new evidence are submitted, the applicant may submit a rebuttal in support of the application.

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The Portland Design Commission approved the renovation of the exterior landscaping and facade of the Oregon Convention Center by a 4-0 vote on Thursday.

“This is a really challenging design problem in part because of the building,” said Commission Charwoman Julie Livingston. “The convention Center is not timeless architecture. I think (the landscaping) plays really nicely into this installation.”

The changes are part of a $27 million, two-phase renovation project that aims to update the convention center both inside and out. Mayer/Reed and LMN Architects handled the design.

The first phase of the project will include a new arrival sequence and gathering space at the northeast corner of Northeast Holladay and Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The improvements will include new landscape planters, seating and lighting. There will also be an event plaza and amphitheater seating added to the corner.

Changes to the facade of the building will include the removal of two existing ticketing windows, canopies and glass storefront along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“These were really designed for the selling of tickets on the exterior of the building as well as queuing of patrons as they move into the building,” said Wendy Pautz, principal at LMN Architects. “That is no longer the functional and operational way the convention center works.”

The renovations will also change the northeast entry plaza to improve mid-block crossing to a future hotel and parking garage on the north side of Northeast Holladay Street. Designers also plan to remove the ticketing window and canopy at the north leading edge of the expansion building. Smaller, more opaque canopies will be installed to help tie activities within the center to those in the plaza.

“There is no longer this need for low-scale canopies to protect queues,” said Pautz. “That offered the opportunities to actually create a civic gesture at the entries.”

While members of the Design Commission were highly complementary of the exterior changes overall, they had concerns about how the new landscaping at the center would blend with the hotel under construction to the north. Carol Mayer-Reed of Mayer/Reed said the differences between the buildings and surrounding landscaping was intentional.

“We want the buildings to bear some similarities, but they aren’t exactly twins,” said Mayer-Reed/ “We were intentional in not matching them, but there are some references between them.”

Another issue that caused some concern among members of the Design Commission was giving visitors a sense that the center was a place for all Oregonians and not just Portland residents.

“How does this become the Oregon Convention Center and not just the Portland Convention center?” asked Commissioner Don Vallaster.

Mayer-Reed said the diversity of the types of plants and typography found across the state made finding a central theme that could reference all parts of the state difficult. Instead, they aimed to represent the local area with their plant choice.

“There is an informality in our lifestyle,” said Mayer-Reed. “We wanted bring that kind of lifestyle and what we are as a people. We have a streak of independence about us. Everything doesn’t have to match.”

In the end, the Design Commission tacked two conditions onto its approval of the project, including requiring that a minimum of 70 percent of basalt elements used the center portion of the amphitheater must be vertical. .

“I think this has been very well done,” said Commissioner Samuel Rodriguez. “The design is very responsive (to earlier DAR comments).”

BLOCK 40 SOWA

The Portland Design Commission sent the Block 40 SOWA project at 3417 S.W. Macadam Ave. back for further revisions on Thursday. The project is bordered by Southwest Macadam Avenue to the west, Southwest Moody Avenue to the east, Southwest Gaines Street to the north and Southwest Abernathy Street to the south.

The Alamo Manhattan Properties project includes two buildings. Both buildings will have seven stories and stand 82 feet tall. The north structure will have a 3.55:1 FAR, and include 190 residential units and 4,373 feet of retail space. The south building will have a 3.94:1 FAR, 213 market rate apartments and 1,925 feet of retail space.

While Design Commission members acknowledged that the materials met guidelines, they felt the Hensley Lamkin Rachel Architects design of the structures needed work to fit within the context of surrounding neighborhood.

The project will return to the Design Commission on Feb. 1.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday gave its first impressions of possible alternatives for Phase 2 of the Oregon Square development in the Lloyd District. In summer 2016, plans for a 325-foot tower at 827 N.E. Oregon St. was approved by the commission.

GBD Architects on Thursday presented three options for a revised tower. The first would be a shorter, 250-foot all-office tower. The second option would be a 20-story, broader office and residential tower, including six stories of offices and 14 stories with a total of 287 apartments. The third option would be an 18-story building with 10 stories of offices and eight stories with a total of 150 residential units.

All three options would include ground-floor retail space. A big difference was that two of the three would be wider than what was approved previously.
“Really we are here to explore options,” said Kyle Andersen, an architect with GBD Architects.

It’s possible that the project team may try to gain approval for an option and still not have a decision whether to include residential space, he said.

The design team and developer American Assets Trust looked for guidance from the Design Commission as to what would be palatable among the options.

“It’s a significant change – it’s a change of use, so we came in early,” Andersen said. “A lot of things are changing in the market, so we want to be a little bit nimble.”

A lot of the changes would be at the building’s edges. The all-office tower would include approximately 300,000 square feet of office space. The options that would include residential units have approximately 120,000 square feet of office space.

The third option would have a profile and floor plan closest to plans approved previously.

“By shuffling the floors we could keep the shell of the building but just space floors on the building,” Andersen said.

Commissioner Don Vallaster asked which option the developers preferred.

“The one that makes us the most money really,” said Wade Lange, regional manager for American Assets Trust.

For other developments, that has been a combination of office space and residential space.

Commissioners expressed concerns about the massing and the shading that could change. They were receptive to a broader building as an overall concept, depending on impacts on the open plaza.

“Is the bulk going to create more shaded plaza area?” Vice Chairman Tad Savinar asked.

Also on Thursday:

Block 40

The commission also got its first look at plans for Block 40, at 3714 and 3718 S.W. Macadam Ave. in the South Waterfront District. The proposed project would include two nearly identical buildings. A Spanish staircase would run between Southwest Macadam and Moody avenues, separating the buildings.

Texas-based HLR Architects‘ design for Alamo Manhattan Properties LLC calls for ground-floor retail space, 200 residential units, 240 parking spaces and a rooftop terrace in each building. Each structure would stand 250 feet and have 7,000 square feet of retail space.

The commission discussed a variety of options, including whether the buildings should be identical.

“Why are these two buildings the same?” Savinar asked. “Can you have one block treated one way and the second block treated some other way?”

Another concern among commissioners was how the building would serve as an entrance and exit to the South Waterfront.

“These elevations are extremely important because they are flanking the entrance into the South Waterfront,” Commission chairman David Wark said. “The first impression a lot of people get is going to be that first floor of your building. It has to be something that really sets the stage for the rest of the district.”

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