When the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple was demolished last fall, many preservationists lamented the loss of the building that had stood in downtown Portland since 1892.

Formerly located at 915 S.W. Second Ave., the six-story Temple building was the first of two unreinforced masonry structures to come down to accommodate the ambitious : a 20-story hotel and a 10-story office tower. The second structure, the 112-year-old Hotel Albion, has now been razed. It previously housed the Lotus Cardroom and Café from 1924 until its closure two years ago.

Neither building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also, both were removed from the city of Portland’s Historic Resource Inventory at the request of the property owner in November 2015.

Initially, plans called for preservation of the Temple building and integration of it into the office tower portion of the project. But an extensive engineering study carried out by Ankrom Moisan Architects, KPFF Consulting Engineers and Turner Construction found that the cost of a retrofit would be greater than demolition and new construction.

While workers demolish the old and build the new, preservationists hope history won’t repeat itself.

“I could criticize what’s replacing those buildings,” Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti said. “But the bottom line is the system here in Oregon for designating and protecting and incentivizing the restoration of important historic buildings is woefully lacking. We have a system that we could definitely be fixing.”

The good news for preservationists is that the Auditorium building, which is under separate ownership, will remain on the block. What that building opened in 1894, it featured a dance hall on its second level and a concert space with a balcony on the third. The building was converted into office space in the 1980s.

Next door, the Lotus Cardroom and Café had a long and colorful history as a local night spot. It apparently was the site of a 1927 bootlegging bust, and rumors are that there once was an upstairs brothel. The building regained popularity as a nightspot in the 1990s, when throngs of young people came to party and dance.

Moretti is eager to see changes that prevent losses of such spaces in the future.

“I think it requires careful planning and community engagement,” she said. “You can’t freeze a city in time, and we would not propose that. But we need to be able to make thoughtful decisions. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t recognize that Portland is special because of the historic fabric it has maintained.”

But strong demand for new office space in the central city has opened the door for this redevelopment effort. The project team includes Third and Taylor Development – a partnership between Arthur Mutal and Onder Development – as well as Ankrom Moisan Architects and general contractor Turner Construction.

Excavation and other below-grade work is taking place on the downtown block’s north half, where a 10-story office tower will rise. It will also have ground-floor retail space.

Developers even have the luxury of knowing the building will be fully occupied when it opens in 2020. According to several media reports, NW Natural has already signed a lease to occupy all 183,500 square feet of available office space.

Turner Construction crews are preparing to start pouring concrete for the foundation and the two below-grade stories of parking for the office building. A break in the site’s water supply led to a delay in demolition, but that was merely a hiccup, project manager Len Anderson told the 91ĘÓƵ.

Once demolition of the ex-Hotel Albion wraps up, excavation work for the 20-story hotel will be able to start on the south half of the block. The hotel will have a rooftop pool and bar along with a pair of restaurants.

The big question for many observers is whether similar redevelopment projects will follow. In the future, developers may have more options when working with historic buildings, said Brandon Spencer-Hartle, historic resources program manager for the city of Portland.

“We are looking to increase the incentives that would encourage a property owner to seek a (historic) designation,” he said.

Portland’s new 2035 Comprehensive Plan took effect last week. It includes new rules that allow for transfers of floor area ratio involving buildings on the city’s Historic Resource Inventory, which has not been updated since 1984.

Property owners of designated historic buildings could also sell that development capacity.

“The new regulations that went into effect Monday we hope will be more used by owners of existing landmarks and those who are looking at their development options,” Spencer-Hartle said.

Separately, a draft of a proposed city effort to update city code surrounding historic resource designations will be released to the public in September. Feedback will be sought.

The post When historic buildings couldn’t be saved appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A new 10-story office building planned in downtown now has the Portland Design Commission‘s approval, but not without regrets that the existing building on the site cannot be saved.

Demolition is looming for the 124-year-old Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple at Southwest Third Avenue and Taylor Street. The building formerly was on the city’s Historic Resource Inventory, but was removed to allow development of the new tower designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects. The Design Commission approved the project with a 3-0 vote on Thursday.

Commissioner Tad Savinar stated before the vote that he intended to abstain and wished he had done more to save the old building.

“This is a hard job, and I failed when the project came in the first time,” he said. “I think I could have done more in the interest of saving the Temple Building. If I had known then what I know now, I think we would have pushed harder. I feel that I let folks down.”

Commission Chairman David Wark hinted that he had regrets as well.

“I don’t mean to admonish, but I hope in the future in the same situation we can find a new path – it’s a very good building,” he said.

Ankrom Moisan Executive Vice President Murray Jenkins said he too was sad that the historic building couldn’t be saved, but explained that demolition is as much about risk of collapse as about the cost of a retrofit. The six-story structure is one of the tallest unreinforced masonry buildings in the city. It has multiple floor structures – some made of wood and some of steel.

“There’s a risk of actually doing construction to save it,” he said. “We’ve tried for a year to save it. We wanted to make sure it wouldn’t bring down the adjacent development.”

The Temple Building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style by Justus F. Krumbein, who was the architect of Oregon’s second state capitol building. Restore Oregon, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic places, led the charge to save the Temple Building.

Peggy Moretti, Restore Oregon’s executive director, testified before the Design Commission in August that the building is a “prominent resource” and that the design of its replacement “does not accomplish the goal of creating a new landmark.” Restore Oregon board member Matthew Davis repeated that message to the commission on Thursday.

“It is supposed to be replaced by a landmark, but I’m not seeing a future landmark in these latest designs,” he said. “We are asking you to deny the project.”

Downtown Neighborhood Association board member Grant Higginson agreed. He cited the restoration of the Brewery Blocks as an example of retaining historic character, and said the new office building design doesn’t meet that standard.

“City guidelines say to preserve, and the current proposal preserves nothing,” he said.

Although demolition of the Temple Building was a foregone conclusion, according to Jenkins, the design team plans to contact the Bosco-Milligan Foundation to determine which items can be salvaged. The plan is to create an inventory of reusable pieces.

Once discussion turned to the new building, it became clear that commissioners were pleased with the way the design team had responded to their suggestions.

Michael Great, managing principal at Ankrom Moisan, told commissioners he agreed with their previous comments that the first design had “too much architecture for a half-block.” So, the team moved the loading zone and garage entrance from Southwest Third Avenue to Second Avenue, and recessed the northeast corner to direct more attention to the historic Auditorium Building next door.

“We want to let it be the star of Third Avenue,” he said.

Frameless glass retail entries at the ground level will give emphasis to what’s happening on the inside, Great said. Instead of being offset, the two-story glazed main entrance will be centered in the middle of the block of Taylor Street, with a secondary entrance nearby leading to 100 bike spaces.

The new design also pushed back the 10th floor to make room for a rooftop terrace at the ninth level at the southeast corner.

Commissioners praised the updated design.

“I like the way it defers to the Auditorium Building, and the notch at the northeast corner is a nice move, and I like the way you moved the entrance,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

Commissioner Andrew Clarke agreed and said he was glad the new design moved the loading docks.

“The (loss of) the Temple is a little disappointing, but I like the (new) building,” he said.

Commissioner Julie Livingston said she liked the way terra cotta accents were pulled down to grade, and Commissioner Jessica Molinar said she appreciated that the new design now has canopies all the way around for pedestrians.

“That’s great and I don’t find any issues that don’t comply with (city design) guidelines,” Molinar said.

Clarke, Livingston and Molinar voted to approve the design, while Savinar and Wark abstained.

Also on Thursday, the Design Commission reviewed:

Headquarters hotel

The first request for design advice for a new, massive hotel near the Oregon Convention Center was issued two years ago. As such, Thursday’s hearing was expected to be “more like a design advice request hearing,” city planner Tim Heron said in his report on the project.

Now, the design should have a better chance of gaining approval when it comes back before the commission in a few weeks, Heron said.

“We hope to have a really successful Oct. 20 hearing,” he said.

The 14-story, 600-room hotel will be on a superblock, Heron said. On the block next to it, a six-story garage will hold more than 400 parking spaces.

Design commissioners and the applicant, ESG Architects of Minneapolis, spent two hours discussing staff concerns. Among them were unresolved issues involving architectural coherency in respect to the Lloyd District as well as activation of ground floors and corners.

Southwest 11th Avenue and Alder Street hotel

A 15-story, 220-room hotel is proposed for the corner of Southwest Alder and 11th Avenue in Portland’s West End. A design advice hearing had not been requested for this project, city planner Grace Jeffreys said, and Thursday’s hearing was its first design review.

The building is designed by SERA Architects to reach a height of 150 feet. City staffers have several concerns, Jeffreys said, about the design and quantity of canopies, the quantity of columns, other details such as ground-floor setbacks and accessibility of the hotel restaurant’s entrance to disabled individuals.

The project is scheduled to return for a second design review on Nov. 17.

The post Farewell, Temple building; hello, office tower appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

In a last-ditch attempt to save the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple building, planner and historian Matt Davis of Architectural Resources Group and historian Eric Wheeler appealed to the state. They submitted a report to the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and sought to learn whether the building is eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We can’t nominate it without owner consent, but we can check with SHPO and get their opinion,” Davis said.

The reply came Feb. 23, in a letter from SHPO architectural historian Diana Painter. She wrote that she believes the 124-year-old building is eligible for the national listing, “for its association with the AOUW, a rapidly growing fraternal order popular throughout the United States and the Northwest at the time. It may also be eligible … as the oldest extant fraternal building in Portland that was built specifically for this purpose.”

Painter stated that the building is also “an excellent and unusual example of the Romanesque Revival style in Portland. It may also be eligible as the work of a master.”

She was referring to architect Justus Krumbein, who designed the Marquam Grand Opera House and Oregon’s state capitol.

“While some credit is likely due Lionel Deane, who worked on the project while employed by Krumbein, it is also reminiscent of other buildings by Krumbein, such as the Marquam Opera House, in its exuberance and detailing …,” Painter wrote. “Alterations to the building do not detract from its overall form and detailing, and the materials, workmanship and feeling displayed by this building.”

Davis said he and Wheeler will discuss their report and SHPO’s response at the next Historic Landmarks Commission meeting on March 7. The report describes the building’s history, alterations and current appearance, Davis said.

“We are not under the illusion that suddenly the building will be magically saved,” he said. “It’s about giving the building its due. There’s been a lot of attention, but it deserves more.”

The United Workmen Temple was designated as a local landmark in 1973, Davis said, but was taken off the list a few months later because the Historic Landmarks Commission objected to a partial paint job.

“That would never happen today,” he said.

Davis said he and Wheeler have two goals: to persuade Third & Taylor Development to reconsider its deconstruction plan and to underscore that many downtown buildings eligible for listing on the national register face the same danger.

“This won’t be the only time it will come up that a building as large and significant as the Workmen Temple can be completely demolished,” Davis said. “It leaves you wondering what other buildings in downtown Portland are at risk.”

According to Peggy Moretti, executive director of Restore Oregon, only 2 percent of Portland’s eligible historic buildings are listed on the national register.

If T & T Development chooses not to keep the United Workmen Temple, Wheeler said he hopes that at least some history will be preserved.

“Our hope is that the design review process for the proposed new structures on the site would preserve/incorporate the historic fabric into the design for the new construction,” he said.

The post Building doesn’t have ‘historic’ tag, but it could appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Jeff Arthur is disappointed that deconstruction apparently is imminent for the 124-year-old Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple in downtown Portland. Arthur, a principal with Third & Taylor Development, said restoring the six-story building simply isn’t financially feasible.

“The intention was always to keep it, and we looked at a combination of adding onto it or building around it and keeping the façade,” he said. “But because of the height of the walls it was more difficult than some options and we finally came to the determination we may have to look at disassembling it.”

Yet if the state and city offered financial incentives for historic restoration, Arthur believes that such assistance would allow a different fate for the United Workmen Temple.

“The short answer is yes,” Arthur said when asked whether incentives would enable restoration of the building. He qualified his answer though, and said a restoration always is risky because of hidden costs.

“More government incentives and assistance would certainly make (preservation of) more of these (historic) properties more feasible,” he said. “And with some … new codes being talked about we will be more of a conversation.”

That conversation is becoming more prevalent. Portland’s hot real estate market has placed targets on many of its older buildings. And when developers weigh restoration against new construction, they must consider that the former is always more expensive.

Potential loss could be repeated

Both the United Workmen Temple and the 110-year-old Hotel Albion nearby are slated – but not yet officially scheduled – for deconstruction. T & T Development’s plans call for replacing the United Workmen Temple with a 10-story creative office building and replacing the Hotel Albion with a 20-story hotel.

Loss of the United Workmen Temple would be tragic for Portland, Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti said, because it’s one of those beautiful old buildings that gives the city its special ambiance.

“We really do believe they create livable places,” she said. “It’s about place-making and seeing those places as creating quality of life and walkability and character. And they embody energy. They’re already green; they’re already built.”

But unless financial advantages are provided for historic restoration efforts, more buildings like the United Workmen Temple are at risk of demolition, Architectural Resources Group principal Matt Davis said. Something must be done, he said, or Portland will lose its character.

“This is the first among many,” he said. “As more money is coming in, driven by the boom and profits, it’s made everyone sit up and take notice.”

More governmental support sought

More conversations at the local level are in the works as the city places a greater emphasis on historic preservation. Brandon Spencer-Hartle, former programs manager for Restore Oregon, recently was hired as historic resources program manager for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Joe Zehnder, chief planner with BPS, said the city’s historic preservation staff had been cut in recent years.

“Due to years of budget cuts we were down to one staff person who maintained our basic functions,” he said. “With hiring Brandon we are trying to rebuild this as a more complete program, and we had the mayor’s office support.”

Moretti is eager to see action taken by Portland officials. Although the city does provide historic restoration projects some advantages through its zoning code, the lack of financial incentives discourages developers from putting those benefits to work to leverage federal preservation dollars, she said.

Also, Portland’s Historic Resources Inventory hasn’t been updated in decades, Moretti noted.

“We can’t protect what we can’t measure,” she said.

An update of the Historic Resources Inventory is indeed planned by the city, Zehnder said. But first, the 20-year Comprehensive Plan must be updated.

“Then we can build more incentives into the code for historic preservation,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the state level, Moretti said Restore Oregon in the next legislative session will push for a state rehabilitation tax credit. She said a bid to create such a tax credit (available in 35 other states) failed in the previous session because of belt-tightening measures taken by lawmakers.

Moretti also wants to see Oregon’s unique owner consent law repealed. The law states that a structure can’t be placed on a historic register without the owner’s permission. Owners can also summarily remove their property from the Historic Resources Inventory, which is what happened with the United Workmen Temple and the Hotel Albion. Only buildings listed on the national register are protected from owners’ decisions.

Market-driven projects pose threats

Historic buildings don’t just remind us of our past, but also help ensure our future, according to Moretti. Those properties provide a sense of place, and when they are dismantled a city can lose its reputation as one that cherishes its past, she said. Portland also will lose money if historic structures are taken down, she added.

“We see them as economic assets and one of the reasons that Portland is so popular, because it’s so hip and attractive,” she said.

Arthur said he and Jack Onder, another T & T Development principal, want to save the United Workmen Temple. But restoration is not possible because of issues tied to seismic deficiencies and a lack of maintenance over the years.

However, T & T Development has delayed deconstruction plans – and Moretti hasn’t given up hope that the United Workmen Temple can be preserved.

“I think we are at this pivotal moment because of all the activity in the market and the decisions we’re making now are going to change the entire character of the city for better or worse,” she said.

Architect Brian Emerick, former chairman of Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission, said the pressure to develop in the current boom has had some good outcomes, such as renovations of historic properties in Old Town and Chinatown.

Unfortunately, he said, tearing down the United Workmen Temple makes financial sense.

“When you look at the Workmen Temple – it’s probably 75 feet tall and the site will probably allow 150 feet or more – no matter how awesome that building is, it’s a small footprint,” he said. “No matter how nice it is it doesn’t make financial sense because they could build something twice as tall.”

But Emerick still doesn’t want to see it go.

“We’re not going to save every single old building – that’s not practical for a lot of reasons,” he said. “But we should not be losing the Workmen Temple. It’s an irreplaceable asset and (losing it is) way beyond what we should accept as a community.”

The post Green line divides restoration and demolition appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Restore Oregon has dropped its appeal challenging plans for a major downtown hotel project, but the historic preservation group hasn’t given up its bid to save two century-plus-old buildings.

Developers Jack Onder and Jeff Arthur of T & T Development want to build a 20-story, 175,000-square-foot hotel on Southwest Salmon Street between Second and Third avenues.

The site includes the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple at 915 S.W. Second Ave. The 124-year-old building has strong historic and architectural merit, preservationists say. The 110-year-old Hotel Albion – home of the Lotus Cardroom and Café – also sits on the property.

But after the developers agreed to delay for 120 days their planned demolition of the buildings, Restore Oregon aborted its appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

Peggy Moretti, executive director of Restore Oregon, said the group opted to drop its appeal to “explore (with the developers) alternative ideas to demolition.” She said the developers could take advantage of tax credits to rehabilitate the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple.

“Restore Oregon is not of the mindset that thinks every single old building has to be saved,” she said “We know there has to be accommodation for growth.”

But the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple is “quite significant,” Moretti said.

“Our feeling is if this building comes down, it would be the most significant loss for Portland in over a decade,” she said.

Neither building targeted for demolition is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Restore Oregon protested the removal of the buildings from the city’s Historic Resources Inventory.

T & T Development is moving ahead with its project, which also calls for 175,000 square feet of office space. The company on Monday applied for design review of plans for the project’s hotel portion.

T & T Development said in a statement that it appreciates Restore Oregon’s withdrawal of its legal appeal. The company also said that it hopes to preserve old bars and other Lotus Cardroom and CafĂ© features by incorporating them into the hotel.

The post Restore Oregon ends challenge of hotel project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Two old buildings in downtown Portland have sat mostly vacant for decades, but a proposal to replace them with new structures is getting plenty of pushback.

The design for redevelopment of 7/8 of the block between Southwest Second and Third avenues, and Taylor and Salmon streets originally called for preservation of the 123-year-old Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the 109-year-old Hotel Albion. But at a recent design advice hearing before the Portland Design Commission, representatives of Ankrom Moisan Architects presented a new proposal wherein the two buildings would be demolished and replaced with a 20-story hotel and a 10-story office building.

Restore Oregon, a nonprofit, recently filed with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals an appeal of the city’s decision to allow removal of the two existing buildings from its Historic Resource Inventory. That action was performed by the Bureau of Development Services, at the owner’s request, according to Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti.

“We would love to see those buildings not come down,” she said. “And we would like to understand why in the world they can’t be integrated.”

Restore Oregon also sent a letter to Portland City Council urging it to close a “loophole” in city code that allows owners to circumvent a 120-day delay for demolitions of historic buildings.

“The intent is to allow time for public input and exploration of alternatives to demolition,” Moretti said. “The fact that someone could just go and the same day they apply get a property removed is a direct contradiction (to city code) and is also counter to state code.”

The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission also sent a letter to the Design Commission, calling the Temple building “one of the most architecturally-significant downtown buildings” remaining from the 1890s.

“Frankly, we have not seen the demolition of a historic resource of this caliber in our near-decade of tenure on the Landmarks Commission,” the letter states. “It is unprecedented and unthinkable that this would be allowed.”

Murray Jenkins, a principal with Ankrom Moisan, told the Design Commission that as the firm evaluated possible preservation of the buildings, “challenges were great.” He recounted some of the buildings’ problems.

“The Temple building is one of the tallest unreinforced masonry buildings in the city, and while it was under separate ownership, it had not been maintained or upgraded over the years and is in a bad state of repair,” he said. “Floors three through six are still being used for storage, since the 1920s, and it’s also currently on the city’s dangerous building list.”

Jenkins said that 3-D scans of buildings were performed and found that the Temple building was “bearing point loads versus spread footings.” The Hotel Albion, referred to throughout the meeting as the Lotus building because the Lotus Cardroom and Café operates on the first floor, also showed structural limitations, he said.

“In the Lotus building we learned that there were load-bearing masonry walls internal to the building footprint,” he said. “So not only external walls were load-bearing, but we also had internal load-bearing masonry walls. This unfortunately led us to the conclusion that reusing the existing Lotus (building) was not feasible.”

But Jenkins made clear that he and others from his firm were looking for direction as to how to proceed because of both buildings’ structural problems.

“The challenges we face with these buildings are as tough as it gets,” he said.

Michael Great, also a principal with Ankrom Moisan, told the commissioners that his firm’s preference would be to save the two buildings. However, he added that the new design, although “not fully vetted,” would provide much more flexibility.

“What we’re asking you today is for your feedback on design direction,” he said. “We want to listen to what you have to say and further evaluate our choices. We understand there is great value in trying to retain the Temple (building).”

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said he would support any attempt to save the two buildings, but understood their lack of structural integrity. He asked if some of the Temple building’s original features – such as skin and materials – could be retained.

Great replied that would be difficult because of the six-story, unreinforced masonry structure’s substantial height.

“It would be a very complicated solution to maintain the facades,” he said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar asked if the Hotel Albion had any current uses.

“No, everything is empty above the first floor,” Great said. “It is an unserviceable and unusable building from an occupant comfort standpoint. The current owner has not found a use for it that’s appropriate, and the upper floors have not been used for at least 50 years.”

Commissioner Don Vallaster said he would rather see the Hotel Albion saved because it is only three stories and would be simpler to work with.

“I don’t think the Temple building is going to be a big loss,” he said. “It’s kind of like Centennial Mills. It’s old (and) it’s there, but what are you going to do with it? Maybe it’s time to move on.”

Commission Chairman David Wark and Savinar both favored saving the buildings. Wark said he would “absolutely 100 percent prefer restoration over demolition.”

Savinar criticized the lack of detail in the proposal for the new buildings and said that he would have high expectations for any design calling for replacement.

“If you’re going to tear down a historic building, you’d better come back with something great,” he said.

The project is still in the design advice stage and no date has been set for its next appearance before the Design Commission, city planner Hillary Adam said.

The post Downtown demolition plans resisted appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The 123-year-old Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the 109-year-old Hotel Albion both sit on a block in downtown Portland, between Southwest Second and Third avenues and Salmon and Taylor streets.

The buildings also both were added to the city’s Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) in 1985, until they were removed earlier this month at their owner’s request.

Now both could soon be demolished.

Ankrom Moisan Architects in September participated in a pre-application conference with the Bureau of Development Services to discuss a development on 7/8 of the block holding both the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the Hotel Albion. Then, this month Third & Taylor Development LLC appeared with Ankrom Moisan on a design advice request document for the project that proposes new construction to replace those buildings with a boutique hotel, office space and parking.

Neither building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They were simply identified in the HRI via a survey of potentially historic assets within the city. Their fates, however, more plainly were given to their owner in 2002, when the state determined that neither a historic district nor historic property can be added to the national register without owners’ consent.

“Those two (buildings) would be a slam dunk to be put on the register,” said Brian Emerick, chairman of the Historic Landmarks Commission. “But the owners never proceeded to do that. It’s unfortunate in a lot of ways because other states don’t have this limitation.”

Even though the Temple and Hotel Albion buildings were on the HRI, they could have been demolished – only national register listings could prevent that. However, an HRI building can’t be demolished without a demolition delay period, Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti said.

“There is a 120-day demolition delay period for buildings on the HRI intended to be used for an opportunity to explore alternatives,” she said. “It just offers a little dialogue, a little interaction with the neighborhood or the district. It doesn’t prevent demolition altogether.”

Nevertheless, the Bureau of Development Services removed the Temple and the Hotel Albion from the HRI on Nov. 5. The removal process is simple. An owner needs only to fill out a one-page form and sign it. A building will be removed that same day.

“It’s a simple process to have (the building) removed (from the HRI),” Emerick said. “There’s all these loopholes. We have all of these significant resources that are essentially unprotected. They don’t have the protection in the code and now we’re seeing an intensified building period going on with the development scenario changing and making sense on a lot of projects it didn’t before. With the pressure for density, you’re going to start seeing a lot more threatened resources.”

In September, the 7/8 of the downtown block targeted for redevelopment was owned by Eugene-based House of Gold. John Plew, owner of the Lotus Cardroom and Café, a ground-floor tenant in the Hotel Albion, said the property will be sold.

The 91ĘÓƵ wasn’t able to determine exactly who operates Third & Taylor Development LLC. It was registered by Dina Alexander, an attorney in Portland. Calls to Alexander and Ankrom Moisan Architects were not immediately returned.

Restore Oregon senior field programs manager Brandon Spencer-Hartle said that the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the Hotel Albion are two of 11 properties that have been removed from the HRI in the past year. Most of those have been single-family dwellings or small commercial properties, he said.

“These two properties are highly visible,” he said.

Emerick is predicting significant outcry.

“It’s going to create quite a hullabaloo,” he said of the apparent demolition on tap. “The Temple Building is in poor shape, but it’s certainly salvageable. It’s an amazing architectural historic resource right in the core of downtown. The removal of that is going to generate quite a bit of backlash – especially in the historic community. These are our shared community cultural assets. To be able to not have a say in being able to protect those going forward is really detrimental to preserving the things that are important and define our community. That’s really what the crux of this is about.”

Moretti said that closing the loophole allowing demolition without public input could be very simple.

“A sentence can be pulled out of the code and the loophole is closed,” she said. “It isn’t that big of a deal to change it if there’s will to do so. We have a sense that there’s some receptivity to look at this and make it right. We are optimistic that the city is receptive to fix it.”

Saving the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the Hotel Albion may be more challenging.

“For these two particular buildings, you could chain yourself to the doors, or appeal to a person higher in nature, or I don’t know,” Moretti said. “You find yourself kind of ending up with a public cry and see if anyone on the development side cares.”

The post ‘Loophole’ leaves older buildings at risk appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

On a recent weekday afternoon, the Lotus Cardroom and Café in downtown Portland was bustling. Jazz flowed from the speakers. People in business attire huddled in wooden booths, chatting and eating their lunch. Others sat at the bar, sipping cocktails.

The Lotus, established in 1924, is both a modern restaurant and a throwback.

“I like the wood,” said Mischa Seablom, after finishing her lunch. “It feels comfortable and dark and warm and inviting. There’s also a feeling of privacy. You can have an intimate connection with someone if you want to, or just a nice meal, or a drink after work.”

However, the Lotus, now operating at 932 S.W. Third Ave., could soon need a new home. Ankrom Moisan Architects in September discussed with the Bureau of Development Services the possibility of a full-block development at Southwest Third Avenue and Taylor Street. The project could include a new building 19 to 20 stories with a boutique hotel and 100,000 square feet of office space, and 43 to 100 parking spaces.

John Plew, the Lotus’ owner, has been in contact with Eugene-based House of Gold Inc., which owns 7/8 of the block bound by Southwest Second and Third avenues, and Salmon Taylor streets. Plew said that he was told that nothing is official yet, but the project apparently is moving forward. If so, the Lotus’ space, the Good Earth CafĂ© building and a parking garage on Taylor Street would be demolished.

Since purchasing the Lotus 25 years ago, Plew has known that there was a possibility of the block being redeveloped. Now he has mixed feelings about it.

“It’s tough,” he said. “But I’m excited that there’s some development going on downtown because it’s been some time. I’m mixed. I’m excited that downtown is changing. But if we owned the building, we probably wouldn’t be doing anything.”

Plew has heard whispers that following redevelopment, the Lotus may be asked to return to the block. He also is looking at perhaps moving the Lotus to central downtown or the Pearl District. A historic building would be ideal because Plew wants to keep the Lotus’ main, 30-foot wooden bar and perhaps the wooden bar in the cardroom.

“We’d want to try to replicate what we have now,” he said. “We would want to find a new home that allows us to recreate an historical feeling, American bar and grill like it is now.”

Even if a new home was found for the Lotus, the original joint would be missed if it were demolished.

“It would be a loss,” Seablom said. “It’s not shocking. It’s not surprising. But it would be very disappointing.”

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