One of the loudest voices for Preserve the Pearl LLC, an opponent of Security Properties‘ Pearl Block 136 project, is no longer a spokesman for the organization. Burton Francis did not want to discuss specifics, but said that the Preserve the Pearl “directors wanted to take it in a direction I didn’t want to go in. I declined and stepped down from any position I had.”

Even though Francis, an Edge Lofts resident, is no longer affiliated with Preserve the Pearl, he was dismayed by the Land Use Board of Appeals‘ decision to uphold the city’s approval of the Pearl Block 136 project. Two buildings – a five-story office building and a 15-story residential tower – are planned on property formerly occupied by the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The developer is Seattle-based Security Properties, and the designer is Seattle-based Mithun.

“It was an unfortunate opinion in the sense that the plain language of the zoning code says there should be step-downs toward the Willamette River, in order to preserve our connectedness to the river,” Francis said. “To gloss over it and say, ‘The provisions of that particular zoning code are not singular in their enforceability; they’re just to be interpreted generally with the respect to that overall zoning code provision,’ weakens the code and weakens the design guidelines that everybody thought were the basic rules of the game.”

Security Properties did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The only remaining possible challenge of the project would be before the Oregon Supreme Court. The appeal could be brought by Preserve the Pearl, or any other interested parties. Preserve the Pearl did not respond to a request for comment.

“As a lawyer, I have much more faith in the courts and the court system enforcing issues of procedural due process than I do with administrative bodies,” Francis said.

Francis believes that Pearl Block 136 is an example why action needs to be taken that changes the development process in the city.

“The public needs to be more involved,” he said. “Maybe there needs to be a referendum, or some sort of ballot initiative or some sort of direct action process that occurs where Portlanders are asked, ‘What direction do you want your city to go in? Do you want Portland to retain its character? Do you want to ‘keep Portland weird?’ I would just wish that the voice of Portlanders can be heard through a direct democracy vehicle. Let the people decide.”

The post City’s approval of Pearl Block 136 project upheld by LUBA appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland City Council has denied an appeal questioning city approval of a proposed Pearl District development.

City commissioners unanimously voted last week to deny an appeal filed by Preserve the Pearl LLC against the Portland Design Commission‘s approval in January of Security Properties‘ Block 136 development, at 1241 N.W. Johnson St.

Plans for the full-block development call for a five-story office and retail building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets.

Preserve the Pearl in February filed an appeal, questioning the design commission’s unanimous approval of the Block 136 design by Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun. Group members claimed that the city’s public process to gather feedback on the design was flawed, including insufficient communication with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. They also questioned whether additional height should have been granted for the residential building.

Despite the concerns raised in the Preserve the Pearl appeal, Mayor Charlie Halespraised the Mithun design team for conceiving a project that would be an asset to the neighborhood.

“The team that designed this project did a very good job of following our design goals and that’s why the design commission upheld it as well,” he said before voting to deny the appeal. “I think it is not appropriate for the council to reverse their decision.”

Burton Francis, a Portland attorney representing Preserve the Pearl, said Monday the group may appeal the council’s decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

“We’re seriously considering that,” he said. “Obviously, everybody in our group is disappointed with the decision.”

The council’s vote last week to deny the appeal came after hearing testimony for and against the proposed Block 136 project during a lengthy hearing earlier this month. Following that hearing, commissioners agreed to hold off on a vote to give Preserve the Pearl members additional time to respond to a 51-page document Seattle-based Security Properties filed as evidence in support of the Block 136 project.

A council vote to adopt a written opinion officially denying the appeal is scheduled for May 20. Preserve the Pearl members will then have 21 days to file an appeal with LUBA.

The post City Council denies appeal of Pearl District project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

After hearing two hours of testimony for or against a proposed Pearl District development, the Portland City Council on Wednesday postponed until later this month its decision whether to approve a design appeal.

Commissioners agreed to grant a request by Preserve the Pearl LLC, a group opposing Security Properties‘ Block 136 development, at 1241 N.W. Johnson St., to postpone their decision until April 23. Burton Francis, a Portland attorney representing Preserve the Pearl, told the council that this would give group members additional time to respond to a 51-page document Seattle-based Security Properties filed on Tuesday as evidence to support the Portland Design Commission‘s approval issued in January.

“In order to have a full and fair hearing, you have to have time to review the documents that have been submitted by your opponent,” he said. “There is no way for us to meaningfully prepare to address those arguments.”

Plans for the full-block development call for a five-story office and retail building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets.

Preserve the Pearl in February filed an appeal, questioning the design commission’s unanimous approval of the Block 136 design by Seattle-based Mithun. Group members claimed that the city’s public process to gather feedback on the design was flawed, including insufficient communication with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. They also questioned whether additional height should have been granted for the residential building.

Design commissioners responded overwhelmingly favorably to the proposed Block 136 design, despite concerns raised by neighboring residents at commission hearings. The proposed 150-foot residential tower would cast large shadows and be inconsistent with shorter surrounding structures, neighbors testified.

“We felt the overall quality of the design from concept to materials was one of the best projects we’ve seen in years,” Design Commission Chairman David Wark told the City Council on Wednesday.

Shadow studies by the design team and city planners showed that the tower wouldn’t cast any more darkness on nearby Jamison Square than existing buildings, he said. Commissioners also appreciated that the shorter office building was designed in context with a neighboring historic district.

The commission approved the taller residential tower because the developer proposed as a trade-off extensive active uses on the ground floors, including retail on 13th Avenue and a publicly accessible courtyard, Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser said.

“It is eight sides (that are) all extremely active, in my opinion, and giving straight back to the city of Portland,” he said.

“As the city grows,” he added, “these are the kind of growing pains we’re going to experience.”

Francis said Preserve the Pearl members do not oppose the proposed office building, but have grave concerns about the city offering height bonuses for the residential tower. He suggested reorienting the tower from facing north-to-south to east-to-west. This would make it feel less imposing on shorter neighboring structures and reduce the shadows it would cast, Francis said.

“This 150-foot wall that they want to erect in our neighborhood is obviously an outlier,” he said. “If you orient the building east-west, you reduce the profile. It would reduce the afternoon shadows cast on the existing buildings in the district.”

Mithun associate principal Heidi Oien said rotating the building to an east-west orientation would make the development’s proposed courtyard less appealing.

“Having the courtyard oriented north-south allows good sun access into the space,” she said. “If it were east-west, it would be in shade all day.”

Francis’ claims were backed by neighbors of the site who testified Wednesday in favor of appeal. The residential tower would block views from their homes, decrease the values of nearby condos and cast too much shade on the popular, kid-friendly fountain in Jamison Square, neighbors claimed.

Other neighboring residents disagreed and testified in favor of the project. The proposed development would be a welcome addition to that portion of the Pearl District, they said.

Pearl District Neighborhood Association members who worked closely with the project design team said they were pleased with the outcome. Bruce Morrison, PDNA board vice president, said the development would be a vast improvement to the existing single-story building, which formerly housed the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The structure is set to be demolished to make way for the Block 136 project.

“I think it’s an excellent design that will increase the vibrancy and vitality of the neighborhood,” Morrison said.

Following public testimony, the City Council agreed to hold the record open for seven additional days to give Preserve the Pearl members more time to respond to the lengthy Security Properties report. Public comments regarding the appeal must be submitted before April 15 at 5 p.m. by email to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov.

The City Council will reconvene to deliberate over the appeal on April 23 at 2 p.m. in City Hall.

The post Pearl District design appeal heard appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Developers of a pair of proposed Pearl District buildings are moving ahead with site work, though design appeals are impeding anything more.

Security Properties‘ development plan for Block 136 – consisting of a five-story building and a 15-story building – was approved by the Portland Design Commission, but neighborhood group Preserve the Pearl LLC has appealed that decision.

Karen Karlsson, founder of KLK Consulting LLC, last week applied to the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a permit to demolish the existing single-story building on the site in preparation for construction, which is scheduled to begin this spring. Karlsson did not return a call for comment on the demolition schedule.

“The Pearl (District) as we know it is a development neighborhood,” said Portland attorney Burton Francis, who’s been retained by the preservation group to handle the appeal. “Preserve the Pearl isn’t against development; we just want development that follows the design guidelines set forth in the zoning laws.”

The proposal for the 15-story tower has concerned neighbors since it was first presented to the design commission. Nevertheless, commissioners said that the building height was appropriate for the surrounding neighborhood and praised Seattle-based project developer Mithun for its proposal.

Francis contends that the design commission erred in issuing its approval on the basis that Pearl District residents were not adequately consulted during the process, the height allowance afforded the tower building was improper based on city code regulations and not all design guidelines were met.

“I know (the Bureau of Development Services) has its own classification of what notice goes out and under what circumstances,” Francis said. “But the fundamental question is: Did they go through the democratic process with this? There should be input from stakeholders, and as far as we can tell there was no outreach at all done for the residents of the Pearl.”

While the design commission didn’t take issue with the height allowance given for the taller building, Francis says the group interpreted the zoning code incorrectly when allowing the height increase.

When reading zoning code, Francis found that the design commission allowed the bonus height exception under a subsection D, a section that he says pertains to office space. But the taller building would contain residential units.

“There appears to be a drafting error in the code which has resulted in a misapplication of the administrative intent,” he said. “By structure of the statute, the portion of the project seeking the height exception is solely residential except for the ground-floor commercial portion. The developer is ‘double dipping’ and benefitting from not one, but two residential housing exceptions.”

Finally, the development doesn’t meet all of the design guidelines required to qualify for the height exceptions, Francis said.

“We just want to say, ‘Hey, if you think the height exception is correct, then let’s address each of these criteria,” he said. “If you look at the notice of hearing from the bureau, it says the burden of proof is on the developer to show how each and every one of the design aspects meets design criteria.”

Preserve the Pearl, in its appeal, says specifically that the design doesn’t preserve historical districts, doesn’t protect public spaces from shadow and fails to preserve “the city’s visual focus on important buildings.”

“One of the outstanding and uniquely Portland qualities of the middle-Pearl is the visual focus of the Union Station clock tower,” Francis wrote in his memorandum to the City Council in support of the appeal. “This proposition is apparently so obvious that it warranted specific mention in the zoning code. However, the project in question will create a (150-foot)-high wall across the ‘visual focus’ of the tower in relation to at least half the neighborhood.”

The group is also concerned that the 15-story building would block Pearl District residents’ view of the Willamette River, another aspect of the city’s stated design guidelines.

“What happens is usually there’s a lot of apathy; neighbors appeal and they lose and say, ‘well, you can’t fight city hall,’” Francis said. “But it’s not going down that way this time. This is what happens when a neighborhood group actually reads the design guidelines and says, ‘Hey, we really want this appealed.’ ”

The appellants and the developer will have their hearing in front of the City Council on April 8, at 3 p.m., at the Bureau of Development Services, 1221 S.W. Fourth Ave., Room 140.

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Neighborhood groups have appealed Portland Design Commission approvals last month of two planned projects in Northwest Portland.

Neighbors of the proposed Tess O’Brien Apartments, at 1950 N.W. Pettygrove St. and 1953 N.W. Overton St., and Block 136, at 1241 N.W. Johnson St., have filed separate appeals to the Portland City Council questioning the commission’s project approvals and the city’s design review procedures.

The Northwest District Association appealed approval of FFA Architecture and Interiors‘ design for the 125-unit Tess O’Brien Apartments. Members of the group claim in the appeal that the proposed development does not blend into the surrounding neighborhood and that procedural errors occurred during the design review process.

Meanwhile, Pearl District neighborhood group Preserve the Pearl LLC appealed approval of the design for Block 136, by Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun. Members claimed that the public process was flawed, including insufficient communication with the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. They also questioned allowing added height to the housing portion of the development.

An appeal hearing before the City Council for the Tess O’Brien Apartments is scheduled for March 4. A hearing for Block 136 is scheduled for April 8. Both hearings will start at 2 p.m. at Portland City Hall, 1221 S.W. Fourth Ave.

The Design Commission voted 3-1 last month to approve the design of the Tess O’Brien Apartments. It was the fourth design review hearing for the project, which had been criticized by commissioners and neighboring residents.

Plans for the $15 million project call for two six-story apartment buildings with a large courtyard in between including outdoor seating, stormwater planters and bike storage. Construction is scheduled to start this spring, according to the project’s developer, Kehoe Northwest Properties.

Design commissioners gave overwhelmingly positive comments last month when they approved designs for Seattle-based Security Properties‘ Block 136 project. Concerns voiced by neighbors were that the development’s planned 150-foot residential tower would be inconsistent with shorter surrounding buildings.

Plans call for a five-story office building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets. The 13th Avenue building will contain approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space and 60,000 square feet of office space. The 12th Avenue building will have approximately 208 residential units and 211 underground parking spaces.

The two buildings will occupy a full block bordered by Northwest 13th and 14th avenues and Johnson and Kearney streets.

The post Two design approvals appealed to City Council appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Two Northwest Portland multifamily projects on Thursday gained Portland Design Commission approval to move into the construction phase.

Commissioners unanimously approved designs by Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun for Block 136, a mixed-use development at 1241 N.W. Johnson St., and plans by Portland-based GBD Architects for The Muse, a six-story, 58-unit apartment complex at 1313 N.W. 19th Ave. They also reviewed designs by Portland-based Waterleaf Architecture, Interiors and Planning for the creation of a new plaza on the Northeast Multnomah Street side of the Lloyd Center mall, but said plans for the outdoor space weren’t cohesive enough and asked the design team to return with revisions. A third design review hearing for the project is scheduled for Feb. 19.

“It’s just an expanse of space that seems to be an invitation that’s lackluster and not offering very much,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “It’s a lot of parts, but I’m not sure they tie together to create a great space.”

Commissioners were pleased with slight revisions the Mithun design team made since a previous hearing last month to plans for Seattle-based Security Properties‘ Block 136 project. Plans call for a five-story office building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets. The 13th Avenue building will contain approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space and 60,000 square feet of office space. The 12th Avenue building will have approximately 208 residential units and 211 underground parking spaces.

The two buildings will occupy a full block bordered by Northwest 13th and 14th avenues and Johnson and Kearney streets. The block currently is home to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which will relocate to the 511 Federal Building.

Minor changes that Mithun designers presented at Thursday’s hearing included extending out the glass canopies on the 12th Avenue building further over the sidewalk, adding a window to the ground floor at 12th and Johnson, increasing the size of the apartment balconies and widening the space between benches in the courtyard.

Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser said he appreciated that the design team took commission feedback to ensure the office and residential building relate to one another.

“I think they’re all great improvements,” he said. “They’re both working very well together now.”

It was a shame the project won’t improve pedestrian conditions on Northwest 13th Avenue and proposes a loading dock-like structure on the office and retail building that’s similar to others in the area, Commissioner Guenevere Millius said.

“I don’t think 13th Avenue functions all that well as a street,” she said. “I don’t love the solution to this. That is a flaw of this project.”

Commission Chairman David Wark said that overall he was impressed.

“I think it’s an excellent project,” he told the design team. “I think you came in with one of the stronger concepts I’ve seen. I think design can get you places in this world.”

Wark and other commissioners showered similar praise on the designs for Gerding Edlen‘s The Muse. The Portland-based developer plans to demolish the 10,000-square-foot Portland Police Association building on the property to make way for the apartment project.

Crews from general contractor R & H Construction Co. are scheduled to start construction this spring, likely in April or May, said Jill Sherman, vice president of Gerding Edlen.

Commissioners reviewed the project for the first time Thursday because the GBD Architects design team chose to forgo the option of sharing preliminary plans with the commission during an optional design advice hearing. The designers didn’t need that extra commission feedback because they did their homework, Commissioner David Keltner said. He appreciated careful attention to making sure the project’s three ground-floor apartments facing Northwest Overton Street straddled the fine line between providing privacy for the tenants and engaging passersby on the sidewalk.

“The residential units on the ground floor I think are going to be very successful,” Keltner said. “It’s great to see somebody spend so much time on it. This is great. I just really appreciate the coherency of the whole thing – just really simple moves, but elegant.”

The design team solved the challenge of offering privacy to residents on the ground floor with extensive landscaping, including a series of planters and patio space leading up to the front doors, GBD principal Agustin Enriquez told the commission. The units also have a mezzanine-level loft for sleeping.

“There are a number of privacy strategies we’re implementing to make the ground-floor units as strong as they can be,” he said.

Millius said those units could serve as an example of successful ground-floor apartment design.

“We appreciate strong work coming in (for design review) given our overheavy schedule,” she said. “I’m just glad to see it walk through so quickly.”

The post Apartments cleared for construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Three teams seeking the Portland Design Commission‘s approval for their projects’ designs will return for hearings next year.

The design commissioners on Thursday held no formal votes during their last meeting of 2014. Teams for the Block 136 mixed-use development, at 1241 N.W. Johnson St.; the Tess O’Brien Apartments, at 1950 N.W. Pettygrove St. and 1953 N.W. Overton St.; and exterior renovations to the Lloyd Center mall in Northeast Portland will return with revised project plans at hearings scheduled in January.

A second design review hearing for Block 136, designed by Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun, was scheduled for Jan. 22 after city planner Jeff Mitchem pointed out that the development’s proposed street-loading locations didn’t meet city approval criteria. The two buildings will occupy a full block bordered by Northwest 13th and 14th avenues and Johnson and Kearney streets. The block currently is home to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which will relocate to the511 Federal Building.

Plans call for a five-story office building facing 13th Avenue and a 15-story residential tower on 12th Avenue separated by a public courtyard connecting Johnson and Kearney streets. The 13th Avenue building will contain approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space and 60,000 square feet of office space. The 12th Avenue building will have approximately 208 residential units and 211 underground parking spaces.

When potential neighbors of the proposed Tess O’Brien Apartments, designed by Portland-based FFA Architecture & Interiors, requested more time to craft a formal response to the design via the Northwest District Association, commissioners scheduled a fourth hearing for Jan. 15. Although the hearing continuance would further delay the project, commission Chairwoman Guenevere Millius said she wanted to be sure that neighbors could voice their concerns.

“I’m concerned about the type of neighborhood feedback that we’re getting and the tenor of the concern,” she said. “They have a right to convene and craft a response that’s official.”

Plans call for two six-story apartment buildings with a total of 126 units. A large courtyard is proposed between the two buildings with outdoor seating, stormwater planters and covered bike parking.

Because of an incomplete city staff report, the commission also held off on a vote on designs by Waterleaf Architecture for improvements to pedestrian and vehicular entrances at the Lloyd Center mall on Northeast Multnomah Street and the creation of a new plaza facing nearby Holladay Park. The design team will return for a second design review hearing on Jan. 22.

During the six-hour meeting, commissioners expressed lingering reservations with all three projects and asked each team to return with revisions. They praised the public courtyard and other design moves for Block 136, but expressed concerns about the use of board-formed concrete and whether the residential tower truly fit into the neighborhood.

“It feels very anonymous to me,” Commissioner David Keltner said. “I could put this anywhere … I could support it, but I’m disappointed.”

Several neighboring residents who testified during Thursday’s meeting reiterated concerns expressed during a previous design advice request hearing for the Seattle-based Security Properties‘ development that the 150-foot tower would be inconsistent with shorter surrounding buildings.

Overall, commissioners said they were underwhelmed by the Tess O’Brien Apartments design and pushed the FFA design team to go beyond meeting the bare minimum requirements to gain approval. Commissioner David Wark said he appreciated the design team taking commission feedback to simplify the materials palette to brick and stucco, but was left wanting more.

“I feel like you checked every box, but I feel like it’s still pretty weak,” he said.

Most of the commission’s criticism regarding the Lloyd Center improvements focused on the proposed plaza next to the Macy’s store on Northeast Multnomah Street. They also questioned the appropriateness of a metal mesh screening material that would cover a 22-foot-tall cooling tower on top of the Macy’s building and suggested using something less transparent.

Several commissioners worried that a planned green wall in the plaza would obscure the bike parking too much.

“I think you’re going to need to point out that the bike parking is over there,” Millius said.

Wark said he’d like to see more protection from the rain in the plaza.

“Try to make it more of an attractor and the main entrance all year,” he said. “You’re creating a street basically. What are the qualities we look for on the street in Portland? … Apply those.”

The post Design reviews pushed into 2015 appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Pearl District residents on Thursday voiced concerns to the Portland Design Commission about the height planned for a new 15-story residential tower in the neighborhood.

Neighbors and others who testified at a design advice request for Seattle-based Security Properties‘ Block 136 development said a 150-foot tower would be inconsistent with shorter surrounding buildings.

“It will dominate the neighborhood,” New Traditional Architecture principal John Czarnecki told the commission.

Seattle-based architecture firm Mith?n sought the commission’s advice on preliminary designs for a two-building, mixed-use development on the block bound by Northwest Kearney and Johnson streets and 12th and 13th avenues. The block currently is home to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which is planning to relocate to the 511 Federal Building later this year.

The two new buildings planned for the property would be separated by a public courtyard connecting Kearney and Johnson streets. A five-story building with ground-floor retail space and either office or residential space on the upper floors would be located on Northwest 13th Avenue. A neighboring residential tower, also with ground-floor retail space, would be located on Northwest 12th Avenue. The proposal also calls for below-grade parking for 222 vehicles.

The two buildings will have distinctly different designs, Mith?n associate principal Heidi Oien told the commission. The shorter building will share elements with historic Pearl District structures nearby while the tower will be more like new developments in the neighborhood’s north end, she said.

“Those two areas have really inspired our design,” she said.

In response to the public testimony, design commissioners said they were OK with the height of the taller building and the overall concept for the development. Commissioner Ben Kaiser noted that taller buildings are being proposed in the Pearl District to keep up with demand for housing there and meet city desires for urban density.

“I think the general idea is fantastic,” he said. “I think it’s a good idea to have height when you can have it. I think the neighborhood will be just that much more livable because of the diversity (of buildings).”

Commissioner David Wark advised the design team to better define the relationship between the two buildings.

“I keep looking for the binding element between them,” he said. “They’re so different, but should they be that different?”

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Based on the $11.75 million price tag the company paid last September, Security Properties‘ plans for Block 136 were bound to be big. Now, the first inkling of just how big has finally surfaced.

Earlier this month, the Seattle-based developer submitted conceptual plans to the Bureau of Development Services for a two-building, mixed-use development on the block bound by Northwest Kearney and Johnson streets, and 12^th and 13^th avenues. The block is currently home to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which plans to relocate to the 511 Federal Building later this year.

Security’s redevelopment plans would construct a 15-story residential tower with approximately 220 units along the east end of the block; on the west end would be a five-story building with retail on the ground floor and office or residential space above.

As envisioned, the two buildings would straddle a central courtyard that runs the length of the property from Northwest Kearney to Johnson Street. An early scheme for the ground floor of the low-rise pictures an open market environment, while the ground floor of the high-rise would house residential amenities and live-work space.

The developer has penciled in two floors of below-grade parking, as well as a sub-grade area for bike parking. The cost of the project, according to the application the developer submitted to the city, is approximately $72 million.

Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun submitted the plans on behalf of Security Properties. Security Properties could not be reached immediately for comment.

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