The Daily Journal of Commerce on Thursday evening saluted Top Projects award winners during its 25th annual event at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

Approximately 400 people attended the celebration of the best construction projects in the Pacific Northwest. The 91��Ƶ recognized dozens of efforts that improved structures, changed skylines and overcame obstacles. Entrants were among the top projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington substantially completed by Dec. 31, 2025.

The top award, Project of the Year, was awarded to the team responsible for the Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse.

Also, the Subcontractor of the Year Award was given to��Carpentry Plus. The company was nominated by��three firms: Bremik Construction, Pence Contractors and Walsh Construction.

The People’s Choice Award, voted on by event attendees, went to the Oak Lodge Library & Concord Community Center Renovation.

Many firms and organizations sponsored Thursday’s event. They included: reception sponsor – RamJack West; first drink sponsor – Colas Construction; photo booth sponsor – AGC’s Oregon-Columbia chapter; nonprofit sponsors – Business Oregon, BOLI and Child Care for Construction; VIP sponsor – I&E Construction; celebration sponsors – Mortenson and Tapani Inc.; and table sponsors – Hamilton Construction, Hennebery Eddy Architects, Hoffman Construction, Howard S. Wright, Owen Gabbert LLC, P&C Construction, PCL Construction Services, Pence Contractors, R&H Construction, SAJ Architecture, Swinerton Builders, Turner Construction, and Walsh Construction.

To learn more about this year’s award recipients, please visit .

The 51 Top Projects honorees are:

• Albina One
• Altura
• Amity Orchards
• Astoria Public Library Renovation
• Benson Polytechnic High School
• Blue Lake Park Operations and Maintenance Facility
• Boardwalk Place Apartments
• Brooklyn Carreta
• Carson Commons
• Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment – Beaverton and Hillsboro Recovery Centers
• chaku kumtuks haws & chaku kumtuks illahee
• City of Bend Public Works Campus
• City of Phoenix Government & Public Safety Center
• Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse
• Combs Flat Road Extension Segment 1A and Ochoco Irrigation District (OID) Ironhorse Piping Project
• Dartmouth Crossing North
• Gates Residence
• Glisan Landing
• Gresham-Barlow Student Health Center
• Hillsboro Hops Ballpark
• Hoffman HQ
• Johnson Creek Confluence & Milwaukie Bay Habitat Enhancement
• Joice A. Taylor Apartments
• Julia West House
• Kafoury Court
• La Plaza Esperanza
• Lam Building G
• The Merchant Block / Inn at Dayton
• Milwaukie City Hall
• Mt. Scott Community Center Seismic Retrofit and Expansion Project
• Multnomah County Library – Albina
• Nehalem Bay Health Center and Pharmacy
• Oak Lodge Library & Concord Community Center Renovation
• One26 Vista
• Oregon Parks and Recreation Department��– Fort Stevens Guardhouse Historic Rehabilitation
• Plambeck Gardens
• Portal at the River District
• Portland Art Museum
• Press Blocks
• Providence St. Vincent Emergency Department Expansion
• Redmond Public Safety Facility
• Shortstack Milwaukie
• Shortstack Mississippi
• South Hillsboro Fire and Rescue Station #9
• T. Joyce Phillips Apartments
• Tistilal Village Redevelopment
• Union Gospel Mission Women’s LifeChange Center – Angela’s House
• US 101, Jefferson & Clallam Counties – Remove Fish Barriers
• Veterans Memorial Coliseum Modernization
• Virginia Garcia Newberg Wellness Center
• York Terrace Apartments

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Project name: Timberline Lodge Pool Replacement

Location: Government Camp

Completion: March 2024

Size: 4,900 square feet

Owner/Developer: RLK & Company

Architect: Soderstrom Architects

Interior Designer: Soderstrom Architects

Engineers: Interface Engineering, Counsilman-Hunsaker (pool consultant)

General Contractor: Bremik Construction

Submitting Company: Bremik Construction

Other Key Participants: U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Health Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Friends of Timberline, State Historic Preservation Office, Hoodland Fire District, Clackamas County

Subcontractors: Airx, American Welding and Iron, Anderson Poolworks, Arrow Timber Framing, B&B Tile and Masonry, Bell Hardware of Portland, Christenson Electric, CMC Rebar, Culver Glass, Don Rhyne Painting, Dynalectric, Elite Steel Products, Hanset Stainless, Harlen’s Drywall, JW Underground, LaRusso Concrete, Northwest Masonry Restoration, Piper Mechanical, Sign Wizards, Skyline Sheet Metal, Versatile Wood Products, Western States Fire Protection, WH Cress

Perched at 6,000 feet on the south slope of Mt. Hood, Timberline Lodge has completed an ambitious renovation project, replacing its 1958-era pool with a modern facility that honors the historic property’s architectural heritage.

The project, which began after the original pool was decommissioned in fall 2022, features a heated year-round pool with depths ranging from 3 to 8 feet and a new hot tub with massage jets. At this elevation, it becomes the highest pool in the Pacific Northwest.

“Recreating the Timberline pool experience for our guests while preserving the historic value of the Lodge is what makes Timberline a very special and unique place,” Jeff Kohnstamm, Timberline’s president and area operator, noted in the project submission form. “I could not be more excited about this new page in Timberline’s story.”

The 4,900-square-foot elevated design includes a bird-friendly 75 percent glass enclosure that frames views of Mt. Hood and surrounding mountains. A new skybridge connects the spa deck to the west side hotel vestibule, providing seamless access for guests. The upgrade also included a new mechanical and storage room, as well as two public restrooms designed for both pool guests and skiers/snowboarders.

Construction teams faced considerable challenges building at such high elevation. The final concrete pour was completed in November 2023, requiring a specially designed mix suitable for freezing conditions after a 1.5-hour drive from the batch plant. To complete pool plastering and tiling during winter, crews constructed a 53-foot-long temporary heated enclosure that withstood multiple snowstorms while maintaining 70-degree interior temperatures.

The renovation also corrected architectural compromises made when the original pool was installed in 1958. Working from 1930s-era drawings, Soderstrom Architects and Bremik Construction restored historic windows, lower walls and rock buttresses that had been concealed for more than six decades.

Special attention to detail included rough-sawn cedar board-formed concrete finishes and pre-weathered materials to match the lodge’s aged aesthetic. New railing balusters match the Lodge’s iconic heavy timber construction, and the pool incorporates Timberline’s signature “snow goose” motif.

For visitor comfort, the pool deck features a radiant floor heating system that prevents ice buildup, while a new fire pit creates a gathering spot for evening relaxation.

Originally constructed in 1937 with funding from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Timberline Lodge now welcomes approximately 2 million visitors annually, with the new pool enhancing its appeal as a year-round destination.

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Project name: The Gloria CenterLocation: The Dalles

Completion: March 2024

Size: 9,975 square feet

Owner/Developer: Mid-Columbia Community Action Council

Architect: Access Architecture

Interior Designer: Access Architecture

Engineers: Method Landscape Architecture, AKS Engineering & Forestry (the previous Tenneson Engineering office), TM Rippey Consulting Engineers

General Contractor: Bremik Construction

Submitting Company: Bremik Construction

Other Key Partners: City of The Dalles, Housing Development Center

Subcontractors: Andres Landscape, Artistic Excavation, B & T Striping and Curbing, Bend Commercial Glass, Building Specialties Northwest, Center Pointe Signs, Chown Hardware Commercial CabinetWorks, Custom Designed Skylights, Devco Mechanical, Empire Painting, Fire Systems West, GRS Erectors, Hage Electric & Construction Services, HVAC, MB Structures, McDonald & Wetle, Mid Valley Commercial Construction, Mike’s Fence Center, Mission Construction, MLS Interiors dba K&D Window Coverings, Munsen Paving, Northwest Masonry Restoration, Overhead Door Co. of Portland, Rubenstein’s Carpet, Service Partners of Oregon/Silvercote, Standard TV & Appliance, VPI Quality Windows, Web Steel Buildings Northwest

The Gloria Center has opened its doors as a comprehensive hub for homeless and vulnerable residents in the Columbia River Gorge, offering both emergency shelter and centralized support services in one location.

The facility combines a navigation center housing multiple nonprofit agencies with 18 free-standing Pallet shelters providing 36 emergency beds for those experiencing homelessness in Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties.

The navigation center brings together several partner organizations including Oregon Human Development Corporation, Mid-Columbia Center for Living, One Community Health, Nch’I Wana Housing and Bridges to Health. Community members can access housing assistance, behavioral and physical healthcare, utility support, weatherization services, veterans’ programs and employment resources all under one roof.

A distinctive feature of the project is its innovative design using three separate pre-engineered metal buildings seamlessly integrated into a single 10,000-square-foot structure, reducing costs while maintaining architectural integrity. The shelter housing has been arranged into smaller neighborhoods sharing a central community garden, with input from existing shelter residents during the design phase.

Access Architecture’s design prioritized trauma-informed and universal design principles. This is reflected in features such as rounded corners for safety, intuitive wayfinding, a calming color palette and warm wood accents. A dedicated nursing room is included off the employee breakroom to support staff needs. Large windows allow ample daylight and provide a visual connection to the Gorge landscape. Skylights and clerestory windows bring daylight into the building’s core.

The facility emphasizes sustainability with a 97-kilowatt solar array paired with battery storage, which can generate 115,000 kilowatt-hours annually and offset 138,000 pounds of carbon emissions. This system provides approximately 34 percent energy savings and allows the center to function at 90 percent capacity for up to 48 hours during power outages.

Beyond providing everyday services, The Gloria Center serves as an emergency shelter during extreme weather events.

The project resulted from collaboration between Bremik Construction, Access Architecture, Housing Development Center and MCCAC, with support from the City of The Dalles. MCCAC has operated scattered-site shelters for over a decade, but The Gloria Center now provides these services a permanent home.

During the bidding process, Bremik’s preconstruction team leveraged their local expertise and experience from six other projects in the area to achieve a nearly 50 percent local and 22 percent MWESB firm utilization on this project, including installers and suppliers from within a 25-mile-radius of the project site.

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Project name: Columbia County – John Gumm Building Adaptive Reuse

Location: St. Helens

Completion: September 2024

Size: 28,400 square feet

Cost: $10,589,883

Owner/Developer: Columbia County

Architect: Emerick Architects

Engineers: Shutte Consulting Engineers, Lower Columbia Engineering, System Design Consultants

General Contractor: Bremik Construction

Submitting Company: Bremik Construction

Other Associates/Key Consultants: Ameresco, Mike DeRoia (building inspector), Meritus Consulting, Columbia Economic Team, Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District, Columbia County Small Business Development Center, Columbia County Historical Society and Museum

Subcontractors: A-Line Concrete Cutting, All In One Mobility, Authority Dock & Door, B & B Tile Masonry, Brandsen Hardwood Floors, Brightservice Cleaning, Building Material Specialties, Cedar Landscape, Chosen Wood Window Maintenance, COSCO Fire Protection, Culver Glass, Custom Source Woodworking, District Painting, Duke Construction and Excavation, Eagle Striping Services, Elite Steel Products, Floor Factors, Huntco Supply, Interior Technology, IRS Environmental of Portland, MB Structures, McDonald & Wetle, Northwest Masonry Restoration, OEG, Pioneer Sheetmetal, Portland Millwork, RC Building Specialties, Scaffold Erectors, Sign Wizards, Stewart Mechanical, T.F.T. Construction, Western Partitions, Zavala

After sitting vacant for more than two decades, the historic John Gumm Building has been transformed into a vibrant community hub through an ambitious 16-month restoration project.

Originally built in 1919 as St. Helens Elementary School, the nearly century-old structure required extensive work to address unique structural challenges. The building was discovered to be sitting directly on a bedrock shelf with no footing, a common condition for buildings of that era. However, it was constructed on two different shelf levels, creating a 2-foot elevation difference in the basement floor. One of the most unusual conditions was the retaining wall footing at the back of the building. When excavation hit a bedrock shelf, preventing the footing from reaching correct elevation, contractors had to epoxy 204 dowels into the bedrock to anchor the new footing – a rare and complex engineering solution that required significant planning and collaboration.

Fitting a new elevator into the existing structure also posed a major challenge. The historical layout did not accommodate ADA and headroom clearance requirements, necessitating precise adjustments while preserving structural stability.

The renovation team, led by Bremik Construction, focused on preserving key historical elements while implementing modern upgrades. Original wood casement windows were repaired, the front entry door and relights were reused, and the auditorium was restored to its original state by removing an added balcony and repositioning the stage.

Seismic retrofitting was a critical component, incorporating steel braces, shear walls and reinforced concrete foundations to ensure the building could withstand seismic activity without compromising its architectural character.

The project also faced challenges integrating modern systems into the historic framework. In one instance, the project team had to install a large HVAC unit in the basement through a concrete wall with only half-inch clearance on each side, then maneuver it over a 4-foot-deep pit and lower it into place using approved shoring and support systems.

The newly revitalized building now serves multiple community functions. The first floor features a 1,700-square-foot auditorium for public meetings, a catering kitchen, office space for economic organizations and a new 1,400-square-foot museum. The basement and upper floors house Columbia County departments.

By balancing preservation with modernization, the John Gumm Building has been successfully transformed into a functional, accessible space while preserving its historical essence for future generations, once again standing as a cornerstone of the St. Helens community.

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1.

Winner (intent to award): Canby Excavating Inc. of Canby

Amount: $6,603,079

Project: 1911/1936 Sanitary Sewer I/I Abatement Phase 6 (Hillsboro)

Owner: City of Hillsboro

Cost estimate: $5,500,000 to $6,500,000

Project team: Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc.

2.

Winner (intent to award): Carter & Co. Inc. of Salem

Amount: $3,045,292

Project: I-5: Marquam Bridge – SW Terwilliger Blvd. (Multnomah County)

Owner: Oregon Department of Transportation

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: DKS Associates

��

3.

Winner (intent to award): Pacific North Construction LLC of McMinnville

Amount: $1,769,120

Project: Emergency Water Transmission Intertie (Forest Grove)

Owner: City of Forest Grove

Cost estimate: $2,600,000 to $3,300,000

Project team: not available

4.

Winner (contract awarded): Midway Underground LLC of Toledo, Washington

Amount: $1,736,035

Project: Shorey Road MP 0.598 to MP 0.618 Long Term Bank Stabilization (Lewis County, Washington)

Owner: Lewis County

Cost estimate: $1,500,000 to $1,800,000

Project team: not available

5.

Winner (contract awarded): Miles Resources LLP of Puyallup, Washington

Amount: $1,040,564

Project: I-5, 54^th Ave to N of 20^th St E – HMA Replacement and Paving (Pierce County, Washington)

Owner: WSDOT Contract & Award Office

Cost estimate: $1,250,000 to $1,500,000

Project team: not available

Do you want to be the winner of an upcoming Top Bidders project? Then join the 91��Ƶ Project Center to find, track and bid on your next project. For a free tour, or more information on monthly and annual rates, contact Sharlene Richard at 503-802-7252 or srichard@djcOregon.com.

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A weekly compilation of the largest winning bids in the Pacific Northwest, according to the Daily Journal of Commerce Project Center.

1.

Winner (intent to award): Tapani Inc. of Battle Ground, Washington

Amount: $14,325,000

Project: Taylors Ferry Reservoirs and Site Seismic Improvements (Portland)

Owner: Tualatin Valley Water District

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

��

2.

Winner (intent to award): A.C. Schommer & Sons of Portland

Amount: $1,632,992

Project: McBrod Crisis Center Project (Milwaukie)

Owner: Clackamas County

Cost estimate: $3,600,000

Project team: EM Architecture LLC, Foresite Group LLC, PACE Engineering

3.

Winner (contract awarded): Prime Electric LLC of Bellevue, Washington

Amount: $1,154,015

Project: US 97 Et Al, Illumination and Signal Cabinet Upgrade (multiple locations, Washington)

Owner: Washington State Department of Transportation

Cost estimate: $1,250,000 to $1,500,000

Project team: not available

��

4.

Winner (intent to award): Moore Excavation Inc./MEI Group of Portland

Amount: $1,076,251

Project: NE Portland Urgent Sewer Rehabilitation (Portland)

Owner: City of Portland

Cost estimate: not available

Project team: not available

��

5.

Winner (intent to award): Bremik Construction Inc. of Portland

Amount: $960,477

Project: Restroom Replacement Project (Terrebonne)

Owner: Oregon Parks & Recreation Department (Salem HQ)

Cost estimate: $1,100,000

Project team: not available

Do you want to be the winner of an upcoming Top Bidders project? Then join the 91��Ƶ Project Center to find, track and bid on your next project. For a free tour, or more information on monthly and annual rates, contact Sharlene Richard at 503-802-7252 or srichard@djcOregon.com.

The post $19.1 million in top bidders | Aug. 30, 2024 appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT: Rose Villa, phase 3

LOCATION: Portland

COST:��$77 million

START: May 2020 (Madrona Grove and Schroeder Lofts); February 2021 (Trillium Townhomes)

ANTICIPATED COMPLETION: August 2022 (Madrona Grove and Schroeder Lofts)

OWNER: Rose Villa

OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE: Klosh Group

ARCHITECT: Scott | Edwards Architecture (Madrona Grove and Schroeder Lofts)

CONTRACTOR:��Bremik Construction (Madrona Grove and Schroeder Lofts)

DESIGN-BUILD FIRM: Green Hammer (Trillium Townhomes)

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: Construction is under way for the third and final phase of the Rose Villa master campus. This $77 million project consists of three new structures, including Madrona Grove, a state-of-the-art, 24-hour, long-term-care building with new campus administrative spaces above. The project also includes two new independent living neighborhoods, Schroeder Lofts and Trillium Townhomes, which will surround a half-acre enclosed courtyard garden. Scott | Edwards Architecture, which worked on the Garden Grove and North Pocket independent living homes during Phase 2, is designing Madrona Grove and Schroeder Lofts in Phase 3. Madrona Grove will replace the existing 1960 long-term-care building. The new building will resemble a modern interpretation of a large, airy farmhouse and feature 32 private suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and easy access to outdoor space. Madrona Grove will feature a variety of common spaces, including open kitchens, sunrooms, a covered terrace with an outdoor fireplace, and direct access to the courtyard garden. Each of the first two floors will feature 16 individual rooms. Schroeder Lofts are inspired by the adaptive reuse urban street lofts found in the Pearl District. The four-story loft apartment building will be anchored by a child development center, with 35 apartments above street-level commons. The ground level will feature a clinic, a community room and the Treasure House resale shop. The building will step back at the fourth story, creating exterior terraces for each loft. Schroeder Lofts homes are 86 percent sold. Trillium Townhomes, a collaboration between Rose Villa and Green Hammer, will be a six-unit, zero-energy community built to Passive House standards. It will feature 18-foot ceilings, triple-pane and tilt-turn windows, sustainably harvested bamboo flooring, and ultra-energy-efficient lighting and appliances.

“Building Blocks” is a new 91��Ƶ feature that spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcoregon.com/building-blocks.

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With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading rapidly across the United States, states are restricting public movement and shutting down swaths of the business sector.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Monday ordered citizens to essentially stay in their homes and leave only for work, supplies or medical necessity. However, a number of industries – including construction – were declared essential and allowed to stay open, subject to stringent social distancing and safety practices recommended by Oregon OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Portland-metro area, builders are proceeding. But they’re taking measures to try and prevent the spread of the virus.

The big question is: Are such actions enough?

On Tuesday, Hoffman Construction Vice President Dan Drinkward confirmed that a subcontractor’s employee working on a project at Intel’s Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro tested positive for COVID-19.

“The worker had limited contact with other employees,” Drinkward stated in the email. “He was working on the exterior of the building. The individuals he had contact with have been notified and are self-quarantining. All workers on site were notified yesterday.”

A change in routine has since taken place at the site, said Willy Myers, executive secretary and treasurer for the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, an organization that represents trade unions in and around the Portland-metro area.

“We’ve taken some pretty extreme actions out at Intel for social distancing measures that have been recommended by CDC and OSHA,” he said. “We’re taking those actions and encouraging the general contractors to also take those actions. We want our members to be safe and not be exposed. But we’re not going to overreact either.”

New protocols call for sanitized buses to transport workers to the site, and common areas used by workers on the site to be sanitized at least three times a day. Even the lunch tents, which normally have space for some 2,500 workers, now have spots marked with tape six feet apart for people to sit and eat.

Workers’ shifts have been staggered to prevent too many people from clustering together, while jobsite meeting sizes have been limited and the number of people allowed in man lifts and elevators has been cut.

Hoffman Construction has been implementing an increasing array of safety measures on jobsites over the past several weeks, Drinkward said.

“It’s an extremely dynamic situation,” he said. “We’ve been increasing our social distancing measures over the last 10 days and we’re constantly evaluating what we’re doing. In addition to following CDC and OSHA guidelines, we’re constantly talking about this as a company and getting feedback from people and trying to improve.”

The situation is anything but normal, Drinkward said.

“We’re taking pretty extraordinary measures, and where we’re not going to operate safely, we’re not going to do it,” he said.

Intel has done a “phenomenal job” of taking care of workers, said Jim Anderson, business manager for Operating Engineers Local 701. Its members are running several large tower cranes on the jobsite.

“They’re such a good player,” he said. “And a lot of the contractors are as well. They changed to the staggered lunches and a lot of other measures. And we said, ‘You guys do what you gotta do so we can keep people employed and have a safe jobsite.’ These are special circumstances and special times, and everybody’s coming together. The thing about it is we have to keep building. If it’s safe, we have to keep building,”

Intel’s Ronler Acres is a large jobsite, Myers added, but there’s no reason these protocols can’t be adopted on smaller sites.

“We’re getting the word out,” he said.

Many contractors are taking initiative, such as creating task forces to address the crisis and implementing their own policies. General contractor/construction manager JE Dunn Construction, for instance, has taken multiple coronavirus-related precautions at its jobsites, including adding more handwashing and sanitizing stations, and implementing social distancing for morning stretch-and-flex routines. These were already in place before Brown issued her order, according to Amy Winterowd, a JE Dunn Construction vice president for client solutions.

“Indeed, it’s true that most everything that is already in place remains in place,” she stated in an email. “Things are fluid and we are all responding as rapidly as possible.”

Nevertheless, some workers are questioning why jobsites remain open. One who provided comments on condition of anonymity said that keeping crowded jobsites safe from spread of infection isn’t feasible.

“We have many older workers, and construction is impossible for social distancing,” one electrician wrote the 91��Ƶ via email. “How is this a good idea during Covid? As long as they’re open, I’ll come get a paycheck, but it seems reckless from the perspective of greater good.”

Robert Camarillo, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, said jobsite culture traditionally has been for workers to ignore illness and injury and just keep working. Plus, sick days often are limited. As a result, tradespeople are more hesitant than most to blow the whistle on uncomfortable or even dangerous conditions.

“That’s the type of workforce we develop,” he said. “It’s similar to our first responders; we just power through these things. But what we’re doing is making sure our folks know they don’t have to go to work if they feel sick or don’t want to stay home. That’s why we fought so hard to makes sure unemployment benefits were expanded. With that in place it does give the workers some security to stay at home if they’re impacted by COVID-19.”

In Portland, however, there are few signs of work slowing. The largest sites in the city, including Block 216, various jobs at Portland International Airport and others are running largely as normal.

“It’s so fluid it’s changing daily,” Camarillo said. “Just when you think you have some facts, they change. Obviously these are unprecedented times for us as well, just like everyone else, and we’re doing everything we possibly can to ensure our members are not put in vulnerable places or high-risk places without safety precautions.”

Michelle Brunetto is the safety director for general contractor Bremik Construction, as well as chairwoman of the safety and health council for Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter. She told the 91��Ƶ that Bremik and other contractors are enacting many safety measures. They include increasing handwashing stations, minimizing use of enclosed job trailers, sanitizing radios and tools and other objects and hard surfaces multiple times per day, maintaining minimum physical distances between workers on site, and ordering those who feel even slightly sick to stay home.

“We’ve come up with a list of best practices,” Brunetto said. “But this is such a moving target; how do we do this? There’s not a rulebook on this. We haven’t been faced with this before by any stretch of the imagination. So being aware of those types of concerns and trying to head those off as best as possible with continued communication is important.”

The post Working in a state of flux appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Construction of Cairn Pacific‘s sizable mixed-use development for Prometheus Real Estate Group is moving along in Northwest Portland.

Saltwood, designed by SERA Architects, will be a pair of six-story buildings with ground-floor commercial space topped by five floors of apartments. The project will occupy space on Con-way master-planned property bounded by Northwest 20th and 21st avenues and Northwest Savier and Quimby streets.

General contractor Bremik Construction is working on Saltwood North, where crews recently poured the first post-tensioned concrete deck slab in the below-grade parking area.

Meanwhile, at Saltwood South, general contractor R&H Construction has completed the first of three planned foundation slab pours – one accounting for 1,200 cubic yards of concrete in one day.

Ground was broken on Saltwood North in August 2019, and then on Saltwood South in October.

“We’re just the one level below grade,” R&H Construction project manager Mitch Smith said. “On the north, obviously they’re two down. We’re one down and then five over one – the same going up. Schedule-wise, it will be interesting because they started two months before us, but we’ve always planned that we’ll catch them coming up. So we’ll probably start framing at the same time.”

Both buildings will be U-shaped, with a central courtyard opening to the south. Saltwood South will have an overall floor area of roughly 228,000 square feet, with 42,000 additional square feet in the basement, which is slightly larger than the overall building footprint.

Saltwood South’s exterior will feature primarily brick masonry with metal panel accents and a hint of wood.

“From what I can tell, in general they are very similar buildings,” Smith said. “It’s kind of a prototype that the owners like, with a nice, open courtyard. The courtyard is something that seems to be important to them, and with it they want to bring a lot of character to the building.”

At Saltwood South, ironworkers with R2M2 Rebar & Stressing are laying down the rebar for the building’s foundation slab and the first set of support columns. Meanwhile, carpenters with Marion Construction Co. are preparing formwork as waterproofers with Sawtooth Caulking install vapor barrier on the lagging walls that will serve as a form for the foundation walls.

Also, Konell Construction is performing excavation, and Bear Electric and Tapani Plumbing are preparing in-slab conduit and plumbing assemblies.

A second large foundation slab pour of roughly 1,000 cubic yards is in the works, Smith said.

“The concrete plants right now can’t get us enough mud during the weekdays to pull off a big pour like that locally, just because there are so many projects going on,” he said. “And it’s only going to get worse. That’s why Bremik did their pours on Saturdays, which is what we have to do as well.”

It’s about how many yards you can get down per hour, he added.

“When you have the larger pours, just do the math,” Smith said. “On ours you have a 1,200-cubic-yard pour the first one, and if they’re only going to give you 80 yards per hour it’s going to take you 15 hours to physically put the mud down and not even finish it or any of that. So that’s what’s really pushed us to move to Saturday pours.”

The project team is aiming to finish Saltwood South by August 2021.

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The first project funded with money from Metro‘s $652.8 million affordable housing bond, approved by voters in 2018, is steadily nearing the construction phase.

Community Development Partners and the Housing Authority of Washington County are developing the project, dubbed 72nd and Baylor, on a one-acre parcel within the so-called Tigard Triangle bordered by Interstate 5 on the east, Oregon Route 217 from west to south and Oregon Route 99W from west to north. The six-story, 81-unit building will be near the intersection of Southwest 72nd Avenue and Baylor Street.

“When Community Development Partners had the opportunity to get a site under control in this neighborhood,” said Jessica Woodruff, the certified B corporation’s director of development, “we were excited about what was possible there, given all that is coming together with both the city’s urban renewal area and broader policy changes in what voters have done to give people at lower income levels affordable housing.

“We’re feeling pretty fortunate to be part of that whole process.”

Scott | Edwards Architecture designed the project, which will be constructed by general contractor Bremik Construction. Ground is expected to be broken in June 2020.

Dave Mojica, an associate with Scott | Edwards Architecture, is the project manager for 72nd and Baylor. Budgetary demands, he said, drove some of the efficient design choices. The building massing, for example, will feature two interlocking wings laid out in a simple L-shape with a flat roof. Along the same lines, each of the 25 one-bedroom, 46 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom units will have identical floor plans for efficiency of construction.

But instead of cheap fiber-cement or metal panels on the exterior, 72nd and Baylor will have some panels of higher quality. Also, natural wood siding will be used at the building’s entrance and lobby.

“We’re highlighting it as a warm area and giving it a lot of glass and warming up that corner with wood,” Mojica said.

Earth Advantage gold certification will be sought for the project.

A ground-level concrete podium will be used to support five stories of wood framing.

“The concept here is with affordable projects we need to have large efficiencies to make them happen,” Mojica said. “So the decision we came to was we don’t want to put 30 materials on this building and super articulate it. Instead, we focused on the entry corner on 72nd and how we can make this corner dynamic.”

On the interior, each of the six floors will have a laundry room attached to a community room.

In addition, a computer study room, a game room and lounge space will be included on the ground floor, while an elevated outdoor courtyard will be added between the two wings and provide cover for at-grade vehicle parking below.

Programming will be entirely residential, Community Development Partners project manager Wendy Klein said. As many as eight apartments could be reserved for veterans in partnership with Veterans Affairs, but some details remain to be worked out.

“We are hopeful that that will come through,” she said.

Thirty-three units may be reserved for households making no more than 30 percent of the median family income, and 48 more for households making no more than 60 percent of the MFI, Klein said. However, those figures are not final, she added.

The project will be built in an underdeveloped section of Tigard that eventually will be served by the Southwest Corridor MAX light-rail line. A grocery store already operates near the site.

“It’s in an interesting area,” Mojica said. “Because it’s affordable housing, the hope is the future MAX line extension bridges the gap between Tigard and Portland proper. Within walking distance are other amenities already, which provided a driver for site selection.”

Metro is supplying $11.4 million of the roughly $31 million project budget. Federal low-income housing tax credits are providing $12.1 million and private sources are providing $7.7 million.

“It’s pretty exciting that voters approved this,” Woodruff said. “That really allows us to do this work to leverage those federal funds that are available waiting for us if we could figure it out. So, it’s made a lot possible and it will be a game changer for the metro region.”

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