Continuum Partners, the Denver-based firm that had been set to begin building out the 31-acre Broadway Corridor, will not move forward as developer.

Prosper Portland, in a joint statement with Continuum, stated the agency and developer have “reached mutual agreement to end negotiations” to begin developing the 14-acre former U.S. Postal Service site. The two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding, and were negotiating a development agreement.

Continuum was selected in April 2018 as master developer of the site. Its role was to advise on development aspects, with the expectation that Continuum would have its choice of sites when the project came to fruition. Continuum prevailed over two other developers – real estate giant Related Companies and McWhinney, which also were selected as finalists. At the time, officials praised Continuum’s “vision and values” for the project despite its lack of the deep resources of a larger developer.

The project will nevertheless move forward, Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam stated.

“We expect the near-term Broadway Corridor schedule will remain unchanged,” she stated. “Given that demolition of the post office facility and construction of new streets and utilities are necessary prior to development of the individual parcels, we will continue to focus on those key next steps and will identify one or more development partners in the future. We look forward to advancing this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Continuum’s retreat from the project adds to a checkered history of developers engaging with Prosper Portland before walking away. Multiple efforts to preserve and redevelop Centennial Mills, for example, have fizzled.

Mark Falcone, CEO and founder of Continuum Partners, stated: “We’ve appreciated our partnership with Prosper Portland and the many people and organizations that have engaged in the project. We’ve been proud to play a role in this values-centered development project. But given the reality of a challenging real estate market environment and the complexities of the project, we realized that we need to focus on other projects for now.”

The Broadway Corridor is a broad swath of urban land bridging the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown. The site is near offices, restaurants and other amenities. The area is expected to become home to a significant complement of affordable housing. Portland Housing Bureau Director Shannon Callahan stated that the goal remains.

“The city’s commitment to providing affordable housing within the Broadway Corridor remains the same and is not impacted by this decision,” she stated.

The post Developer done with Broadway Corridor appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted agreements that lay the groundwork for redevelopment of the 32-acre Broadway Corridor in Northwest Portland.

Commissioners approved the community benefits, development and intergovernmental agreements that include guarantees for workforce rules, participation by women-owned, minority-owned or disadvantaged contractors, affordable housing and more.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, in a news release, stated that the vote “advances a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop the Broadway Corridor in a true partnership between city bureaus, community organizations and private partners, with equity as the driving force of transformation.”

The vote allows developer Continuum Partners of Denver and Prosper Portland to accelerate plans to redevelop the area bridging Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District with a mix of housing, offices and retail space.

Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, hailed the passage of the community benefits agreement.

“It’s really a historic achievement we’ve made,” she said. “This is the city’s first comprehensive community benefits agreement that goes beyond workforce (rules).”

For example, the Portland Housing Bureau will be required to conduct outreach to prospective Black, Chinese-American, Japanese-American and American Indian tenants – groups with historic ties to the neighborhood.

Among the next steps is to appoint members of the oversight committee that will work to ensure compliance with the terms of the community benefits agreement. Members will be drawn from the Healthy Communities Coalition – an organization of racial justice, community and environmental groups – as well as the developer, Prosper Portland and neighborhood organizations. Prosper Portland’s executive director – currently Kimberly Branam – will be empowered to make final decisions, with appeal avenues to Prosper Portland’s board and City Council.

The agreements will provide broad outlines for how Broadway Corridor development proceeds, Satterfield said.

“We were just able to put up some scaffolding, some ideas, from where we are now,” she said.

The post Broadway Corridor agreements adopted appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The billion-dollar redevelopment of a 32-acre area in Northwest Portland took a major stride forward this week when the developer, city officials and community activists reached agreement on a development deal and a community benefits agreement.

The sides reached a pair of deals that were approved unanimously by Prosper Portland‘s board of commissioners on Wednesday.

Approval of a disposition and development agreement with Continuum Partners, the Denver-based development adviser, means the Broadway Corridor has already advanced past the point where other projects overseen by Prosper Portland, the city’s redevelopment agency, have stalled.

And a landmark community benefits agreement being forged is no less significant. It guarantees prevailing wages, health care benefits and significant participation by minority-owned contractors in the construction of a new neighborhood bridging Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District.

The community benefits agreement involved labor and environmental groups organized by the Healthy Communities Coalition, perhaps clearing the way for the project to proceed with minimal friction.

“Continuum Partners has stayed at the table, and the Healthy Communities Coalition (members) have been good partners,” Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam said in an interview. “Across the board, we have had excellent partners who have committed to the vision and who have stayed to make sure we could make it a reality.”

The development deal clears the way for Continuum Partners to acquire parcels on the northern end of the Broadway Corridor site as soon as 2024. Those properties have height limits of up to 400 feet.

“We selected Continuum Partners because of their commitment to doing development in an inclusive way, and because of their experience doing major public-private partnerships at scale,” Branam said.

The redeveloped area is expected to be the eventual home of approximately 720 affordable housing units, along with market-rate housing units, office space and retail space. More than $1 billion in private investment is expected. The city of Portland will provide millions of dollars in street and infrastructure improvements.

The Broadway Corridor “is as complex of a project as I can imagine being involved in,” Continuum Partners CEO Mark Falcone said Wednesday during the Prosper Portland board meeting, which was held virtually.

Prosper Portland agreed to credit $290,000 toward the purchase price of certain lots to offset prevailing wage obligations that are imposed upon the developer by the agreements. The agency will also provide up to $1 million per property toward a construction equity fund.

Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, said the group insisted that prevailing wages be paid for work within the Broadway Corridor.

“Prevailing wage is an equity tool for providing good, living-wage jobs here,” she said in an interview. “We held fast to that.”

The community benefits agreement requires “responsible contractors” to provide full family health care to workers. The deal includes an agreement exempting minority-owned and disadvantaged contractors from that requirement if their contracts are valued at less than $1 million.

The agreement also has goals to use 100 percent renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality. No funding for those goals was identified in the agreements.

“It’s pretty light on the environmental side, which is unfortunate because it’s a critical time for us to be able to do that,” Satterfield said.

The Portland Housing Bureau has committed $14.5 million for development rights within the Broadway Corridor. The bureau will conduct outreach to Black, Japanese-American and Chinese-American groups for affordable housing. All of those groups have had significant populations within the Broadway Corridor area. The outreach commitment comes as city officials are eager to demonstrate that today’s projects are unlike the racist urban renewal projects of the 20th century that destroyed minority neighborhoods in areas such as Albina.

Residential development in the Broadway Corridor will be subject to the city’s inclusionary housing policy, requiring 10 percent of units be made available to renters at 60 percent of area median income or a fee be paid in lieu.

An oversight committee will have five members appointed by the Healthy Communities Coalition and five members by Prosper Portland. The oversight committee will have its own budget of $50,000 per year for 10 years.

The agreements will now go to the City Council for approval. The Broadway Corridor master plan was scheduled to be reviewed by the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

Falcone credited Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty for intervening in the negotiations.

They “stepped in at a very key moment and really helped to get that element of the project over the hump,” Falcone said. It wasn’t clear if he was referring to the development agreement or the community benefits agreement.

The Broadway Corridor will be a key part of the city, Prosper Portland board member Peter Platt said.

“It’s exciting to be a part of this project because it will certainly outlive any of our tenure on the commission,” he said. “Being part of setting a foundation for what is sure to be a signature development for the city, and certainly the agency, is fun.”

Platt has visited and appreciated Continuum Partners’ redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station area, he said.

“It’s fun to imagine something like that come to our city as well,” he said.

The post Updated: Major hurdle cleared for Broadway Corridor appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A coalition of local advocates and the development adviser for the massive Broadway Corridor redevelopment have reached an impasse on negotiations for a community benefits agreement, and the coalition has asked Mayor Ted Wheeler to step in.

Negotiations have stretched on for months with development adviser Continuum Partners of Denver. Several disagreements remain, including whether construction workers on the project should have health care benefits.

“We want to be able to define what a responsible contractor is,” said Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, a group that has been designated to represent local interests for labor and social justice. “Part of that is offering health care, and Continuum disagrees.”

Wheeler took part in negotiations early on. Now he’s being asked to return to the table as the massive redevelopment project hangs in the balance.

“Ultimately, I believe the responsibility is in the mayor’s office for this,” Satterfield said. “We are signaling that we may be at an impasse in this process. We want City Council to take notice and hear us that we will not participate in this process unless it is racially just.”

The impasse was by the Northwest Labor Press. Prosper Portland has been working to facilitate the negotiations between the Healthy Communities Coalition and Continuum Partners.

The coalition’s membership is comprised of multiple community advocacy organizations and labor groups, including the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, IBEW Local 48, Operating Engineers Local 701 and SEIU locals 49 and 503.

In addition to the community benefits agreement, which would set targets for minority participation, wage standards and benefits, Prosper Portland and Continuum Partners are also negotiating a disposition and development agreement and a master plan for the 32-acre property.

“We’re committed to getting it all done, and for us that means what does a win look like for each of the parties and how can we negotiate an agreement that works,” said Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam.

Wheeler has not indicated whether he would intervene in the negotiations, although those involved said they believe Wheeler will come to the table. Asked directly whether Wheeler would re-engage in the process, spokesman Tim Becker issued a statement saying that Wheeler “is committed to the Broadway Corridor Project, and is working to find ways to see it through to completion.”

Wheeler has weighed in on large development projects before, including Zidell Yards. The South Waterfront mixed-use plan fell apart in 2018 after the city and the Zidell family could not agree on how much each side would pay for public infrastructure.

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the Broadway Corridor negotiations. On March 3, shortly before public shutdowns began, the two parties held a marathon negotiation at Prosper Portland’s office in Old Town Chinatown.

“We literally had breakfast, lunch and dinner there,” Satterfield said. “We were able to reach tentative agreement on so many provisions on the (CBA) term sheet.”

The pandemic “really shifted a lot of things at every level,” Satterfield said. “As a result of that … we all extended each other a lot of understanding and little bit of empathy.”

For the Healthy Communities Coalition, the CBA is an opportunity to help right past wrongs. In past large-scale redevelopments, Prosper Portland (under its former moniker of Portland Development Commission) displaced historical neighborhoods of color.

“This project has to be racially just because of the history of this site,” Satterfield said.

Old Town Chinatown has historically had significant Chinese-American, Japanese-American and Black populations.

In negotiating the CBA, the coalition is looking toward precedents set by other large redevelopments that had CBAs, including the Oakland, California, Army Base redevelopment and the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The coalition and Prosper Portland are working with a number of consultants, including Cecliia Estolano of California-based Estolano Advisors.

“CBAs are a thing,” Satterfield said. “There are some sideboards to what defines what a CBA is and what it’s not.”

Satterfield acknowledged the coalition has a “contentious relationship” with Continuum. The development adviser was selected in April 2018, in large part due to its commitment to inclusion.

Satterfield participated on the community committee that led to Continuum’s selection. “I specifically remember (Continuum CEO) Mark Falcone saying, “We are comfortable executing a community benefits agreement, of course,’” Satterfield said. “We were confident we had a partner who was there.”

Continuum has balked at some provisions demanded by the coalition, including health care coverage for construction workers. In a written statement, Falcone stated that the developer has “struck an appropriate balance.”

“Our unwavering commitment to have all construction jobs on the project pay at prevailing wage and the additional agreements we have reached with the (Service Employees International Union) for wages on janitorial and security are a substantial shift in the private development market for Portland,” Falcone stated.

Continuum is receiving a monthly retainer from Prosper Portland as the negotiations drag on.  “They continue to be active in all of the negotiations,” Branam said.

Meanwhile, all sides acknowledge the economic downturn spurred by COVID-19 has changed the development calculus. Still, the opportunity to redevelop a large swath of close-in Portland is seen as an enticing job for any developer.

“The opportunity to build an entire new neighborhood on prime real estate in downtown Portland is still going to be attractive to the development industry,” Satterfield said. “It would be a shame if they walked away. But regardless of who the developer is, this is the way that massive development happens in the future. There will be a community benefits agreement. There will be community outreach. We’re not going back to where we were. “

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One day, residents and visitors alike will be able to travel on an unbroken path from Portland’s Union Station through Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District all the way to the West Hills.

What is this magical thruway? It’s Northwest Johnson Street.

As the design and planning process advances for the massive $1 billion-plus Broadway Corridor redevelopment, Johnson Street has emerged as the “Main Street” for the whole 32-acre area.

“I think the connection of Johnson is going to be more significant than we can imagine,” said Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban design at ZGF Architects, the local firm that is heading up Broadway Corridor planning.

At present, the United States Postal Service‘s sorting facility blocks Northwest Johnson Street at Ninth Avenue. Planners and city officials believe demolition of that facility will unlock the broader redevelopment, including Johnson Street.

“I think we’ll all be stunned, when that facility goes away, what a hub of energy it will be,” Lienhart said at a November luncheon hosted by CREW Portland. “It’s going to be a vibrant part of our city that doesn’t exist today.”

Planners envision development of a new commercial corridor on Johnson Street, which will divide the Broadway Corridor in half. To the north will be parcels set aside for commercial space totaling approximately 1 million square feet. That could go to one large company as an urban corporate campus, or it could be divided for smaller office users. The zoning is flexible, allowing for the market to help determine what goes there in years to come.

Buildings north of Johnson Street could be built up to 400 feet high. To the south will be mixed-income housing, retail and perhaps some office space, with a maximum height of 250 feet. The corridor would provide three contiguous blocks of ground-level activation.

“We really want buildings to front onto it,” Lienhart said in an interview. He noted every other east-west street in the Broadway Corridor either crosses over Interstate 405 or runs into it. Northwest Johnson Street will offer a continuous, at-grade route into neighboring areas.

At street level, planners envision Northwest Johnson Street as an 80-foot-wide right of way with two-way vehicle traffic and a two-way cycle track where bicyclists will be separated from cars by a landscaped buffer. The street will be a designated neighborhood greenway, and connect directly with the city’s planned Green Loop.

While cars will be allowed on Johnson Street, nearby Irving and Kearney streets will be the primary east-west vehicle carriers in the area.

The Portland Housing Bureau is eyeing affordable housing projects, and there will also be space for market-rate projects that would include rent-restricted inclusionary housing units.

Broadway Corridor planning also offers an opportunity to build a fitting end for the Park Blocks. As they stand now, the Park Blocks terminate south of the Postal Service site in a surface parking lot bounded by Northwest Hoyt Street, Park Avenue, Glisan Street and Broadway. The Park Blocks currently have an “unceremonious ending,” Lienhart said. The Pacific Northwest College of Art, which neighbors the property, has been involved in discussions about a future park there.

ZGF is engaged in a $2.375 million contract with Prosper Portland for Broadway Corridor planning. Continuum Partners, the Denver-based company serving as development adviser, has helped shape plans behind the scenes. Continuum is negotiating a development agreement with Prosper Portland. The developer did not respond to a request for comment.

Demolition of the Postal Service facility is considered a crucial step. Prosper Portland last week issued a request for proposals for a demolition design team. In January, the agency plans to issue an RFP for a construction manager/general contractor to handle the demolition.

The demolition is tentatively slated to begin in early 2021. It’s expected to take 12 to 18 months, so construction on Johnson Street wouldn’t begin until 2022 at the earliest.

“It’s a complex demolition,” Prosper Portland project manager Sarah Harpole said.

A retail shop for the U.S. Postal Service will be moved to an adjacent parking structure, as part of the city’s $88 million deal to buy the site from the federal government.

Prosper Portland is also working with various groups on a community benefits agreement, Harpole said. The agency hopes to encourage small, local retailers to take space in the Broadway Corridor area.

“I think of it as an affordable main street,” Harpole said.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday questioned plans for a zigzagging, elevated section of the Green Loop that would act as an artery for public movement through the massive Broadway Corridor redevelopment.

Commissioners questioned whether the Green Loop would be successful as designed.

“I don’t think there is enough detail here for me to be confident that the Green Loop is going to work,” Commissioner Zari Santner said. “I need to be convinced.”

Commissioner Jessica Molinar said the zigzag pattern was the intent of designers, but wouldn’t necessarily be required in the final project. She said the ultimate priority should be open space, and could see a spiral design working well, as on the Morrison Bridge.

“I’m trying to imagine an alternate option to this,” Molinar said. “However this path proceeds, it needs to provide the maximum amount of space for a park.”

Owned by Prosper Portland and designed by ZGF Architects, the Broadway Corridor would bring 4 million square feet of housing and commercial space to a 32-acre area linking the Pearl District to Old Town, at a price tag of $1 billion to $1.5 billion. Continuum Partners of Denver is serving as development adviser.

The first design advice session focused on the open space portion of the site, including a park and a section of the city’s larger Green Loop. On Thursday, the design team went into detail on the massing of the buildings, and further illustrated how the Green Loop could be integrated into the site.

Renderings reveal a plan to incorporate several buildings, with one reaching a height of at least 400 feet, and others reaching 250 feet or more. There are multiple medium-sized parcels of affordable housing, which are distributed around the property, so as to avoid grouping them together.

The Green Loop enters the property from the Broadway Bridge, cutting through the Y-shaped intersection that splits into Northwest Lovejoy Street and Northwest Broadway. From there it will cross a bridge that will hang above Northwest Johnson Street, before descending in a zigzag pattern to ground level at the project’s park.

The Green Loop has been revised since the last design advice request, with the design team changing the dimensions to allow more space for sitting between the zigzags, and stairs on either end for pedestrians to separate from cyclists. Commissioner Chandra Robinson found this change to be a positive one, as concerns had previously been raised about interactions between different forms of commuters.

On Thursday, the design team also revealed a three-phase plan for the project, which sees many of the largest towers being built at the beginning, and the park and Green Loop developing at the end. Commissioners were in agreement that the schedule should be revised, and that the open space should be prioritized from the start.

Robinson said that businesses on site will depend upon the park, and Santner added that when parks are placed near the end of projects, there is sometimes not enough money left over to do a proficient job.

“The success of the park is integral to the success of this development,” Santner said.

Another main point of discussion was the massing of the buildings. With so many tall buildings clumped together, commissioners found setbacks to be an important consideration. As the plan was presented, the buildings would feature 15 feet of setback from the street.

On the northern portion of the project, the tallest buildings would lie on either side of Northwest Kearney Street, which commissioners said could create a dark alleyway. Santner said the Old Town location is already known to have social problems, and that safety will be a concern on this block if there are not enough eyes on the street.

Molinar agreed that the street would become an alley as proposed, and Vice Chairman Sam Rodriguez said the master plan doesn’t work if there is not enough light or air in the street.

The commission has not yet set a return date for the Broadway Corridor project, but the design team said they intend to seek a design review during their next appointment.

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In slide shows and master plan presentations, the contours of what will become the Broadway Corridor are taking shape.

On Tuesday, the 37-member steering committee that was convened two years ago by Prosper Portland met for the 20^th and final time. Earlier recommendations by the committee led to the hiring of Continuum Partners of Denver as development adviser and the selection of the “Play” concept from three development scenarios put forth by ZGF Architects.

A master plan for the 14-acre U.S. Postal Service site is in the design review process, with the Portland Design Commission scheduled to meet with the project team for the second time on July 18.

A few things are becoming clearer, including a general layout for the larger 32-acre area bridging the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown. A large-scale office development could be located in the north end of the Broadway Corridor, near the Broadway Bridge and Union Station. Mixed-income housing, with a substantial complement of affordable units, would be built in the south section.

Northwest Johnson Street is emerging as a main street through the Postal Service site that could be lined with commercial uses, said Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban design for ZGF Architects.

The North Park Blocks would extend through the site, with the city’s Green Loop running along the west side of the Park Blocks. As the Green Loop heads north, it would begin to zig-zag and elevate, climbing toward the Broadway Bridge as a viaduct. Bicyclists could also take advantage of a cycle track on Ninth Avenue.

At the north edge of the Broadway Corridor, the street grid would terminate, providing a large site that could be used for a major office development. “It means it is very flexible from a development perspective,” Lienhart said.

The development potential of the site is far larger than at any other location in Portland. The Postal Service property alone is planned to host 3.8 million square feet of development, with 2,400 households and 4,000 jobs, according to the 2015 framework plan.

Prosper Portland is planning to issue its first requests for proposals for on-site work later this year. The work will include relocating the post office’s retail operation, demolition and environmental remediation. It’ll be the first significant construction spending for the project.

“We’re still fine-tuning the procurement strategy and timelines,” said Sarah Harpole, Prosper Portland’s project manager for the Broadway Corridor.

Continuum Partners is expected to begin serious talks with Prosper Portland this summer on how to develop the site.

“Now that the plan is better defined, we can begin a more concrete conversation with Prosper about a vertical development strategy, and that process will unfold over the next few months,” Mark Falcone, Continuum’s CEO, said in an interview.

Falcone said Prosper Portland’s process has been sound, and Continuum is moving forward toward a memorandum of understanding with the agency.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” he said. “I think it does have an opportunity to create an iconic project for the city that creates a new kind of space that doesn’t really exist there right now.”

Continuum’s commitment could be critical to the project’s success. In recent years, developers have courted major public-private projects with Prosper Portland only to walk away prior to signing a development agreement.

Falcone acknowledged there are “challenges” working with a government agency that has a prolonged public process. Continuum Partners was selected as development adviser in April 2018 after a competitive application.

“We’ve got a lot of time invested in this, and hopefully we’ll find a path forward together,” Falcone said.

Prosper Portland spokesman Shawn Uhlman said Continuum Partners has been “actively engaging” in planning for the Broadway Corridor.

In May, Prosper Portland’s board endorsed the “Play” concept, carrying a $50 million price tag for public realm improvements, including open space, the Green Loop, streets and public utilities.

“We’re far from being done with the project,” Lienhart said. “We’re closer to getting done with this phase of planning.”

Planners are considering how to make active, welcoming spaces underneath the Broadway Bridge, looking to precedents in other cities. Lienhart said a combination of public art, landscaping and activation is being considered underneath the bridge.

In a central open space, a flexible athletic court that could accommodate basketball, futsal and other activities is envisioned.

Alongside development planning, Prosper Portland is planning to forge a community benefits agreement that would guide work at the site.

At Tuesday’s meeting, steering committee members reflected on the two-year process.

“It took a long time to come to details,” said Jeremy Simer, a representative of Service Employees International Union, Local 49.

Neil Lee, vice president of the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, said he would have liked to hear more from Continuum Partners. “We saw a lot of the architect, but we didn’t see enough of the developer here,” he said.

Paul Vanderford, director of green markets at Sustainable Northwest, said the planning process had proved fruitful.

“I do like the design we ended up with,” he said.

The post Broadway Corridor plans take shape appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Prosper Portland‘s board has endorsed a development concept for the Broadway Corridor that carries the lowest price tag for public improvements.

The board on Wednesday formally endorsed the “Play” concept – one of three development scenarios put forward by Prosper Portland staff, along with consultants from ZGF Architects and master developer Continuum Partners of Denver. The board endorsed Play by acclamation.

The Play concept features the strongest extension of the Park Blocks and the greatest flexibility for recreational and community programming, said Sarah Harpole, Prosper Portland’s project manager for the Broadway Corridor.

Prosper Portland put a $50 million price tag on “public realm investments,” such as open space, for the project. That’s part of the public-sector investment expected to reach $228 million.

A budget gap of about $100 million remains that city officials will need to fill to support the massive redevelopment of 34 acres in the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown. The Broadway Corridor Framework Plan calls for 3.8 million square feet of development, more than half of which would be residential. The U.S. Postal Service site alone is expected to be home to 2,400 new households.

Prosper Portland will work with the Portland Housing Bureau on affordable housing aspects of the project, and with the city’s infrastructure bureaus, to close the budget gap, Harpole said.

The open space configurations are still being planned, but they’re intended to be convertible for different uses.

“The fundamental idea is that it’s flexible and it can do many different things at different times of the year, different times of the week, different times of the day even,” said Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban design at ZGF.

Open spaces are likely to be in strong demand, board member Peter Platt said.

“Those types of interstitial places are widely used, particularly in a dense urban environment,” he said.

Lienhart said the planners have looked to Union Station in Denver, a mixed-use area redeveloped by Continuum Partners, as a precedent. They’ve also examined concepts similar to the Green Loop – a planned linear park and transportation network through central Portland – in European cities such as Copenhagen, and at New York City’s High Line.

Redevelopment in the Broadway Corridor is expected to create space for thousands of new residents. Glenn Traeger, a Pearl District resident, said the city should ensure it’s prepared.

“For this project to be successful, transportation impacts must be actively considered now,” he said.

Some stakeholders are pushing for written goals for minority representation in construction contracting. Jay Richmond, workforce equity manager for Oregon Tradeswomen and a member of the Healthy Communities Coalition, said there should be a “strong, legally binding community benefits agreement,” including a high number of deeply affordable housing units and a mitigation fund for Cully. Richmond said he supports the Play concept.

Prosper Portland has received 1,046 public comments regarding the Broadway Corridor, and more than 1,000 people have attended public meetings regarding the project, according to the agency.

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Urban designers are evaluating options for the layout of the 34-acre Broadway Corridor site, including park spaces and the block configuration.

ZGF Architects has come up with three possible master plans for the site. Each one is designed to accommodate the 3.8 million square feet of development that is expected in the Northwest Portland district.

The three concepts are known as “Play,” “Discovery” and “Nature.” They were presented to the Portland Design Commission in an informational briefing Thursday. Designers are tentatively set to return in mid-December for a design advice request.

Each option would continue the Green Loop and set aside space for buildings. A park is likely to be built in front of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, at 511 N.W. Broadway, and extend the Park Blocks northward.

One option would have a podium with a skate park stepping up to the Broadway Bridge. The master plans offer different configurations of parcels that would translate to large floor plates or smaller office plates.

Julie Livingston, chairwoman of the Design Commission, told the designers on Thursday to integrate the Broadway Corridor into its surroundings.

“How is what is being proposed not an inward-facing campus?” she asked.

The Broadway Corridor site was created by the U.S. Postal Service‘s move to the Portland International Airport area. Union Station and vacant parcels are also part of the plan.

Continuum Partners of Denver was selected in April by Prosper Portland as master developer of the 14-acre Postal Service property – the largest single portion of the larger Broadway Corridor.

A request for proposals closed Friday for pre-development project management services at the USPS site.

A Pearl District resident, Glenn Traeger, on Thursday urged the planners to account for the area’s traffic woes.

“We are at a stage where we need a transportation study,” he said.

The post Broadway Corridor planning efforts advance appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Development of the 14-acre U.S. Postal Service site in Old Town has taken another step forward.

Prosper Portland last week issued a request for proposals from firms interested in performing project management services “supporting … asset management functions for the United States Postal Services property.”

Essentially, the contracted party or parties will develop a plan to manage maintenance and operations of three existing buildings and parking facilities on the site (bounded by Northwest Broadway, Lovejoy and Hoyt streets and Ninth Avenue) until master planning wraps up and demolition work is scheduled to start.

The latest RFP follows the Postal Service’s cessation of operations at the downtown distribution center in July. A new distribution hub has been built near Portland International Airport, and USPS anticipates vacating the downtown site by January 2019, save for a small retail office with a service counter and post office boxes.

Prosper Portland anticipates demolition of the three existing buildings could start by late 2020. First, the USPS retail office must relocate, and Prosper Portland is working with Jones Lang LaSalle to make that happen.

The USPS site is part of the larger 32-acre Broadway Corridor identified by the city of Portland for possible high-density development and so-called signature attractions. Prosper Portland has already contracted with ZGF Architects to complete the master plan for the USPS site. Denver-based Continuum Partners will provide consulting services.

The RFP is available at: .

All inquiries about the RFP should be directed to Prosper Portland senior procurement specialist Kristy Branson. Contact her at 503-823-3688 or bransonk@prosperportland.us. Or bids can be mailed to Prosper Portland at 222 N.W. Fifth Ave., Portland, OR 97209.

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