The project to improve the city-owned SmartPark garage at Southwest 10th Avenue and Yamhill Street returned before Portland City Council this week, and an architect was chosen and a collaborative building approach approved.

The council on Wednesday approved two measures – one authorizing a contract with FFA Architecture and Interiors to begin designing the $25 million project, and the other to approve use of the construction manager-general contractor alternative delivery method (in Oregon, public entities must prove the need to use a method other than the traditional low-bid method).

Officials said the CM-GC method will lead to more accurate cost estimates as well as better design and communication between the city and the project team. Both measures passed unanimously and with little discussion from the council.

The downtown building has 799 parking spaces and first-floor restaurants and shops. The project is intended to preserve the building and improve the retail area. The garage nets the city $1.2 million annually, but rents for the retail spaces are below market rate because the building needs extensive repairs and maintenance.

The property’s future has been uncertain for most of the past decade. In 2008, the Portland Development Commission was prepared to move ahead with a plan to raze the building and allow developer John Carroll of Carroll Investments to build a mixed-use mid-rise replacement.

Officials hope to pursue Parksmart green garage certification for the renovation.

“It’s the equivalent of LEED, for garages,” Portland Bureau of Transportation project manager Chris Armes said.

An intergovernmental agreement with the PDC was approved in June. City staffers will now work to finalize construction specifications before returning before the council next summer to approve a guaranteed maximum price with the selected contractor. Construction would start in the fall and take approximately one year.

FFA has listed partners it intends to work with on the project, including engineering firms KPFF, Akana Inc. and Cundiff, and lighting designer O-LLC.

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