A new mass-timber tower is in the works for Portland’s West End. The Portland Design Commission got its first look Thursday at the proposal for a 12-story building at 522 S.W. 13th Ave., on the northeast corner of the intersection with Southwest Alder Street.

The approximately 59,900-square-foot Julia West Apartments, designed by Holst Architecture for Community Development Partners, would feature cross-laminated timber and provide 90 units (60 studios and 30 one-bedroom units) of permanent supportive housing for seniors.

Commissioners liked the thin-brick façade and were impressed by Holst’s ability to fit the tower on the site, which is about one-eighth of a typical Portland block.

“Well, you’ve taken a difficult site,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said. “It’s hard to get two stairs and an elevator in on this type of a site without really causing problems for the layout, and I think you’ve done a really good job of that.”

Amenities for the tower would include a rooftop terrace, a laundry lounge, on-site support services run by NARA Northwest and the Northwest Pilot Project, and two community rooms: one on the ground floor and another on the top floor.

Josiah Henley, a Holst associate, said the team plans to appeal to the city to allow units to be as small as 140 square feet – less than the minimum of 190 square feet allowed.

Commissioner Julie Livingston asked the team whether the broad CLT structure would take potential space from the units, and Henley said it would.

Nici Stauffer, another Holst associate, added that the impact in size mostly has to do with working around the column structure within the units, which has caused challenges with fitting necessary plumbing and utilities into a narrow building. But the exposed timber makes the units feel as if they have more height, she said.

“So, it’s kind of a win and a loss at the same time,” she added.

Due to the constrained site, the project team also is seeking an exception to allow oriel windows to extend about a foot into the public right-of-way. That would allow a small amount of façade articulation without sacrificing unit space, Henley said.

Overall, commissioners agreed and noted that the oriel windows would help the tower fit into the neighborhood contextually. The site is near a variety of brick-laden buildings like the First Presbyterian Church across Alder Street, but also shiny new residential buildings such as Eleven West and Block 216.

“This is a really handsome building … the context is really appropriate,” Vallaster said.

The project is valued at $10 million by the Bureau of Development Services. Due to escalating costs of thin brick, the project team did propose an alternative all-metal-panel façade, which the commissioners indicated would be acceptable.

The proposed ground floor height of 15 feet, 2 inches was appreciated by Livingston, who said she was glad the building wouldn’t be 12 stories “on top of a really compressed ground floor, because that is a common circumstance.”

Programming for the ground floor did come into debate when Holst stated that a glazed corner space would be a community room. Commissioners then said that such rooms often have blinds drawn for privacy and thus this one would not be a sufficiently active space.

But Dave Otte, a Holst principal, responded that the room would be more of an extension of the lobby – almost like a lounge rather than a community room – and that it was mislabeled.

As such, all commissioners agreed that a lounge would be acceptable.

Thursday’s meeting was a design advice hearing meant to provide the project team with initial guidance. The team has indicated that proposal will be submitted for Type II design review, which would be overseen by Bureau of Development Services staff.

“I was really delighted to see this submittal,” Commissioner Zari Santner said. “It’s such a tiny, little site. Usually, the tiny sites offer opportunities and challenges. I think this proposal has really met the challenges.”

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A project team proposing to convert an existing three-story historic building in Northwest Portland into a private club and construct a five-story, mixed-use building on a surface parking lot on the property received design advice from the Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday.

The 29,997-square-foot site includes an existing building on the southern parcel and a parking lot on the northern parcel. The building, at 1819 N.W. Everett St., was constructed in 1909 as the First Church of Christ, Scientist. In 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Most recently it was a theater.

The new five-story building, which would include a hotel, a restaurant and retail spaces, would be located at 1880 N.W. Flanders St.

The total project valuation is $30 million, according to a Bureau of Development Services memo.

An apartment complex next to the historic building would remain.

“The proposed hotel is set back 10 feet from that existing property line from the apartment building,” staff planner Hannah Bryant said during Monday’s hearing.

The project owner is Gaia Ventures II LLC of Las Vegas. The architect is Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture LLC (HPA) of Chicago.

The project team, led by Founders Developments, is aiming to replace parking with an active use as well as ensure the historic building’s longevity and its standing on the national register.

“We intend to convert this property into an exceptional boutique hotel, while restoring and preserving the facades of the historic building,” Founders Developments Managing Partner Tanya Toby said.

Space in the historic building would be transformed to accommodate events, food and beverage storage, wellness services, a spa, and other uses. A café is planned for the east section of the basement. The building’s interior would be retrofitted for new elevators. The first floor would include a restaurant, a coworking area and more. The second floor, currently an auditorium, would have club/event space.

A glass guardrail is proposed for the roof. The east chimney has been partially removed to accommodate a stairway. The team proposes removing the northeast chimney and replacing it with another stairway.

Many windows have been covered with acrylic plastic or wood. Part of the restoration would involve repair and refurbishment of windows. To let additional light to enter the building, a clear glass is proposed for all street-facing facades.

A concern expressed by commissioners was potential replacement of the original windows. Commissioners recommended that a thorough analysis of the windows be performed.

Some modifications in the proposal include removing the existing elevator, adding glass parapets around the roof, creating an outdoor seating area, and adding adjacent walls or other landscaping to accommodate the newly widened sidewalk.

Between the historic building and the new one, HPA is proposing installation of a covered canopy.

“We anticipate this to be a fabric awning structure, something that is temporary and not constructed or attached to the existing building,” HPA principal Andrew Becker said.

The new building would have a rooftop penthouse. The pedestrian-focused ground floor would include food and beverage use as well as three primary storefront bays. Floors two through five would have approximately 80 hotel rooms, and balconies on upper floors would have Juliet railings. A full basement would feature amenity and back-of-house uses.

Modifications for the hotel call for a corner entrance as well as multiple styles and sizes of windows. The project team believes a corner entry would be best for the hotel, Becker said, because there would be retail spaces on the ground floor. An open lobby would connect the hotel to those retail spaces.

The commissioners indicated favor for the proposed corner entrance, which would be apart from the proposed loading dock location. They also expressed interest in learning how the building would relate to the surrounding district, and not just the historic building itself.

The hotel design presented to the Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday was different than one previously shown to the Northwest District Association Planning Committee. Commissioners expressed that they preferred elements of that previous iteration. For instance, Commission Chair Kristen Minor said a light-colored brick would be better than stucco for a portion of the exterior. Also, multiple commissioners stated that arched windows included in the latest design were not necessary.

Type III design review approval is required for the project. A land use application will be reviewed when it is submitted. The next step for HPA will be to either schedule a second design advice hearing before the Historic Landmarks Commission or continue in the land use process.

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A smaller footprint is likely for an initially proposed 23-story high-rise in Portland’s Pearl District. Plans presented Monday to the Historic Landmarks Commission were significantly downscaled.

Fields Holdings‘ development for 555 N.W. Park Ave., the Philip Apartments, would be an addition to the eastern half of the historic Honeyman Hardware block that consists of the Bindery Building, the Metro Building and the Cotter Building. In all schematics proposed, the entire quarter-block Metro Building and a portion of the Bindery Building would be demolished.

Monday marked the project team’s second design advice hearing before the Historic Landmarks Commission. In February, commissioners called the 23-story tower design “overwhelming,” and its glass curtain façade “not contextual.”

The team returned with three new design options. The preferred one would be an eight-story, half-block addition with a metal and brick exterior that would hover above the two-story Bindery Building. The addition would have a penthouse suite on top.

The other two consisted of a 19-story quarter-block scheme and a 16-story version of the original design presented.

“Clearly,” Bob Thompson, applicant and TVA Architects principal said, “we were shooting for the sky on the first go around.”

The difference in the two proposals is immense; the new preferred proposal is 46 percent shorter and has 33 percent less floor area ratio and 32 percent less leasable space. Also, the number of residential units was dropped from 337 to about 200.

Public comment favored this option. However, commissioners jumped back and forth between elements in the preferred option and the quarter-block scheme, which wouldn’t have a base; instead, that 204-foot-tall structure would rise from the ground.

Yet after three and a half hours of discussion on Monday, little consensus was reached among commissioners on a direction forward for the design.

The project’s developer, Eran Fields, stated that the team will not return for a third design advice hearing. If the project is to advance, clarity is needed from the commissioners, he said.

“We took an enormous amount of time and effort to get to this point,” Fields said. “Maybe that doesn’t mean much. But for us it means a lot, and we try to come back with a building that you can’t possibly tell me that if someone bikes by, walks by, drives by, this building once built, they’re not going to be impressed.”

Thompson added that the project team is not in the business of gambling.

“There’s a lot of money that(‘s) spent in advancing these ideas,” he said. “So, the clarity is critical.”

At the end of the meeting, in round-robin style, commissioners offered their views. Commissioner Andrew Smith said all three buildings on the block should be treated like they are all different. Commissioner Peggy Moretti strongly disagreed with that, stating that the preferred option is a good path forward. Commissioner Kimberly Moreland said the preferred option works well.

However, Commissioner Matthew Roman said there are preferred option aspects that he could not support. The quarter-block schematic – although taller – is more successful, he said. Commission Chair Kristen Minor said there should be more of a mix between the quarter-block design and the preferred option.

Next up for the development team is a land use review hearing.

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Mackenzie unveiled an initial design for a 15-story building with 260 apartments in the Lloyd District during a design advice hearing with the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

A Eugene firm, Master Development, is behind the project at 701 and 777 N.E. Seventh Ave. The proposed building would be entirely residential and provide parking, mostly below grade.

The project site is located three blocks east of the Oregon Convention Center at the Lloyd District’s south end. Design commissioners and Bureau of Development Services staff said the project’s context will be important: It’s on the future Green Loop route on Northeast Seventh Avenue. Also, the building will be near the Blumenauer Bridge that crosses Interstate 84.

BDS valued the project at $45 million.

Design commissioners largely praised the initial massing scheme from Mackenzie, a Portland-based firm.

“The big moves of massing, the vertical expression – overall I think it’s quite compatible with the context of what’s emerging in the Lloyd District right now,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

The building’s height would far exceed its width to fit on the half-block property. Master Development acquired the tract for $4.2 million in November 2021 from the Oregon Auto Dealers Association, according to Multnomah County records. The property currently has two small, single-story office buildings, which would be demolished to make way for the apartment tower.

Ben Nielsen, a BDS planner, said the lot is “surrounded by a sea of parking garages.” Also nearby is the site planned for Oregon Square, an American Assets Trust office project that was approved in 2020 but has not moved into the construction phase. AAT has until 2024 to begin construction with its current entitlements, Nielsen said.

Master Development’s as-yet-unnamed project would feature fiber cement panels and glass windows. Wood would be used on the underside of overhangs to contribute warmth, architect Thomas Peck said. The design calls for vertical fins to wrap around the façade.

Unlike many new buildings, Master’s would have no retail space. Instead, common amenity areas would help activate ground-floor frontages.

Some commissioners opined that the building could use more character so it doesn’t appear to be an office building.

“It’s pretty austere-looking at this point,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

Vallaster and Commissioner Zari Santner suggested balconies may improve the façade’s appearance.

“I hope that it can be jazzed up, and it can distinguish itself a little bit,” Santner said.

The project team is targeting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, Peck said. The building will meet inclusionary zoning rules, he added; however, he did not specify how that would be accomplished.

The project team may opt to return for another design advice hearing, or it could proceed directly to design review.

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A 30-story tower is in the making for Portland’s South Waterfront District.

The Portland Design Commission weighed in on plans for the high-rise for the first time on Thursday, during a design advice hearing. The development is anticipated to be the first within the newly approved RiverPlace Central City Master Plan.

The NBP Capital project’s value is $160 million, according to the Bureau of Development Services.

As designed by GBD Architects, the building would have approximately 329 residential units and rise on the southern parcel of Block 1, at 150 S. Montgomery St. The former RiverPlace Athletic Club located on the property is to be demolished, but The Douglas (apartments and townhomes) on the northern portion is to stay – for now.

No parking or retail space is planned for the development. Instead, residents would use 385 unused parking stalls nearby in The Douglas’ garage.

The eight acres between South Harbor Way, South Harbor Drive, South Montgomery Street and South Harbor Place are designated for the RiverPlace master plan. This initial tower, RiverPlace Phase 1, is poised to become the first of six potential high-rises on the site – along with thousands of new residential units, substantial office space, a new park plaza, and possibly a new regional attraction.

GBD’s design shown Thursday indicates what the new district could look like.

“Our big idea here was to reintroduce the layout, the river and the beautiful landscape of the Northwest, which is a big part of all of our everyday lives,” GBD Architects Associate Principal Michael Marcus said.

Plans call for an exterior with a “rippling” water effect, in a slender frame, with protruding balconies.

The project team intends to take full advantage of 200 feet in bonus height to construct a 325-foot-tall building. The bonus comes from the “Height Opportunity Area” requirement written into the master plan, which also limits floor plates to 10,000 square feet.

However, the team is seeking a modification to allow 12,500-square-foot floor plates. That would allow the exterior to be sculpted and 75-80 additional apartments included, GBD Architects Design Director Agustin Enriquez said. That request could gain approval, commissioners said, if the team is able to better present how the public would benefit from the change.

Three other modifications are being sought: one to the code language on what constitutes “north-south,” a second to move the eco-roof to the second-floor podium and a third to reduce the percentage of ground-floor windows required.

One expert said during Thursday’s hearing that green roof elements wouldn’t survive at 325 feet high. Plus, currently, mechanical equipment would occupy much of the roof, according to the project team. Design commissioners responded that they need to see more evidence that plantings wouldn’t survive at that height before they allow such a change.

Also, the project team stated that 75 percent of the ground floor would not be conducive to windows because of the site’s slope. Design commissioners said they would like to see either lush greenery or a wall be included to improve activation at ground level.

Overall, commissioners praised the sculpted design. Commissioner Don Vallaster said it has the potential to be “a really outstanding building for Portland.”

In addition to the 30-story tower on the southern parcel, Block 1 of the master-planned area is due to gain 6,600 square feet of pedestrian access as well as another development on the northern parcel. The latter is expected to enter the design phase immediately after building permit applications are submitted for the first tower, according to the project team.

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A bold design for a 12-story, 271-unit residential building on Southeast Sandy Boulevard drew a largely positive initial reception from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

The podium and tower concept from developer SolTerra Capital Inc., with a design by LEVER Architecture, would be constructed from cross-laminated timber at 900 S.E. Sandy Blvd. The building would rise to 124 feet, just below the 125-foot height limit for the property with bonuses.

The project team plans to incorporate rent-restricted inclusionary housing units, Bureau of Development Services planner Staci Monroe said during Thursday’s design advice hearing.

SolTerra’s move to develop a large-scale residential building on Sandy Boulevard comes as developers increasingly target the thoroughfare with projects: Security Properties is tackling the Pop Blocks and Guerrilla Development is pursuing several small-scale commercial projects. The Troy Laundry building is located nearby.

LEVER on Thursday presented commissioners with early schematic drawings for SolTerra’s building. The V-shaped design takes advantage of the lines from Sandy Boulevard, which slices diagonally across east Portland’s street grid.

“Sandy was originally a Native American path that connects the Willamette and Columbia (rivers), and it breaks the grid of Portland,” said Thomas Robinson, founding principal at LEVER. “We think the building could reinforce that path with its shape and how it works in context.”

The design’s treatment of its context with Sandy Boulevard is excellent, Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

“This is thrilling,” she said. “It’s like a meta-response to guidelines.”

Commissioner Jessica Molinar questioned whether the project’s orientation could be changed to have the tower along Southeast Ninth Avenue. Robinson said LEVER considered many massing strategies before settling on the one presented Thursday.

“I feel pretty strongly that the orientation that we have is the right one, but I respect what you’re saying,” he said.

Commissioners praised LEVER’s overall approach.

“I think it’s a really strong design, and the neighborhood could handle a really strong design,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said. “Along Sandy, there’s been a tradition of that.”

The property, unusually, has five sides. It’s bounded by Southeast Pine, Sandy and Oak streets, and Southeast Ninth and 10th avenues. Because of the way Sandy Boulevard cuts diagonally, the site is just less than a full block, totaling 39,584 square feet.

The proposed building would loom large, at approximately 250,000 square feet, including 18,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. A slight taper of the mass, as well as the shape, will reduce the apparent size, said Jonathan Heppner, a LEVER architect who was promoted to principal in June.

The program also calls for live-work units on the ground floor. Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said pedestrian activation will be critical for the project, and he warned that live-work units can be tough to pull off.

“They have to really be functional so they don’t become a dark space that’s not going to activate the ground floor,” he said.

The building would have two floors of underground parking, with at least 0.5 spaces per resident, Robinson said.

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A proposed six-story hotel showed its new face to the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

The Choice Cambria Portland would front Northwest Park Avenue, near the historic North Park Blocks, on half of a block between Northwest Davis and Couch streets. This was the second design advice hearing for the project; the first took place in August. Commissioner Don Vallaster recused himself from the hearing due to a conflict of interest.

The latest proposal from SERA Architects is better, commissioners said, but has room for improvement in how the building would relate to its surroundings.

The design team is trying to find a balance between modern expression and the Pearl District‘s urban fabric, said Jeff Roberts of SERA Architects. That was the aim of the previous proposal, but commissioners stated that it wasn’t working.

The team changed its design concept to instead embrace the trees on the North Park Blocks.

“What we looked at in detail was just the beauty and the structure of the changing seasons of the park,” Roberts said.

The form of the structure changed to a barbell, which allowed the addition of four guest rooms. Now the hotel would be 95,000 square feet and have 178 rooms.

Also, the exterior design shifted away from a dark green and tan stucco split to a brick, sandstone stucco and multicolor metal pattern envelope to represent tree bark.

However, commissioners stated it was a “fussy” number of materials.

“We go from brick, and then we set back about two feet and go to metal panels, and then we set back … maybe 10 or 12 feet,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

The exterior would work better with just one material, Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston noted.

“Most of the strong context buildings are 90 percent one thing,” she said.

Materials aside, the Design Commission agreed that the proposed building concept and structure layout was improved from the previous iteration.

Due to the site location on the North Park Blocks, the landscaping fronting the park was highly debated. The hotel is the first building required to respond to the new Green Loop code, which mandates a 12-foot setback along 75 percent of the property lines adjacent to it.

The purpose of the setback is to provide a greater pedestrian pathway around the Central City. However, as stated in the previous Design Commission hearing, the setback separates people from the park. A large part of the discussion on Thursday involved the kinds of trees that could go between the park and the building to enhance the environment without shadowing guest rooms.

“What’s lacking in the park and what could these setback areas provide are truly lush landscape – a truly beautiful understory,” Commissioner Zari Santner said.

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LEVER Architecture‘s next design for a mass-timber building in Portland is planned for the site of a closed post office in the Northwest District.

Design commissioners got their first look Thursday at the four-story, 40,000-square-foot proposal. It would use mass timber and brick in a contemporary office building for Thesis, a local marketing and creative services agency.

Commissioners said they liked the design presented by LEVER principal Thomas Robinson.

“The architecture response and the landscape response are both sensitively thought out,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

However, commissioners warned Robinson that he could not expect a requested modification to minimum standards for floor area ratio (FAR). The proposed building would have a 1.2:1 ratio – below the minimum 1.5:1 ratio. The zoning regulation ensures a minimum density for projects built within the Central City.

“Minimum FAR is something Design Commission has fought hard for,” Chairwoman Julie Livingston said. “It’s asking a lot to ask for a modification on minimum FAR. That’s probably an uphill struggle.”

Reaching the minimum with the current design would require a site adjustment, the project team and commissioners said.

“Find a way to redefine the site and get to the floor area ratio,” Livingston told the design team.

Lango Hansen is on board as landscape architect. Patrick Kessi’s PHK Development is the project’s developer.

Initial plans also proposed a one-story office building on the property at 1706 N.W. 24th Ave. However, Robinson said the project team may prefer to place food carts there, potentially with an eye toward adding a larger building on that portion of the site in the future.

Commissioners said the property might be better served with food carts than a one-story building that is not meant for the long term.

“The one-story building on Thurman (Street) seems like a lot of money for very little gain,” Livingston said. “If the real plan is to do real development at a time that has not been identified, then stick to something that is easy to take away.”

McCarter agreed.

“I lean towards the food cart solution, which leaves the option to build a more substantial building in the future,” he said.

Thursday’s meeting was a design advice hearing meant to provide initial guidance. The project could proceed to a Type II design review, which would be overseen by Bureau of Development Services staff.

Also on Thursday:

Sizable project on track

Design commissioners appeared to be on the verge of approving Modera Main Street, a 17-story, 434,720-square-foot apartment building planned for Goose Hollow.

Commissioners did not vote on the Mill Creek Residential Trust proposal, and it is scheduled to return Sept. 2. Several commissioners said the latest designs from Ankrom Moisan Architects had made progress on reducing a dead zone on Main Street, relocating mechanical ventilation and other issues.

“I think they were very responsive,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

Livingston said she would vote no on the project because it still does not meet design guidelines. Portions of the Main Street frontage appear destined to be storage, she said.

“I so hope that when this building is constructed I am proved wrong,” she said.

Livingston was the only commissioner who still opposed the project design in a straw poll. Four other commissioners said the project would earn their vote of approval at a future meeting.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described developer Patrick Kessi’s role in the office project.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first glimpse of plans for a new hotel toward the Pearl District’s south end. Choice Cambria would be a six-story building near the historic North Park Blocks.

The hotel would occupy half of a block and front Northwest Park Avenue, between Northwest Davis and Couch streets. Two existing buildings on the site would be demolished. The new building would hold 174 guest rooms and a 1,900-square-foot space available for a tenant improvement.

Thursday’s hearing was for design advice. The applicant, Jeff Roberts of SERA Architects, filed the request on behalf of Denver-based HighSide Development. The project is the firm’s first in the Portland market.

Cambria Portland is just one of the Choice-branded hotels the developer is working on across the U.S., including downtown Los Angeles.

“Designing on the park blocks is pretty special,” Roberts said, adding that he walks through the area almost every day on his commute.

The location of the project site and its significance in proximity to the North Park Blocks held much of the design commissioners’ conversation. The blocks were some of the original park properties in the city.

While design commissioners voiced concerns about the building’s design, the significant setback drew most of the comments.

“The setback is kind of bananas,” Commissioner Chandra Robinson said.

Most of the other commissioners agreed.

The Green Loop requires a 12-foot setback along 75 percent of the property lines adjacent to it. The purpose is to provide a greater pedestrian pathway around the Central City.

However, in the case of North Park Blocks, Robinson said it devalues the park. Instead of the sidewalk and buildings pushing pedestrians closer to the park and adding to a singular experience, the setback creates separation.

The Green Loop’s setback requirement had also been debated for Block 216, which is now under construction. The setback had carved into the building’s ground floor.

The project team is seeking a modification to the setback requirement to reduce the lot line by two feet, or 74 percent. City planner Ben Nielsen advised not seeking a 100 percent reduction of the setback because that would mean completely redoing ground-floor programming.

Also, as of Thursday, the building would be split in two with a nod to the area’s history on one side and a modern exterior enveloping the remainder.

Design commissioners expressed concerns with the fusion of old and new.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Robinson said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s contextual, and it doesn’t feel like … the mix of the modern and the historic is really coming from that area.”

Design commissioners suggested the building take on an entirely historical or modern approach.

Commissioner Don Vallaster recused himself from the hearing due to a conflict of interest.

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Design reviews of Portland building proposals were down sharply last year amid the pandemic and destructive anti-police protests. Those conditions continue to depress new projects, design commissioners told the City Council on Thursday.

“Our workload won’t return to what it was before COVID-19 until the protests end, and the plywood comes down and investor confidence returns,” Design Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

The leading indicator of Design Commission cases – design advice requests – fell to nine in 2020, from 30 in 2019. The dramatic reduction in design advice requests “may represent a cratering of the near-term pipeline,” the commission stated in its report.

Type II staff approvals, generally for smaller projects, dropped to 74 last year from 100 in 2019.

“Things dried up in the fall, and it’s been really quiet since the fall,” Livingston said. “Our hope is now projects are starting to trickle in again. But we really need a lot more investor confidence for things to return to how they were pre-COVID.”

Livingston’s remarks came during the annual State of the City report. The Design Commission did not make a report to the City Council last year amid the pandemic.

Type III land-use approvals rose from 19 in 2019 to 21 last year. Those cases often involve the largest projects and may be a lagging indicator of new proposals.

The Design Commission’s report noted: “The number of Type III approvals in 2020 improved slightly over the year prior, but whereas 2018 and 2019 saw many multi-block proposals, high-rise mixed-use towers, hotels and large institutional projects, 2020 proposals were substantially less ambitious than much of what we’ve seen over the past decade.

“With a few notable exceptions that were carryovers from the prior year, 2020 was largely about modestly scaled residential development, surgical renovations to existing buildings and reducing the scope of large projects.”

The Design Commission gave two Design Excellence awards – one each for 2019 and 2020.

The 2019 award went to De Paul Treatment Center in Gateway, and designer Holst Architecture. Mayor Ted Wheeler praised the project, which he compared to a “five-star hotel.”

The 2020 award went to the Northbound 30 Collective, a collection of townhomes near Forest Park. The project was developed by Noel Johnson of Cairn Pacific, and designed by Jones Architecture and Waechter Architecture.

Design commissioners also highlighted three projects that they said showed exemplary performance in relation to design guidelines. The projects were Pepsi Blocks (since renamed Pop Blocks) for its use of context, Oregon Square blocks 90 and 103 for its relation to the public realm, and Lincoln High School for its attention to quality and permanence in materials and design.

The annual report also gave design commissioners an opportunity to defend the review process against complaints that it adds little benefit for the time and expense it requires of project teams.

“We’ve been doing this for more than 40 years,” Livingston said. “This is an institution in Portland that makes Portland the really great place that it is. I so often have conversations with critics of design review who say, ‘Portland’s great. We don’t need this; just don’t do this anymore.’ But the reason Portland is great is because we do do this.”

The process gives developers assurance that all projects subject to design review will be held to quality standards, said Sam Rodriguez, a developer with Mill Creek Residential Trust who serves on the Design Commission.

“It’s a process that as a developer, we appreciate the fact that the building next door is going to be just as good as my building and the building next to it and so forth, and then it creates that fabric that we all want to live in and want to be a part of,” he said.

City Council members said they appreciate the Design Commission’s role.

“It is clear in your work that you believe beautiful design should be available and accessible to everyone,” Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said.

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