The sprawling Fred Meyer store at Southeast 82nd Avenue and Foster Road will soon close, potentially opening a significant redevelopment opportunity in the fast-changing neighborhood.

The store will close “on or about” Jan. 20, 2018, Fred Meyer spokesman Jeffery Temple stated in an email message.

“The decision to close this location was based on long-term business performance and forecasts,” he stated.

The store will operate at full capacity through the holiday season, and each employee will be offered a job at another location. A gas station on the site will remain open. Fred Meyer does not plan to close any other local stores or open a replacement store, Temple stated.

The company will market the property, Temple stated.

“Fred Meyer will consider community interests and intends to market the store space for best possible use,” he stated.

If it becomes available, the property at 5253 S.E. 82nd Ave. could hold significant development potential. It spans 6.04 acres, and the store itself is 93,864 square feet.

On May 24, 2018, the property will be zoned as commercial mixed-use, with a design overlay. The zoning is “very flexible,” potentially allowing housing, retail or office use, said Marty Stockton, southeast district liaison for the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Maximum heights on the property start at 65 feet and could rise to 120 feet with a master plan, Stockton said.

The property is near Lents and the emerging Jade District – a concentration of Asian businesses and residents.

City officials have been looking for properties as possible sites of affordable housing. However, the Fred Meyer site wasn’t being tracked by Prosper Portland, spokesman Shawn Uhlman said.

The property warrants some attention, Portland Housing Bureau spokeswoman Martha Calhoon said.

“That site I don’t think at this point was on our team’s radar, but it’s definitely an interesting property,” she said.

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When Hennebery Eddy Architects was asked to revise the design for a Hampton Inn in the Pearl District, it knew it would need to deviate from the prototype.

The first design for the hotel, by Wisconsin-based Gary Brink & Associates, in 2012 was panned by neighbors and received less-than-glowing comments from the Portland Design Commission. That prompted the project’s developer, The Raymond Group, to turn to a local firm to make revisions.

“It was a fine design; they just hadn’t Portlandized it,” Hennebery Eddy Architects principal Andrew Smith said. “So we basically started fresh.”

Bringing a branded design into an urban space can be like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. In Portland, for example, brand elements sometimes must be left out in order to meet strict design guidelines.

“In a lot of cases, it seems like we are downplaying the importance of the architecture,” Smith said. “In reality we are downplaying the importance of a particular aesthetic to what a brand is.”

Hampton Inn was largely known for standardized suburban facilities. A developer could buy a franchise and receive a largely set design that could be used anywhere. In the case of the Pearl District facility, at 354 N.W. Ninth Ave., developers didn’t fully grasp Portland’s unique design environment.

Plans for any structure at the location had to receive the Design Commission’s approval before permits could be sought. Hampton Inn’s standard design wouldn’t pass muster. Going back to the drawing board cost the project six months of development time.

“They broke away from the prototype but in a way that was contextual,” Smith said. “The only things about the hotel (now) that are prototypical are the programs.”

The designers moved away from strong horizontal lines and changed much of the exterior skin. They worked to tie the design back to the area’s industrial history. They also emphasized an active first floor with large openings that were more protective of the pedestrian environment.

Another departure from the prototype involved HVAC louvers. In a standard Hampton Inn design, the louver for each room’s HVAC is under the window. In the Pearl District facility, the HVAC systems were stacked on top of each other between rooms. The louvers were then covered with a grill to make them appear as a single element instead of 10 to 12 separate louvers per row of rooms.

The eventual design that received the Design Commission’s approval bears little resemblance to early iterations. While the letters on the sign are the same font as other Hampton Inns, much of the exterior differs from typical ones.

“They always want to carry their brand prototype,” Smith said. “The Raymond management company has done hotels in other downtown areas. They just wanted it to be successful in its setting.”

Sometimes owners are reluctant to make big moves away from a brand look even when it’s necessary for a project to move forward.

“We had a project a while back when the brand pushed back and they really wanted something on the building and it didn’t fit the neighborhood,” said Lisa Zangerle, principal and director of hospitality at SERA Architects. “They had a loud voice, but it just goes back to saying this isn’t going to work for this environment.”

Oftentimes a city’s design review process leaves companies with little choice but to give in. In Portland, the Design Commission often takes credit or blame for changing the look of what ends up being built.

“Given the fact that you have to have their approval, it is an important piece,” Smith said. “What got built on the Hampton site would have been quite different if the Design Commission didn’t have a part.”

One of the most common sticking points is signage. Many brand-name businesses want their signs to be a certain size and look.

“We explain to them that it’s out of our hands. We have this wonderful group called the Design Commission,” Zangerle said. “We are always trying to talk to our brands about the size of signage. The brand might want something three times as big that just isn’t going to make it.”

The struggles to fit in are not limited to a particular industry. Kuni Lexus is changing its prototypical design for its proposal to open a dealership on Southeast Sandy Boulevard.

“Our preference would be to put our inventory out on display (outdoors),” said Matt Newell, general counsel for Holman Automotive, which oversees the dealership’s real estate acquisitions. “The city requirements prohibit us from having the cars outdoors, so we had to move them inside.”

The Portland dealership will include amenities like a coffee bar to help activate the ground floor. Dealing with these issues isn’t unfamiliar territory for the dealership. In Palo Alto, California, designers had to use glass imported from Germany to address wildlife protection issues. That doubled the budget for windows. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, designers were required to spend $40,000 on changes to a bus stop.

Getting brand-name businesses to see the wisdom of these changes is sometimes a process, according to Mackenzie associate principal and architect Dietrich Wieland.

When Fred Meyer remodeled and expanded its store on Northwest 20th Place, near Providence Park, the original design had to be revised.

“Typically they develop suburban sites,” Wieland said. “They tried to layer in a typical store on that urban site.”

It took months of talking to neighbors and city officials to convince them to reduce auto parking and alter programing for the site. They added glass to the exterior façade, included a rooftop deck and changed the way the interior layout of the store. By removing part of the parking, they gained room to add an area dedicated to fresh produce.

The project ended up winning awards for its adaptations to its urban environment.

Design oversight is making an impact in how branded spaces look, according to Zangerle.

“I would say the past several years, the brands have been getting away from prototypical design palettes and styles,” she said.

Project owners must be convinced, Smith said, that no matter what the outside looks like, customers’ experience will remain the same.

“The times when we have had success getting brand companies comfortable with a departure from a prototype, we put the focus on keeping what the brand is,” he said. “They have to like customer experience. Those are going to be the same. It doesn’t rely so much on the architectural experience of the building.”

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Portland’s new bike-centered amenity, Gateway Green, represents a bit of a paradox. The 25-acre parcel is highly visible, wedged as it is between two well-traveled interstate highways in East Portland. But park booster Linda Robinson acknowledges there’s a problem.

“People can’t find it,” said Robinson, a Friends of Gateway Green (FoGG) board member. “People can’t even find the bike path to get there.”

This became obvious to Robinson early in the park’s , when she would arrange meetings with other stakeholders at the parcel, and they’d consistently get lost trying to reach it. The park is accessible only via a spur off the Interstate 205 multiuse path, and the nearest one can park a vehicle is the Gateway transit center a quarter-mile away.

So now, local design firm Propel Studio is finalizing concepts for a package of wayfinding and signage options for the Gateway neighborhood, to help bicyclists – plus residents – find the off-road facility. The 4-year-old firm’s work is being paid for by a $50,000 Prosper Portland grant.

And it’s not just the park. The entire business district is difficult for outsiders to locate, said Tom Badrick, a FoGG board member.

“If you hop on light rail and get off at the Gateway transit center, you can’t find anything from there,” he said. “Nothing is obvious.”

Also, with a shortage of public streets, is difficult to navigate, according to Badrick. He remembers shopping at the old Fred Meyer store – more open-air promenade than big-box – as a child growing up in Gateway. He moved back eight years ago and has been involved with a number of community groups, including the Gateway Area Business Association.

“Some areas are different, but some areas, it just seems like time stood still,” he said. “Still, it’s not very pedestrian-friendly. It used to be a lot more pedestrian-friendly.”

But before Propel could address signage in Gateway and the issue of directing people to Gateway Green, it first had to tackle another, broader issue, according to partner Lucas Gray.

“It’s hard to design signage and wayfinding if there’s no overarching logos, texts, fonts, colors, etc. to work from,” he said. “So we started to think big picture – what is the identity of the Gateway district?”

The Gateway area was founded by Fred Meyer himself. Continually trying to evade city regulations, the one-stop-shopping innovator in 1954 established a new shopping center amid the orchards east of Portland. Included in the design was a prominent arch, like a scaled-down version of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch.

Suburban sprawl continued for the next five decades, and the Gateway arch was taken down in 1991 due to deterioration. Gateway’s location at the confluence of two interstates and with easy access to downtown and the Portland International Airport continue to make it a target for development; however, zoning requirements challenge developers, and connectivity and access to parks challenge residents.

Gateway was designated one of seven regional urban centers in the Metro 2040 Growth Concept planning document, with the area scheduled to receive millions of dollars’ worth of transit and highway improvements in the coming years.

Young people who settle in East Portland, priced out of hipper neighborhoods, still expect urban amenities like reliable transit and fine dining. Propel Studio’s work crafting signs for Gateway Green has involved striking a balance between old and new, Gray said, and a big sticking point has become the arch.

“Some of the older business owners think of the arch as this really iconic thing, and they are really interested in having that image restored and prevalent in the identity of the area,” Gray said. “And there’s the younger people – and some of the older people – who want it to be a little bit more progressive, and for us to forget the arch. It’s not there anymore and it’s not relevant to the future of the district.”

Most of the aesthetic options Propel has created reference the arch by varying degrees. One option features an arch carved out – or “subtracted” – from a larger space. However, some options leave out the arch altogether.

Funding has yet to be secured for fabrication and installation, and it’s possible the final branding won’t match Propel’s ideas. But incorporating branding into architecture is an exciting, emerging field, according to Gray, and it’s the sort of work Propel would like to do more of.

For the Gateway area, Propel envisions three tiers of “intervention.” The first is a large-scale object that would function as a mix of community meeting point, art installation and simple shelter, similar to the Jorge Pardo-designed streetcar stop at the east end of the Broadway Bridge.

“It hasn’t been 100-percent defined,” Gray said.

The structure might contain bike-friendly amenities, like a tire air pump. The cost for this level of intervention is estimated to run around $100,000 each.

The next tier down would involve medium-scale objects, like information kiosks similar to those designed for the Lents area. Propel envisions rolling out four or five of them at strategic locations, at an anticipated cost of around $10,000 each.

The third level would be small-scale interventions to create pathways through the neighborhoods. These items would be much more affordable and faster to fabricate than the others. Reusable medallions could be used to imprint roads and sidewalks during repavement projects. Sign-toppers made of laser-cut steel could run as little as $10 each, Gray said.

There’s even talk of “tactical urbanism” tactics, like temporary wayfinding devices to help community members become familiar with new routes.

formally opened with a ceremony June 24, a 100-degree day. More than 1,000 people attended, most on bikes.

The moment was a great relief to Robinson, who, along with developer Ted Gilbert, spent more than a decade shepherding the project. But it served as a reminder how much work remains, she said, citing water hookups, restrooms and other work.

As for what Robinson would like the final designs to look like, she said she hasn’t decided if she’d like the arch to be incorporated in Gateway going forward.

“I’m still vacillating back and forth – should we use it, should we not use it?” she said. “I don’t think we should totally ignore it.”

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The city of Gresham is following through on its promise to do more for the Rockwood neighborhood by seeking developers to tackle a 5.5-acre site.

The Gresham Redevelopment Commission, headed by Josh Fuhrer and comprised of members of the Gresham City Council members, owns the property. Fuhrer said that a lot of work has gone into preparing the 18535 S.E. Stark St. site, the former home of a Fred Meyer store, for development.

“We’ve spent the last two years cultivating tenant relationships and putting financing together and taking the project as far as we can before bringing in a developer partner to actually execute construction,” he said.

The city is requesting that developers respond to a Request for Expressions of Interest by Oct. 19. Applications can be online.

The proposed development site is largely open, with only one vacant, 8,400-square-foot building left following demolition, Fuhrer said. Including that building, the entire project is expected to be about 100,000 square feet.

The city has allocated $6.5 million for the approximately $30 million project, Fuhrer said. City officials also are anticipating getting $4 million more for the project from new market tax credits, he added.

Not just any commercial development is being sought, but rather one designed for tenants that provide training and services and can help people start new businesses. Specifically, the city is looking for a developer that will work with tenants that will provide a food marketplace, a high-tech workshop and digital innovation lab, job training and health care, a public plaza, parking spaces and small incubator places for 15 to 20 new food entrepreneurs as well other retail outlets.

To help recruit more tenants for the proposed project, the city will hold an open house on Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Sunrise Center at 18901 E. Burnside St.

“We will have tech advisers from the Small Business Development Center (of Mt. Hood Community College), community leaders and an open panel discussion,” Fuhrer said.

Several businesses and agencies have either signed on or are negotiating to be part of the development, Fuhrer said. These include WorkSource Oregon, nonprofit MetroEast Community Media, MHCC’s medical assistant training program, business incubator facilitator NedSpace and ADX Makerspace.

ADX Makerspace is a tech shop where people will be able to make things themselves and learn new skills, Fuhrer said.

“If you want to make something, you can go in and design it on a CAD (computer-aided design) work station and they will also have a carpentry lab with 3-D printers and laser cutters,” he said. “The idea is that they will also have certification programs so they can get access to a number of manufacturers in Rockwood that need skilled labor.”

Bringing more jobs and training to the economically depressed Rockwood area through the new development is essential for community health, Gresham City Councilor Lori Stegmann said.

“Gentrification has been an issue, but we want people that live and work in our community to remain in our community,” she said. “The only way to do that is if they have a job.”

Stegmann said the Rockwood neighborhood has a good network of social services, but the new development will provide much needed economic development and workforce training.

“With the Gresham industrial park (Gresham Vista Business Park) down the street, we are trying to attract new businesses and more ways to get people trained,” she said.

But first, the project must be built. Once the developers’ proposals are received, Fuhrer said, city staffers will select the top three proposals and then give them to a citizens’ advisory committee for review and feedback.

“Staff will then make a recommendation, I’m hoping, at the November meeting of the Rockwood Redevelopment Commission,” he said.

The city will then negotiate a development agreement and begin the design and permitting process, Fuhrer said.

“The entire project (team) will work with the committed tenants, and they will have a voice as well as the rest of the community,” he said. “We hope to break ground next fall.”

Construction will be done in stages.

“The goal here is that we’re trying to create an economic engine in the heart of Rockwood that really doesn’t exist today,” Fuhrer said. “Whether you’re an entrepreneur or looking to get a living-wage job, the resources will be here on this site to be successful.”

Gresham City Councilor Kirk French said he is excited about the possible impact that the new development will have on the Rockwood community.

“What I see is a vision, that once it’s fully implemented, will bring services to the community, bring opportunities and also a sense of pride to the community and the city,” he said. “To me, it’s like a makeover that serves everyone.”

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Growth drives development, and Happy Valley is cruising full-speed ahead.

Barry Cain, president of Gramor Development, said 90 percent of unbuilt land in the Portland Metro urban growth boundary is in the Happy Valley area, and the strong housing market is the reason his company is building there.

Gramor announced last week that it plans to build an $80-million, mixed-use retail center called Happy Valley Crossroads that will include a 168-unit apartment complex, restaurants, shops and other retail outlets. A new 144,000-square-foot Fred Meyer store will serve as anchor tenant for the development.

Cain said construction will start this fall and should be complete in about a year on the project, which will be sited on 34 acres at Southeast 172^nd Avenue and Sunnyside Road.

“(Happy Valley) has seen a lot of growth and there are plenty of people to handle this shopping center,” Cain said. “What you have here is another 20 years of growth that’s going to keep happening. This is different. It will keep on growing, and there are not too many opportunities like that.”

It hasn’t always been that way. During the recent recession, the housing market in Happy Valley took a big hit, with foreclosures and unfinished projects, said Michael Walters, economic and community development director for the city of Happy Valley. But now the housing market there is going like “gangbusters,” he said.

“Our economic recovery began about three years ago,” Walters said. “But those foreclosed homes are long gone and, for the most part, what has happened is that the market recovered.”

The Happy Valley housing market includes both new and used homes, according to Walters

“There is more inventory coming in and the market is responding to a lack of supply,” he said.

Pam Yancoskie, a broker with RE/MAX Equity Group in Clackamas, agreed the Happy Valley housing market is booming now.

“In Happy Valley the market is fabulous, and we have really got a strong market all over Portland,” she said.

“Now I think the market is very normal, not with leaps and bounds,” she added. “We now have multiple offers due to pent up demands, and I think the (housing) market brings business.”

The Happy Valley Crossroads development will keep many existing of the existing trees on the site, and will include plazas and pedestrian access. Plans also call for improvements to local roads, new sidewalks and planter islands with road extensions, and lane enlargements at both Southeast Misty Drive and 169^th Avenue. A new traffic signal will also be added at Sunnyside Road and 169^th Avenue.

The project team for Happy Valley Crossroads includes Tiland/Schmidt Architects, Harper Houf Peterson Righellis and Christopher Freshley Landscape Architects. A general contractor has noty been selected yet.

Gramor sold the land for the apartment complex to Carla Properties Ltd., which will oversee design and construction of that project, Cain said.

Construction on the entire development will create about 150 industry jobs, according to Gramor.

The apartment complex, which will cover 14 acres, will be comprised of eight buildings of varying sizes, and will include car and bicycle stalls along with green space with trees.

The $30-million Fred Meyer store will sell clothing, furniture, garden supplies, housewares, home décor and will have a 16-car gas station, according to a statement by Lynn Gust, president of Fred Meyer Store Inc. The company estimates the new store will create 250 retail-related jobs once it opens.

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Fred Meyer held the official grand re-opening of its Stadium store on West Burnside Street Friday, marking the end of major work on the $30 million renovation and expansion. Ogden, Utah-based general contractor R&O Construction began work on the in September 2013 with the demolition of a former Hollywood Video store on the site, which allowed for the construction of 41,000 square feet of new space.

The project’s architect, Mackenzie, worked with neighbors and city officials to implement design recommendations, resulting in an urban design that includes a sidewalk arcade, more windows than a typical store, a community room, and the retailer’s first green roof. The expansion opened to customers last fall, and  final completion of the project is slated for February.

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Kenneth Bruce Booster, a 20-year veteran of the construction industry, will be remembered by family, friends, employees and colleagues during a memorial service on Saturday in Corvallis.

Booster, the founder and president of Portland-based BooCo Construction Inc., died Sept. 18 at age 53.

Booster founded BooCo in June 2003 with an eye toward filling a void in the building industry after a local leading manufacturer and installer of retail store fixtures announced it was going on of business. By the end of its first six months in business, the company owned the local store installation market and had hit more than $2.7 million in revenue.

Under Booster’s leadership, the company soon moved into general construction and earned a reputation for handling some of the most notable retail expansions in Oregon. Its list of clients included Fred Meyer, Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Safeway.

Booster is survived by his fiancée Tammy Jazuith of Corvallis and her children, Alyssa, Kelly and Isaac; and his brothers Howard Booster (Merritt), Tom Booster (Cynthia Hartwig), Dick Booster (Kristie) and Doug Booster (Sally).

A memorial service for Kenneth Booster will be held Saturday, at 2 p.m., at Corvallis Country Club, 1850 S.W. Whiteside Drive, in Corvallis.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to the Kenny Booster Athletic Scholarship, which has been created in Booster’s name. Contributions to the scholarship fund can be sent to Corvallis High School, in care of Bob Holt, 1400 N.W. Buchanan Ave., Corvallis, OR, 97330.

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Fred Meyer is preparing to remodel its Albany store, and general contractors have put the plans out to bid.

Amanda Ip, special projects coordinator for Fred Meyer, said the remodel is expected to cost approximately $10 million and will include a new décor package, an expanded produce area and a general facelift throughout the building. The project is expected to begin in the spring of 2013 and finish later in the fall.

Fred Meyer remodels its stores on a 10-year rolling basis, and two other stores are slated for similar remodels next year. They are located in Tualatin and Astoria. Fred Meyer on Friday will open three newly remodeled stores in Tigard, Hollywood and Newport.

Ip said interested subcontractors should contact the general contractors that they work with to inquire about the projects. Bids for the Albany store are due in mid December.

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No one had anything but nice things to say when developers of a new Fred Meyer store came before the Portland Design Commission today.

In fact, Commissioner Ben Kaiser said all proposals that come before the commission should go as smoothly. “This should be a model for presentations and integrating the commission’s suggestions.”

Developers first came before the commission Sept. 20. Following the hearing, they made several modifications to the proposed 2.3-acre store on N.W. 20th Place.

Terry Krause, representing Group Mackenzie, the architects on the project, said the design of the store was modified to add a metal fire door in the parking garage, add more clear glass to the store and make the entry at the northeast corner more accessible to neighbors bicycling or walking to the store.

They also doubled the number of bike racks for a total 24 short-term bike stalls. “We tried to make this more pedestrian-friendly and make it more accessible for people and bikes,” Krauss said.

Walt McMonies, a lawyer with Lane Powell PC, spoke at the September hearing and returned to praise developers’ efforts. “This is definitely a win-win situation,” he said. “They responded to our concerns and made a better product. We are very happy.”

The commission voted unanimously to approve the project. Commissioners Jane Hansen and David Wark were absent.

Krauss said he is glad the process went smoothly. “We are on some tight deadlines with Fred Meyer,” he said.

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Earlier this week, I wrote a news brief about how the Fred Meyer on Northwest 20th Place would soon be expanding into a 35,000-square-foot space, formerly used as a Hollywood Video, on West Burnside Street. The project will cost $25 million and will expand the store’s grocery and deli space and add more “home-related” items to the store, according to store officials.

The project is still in the design phase, but we were able to obtain some renderings of it. Check it out, before and after:

More renderings after the jump.

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