Walsh Construction Co. is working in Northeast Portland on an apartment building that is the second phase of a mixed-use development for Capstone Partners. Grant Park Village Phase II, a five-story multifamily structure with a below-grade parking garage, is being erected on a 1.48-acre lot on Northeast 32nd Avenue adjacent to the first phase, which was completed by Walsh in 2014.

As with the first phase, Grant Park Village Phase II was designed by LRS Architects. The building features four floors of wood-framed construction over ground-floor, post-tensioned concrete and a below-grade parking garage with 100 spaces. The market-rate building has 167 apartments – four two-bedroom units, and the rest a mix of studios and one-bedroom units.

The U-shaped building wraps around a ground-floor courtyard. Residential amenities include a ground-floor community/game room, a fitness center, a library area, and a bike workshop and wash space. A fifth-floor amenity room will have an eastern-facing open-air patio and a kitchenette. The building will have a combined 198 long- and short-term bike-parking spaces.

The building’s upper three floors now have drywall, insulation is being installed on the second floor, and MEP systems are being dropped to the ground floor. The contractor is expecting permanent power this week, and is mobilizing for elevator installation. Finish work is slated to start shortly, with flooring installation scheduled to begin on the fifth floor next week. The project is expected to be completed in June.

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City planner Jeff Mitchem made clear from the beginning of his presentation before the Portland Design Commission on Thursday that approval for the Grant Park Village II project was not recommended.

LRS Architects is designing Grant Park Village II at 3204 N.E. Weidler St. Plans call for a five-story apartment building with 163-unit market-rate units – mostly studios and one-bedrooms – as well as some surface parking and underground parking for 97 vehicles.

Thursday’s design review hearing was the first for the project, and no design advice was given beforehand. Now LRS Architects will have plenty of time to address problem areas because the first available return date before the Design Commission is April 7.

Jeffrey Sackett, principal with developer Capstone Partners, said after the meeting that he’s not as worried about making changes as he is about waiting so long for the next hearing.

“That is really problematic for us, especially at the early end, and may cost us construction costs this summer,” he said. “We expected to go back in four weeks and this hurts.”

Mitchem, in his presentation, brought up several concerns. They included insufficient privacy assurance for ground-floor tenants, the location of transformers on a concrete pad, the configuration of the parking ramp and the lack of quality materials.

“You’ve got a lot going on – on the podium and the base – and staff would like to see a little bit more thought given to the design,” Mitchem said.

Other concerns listed in a staff report regarded air conditioning ports, soffits over ground-floor components, the lack of balconies for upper-level units and the exposed parking deck at the east elevation abutting the central courtyard. The courtyard connects to Grant Park Village I, a 211-unit apartment complex to the north anchored by New Seasons Market. Grant Park Village III is planned to the south of Grant Park Village II.

Commissioner Don Vallaster said that although the plaza is a main strength of Grant Park Village II, it could be the main entry.

“The composition is much better than Phase I, so you’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

But Commissioner Tad Savinar was most adamant about what he felt was wrong with the project – everything.

“It all seems like back of house,” he said. “There is nothing elegant about this building.”

Another point of discussion was a one-way loop road that will give New Seasons loading access. Concerns exist about a sharp turn into the parking garage.

Commission Chairman David Wark acknowledged that the 64,000-square-foot, somewhat triangular lot presents difficulties.

“What helps is being flexible in your program as the difficulty of the site warrants,” he said.

More details spelled out in the city staff report called for more pedestrian networks and protection, more active outdoor areas, better integration of surface parking and improved security. The report also stressed the importance of using quality building materials.

“You need to see if you can address these issues,” Savinar said. “I don’t think it’s additive to the city, and I want to protect your investment.”

After the meeting, Sackett said the design team had a brainstorming session.

“It was a challenging hearing as we expected it to be,” he said. “We round-tabled a bunch of potential solutions and I think we’re up to the challenge.”

Sackett said it’s common to receive design advice before seeking approval; however, he was looking to save time.

“Not only does the DAR add a step – and the world is very busy,” he said, “but a design advice request can have the lowest priority and you can get bumped and bumped and bumped.”

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Coordination has proved critical at the Grant Park Village project site, where time and site constraints have challenged construction crews.

In the first phase of the Northeast Portland mixed-use development, workers are erecting five buildings that will hold a New Seasons Market, ground-floor retail space and 211 apartment units. Also, parking for 270 vehicles is being built at the site formerly occupied by Albina Fuel Co., between Northeast 32nd and 33rd avenues, and Broadway and BNSF Railway tracks.

The transition from shell work to tenant improvements is complex, said Jeff Sackett, principal at Capstone Partners LLC, which is developing the $60 million project.

“It’s a very complicated project,” he said. “Any time you have mixed use, it’s complicated by nature. Add in partially subgrade parking and retail on top of that and three levels of housing on top of that (and) basically, three city blocks are being built at once.”

Construction of the first phase started June 3, 2013, after a permitting-related delay, said Bennett Barnwell, superintendent at Walsh Construction Co., the project’s general contractor.

Walsh had to hand over the New Seasons portion of the project to R&H Construction Co. by April 30 so that R&H would have six months to make the tenant improvements, Barnwell said. New Seasons signed a lease to occupy the first floor of buildings one and two by Nov. 1, he said.

“We would have ideally liked to have built east to west, but the permit delayed us a couple of months,” he said. “That altered the way the formworks were created and increased the number of alterations needed on the formworks.”

Walsh would have normally used the same mold from Building Five on the site’s east side for buildings three and four in the middle; instead, the mold from Building Five had to be remodeled for buildings one and two and remodeled again for buildings three and four, Barnwell said.

“Because we couldn’t just do a concrete slab in one steady flow, we essentially left the whole center part of the (project),” he said. “We would have liked to have done the concrete planter walls and waterproofing in one steady flow.”

Walsh’s build-out was further limited by the site, which allowed a construction crane’s giant arm to fully reach only buildings one through four. That means “a lot of mule work” for Building Five, Barnwell said.

Despite the challenges, the handover of the New Seasons shell took place on time; R&H will make the tenant improvements over the next six months. All five buildings will be completed by the end of the year, Barnwell said.

While Walsh set up the formwork, R&H and its subcontractors began penetrating the site’s post-tension concrete slab. Coordination is critical because any mistakes – such as drilling into a cable – could cause an accident, said Gerhard Penner, R&H’s project superintendent.

Sharing subcontractors has improved coordination, he said.

“We worked hand in hand with Walsh, using the same mechanical, electrical and plumbing subs,” he said. “Therefore, since the plumber was already on site, he already knew he was going to do the build-out. He’s going to make sure the sleeves are in the right place.”

While some neighbors are shocked by the size of the project, they are happy with the result, said Brittain Brewer, chairman of the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association. Traffic is expected to increase, but the development also will provide upwards of 80 jobs as well as additional shopping options.

“It was a mudhole before, and now we can walk to New Seasons,” he said. “These architects and developers have done an excellent job.”

A new traffic signal will be installed on Broadway at 32nd Avenue, Brewer said. Also, signals at 24th and 37th avenues will be improved.

“You can go on Broadway downtown and there’s a light at every block; why should Broadway at 32nd be any different?” he said. “With greater density and greater traffic, lights are to be expected. I have no problem with it. I am content with the way things worked out.”

The project is expected to have two or three phases. The remaining space on the 4.9-acre property is zoned for high-density residential and commercial use, Sackett said.

“It’s still too early to tell what that’s going to look like,” he said. “The site has a lot of potential.”

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Shifting from excavation and concrete pouring mode, Walsh Construction Co. crews plan to go vertical next week at Grant Park Village as framing work begins on what will be a 204-apartment portion of the mixed-use project.

Grant Park Village, located on 4.9 acres at the intersection of Northeast 33rd Avenue and Broadway, also will have seven townhomes, a New Seasons Market store and other retail spaces, project manager Chuck Moore said.

“It’s always good to get the concrete down,” he said. “All the risks and unknowns are in the first stage. But we had a dry November, so we are out of the woods.”

The five building, three-story, wood-framed apartment building complex will sit atop two levels of concrete slabs when they are completed by the end of next year. Construction is expected to cost $40 million.

Walsh will build the shell of the 35,000-square-foot New Seasons Market store, which will sit at street level, by the end of April 2014. R&H Construction Co. will make the tenant improvements, Moore said.

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Mike Giomi looks forward to the day the industrial past of the Albina Fuel site in Northeast Portland is but a distant memory.

“When the Albina Fuel company decided to move to Vancouver, we were very excited to create something – I don’t want to say a gateway – that would bring in the Broadway corridor with something that was very attractive to the neighborhood,” said Giomi.

Giomi is married to a member of the Arntson family, which has owned the 4.9-acre property at the corner of Northeast 33^rd Avenue and Broadway for the past 100 years. Giomi has managed it since 2003.

“[We wanted it to be] something to be proud of because it was a family legacy,” Giomi said.

After a decade of planning and with Capstone Partners as its development partner, the family is finally a bit closer to realizing its far-off vision. Capstone’s $60 million Grant Park Village, which boasts one of the tallest cranes in the city, is moving full-steam ahead.

But as the project takes shape, so are blueprints for a second and third phase, which when completed could easily double the project’s scope.

Chris Nelson, a principal at Capstone Partners, said the development team has started master planning for the second and third phases of development and is in discussions with numerous retailers. He said the second phase will include at least 150 residential units as well as additional retail space.

Phase one is slated to have 211 units and a 35,000-square-foot New Seasons Market as the anchor tenant. Nelson said New Seasons has been a big draw for other retailers, but the site has merit on its own.

“I think what we liked about the site, and even more so now, is it’s a large site that could support a major development,” Nelson said. “One thing that we found – and New Seasons obviously saw this as well – is you have the Hollywood area and the Broadway trade area, but Broadway peters out at 15^th [Avenue]. So there’s a gap between the more formal Hollywood District and what I would call the west edge of the Broadway corridor.”

Capstone hopes Grant Park Village, which is named for the Grant Park neighborhood directly to the north, will bridge that gap and also offer a connection to the Laurelhurst Neighborhood to the south across Interstate 84. Nelson’s team interviewed with the Arntsons to develop the site back in 2003, but the family chose Spokane, Wash.-based SRM Development.

SRM’s concept also involved the construction of 300-odd condo units, and progressed all the way through design review before dying during the recession. Capstone re-approached the Arntsons in 2011 with plans to revive the project. This past May, Capstone closed on a $41 million construction loan from Key Bank.

Giomi thinks Grant Park Village will be an impetus for further development in Northeast Portland. Meanwhile, discussions for lease opportunities are underway, though perhaps not for long.

“We expect the project to lease up very quickly,” Nelson said.

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A major tenant has signed on to help fill Grant Park Village, a 194-unit housing complex that will be built on the Albina Fuel Site on Northeast Broadway.

New Seasons announced this week that it will occupy 34,500 square feet of the development‘s retail space; the development will have 45,000 square feet total.

The store will bring approximately 150 jobs to the area, according to New Seasons officials. And store designers will work with neighborhood residents to create a project that will be tailored to the local community, they added.

Grant Park Village is the third development proposed for the site since Albina Fuel moved its headquarters to Vancouver, Wash., in 2003. Two similar developments were planned but fell through due to the down economy.

The four-story complex, designed by and developed by Capstone Partners, would be phase one of a three-part project. Other phases would involve developing more units elsewhere on the property.

Construction will start on the development late this fall and is expected to finish in fall 2014.

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Another development has been proposed for the Albina Fuel site on Northeast Broadway.

is proposing to build a four-story, 194-unit housing complex on the site. The complex, named Grant Park Village, would have 45,000 square feet of retail space and 271 parking spaces.

Grant Park Village is the third development proposed for the site since Albina Fuel moved its headquarters to Vancouver, Wash., in 2003. Two similar developments were planned but fell through due to the down economy.

“This site has been underutilized for a long time,” said Jeff Sackett, a principal of Capstone Partners. “Everybody recognizes a good development is a big improvement over a big pile of gravel.”

The 194-unit complex, designed by , would be phase one of a three-part project, according to Sackett. Other phases would involve developing even more units elsewhere on the property.

The village would help draw consumers and residents to the area and increase business for local retailers, said Carol Gossett, land use chair of the , which supports the project.

“Having the property go from nothing – not even vegetation – to being a viable investment in the neighborhood is very exciting,” Gossett said.

A pre-application conference for the project will be held on June 7. If the project passes the permitting process, Sackett expects construction to begin late this fall.

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