Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday unanimously approved plans for to alter the two lower levels of the 12-story Selling Building for the James Beard Public Market.

The building is located at 610 S.W. Alder St. The project also includes modifying space in an adjacent building at 622 S.W. Alder St. The entire façade of 622 S.W. Alder St. and the first two stories of the Selling Building are being reconstructed to provide new market entries.

The project team includes lead architect and architect of record BCV Architecture + Interiors of San Francisco, local architect COLAB Architecture + Urban Design, civil engineer Humber Design Group, and general contractor Hoffman Construction.

The project is valued at $1.6 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

Market programming will include vendor stalls, prepared food vending spaces, a restaurant anchor tenant, a teaching kitchen/cooking school, common space for community events, common seating areas throughout the market, trash and vendor storage, and a rooftop bar with covered seating.

The Historic Landmarks Commission previously provided the project team with design advice during a hearing in May 2025. The design for the market’s western portion (622 S.W. Alder St.) was approved by staff in late February, said Ben Nielsen, senior city planner for Portland Permitting and Development.

Monday’s hearing was a type III historic resource review for proposed exterior alterations to the market’s eastern half — in the historic Selling Building, which was built in 1910.

“The alterations will essentially restore the lower two levels of the building to their historic states,” Nielsen said.

Alterations include replacing granite cladding, storefronts and windows on the ground floor and second floor with new polished black granite cladding, new aluminum storefronts, and new awnings on the ground floor and with new wood windows and terra cotta cladding on the second floor. Glass fiber reinforced polymer cladding was proposed as an alternate design. A sign band proposed above the new storefronts will be composed of black, back-painted glass with bronze lettering and decorative trim.

The historic storefront at Spella Caffè will remain, as will portions of the lobby entry to the Selling Building.

Hans Baldauf, founding principal at BCV Architecture + Interiors, said the firm is working with a terra cotta manufacturer — Gladding McBean, of Lincoln, California — that provided the original terra cotta for the building. The decision to use an alternate material came down to cost and technical matters, Baldauf said, adding that it looks promising for the team to use terra cotta for the project.

“The resin approach gives us that fallback,” Baldauf said.

The proposal includes two modifications related to signage. One increases the maximum area allowed per sign and the other increases the maximum area allowed for all signs. Ordinarily, total signage cannot exceed 250 square feet; the proposal calls for a total of approximately 282 square feet.

Commissioners voiced support for the proposal, specifically on restoring the two levels of the building, the multiple storefronts, the signage and the conditions of approval.

Construction of the market began this past fall. It’s on track to open next spring.

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The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday approved a project team’s plans to seismically upgrade and expand the Albina Library.

The library opened in 1912 at 216 N.E. Knott St., thanks to property and financial gifts from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, according to the Multnomah County Library District‘s website. The library has moved multiple times, but it returned to its current location and reopened following in August 2021.

In 2020, Multnomah County voters approved a $387 million capital bond measure for library improvements. Some of that money is going to the Albina Library project, which includes an approximately 22,800-square-foot addition, according to Liz Sauer, communications manager for Library Capital Bond Projects.

The project site includes two properties: the existing 7,814-square-foot library facing Knott Street and the Isom Operations Center (slated for demolition) at 205 N.E. Russell St. The library’s rear facade received a series of additions – including a warehouse and a garage – in the 1960s and ’70s. Those will be removed.

A new operations center will be constructed at 221 N.E. 122nd Ave. Hennebery Eddy Architects is designing that project, which is expected to wrap up in fall 2023.

Work will include repair and restoration of the historic windows and restoration of the rear facade. The addition will include library and community spaces, as well as library administration offices, with an entrance from Russell Street that will connect to a pocket of restaurants and retail spaces. New features will include an outdoor courtyard, large community/meeting rooms, expanded study spaces, a dedicated teen room, updated technology and internet service, and new art that represents the community.

LEVER Architecture is the project’s architect. Andersen Construction is the contractor.

Building modifications proposed during Monday’s meeting include extending the allowed length of the building that does not meet the 10-foot maximum setback along Russell Street, adjusting the location and size of the vehicle area so that 77 percent of frontage is vehicle area and loading space, and reducing the minimum drive aisle width from 20 feet to 12 feet at the south end of the parking area to accommodate a loading space.

The project team wanted to make a direct link between the existing library and the expansion, LEVER Architecture Chandra Robinson said, so they will connect at floor level. Also, the addition was designed to tuck behind the original structure and not detract from it.

The commission approved the proposal, including the modifications and a condition for final design of the existing library’s rear facade. The project team is planning to seek a type I building permit.

Albina Library will close temporarily in spring 2023 to allow construction to begin. The expansion is scheduled to finish in fall 2024.

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