A Pearl District group on Monday elevated its fight against plans for a 23-story tower, filing a notice of intent to appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

That action follows approvals of the project by the Portland Design Commission and City Council, which in January turned back an appeal by the group – Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design (PNID).

The Hyatt Place and Allison Residences proposal has stirred opposition in the Pearl District, where it would be the first building to reach a new height limit of 250 feet. The Central City 2035 rezoning plan raised height limits in the Pearl District, Goose Hollow and other close-in neighborhoods, causing some residents to voice fears that those areas would change for the worse.

“The whole essence isn’t the height so much as the density, the traffic, the impact on the greenway,” said Patricia Cliff, president of PNID.

The building would have 160 hotel rooms and 113 residential units in 197,118 square feet. Otak Inc. is designing the project for Seattle multifamily developer Vibrant Cities and hotelier The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi.

The project doesn’t adequately consider bicycle traffic or deliveries to the building planned at 350 N.W 12th Ave., Cliff said.

“The precedent setting of it is incredible,” she said. “There are 12 of these quarter-blocks in the South Pearl, south of Lovejoy (Street). Any one of them could be built this way. It’s a preservation idea.”

Attorney Carrie Richter of Bateman Seidel is representing PNID, a nonprofit organization. The group is separate from the city-recognized Pearl District Neighborhood Association, although some members are active in both groups. Richter could not be reached for comment.

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The Portland Design Commission has reapproved a proposal to build a 23-story tower, the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences, in the Pearl District. The City Council – in a rare move – had remanded the project to the Design Commission on Sept. 26.

Design commissioners voted 4-0 on Thursday to return their recommendation to the City Council, which is now scheduled to hold a hearing on the project, and an initial vote, on Dec. 10.

The project from Seattle multifamily developer Vibrant Cities and hotelier The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi, is for a quarter-block property at 350 N.W. 12th Ave., where a parking lot sits currently. As designed by Otak Inc., the building would have 160 hotel rooms and 113 residential units in 197,118 square feet.

The building’s proposed height of 250 feet is the tallest allowed by Central City 2035 plan guidelines. As larger buildings allowed by the 2035 plan have rolled out, residents of neighborhoods such as the Pearl District and Goose Hollow have often reacted with opposition.

Throughout the design process, the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences project has been opposed by Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design, a group of nearby residents and business owners. The nonprofit is not affiliated with the city-sanctioned Pearl District Neighborhood Association.

PNID representatives have characterized the project as too large for the property, and its use too intensive, with residents and hotel guests constantly entering and exiting.

Thursday’s hearing revealed several design changes made in response to direction from City Council. The middle of the building was pulled back 3 feet from the property line. The hotel entrance at the corner of Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street was pulled back a total of 7 feet from the property line, providing more room for the public realm, said Gary Larson, an Otak consultant architect. Canopies were extended around the building. A cornice was lowered by one floor.

“Our objective has been to reduce the mass of the building through the setback strategy and reduce the apparent height of the building through the cornice line adjustments,” Larson said.

Carrie Richter, a land-use lawyer representing PNID, said the group remains disappointed with the minimal revisions.

“My client is truly disheartened by the lack of fundamental change that went into this remand,” she said.

But the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences would not be out of place in the Pearl District, where buildings are commonly built to property lines, Commissioner Zari Santner said.

“Pearl has a very, very eclectic identity,” she said. “This building would be a great addition to that.”

Commissioner Sam Rodriguez also complimented the design.

“I think the changes are positive and it will turn out to be a good building,” he said.

When the proposal returns to the City Council in December, the council will still be in the lame-duck period following the Nov. 3 election. Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who expressed concerns with the project, is likely to weigh in on the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences before she’s replaced in January by Carmen Rubio. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly also will still be on the council, and not newly elected Mingus Mapps.

If the design is approved by the City Council, opponents could potentially appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals or District Court.

The post Portland Design Commission still says yes appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A Pearl District group on Thursday continued to fight plans for a 23-story hotel and residential building that would dwarf others nearby. Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design pleaded its case to the Portland City Council in a three-hour hearing.

Plans for the 197,118-square-foot Hyatt Place and Allison Residences have elicited substantial opposition. The building, residents say, would interfere with motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic, provide no on-site parking and ruin the character of the South Pearl, where low-slung warehouses mix with modern condo buildings.

The proposal, approved by the Portland Design Commission earlier this year, calls for a structure that would be the tallest in the Pearl since implementation of the Central City 2035 plan. The zoning reform raised allowable building heights around the city in a bid to accommodate more housing and growth. But the bigger buildings have sparked backlash from residents who say their neighborhoods’ character is being threatened.

PNID’s appeal was presented by Bateman Seidel land-use attorney Carrie Richter. She said the project “turns its back” on the Flanders Greenway – a future bicyclist- and pedestrian-friendly route planned by the Portland Bureau of Transportation – and introduces a “pinch point” on Northwest 12th Avenue where neighborhood traffic would encounter a loading zone for the proposed building.

The project is planned for 350 N.W. 12th Ave., on the southeast corner of 12th Avenue and Flanders Street. The property currently holds a surface parking lot.

PNID also presented a slickly produced video illustrating the evolution of the Pearl from an “industrial wasteland” into a desirable modern neighborhood. The project is “an example of extracting all of the potential development rights while sacrificing all of the adjacent area,” PNID President Patricia Cliff said in recorded testimony.

The Central City 2035 plan raised allowable building height on the site, with bonuses, from 175 feet to 250 feet.

The project is planned by a joint venture of Seattle multifamily developer Vibrant Cities and hotelier The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi. A lawyer for the developers, Renee France, said the project conforms to design guidelines, making other objections irrelevant.

“Most of the arguments made by the appellants attempt to either ignore that criterion or impermissibly expand or mischaracterize the applicable guidelines,” she said.

France added: “This building, and this project, is exactly what Central City 2035 intended.”

Cliff, in her video narration, invoked historical racial displacement in the neighborhood and tied PNID’s appeal to the Black Lives Matter movement. That brought a sharp response from David Dysert, who serves as co-chairman of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association‘s Planning and Transportation Committee (Dysert said he was speaking as an individual).

“We can have honest disagreements about development and design, context and code, but it is disingenuous and cynical to use the argument of racial displacement for personal concerns over height, density or use,” Dysert said. “Requiring all future buildings remain below one’s own 15th-story penthouse view has nothing to do with racial equity or honoring a people’s history.”

The appeal was filed by PNID, a 501(c)(3) group that is not affiliated with the city-sanctioned Pearl District Neighborhood Association.

City commissioners did not deliberate Thursday, and chose to hold their opinions on the appeal for another day.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz grilled Gary Larson, a consulting architect with Otak, about how the building would complement the context of existing buildings – a design guideline. Larson responded that nearby buildings have materials similar to ones planned for the tower, including concrete bases.

The Design Commission unanimously approved Otak’s design in January after a series of design advice meetings.

The City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the appeal on Sept. 16. The record will remain open for new submissions until 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The council could uphold, deny or remand the appeal to the Design Commission. Either side could then appeal the council’s decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

The post Controversial development back in spotlight appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

They couldn’t figure out where to put the valet parking.

If valet parking for a 23-story hotel and apartment building in the Pearl District were placed on Northwest 12th Avenue, it could cause conflicts with residential buildings including The Casey and street traffic.

Yet if it were placed on Northwest Flanders Street, it would interfere with a plan to turn the street into a bikeway that would run from Waterfront Park to Flanders Crossing – a bridge over Interstate 405 that crews are slated to begin building this year.

The design problems for the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences were thorny. The project from a partnership of two out-of-state developers called for a dense building on a quarter-block property in a busy part of the Pearl District.

It was the first project in the south Pearl to take advantage of several provisions of the Central City 2035 plan, including a greater height limit of 250 feet, up from 175 feet. The building will have no parking – another change from old requirements that rankled some nearby residents.

Throughout the design process, the Pearl District Neighborhood Association was involved, prodding and pushing details to be more in keeping with the neighborhood and acceptable to residents. Leaders of the group’s Planning and Transportation Committee met at least three times with architects from Otak Inc., the local design firm engaged by developers Vibrant Cities of Seattle and The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi. They wrote letters. They attended hourslong Portland Design Commission hearings, which culminated in the project’s approval on Jan. 16.

“Our whole focus is to make things better,” said David Dysert, co-chairman of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association Planning and Transportation Committee. “We have a very positive relationship with the city and with the Design Commission because they respect what we’re trying to do.”

The city’s 94 officially recognized neighborhood associations are under scrutiny like never before, receiving blame from some parties for stalling projects that would bring needed housing. A code change proposed by the Office of Community and Civic Life threatened to reduce associations’ role in the city’s public process. For now, those changes have been shelved, with Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s office establishing a work group to consider the future of public involvement.

Dysert said the Pearl District Neighborhood Association is more diverse than detractors give it credit for, and does not seek to stop projects, but rather to shape them.

“We’re pro-development,” he said. “We’re pro-density.”

The Hyatt Place and Allison Residences offer a case study in how neighborhood associations work with designers and the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

Otak‘s Casey McKenna is the project manager for the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences. He worked closely with Pearl District representatives in finalizing the design.

“It was a very collaborative experience,” he said. “We presented to them three times. The third time, they were beginning to really feel like they were part of the process.”

The neighborhood association representatives also went to Otak’s offices to puzzle over models. The group’s input helped inform the building’s massing and upper-floor step-backs, materials and ground-floor elements that will be part of the pedestrian experience, including a water feature evoking Tanner Creek that is required by design guidelines.

“It was a working meeting,” McKenna said.

Early on, Otak made the decision to move the valet parking and loading to 12th Avenue. Having trucks backing onto the Northwest Flanders Bikeway could have been managed, but was best avoided, McKenna said.

“(The Portland Bureau of Transportation) didn’t want it; the neighborhood didn’t want it,” he said. “We moved the loading dock.”

Conversations between Otak’s architects and the neighborhood association leaders required some give and take, McKenna said.

“Overall, I think we would see it as a pretty positive experience,” he said. “There was some contention, certainly, in some of the earlier meetings. As an architect, sometimes you have to listen, and let them talk and listen to what they have to say.”

At times, neighborhood association leaders had to be told certain design changes would be impossible under city codes, McKenna said.

“There are just so many competing elements with a complex project like this,” he said. “Often the public doesn’t understand why things are the way they need to be. There are times where you have to say, ‘yeah, the code doesn’t allow that to happen.’”

Moving the dock and valet parking was eased by the building’s design, which places the main entrance at the corner. Some building systems could simply be swapped to the other side.

Otak also worked closely with Bureau of Development Services staffers Art Graves and Tim Heron.

Throughout, the project was challenged by another group of Pearl District residents: the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design. The nonprofit group, led by Patricia Cliff as president, fought the project for months with the help of a land-use attorney.

At one early Design Commission meeting, Cliff called the project “vertical sprawl,” and the group paraded around the room with hand-drawn pictures of a maple tree at the corner of 12th Avenue and Flanders Street that will be axed to make way for the building.

The competing priorities of Cliff’s group and the city-recognized neighborhood association have led to much consternation in the Pearl District. Adding to the issues, Cliff also serves on the neighborhood association’s Planning and Transportation Committee led by Dysert and Reza Farhoodi as co-chairmen.

“We’re kind of dealing with it,” Dysert said. “We haven’t had this before where someone has built a separate organization that is in some way parallel to what we do.”

Cliff could not be reached for comment Friday. But she said in the aftermath of the Jan. 16 approval that she still has concerns about the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences.

“It is not a user-friendly building, and it could be potentially very dangerous for pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists,” Cliff said.

The project team hopes to break ground in the fourth quarter of 2020, McKenna said.

The building will have approximately 160 hotel rooms on floors two through 11, and 113 studio and one-bedroom apartments on floors 12 through 23. The developers have opted to satisfy Portland’s inclusionary housing requirements with affordable units on site, rather than pay a fee in lieu, McKenna said. The precise number of affordable units is still to be determined.

“It’s certainly something that we’re super proud of,” McKenna said of the project. “We’re blazing a new trail.”

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A rare Portland sky-bridge proposal is on track for approval after a favorable recommendation from the Design Commission on Thursday.

City design guidelines generally discourage sky-bridges because they move pedestrian traffic away from activation points such as sidewalks and street corners, and take public space for private use. But city officials may make an exception for a proposed sky-bridge at Terwilliger Plaza, a senior living campus in Southwest Portland. The sky-bridge would stretch about 60 feet long and 26 feet, 10 inches, at its widest point across Southwest Sixth Avenue between Southwest Caruthers and Sheridan streets.

The sky-bridge would link an existing Terwilliger Plaza building with a proposed 10-story, 127-unit building to be known as Parkview at Terwilliger Plaza.

Commissioners voted 5-0 to recommend the sky-bridge be approved. In a little-used process, their recommendation goes to the city engineer, who will make a final recommendation to the City Council.

Terwilliger Plaza opened in 1962 as a senior community for retired teachers. The care facility has expanded over the years, and today has about 350 residents, said Bob Johnson, president and CEO of the nonprofit.

Commissioners said the proposed sky-bridge meets the city’s rationale for such structures.

“This population would not do well at street level,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

Commissioner Chandra Robinson added: “I agree that for the health and safety of residents, this make sense.”

Sky-bridges should have to meet a strict standard to be approved, Commissioner Jessica Molinar said.

“From my perspective, encroachments are a big deal,” she said. “It’s public space taken over for private use.”

The city most recently approved a sky-bridge in 2017 for Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Health & Healing. Before that, Pioneer Place got a sky-bridge in 1999, and the Wells Fargo Center added a sky-bridge in 1972 to link the tower to what is now a data center.

“We don’t review a lot of sky-bridges,” said Tim Heron, a Bureau of Development Services staffer. “We discourage them.”

One sky-bridge was removed when the Apple store at Pioneer Place was constructed, Heron said.

Discussion on Thursday centered on making the design of the sky-bridge’s underside pleasant for pedestrians who would see it from below. Some commissioners also expressed doubts about a plan to line the sky-bridge’s interior with art walls.

“Movable walls might work better,” said Robinson, who added that a cable system for hanging art is another possibility.

Commissioners attached three conditions to their recommendation: the project team explore the design of the bottom of the sky-bridge, explore art walls or a replacement, and consider adding six inches to the proposed 8-foot, six-inch interior height.

Commissioner Brian McCarter said the 1982 ordinance on major encroachments was a reaction to a proposed large sky-bridge that was never built. The Terwilliger Plaza proposal is much different, he said.

“I fully support the staff recommendation of this sky-bridge,” he said.

LRS Architects is designing the project. Johnson said the project team visited existing developments, including Horizon House in Seattle and another senior living facility in Chicago, to inform the design.

Terwilliger Plaza is outside the Central City and not in a design overlay zone. As such, the project is not subject to further review by the Design Commission.

Also on Thursday:

Mixed-use project advances

The Design Commission gave final approval to the Hyatt Place and Allison Residences – a 23-story tower planned for Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street in the Pearl District. After several prior hearings, commissioners approved the design unanimously with no further discussion.

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A controversial proposal for a 23-story mixed-use building won tentative approval from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday despite opposition from Pearl District neighbors.

Commissioners voted 6-0 (Chairwoman Julie Livingston recused herself) to approve the design by Otak Inc. They will hold a final vote on Jan. 16 to adopt findings on the project.

The Hyatt Place and Allison Residences project would bring 160 hotel rooms and 113 residential units to a quarter-block site at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street. The building would replace a surface parking lot.

The 197,118-square-foot project is a joint venture of Seattle multifamily developer Vibrant Cities and hotelier The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi. The project was valued at $66 million by the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

Plans were scrutinized by the Design Commission in two previous advice meetings and two review hearings, most recently in November.

Pearl District residents have objected to the project for months, lodging concerns about the planned height, mass and density for the small footprint. At 250 feet, it would be by far the tallest building in the south Pearl District under higher limits established by the Central City 2035 Plan.

Commissioners, city staffers and residents have also expressed concerns that traffic from the hotel and residential development would conflict with plans for the – a future path between the waterfront and Northwest Portland that would pass next to the building.

Commissioners did not directly address the largest issues. They said the building’s height and mass were within the zoning rules, giving the design panel little leeway, and potential traffic conflicts were an issue for the Portland Bureau of Transportation to resolve.

“The context issues – height and massing – are not something we can deal with anyway,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

The design has improved over time, Commissioner Zari Santner said.

“They have really done a great job of making the building far more coherent than it first was when it came to us,” she said.

Most recently, Otak incorporated warmer colors into the exterior palette and raised water fountains at the entrance. After objections from neighbors, the valet zone was moved from Flanders Street to 12th Avenue.

The Pearl District Neighborhood Association registered opposition to the project, as did the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design – a private group that is distinct from the city-sanctioned association.

The neighborhood association, in a letter, objected to design elements such as metal cladding and the “near-blank wall” appearance of the east facade.

Bateman Seidel’s Carrie Richter, a land-use attorney for PNID, attempted to speak to the commission on Thursday. Commissioners declined to hear her testimony, saying the record was closed.

Patricia Cliff, president of PNID, said the building would bring intense use to the intersection, with valet parking and two loading docks competing with traffic from two neighboring residential buildings and the planned bikeway.

“It is not a user-friendly building, and it could be potentially dangerous for pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists,” she said.

Also on Thursday:

No vote yet on hotel project’s design

The Design Commission tackled review for the Proper Hotel, another Pearl District project at Northwest 12th Avenue and Irving Street.

Commissioners identified some issues with a vertical column, and a lack of a water feature. However, they were largely complimentary of the design for a nine-story building with approximately 170,000 square feet.

Past projects have met design guidelines for a water feature reflecting Tanner Creek with everything from poetry to sound. Commissioner Jessica Molinar said future projects should include water features that incorporate actual water.

“It’s not a deal-breaker this time, but it will be a deal-breaker for me in the future,” she said. “Please do not come back with another project that does not include an actual water feature.”

The project is being designed by ZGF Architects for Proper Hospitality, a Santa Monica, California-based company with hotels in California and Texas.

Commissioners did not vote whether to approve the project; the hearing is set to continue on Jan. 23.

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The Portland Design Commission has delayed making a decision on a proposal for a 23-story hotel and multifamily project that has raised opposition from neighbors in the Pearl District.

The design by Otak Inc. has improved from earlier iterations, design commissioners said. But they opted not to take a vote at a Thursday hearing, leaving the record open for more written testimony.

The proposed tower would be the first in the Pearl District under Central City 2035 zoning that raised height limits. The developers plan to use the full height limit, with bonuses, of 250 feet – an increase from the previous limit of 175 feet.

Neighbors have objected to the height and bulk of the Hyatt Place design. The building would be constructed on a quarter-block lot at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street.

“The central problem here is there is too much mass and too much height and it is not contextually appropriate,” said Carrie Richter, a land use attorney representing the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design, a community group that has challenged tall building projects in the area. PNID is distinct from the city-recognized neighborhood association.

The Hyatt Place project comes from a development team of Seattle developer Vibrant Cities and The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi.

The 197,118-square-foot building would hold 160 hotel rooms on floors two through 11, and 113 studio and one-bedroom units on floors 12 through 23. The project was valued at $66 million by the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

Otak’s Gary Larson said the design team had used setbacks and other architectural moves to reduce the apparent mass.

“We have created a dynamism here with also the goal of bringing the height of the building into the context of the neighborhood,” he said.

Richter told design commissioners that they should follow the previous zoning rules because the Central City 2035 plan was remanded in August by the state Land Use Board of Appeals. The city lacked a factual basis for the height limits, LUBA said.

“The tallest building that you can approve is 175 feet,” Richter said.

City officials said they would follow the 250-foot height limit, which has been declared effective but not formally “acknowledged” – the final step of approval by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Architectural changes made since previous meetings with design commissioners won praise. Reza Farhoodi, a resident representing the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, said the design appeared “more cohesive.”

“This project will set a precedent for height in the Pearl District neighborhood, so it’s important to get the design details right,” he said.

Design commissioners said a required water feature was better integrated into the ground floor façade. They also praised the stouter appearance of the building’s base, which was criticized in earlier designs as too weak.

“The base-middle-top expression is a clear improvement over earlier expressions,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

McCarter, however, voiced one significant concern.

“My one disappointment is urban street trees,” he said. “It really bothers me in a quarter-block building that we’ve set a precedent for one street tree in a hundred feet. … To have a single tree in a hundred feet, it seems like we’ve got to do better than that.”

The project team will return before the Design Commission for final deliberations and a decision on Jan. 9.

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Pearl District residents gathered en masse at a Portland Design Commission meeting Thursday to protest plans for a 23-story hotel tower that would reach 250 feet in height, the maximum allowed after a new code was adopted in 2018 by the City Council.

Hyatt Place, designed by Otak, Inc. and developed by Seattle-based Vibrant Cities, is a mixed-use project that would feature 11 floors of hotel rooms and 11 floors of apartments, with some affordable housing units included. A restaurant and café are planned to sit on the ground floor.

The building would rise from a quarter-block property at Northwest 12^th Avenue and Flanders Street.

The proposal has already undergone two design advice sessions with the commission. On Thursday, the project team sought a land-use review, at which point the building could move forward with development.

Several dozen members of the public, most of them led by Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design (PNID), came to voice their opposition to the project, citing concerns about the sheer size of the project and the traffic it might create.

“There needs to be some serious carving of the massing,” said David Dysert, who was representing the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. He said that the volume of the building wouldn’t match the area, and that with the new code in place, any new building is going to set a precedent.

PNID President Patricia Cliff said the organization is not opposed to new development in the Pearl District, but finds the size of the project inappropriate for the south side of the neighborhood. Perhaps most worrisome, she said, is a complete lack of parking provided.

While more than 20 people signed up to provide public testimony, nearly all of them ceded their time to Carrie Richter, a land-use lawyer representing PNID.

Richter said the lack of parking, combined with a 12-foot loading zone and a quarter-block site, makes for a dangerous situation. She cited a nearby Hampton Inn with a hundred-foot loading zone and an 80-percent block space, which she said was deemed insufficient by transportation experts.

With no vehicle parking, the building should be “ground zero” for cyclist-supportive housing, but falls short in this regard as well, Richter said. She said the spaces for bicycle parking are too small, the entrance to the parking is awkward and the building lacks outdoor temporary parking.

“Bicycling is a complete afterthought in this building,” Richter said. “This is not celebrating the bicycle by any stretch of the imagination.”

For their part, commissioners discussed more nuanced aspects of the project, and didn’t address the most pressing concerns presented by the opposition related to height and traffic.

Commissioner Brian McCarter was one of several who took issue with black bands that separate the base of the building from the tower, saying that design works better with shorter buildings. He also criticized the building’s mass on the small parcel.

“It’s got a lot of issues for me,” he said. “I can’t overlook the scale and massing problems.”

Commissioner Jessica Molinar took issue with using metal panels as cladding material, although other commissioners expressed approval. Molinar said she didn’t find the material suitable for the size and location of the building, and said it would make more sense on Burnside Street.

“The metal does not work in the context,” she said. “I think part of that is the scale.”

As far as the neighborhood is concerned, most commissioners didn’t find the building to be out of place, saying the Pearl District is already eclectic in its makeup.

“There are so many different kinds of buildings in the Pearl that I don’t think, contextually, this is out of whack,” Commissioner Zari Santner said. “I like the idea of variety and diversity of style.”

Based on public opposition, the design team decided to postpone the vote for a future meeting, at which point they will provide counterarguments to opponents of the project.

The post Proposed Pearl District hotel faces neighborhood backlash appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

An unremarkable quarter-block surface parking lot in Portland’s Pearl District seems an unlikely place for a project proposal to cause a neighborhood controversy.

Yet it has. A group, the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design, has formed to fight plans by Seattle developer Vibrant Cities to build a 23-story Hyatt Place hotel and residential tower at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street.

At a recent Portland Design Commission meeting, neighbors paraded around the hearings room with hand-painted pictures of a maple tree at the site they want to preserve. One resident, Patricia Cliff, who started the opposition group, called the project “vertical sprawl.”

The Hyatt Place project is the first Pearl District proposal to enter the city’s design hearings process under the Central City 2035 zoning rules that raised height limits. The zoning changes enacted by the City Council in June 2018 raised the height limit at the property, including bonuses, from 175 feet to 250 feet.

The 250-foot-tall proposal offers a glimpse of the Pearl District’s future under the new zoning rules. It’s part of a broad policy choice, backed by Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city leaders, planners and urbanists, to encourage dense development in Portland’s urban core.

“Compared to a lot of American cities, we’re not that tall and that dense,” said Troy Doss, Central City planner for the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. “For us to achieve our employment goals and our density goals for the Central City, we need to get the most out of the land.”

It’s not going over well in the Pearl.

“It’s a monstrous building,” said Cliff, a real-estate consultant and neighborhood preservationist.

Cliff painted the project as an attempt to maximize private profits at the expense of the neighborhood’s character.

“If all of these carpetbagger out-of-town developer people buy something and air rights, then you’ve got 23-story buildings all over the south Pearl,” she said.

Cliff objects to the proposed dual uses – hotel and residential – and lack of parking. She would not object to a smaller tower of about 12 stories, she said.

The higher height limits allows the Hyatt Place building to include approximately 110 residential units, including a to-be-determined number of rent-restricted inclusionary housing units, said Brian Fleener, vice president and director of architecture at Otak Inc., the Portland firm designing the building. When first proposed, the building had only 12 stories, all dedicated to the hotel.

Opposition to the Hyatt Place project follows the 2018 fight over the Fremont Apartments, a 17-story tower that survived an appeal by the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. It’s unlikely to appeal the Hyatt Place project if approved by the Design Commission, said Stan Penkin, the group’s president.

“The building, as far as the height goes, meets code,” he said.

Unlike the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design is not a city-recognized neighborhood group and cannot appeal Design Commission approval to the City Council.

The neighborhood association opposed the Fremont Apartments design because of the building’s proximity to the Willamette River and a pedestrian greenway, and its position blocking bridge views, Penkin said.

Penkin, who like Cliff came to Portland from New York, said he does not object to tall buildings in the right locations. Resistance to the changing skyline in the Pearl District is not a case of not-in-my-backyard, or NIMBY, politics, he said.

“Being a neighborhood person and a city person, I’m concerned about the larger context,” he said. “It’s easy to call somebody a NIMBY. But I also think there’s nothing wrong with not wanting the character of your neighborhood changed. If that makes you a NIMBY, fine.”

The Hyatt Place proposal could proceed next to a formal design review hearing, or Vibrant Cities could opt for another advice meeting. The developer did not return messages seeking comment.

The building would stand near several residential high-rises, including The Casey, The Louisa and The Henry. Those buildings are all nearly 175 feet tall. There are even taller buildings at the Pearl District’s northern edge, including NV and the Cosmopolitan.

Demand to live in Portland’s urban core is strong, amid a long economic expansion, healthy job creation and in-migration. At the same time, Oregon’s system of urban growth boundaries contributes to a need to accommodate building within them.

Downtown Portland seems to be seeping into both the Pearl District and Goose Hollow – both neighborhoods adjacent to downtown that have seen an explosion of growth.

“We’re an extension of downtown,” Penkin said.

Goose Hollow’s neighborhood group did not object to a 21-story residential tower that received Design Commission approval in November.

The Pearl District is undergoing a natural progression from the initial residential wave of rehabilitated two-story warehouses, to a generation of mid-rise condo towers, to today’s high-rises, said Joe Cortright, an economist and writer on urban growth.

“There’s clearly demand for it,” he said. “From an economic perspective, there’s a really strong desire that people have for great urban environments. The Pearl District in particular is a very desirable place to live, and more people want to live there than we have housing for. As a practical matter, the only way to provide more housing there is to build up.”

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Plans for a 23-story hotel and apartment tower in the heart of the Pearl District drew strong opposition from neighbors who filled the Portland Design Commission‘s meeting room on Thursday.

The proposed building from developer Vibrant Cities of Seattle would replace a quarter-block surface parking lot at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street. The structure would ascend to 250 feet – the maximum allowed by Central City 2035 zoning adopted by the Portland City Council in June 2018.

The proposed height would allow inclusion of affordable units, said Brian Fleener, vice president and director of architecture at Otak Inc., the Portland-based firm designing the building.

A Hyatt Place hotel would occupy 11 floors of the building, with 173 hotel rooms. Apartments on 11 floors would total about 110 units, including a to-be-determined number of affordable units to meet inclusionary housing rules. A restaurant and café are planned for the ground floor.

The developer is considering the inclusionary housing option that would provide 8 percent of the units at 60 percent of area median income, Fleener said. That would yield approximately eight or nine affordable units.

Several dozen neighbors filled the hearing room for the project’s second design advice meeting. Those who testified said the tower would cause congestion of the surrounding streets, the loading area would interfere with pedestrians and the building would loom over the surrounding low-slung condos enjoyed by residents.

“No other building in the Pearl has this intense vertical sprawl with two distinct uses,” said Patricia Cliff, a retired New York real estate agent who has lived in a nearby condo for 12 years.

Neighbors also decried the planned removal of a century-old silver maple tree that occupies the corner of Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street. At one point, the residents paraded in front of the Design Commission with hand-painted portraits of the tree. Preliminary designs for the building show smaller, newer trees would be planted on both frontages.

Commissioners and city staffers said they had no authority to limit the size or use of the building if it falls within zoning parameters.

“We can’t require a less intensive use,” Commissioner Jessica Molinar said.

Commissioner Samuel Rodriguez, a developer who has performed projects in the Pearl District, said the neighborhood context is flexible.

“I truly believe that the Pearl District is a truly eclectic neighborhood,” he said. “The context is very diverse.”

The project faces design challenges related to the scale on a small footprint.

In response to earlier comments from commissioners, loading was moved to Northwest 12th Avenue from Flanders Street. Entrances for the residents and hotel guests are on the same side of the building, but they must be separate – a common requirement of hotel brands.

The project is part of a trend of developers combining hotel and residential programs, much like the recently approved 35-story Block 216 project in downtown Portland and the Hotel Indigo and Kirkland Tower condominiums at The Waterfront in Vancouver, Washington.

For the Pearl District project, UEB Builders will serve as general contractor. DCI Engineers is also on the project team.

Preliminary designs show large concrete structural columns and extensive glass. Metal panels climb the building. Exterior balconies are designed with a simple extended slab topped by clear glass railings.

More specific information regarding materials must be provided by the applicant, said Arthur Graves, a Bureau of Development Services planner.

After the meeting, Fleener said the design team will work to enliven the corner façade and differentiate the hotel and apartment entrances, perhaps with a fountain between them.

Thursday’s meeting was the first for the commission’s newest member, Brian McCarter of ZGF Architects. The landscape architect and urban planner replaces Tad Savinar, who was not reappointed by Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Chairwoman Julie Livingston recused herself from the Hyatt Place project discussion because of a potential conflict of interest that she did not specify. Molinar filled in as acting chairwoman during the meeting.

Also on Thursday:

Grand Avenue project approved

The Portland Design Commission approved designs for an eight-story mixed-use building near the intersection of Northeast Grand Avenue and Davis Street.

The 151,600-square-foot project from San Diego developer Fairfield Residential will bring 170 apartment units to the fast-developing area near the Burnside Bridge’s east end. The project will provide affordable units subject to the city’s inclusionary housing requirements.

Ground-floor retail spaces will be on the Grand Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard frontages.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is the project’s designer.

The project was subject to three design review hearings that yielded numerous revisions as commissioners expressed concerns about design coherency and quality of materials. The design had been significantly simplified to improve coherency, according to a staff report.

Commissioners voted 6-0 to approve the project.

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