Design commissioners on Thursday suggested significant changes to a developer’s proposal for a mass-timber multifamily project near Forest Park in Northwest Portland.

Noel Johnson, an independent local developer, is proposing to build 13 structures containing 219 total multifamily units at Northwest 29th Avenue and Nicolai Street. Each building would have 16 to 19 units.

The development, known as Northbound 30 Collaborative, would be a companion to Johnson’s adjacent Wilson Forest Park Townhomes; construction of its final units is nearly complete. Both developments feature low-slung residences made from cross-laminated timber, but they have distinct investors and are separate legal entities.

Eight of the Northbound 30 (NB30) buildings were previously approved, with designs by Waechter Architecture and Jones Architecture. On Thursday, Johnson sought design advice for five additional buildings designed by Leeb Architects. The site gained room for more buildings after the Northwest Children’s Theater and School found a downtown location that better suited the organization’s needs, Johnson said.

The Design Commission awarded the previous design for NB30 a citation for design excellence. The newly proposed buildings still need some work, commissioners said Thursday.

“I don’t think the design of the new buildings fits in with the design of the previous buildings,” Commissioner Jessica Molinar said. “I think it’s just too many moves.”

Commissioner Don Vallaster agreed.

“This thing doesn’t work for me,” he said. “This thing has to be simplified. … It’s too dense, it’s confusing and it muddles the whole concept.”

The site has a base 3:1 floor-area ratio, and a height limit of 65 feet. Materials were chosen to echo Forest Park and the industrial sanctuary to the north, Johnson said.

Commissioners criticized a pedestrian walkway that they said leads to little except a leasing office and interacts too much with vehicle traffic. They also criticized a column holding up one of the building corners.

NB30 Collaborative would furnish 98 vehicle parking spaces, including 12 surface spots. Bicycle parking would total 345 spaces, including 219 in-unit spots.

There was some disagreement Thursday about whether the development met bike parking requirements when calculated separately with the five newest buildings, or overall. There are also limits to how many bike parking spaces can be provided in units, and even how far from the door they can be, Bureau of Development Services planner Grace Jeffreys said.

“We believe we fully meet code,” Johnson said.

Johnson told commissioners he and Leeb Architects would work to address their concerns.

“You’ve given us a lot of changes that we can incorporate to show respect for your opinions,” he said. “We will go back and attempt to do so.”

Most of the suggested changes were minor and could be accomplished, Johnson said.

“I thought this was a pretty purely design-driven discussion, and that’s something I respect,” he said.

The massing scheme of separate buildings means the project is not subject to inclusionary housing requirements, which apply only to buildings of 20 units or more. Johnson, who has criticized the affordable housing policy, said the site lent itself to the broken-up massing.

“It’s the right massing for the neighborhood to have multiple small buildings,” he said. “It’s just the right design response.

“Separate from that – I don’t think our inclusionary housing program is working.”

The NB30 Collaborative project team is scheduled to return before the Design Commission on June 2.

Johnson said he expects to use I&E Construction as general contractor. The Wilsonville firm built the Wilson Forest Park Townhomes.

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PROJECT: Beaverton Youth Development Center

LOCATION: 9785 S.W. Harvest Court, Beaverton

SIZE:��14,000 square feet

COST:��not provided

START DATE: September 2021

END DATE: summer 2022

OWNER/DEVELOPER: YMCA of Columbia-Willamette

ARCHITECT: Leeb Architects

ENGINEERS: MKE & Associates (mechanical/electrical); Standridge Inc. (civil); KPFF (structural)

CONTRACTOR:��Precision Construction

OTHER CONSULTANTS/ASSOCIATES: CU Design (interiors)

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: An existing warehouse is being renovated to become a YMCA youth development center. The structure had served as a Beaverton Police Department evidence storage facility prior to acquisition by the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette. Now it will become a community hub that hosts youth-focused activities and events.

The Youth Development Center will be next to the existing Beaverton Hoop YMCA. Together, the two facilities will be part of an expanded, inclusive YMCA campus. The new center will be 14,000 square feet and serve children of all ages. The campus will expand after-school, child care and learning options for families in the area.

A $10 million capital campaign was launched several years ago by the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette to purchase both the Beaverton Hoop building and its warehouse neighbor in order to develop a fitness and child care center. Though the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges, the organization tapped operating dollars to buy the buildings in July 2020.

Leeb Architects was engaged from the beginning, working with the community and stakeholders on design. Now, Precision Construction is tackling the project, which is expected to wrap up next summer.

“Building Blocks” spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcoregon.com/building-blocks.

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The Sullivan’s Ridge Apartments represents a quintessential Portland project for 2021.

Located on Northeast Multnomah Street, just a few blocks from the Lloyd Center mall, the Sullivan’s Ridge Apartments represent the conversion of a former Residence Inn by Marriott into a 168-unit apartment complex spread across 10 separate buildings. It’s the perfect project for an era that has seen the decimation of the region’s hospitality industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time the surge of new residents calling Portland home has continued unabated.

“This type of conversion is actually pretty new in the marketplace,” said Charles Kidwell, a senior associate with Leeb Architects, the firm responsible for designing the project on behalf of Grand Peaks, a property management firm with six properties in the Portland-metro area and many others across the United States. “But I think it’s a byproduct of the downturn in the hospitality industry and the housing shortage.”

R&H Construction was the general contractor for the project, which received its final occupancy permits toward the end of June.

Built in 1996, the original Residence Inn was comprised of eight separate buildings hosting what were essentially apartments. That fit Marriott’s unique requirements for this brand, which catered to extended-stay travelers and vacationers looking for more than a mere hotel room. It also meant that no reconfiguration of existing floor layouts was required during the renovation of those eight three-story buildings.

Instead, finishes, furniture and interior aesthetic were the focus of the improvements for Leeb and colleagues from Garrison Hullinger Interior Design.

“The main changes were finishes,” Kidwell said. “They stripped out all of the flooring, replaced carpets and tile, and did a lot of repainting. Most of the other work that they did was any repairs that needed to be done, because obviously the apartments had been in use for 25 years.”

The bulk of the renovation work actually focused on a pair of buildings that formerly housed laundry facilities, along with guest amenities and management functions.

The so-called cabana building originally held the laundry equipment for the hotel. These days, it still hosts tenant laundry facilities, but those go alongside a new indoor gym and media room.

The clubhouse building, meanwhile, features the management office for the complex, a large tenant entertainment room with a kitchen, seating and a large fireplace and television. Upstairs, a conference room and another media room are available, while the mail room and maintenance headquarters are found on the ground floor.

“This space is the actual club space for residents,” Kidwell said. “The physical geometry of the space did not change. But all the finishes inside here are new.”

Gone are the old popcorn ceiling finish and worn carpet. In its place are new carpet, new recessed lighting, newly clad exposed beams across the ceiling and a newly finished kitchen space.

“One of the objectives of the clubhouse is as a marketing tool,” he said. “You want to appeal to the tenants who are looking for a more up-to-date place, so you have to get rid of the tired look from the old Residence Inn and make it look fresh. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Doing all this required the project team to go through a nine-month planning and zoning approval process because of the change of use from hospitality to residential. This also triggered new requirements for bicycle parking and ADA accessibility, which meant a plethora of new sidewalks, ramps, over 250 covered bike parking spaces and secure entrances had to be installed.

“From 1996 to now there have been a lot of changes in accessibility requirements,” Kidwell said. “And one of the biggest challenges of the project was getting it through the permitting process.”

Because much of that process was centered around the cabana and clubhouse buildings, it allowed the team to wrap up renovation of the first four residential buildings by February.

Leasing began in April while the rest of the residential units were renovated. The cabana and clubhouse buildings, meanwhile, were given their certificates of occupancy in late June.

Today, roughly half the complex is currently occupied, said Bailey Miller, assistant community manager for Sullivan’s Ridge.

“We’ve been open since April, and we’re already halfway full,” Miller said.

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Just inside Gresham city limits, near East Burnside Street and Southeast 167^th Place, a multifamily development is in the works for a 0.52-acre parcel. The project, designed by Leeb Architects for developer West Coast Home Solutions, will add 24 apartments to the market.

“It obviously allows people to use the MAX (light rail) to commute,” said Robert Leeb, the firm’s principal in charge. “And I think that in terms of the building and the design, we were trying to coordinate the building with the context of the neighborhood. We had a group of townhomes next to us on the east, and we wanted to be compatible with those owner-occupied row homes.”

The single-building development is being designed in a contemporary townhouse style that will include an internal courtyard and a children’s play area. On-site parking will consist of 15 surface spaces and nine tuck-under parking garages – a one-to-one ratio for the 24 units.

“We created pavilions in the buildings and steeper pitched roofs,” Leeb said, “to break the mass up into different pavilions to give it a row house, townhouse look instead of a monolithic apartment building.”

Traditional exterior materials are being used, including lap siding and brick masonry at the base.

Apartments will be studios, one-bedroom units or two-bedroom units.

“It’s a smaller scale and there are nice-sized two-bedrooms,” Leeb said. “There is a nice courtyard that some of the units face. It’s a small-scale infill, and there’s a limited amount of space to do what you want to do. But we’re proud of it; it’s an elegant little building.”

West Coast Home Solutions will serve as its own general contractor. It formerly developed only single-family homes. Right now, however, the firm is nearing completion on its first multifamily project: the 266-unit Harbor Sky Apartments in North Portland.

The firm hopes to begin construction on the Burnside Apartments sometime in the first quarter of 2020, Leeb said. At that time, he noted, subcontracts for the project will still be going out to bid.

“I don’t think we take our notes from Burnside or the light rail as much from the neighborhood context,” Leeb said. “The idea was definitely to get this project into the neighborhood. This was something that was in their portfolio for a while. They had control of this property for a while, and they’ve done some smaller projects in Gresham.”

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, send an email to newsroom@djcOregon.com.

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Wilsonville-based West Coast Home Solutions, since its inception in 2005, has developed single-family houses and townhomes in the Portland-metro area. But on a site along the Columbia River in North Portland, the company is making its first foray into apartment development. The Harbor Sky Apartments also represents West Coast Home Solutions’ faith in that market’s future.

“We feel like the Portland market is going to be appreciating more and more compared with Seattle and Denver,” West Coast Home Solutions President Eugene Labunsky said. “For me the biggest difference is when you’re building a subdivision and you’ve got 100 home spaces, you have 100 customers. When you’re building an apartment building you have 100 tenants, but they’re not your customers; so you only have one buyer if you sell the building. It’s like selling a business versus selling or catering to a lot of folks.”

Labunsky’s brother, Andy, is president of Portland-based Atlas Property Management, which will manage the Harbor Sky complex when it is finished.

“It’s a long-term hold play,” Andy Labunsky said. “It’s almost a recession-proof investment.”

West Coast Home Solutions is serving as its own general contractor for the Harbor Sky Apartments. Leeb Architects designed the complex, which will consist of 385,000 total square feet – a mix of residential and ground-floor commercial space.

Ground was broken late last year. There will be 266 apartments – studios, one-bedroom units or two-bedroom units – as well as a private swimming pool, controlled-access covered parking, a 24-hour fitness studio, bicycle storage and more. The units will average around 600 square feet, but the largest (two-bedroom penthouse units on the sixth floor) will have some 1,500 square feet. Completion is expected by the end of 2019.

Harbor Sky will be a single large structure with three distinct wings that overlook a pair of large courtyards opening to the north and the Columbia River. The building itself will have five wood-framed stories atop a post-tensioned concrete podium. However, some sections, including the main entrance, will have only four stories.

The poor soil quality close to the river meant extensive shoring was required to stabilize the building, lead project architect Steve Sandstrom said. In fact, 395 separate pilings, some up to 75 feet in depth, were drilled for structural support. Deep soil mixing was used to help prevent liquefaction of below-grade soil in case of a seismic event.

“We learned a lot, and quickly,” Sandstrom said. “They pour concrete like a slurry when they’re doing the piling itself, so essentially it eliminates the liquefaction factor from happening.”

The irregular-shaped property also contributed to the building’s unique design. Far from a flat-roofed box, Harbor Sky features numerous nooks and crannies; according to the most recent calculation, 58 distinct floor plans will be used for the residential units.

In the future, the Labunsky brothers say they want to engage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in talks to try and find a way to create legal access to the levee north of the complex. Currently, it’s off-limits to the public.

“We’re not even supposed to walk on that right now,” Andy Labunsky said. “People walk on it all the time, but it’s not authorized.”

The Labunskys also envision the levee one day becoming part of Portland’s 40-mile bicycle loop that is being built farther east along Marine Drive.

“Even though it’s technically not a sanctioned path yet, if it came through it would be a dynamite asset to have,” Eugene Labunsky said.

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A new apartment complex coming to Fairview promises to provide views of the Columbia River Gorge. Fairview Meadows, planned for a 4.8-acre site at 22199 N.E. Sandy Blvd., will feature five separate buildings, which will hold 196 residential units and four live-work units. The buildings will be three to four stories.

West Coast Home Solutions is the project’s owner, developer and contractor, and Leeb Architects is the designer. TM Rippey is providing structural consulting, with Vancouver, Washington-based Standridge Design contributing civil engineering.

“We’re trying to add to the success of Sandy Boulevard,” Leeb project architect Steve Sandstrom said. “Fairview’s become a lot more attractive as far as housing.”

With companies like Amazon building large warehouses in nearby Troutdale, Sandstrom said the area is gaining jobs and a greater need for housing. Plus, the Fairview City Council last year voted to provide incentives for development on vacant land, he said.

One of the logistical challenges presented by the Fairview Meadows site is its slope, Sandstrom said. To get river views for the property slightly north of Interstate 84, construction will be on a 10-percent grade. Workers performing site preparation have recently begun to smooth out a spot for the complex. Construction will begin at the end of the year at the very earliest, but possibly not until next year, Sandstrom said.

Another unique element Sandstrom pointed to is the podium-style construction for two of the five buildings. This design sees several levels of light framing stacked on top of a base of a harder material, usually concrete.

Fairview Meadows’ buildings will have three to four stories of residential space atop two levels of above- or below-grade parking. The project will be one of the first in Fairview to utilize podium construction, Sandstrom said.

Fairview Meadows is expected to open in 2020.

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91��Ƶ architecture and engineering reporter Alex Visser at 503-802-7224 or avisser@djcOregon.com.

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A proposal for a seven-story mixed-use building with 107 apartments in the Goose Hollow neighborhood has received the Portland Design Commission‘s approval.

The project, at one point named the Taylor Street Apartments II, was designed by Leeb Architects for a 0.23-acre (roughly 15,000 square feet) lot at 1500 S.W. Taylor St., near Lincoln High School.

The property owner is Shelter Holdings, a Bellevue, Washington-based developer working through the 1500 Taylor LLC registered in Oregon. Directly across the street from 1500 S.W. Taylor St. the firm owns a 0.23-acre parcel at 930 S.W. 15th Ave. There, the virtually identical seven-story, 107-unit Taylor Street Apartments project was approved by the Design Commission in 2017.

Plans for Taylor Street Apartments II call for a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments as required under Portland’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, structured parking with approximately 22 stalls and two loading spaces, 163 bicycle parking spaces, a rooftop amenity deck and an eco-roof. The building is designed to have approximately 74,780 square feet, including 782 for a retail space oriented to the corner of Southwest Taylor Street and 15th Avenue.

Exterior building materials include Norman brick in two colors (coal creek and amber rose), aluminum storefronts, concrete bulkheads, and steel and glass canopies at the ground level. Fiber cement panels, brake metal panels with metal louvers and commercial-grade vinyl windows are to be used on stories two through seven.

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A series of high-profile Portland projects for Mill Creek Residential Trust is continuing to grow.

The latest, Modera Buckman, will be a seven-story mixed-use residential building on a half-block parcel at the northeast corner of Southeast Belmont Street and 12th Avenue in the Central Eastside. The rectangular building will feature 170 apartments – a mix of studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units. It also will have over 6,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

“I don’t know if it’s a template,” said Rex Ingram, an associate and lead designer for Leeb Architects. “But they’re looking for a certain mix of units and they’re careful about where they put their projects and properties for the benefit of the neighborhoods they go into. This project is kind of special; the first floor is a lot of retail, which is great, and we have some really nice amenity spaces as well.”

Mill Creek Residential Trust has spent plenty of time and energy promoting its Modera brand across the country. In Portland alone, there are six Modera-branded properties either built or in development.

The 200-unit Modera Belmont was completed last year; construction of the 204-unit Modera Davis is set to finish later in 2019; the 291-unit Modera Glisan remains under construction in the Pearl District; construction of the 290-unit Modera Pearl finished in 2017; and the 134-unit Modera Goose Hollow was sold by Mill Creek in 2017 for a reported sum of $47.5 million.

Construction of Modera Buckman is set to wrap up in fall 2019, and there is plenty of work still to be done. Mill Creek Residential Trust is serving as its own contractor for the project.

“We’re framed pretty much all the way up,” Mill Creek assistant superintendent Colin Hallberg said. “The roof deck is sheeted – we’re just about complete there – and we’re headed toward dry-in.”

Most of the roof trusses are now in place, Hallberg added. Next up, crews will wrap the building with a stout weather-resistant barrier and prep window openings for glazing.

“It’s a battle with the weather trying to get it dried in and get things sealed up,” he said. “The big push right now is just getting it dried in. We have temp heat coming in in a week or two to start drying it out. And then we’ll start from the top down with our rough-in and the MEP stuff.”

Modera Buckman amenities include a hotel-style lounge and fitness studio on the ground floor. An outdoor terrace with a fire pit and barbecue area will be on the top floor. Pet washing and dedicated bike parking and maintenance areas will be available in the underground parking area.

The project team is aiming for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating, Ingram said. That will be achieved, in part, through a highly efficient envelope, access to transit and other features.

“They’ve (engineering firm Glumac) looked at the envelope and the efficiencies of the mechanical units and the way the building will be heated and cooled,” Ingram said. “And we look at the air barrier between units – that’s a big one.”

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The development team proposing construction of a new seven-story mixed-use building in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood will have a with city planners next week.

Applicant Leeb Architects submitted the development proposal for the project, which would be built on a 0.23-acre parcel at 1500 S.W. Taylor St. A different proposal for the same site received the Portland Design Commission‘s approval last year before developers withdrew.

The latest pre-application conference will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, in city offices at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave.

The property was purchased for $2.8 million in April 2016 by OPC 1500 Taylor Street LLC, a foreign-owned corporation registered in Delaware.

The previous project, designed by SERA Architects, called for an 11-story mixed-use tower with 146 residential units and 1,250 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The development team was a partnership of three firms: the Molasky Group, Trinity 3 Investment and Langley Investment Properties. An existing structure on the property, before development plans ended.

Now, a new team is seeking to construct a seven-story mixed-use building with 100 apartment units on floors two through seven. The 74,780-square-foot building would have a sizable ground-floor lobby, commercial space, a mechanical trash area and 30 vehicle parking spaces.

This time around, the developer is Bellevue, Washington-based Shelter Holdings LLC. It’s also involved in building a five-story, 107-unit mixed-use development (also designed by Leeb Architects) a half-block away at 1440 N.W. Taylor St. That project team is awaiting final issuance of a building permit.

A previous city staff report notes that the individual for whom the demolished home was named, Frederick Van Voorhies Holman, was a prominent Portland lawyer who died in 1927. He was a son of pioneers and initiated the donation to the city of Holman Park, which is now part of Forest Park. Holman also reportedly helped form the Portland Rose Society and was credited with dubbing Portland “the Rose City.”

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A new project in the Lents neighborhood of Southeast Portland aims to provide a unique combination of residential living and professional childcare.

The new YMCA Foster development is a mixed-use project, combining a full-service daycare facility with 48 new apartments intended for workforce housing. The project will ultimately replace the existing aging YMCA facility the currently sits on a trapezoidal shaped piece of property near the junction of Southeast Foster Road and Southeast Holgate Boulevard.

Architect Charlie Baxter is the project lead for Portland firm Leeb Architects. He said the way in which the YMCA property is split between commercial and residential zoning propelled the design and led to the concept of bringing the project much closer to the street than the existing structure. In addition, it also led to the use of sweeping rooflines and other design features that will set this project apart from the rest of the neighborhood.

“You can see where the zoning bisects the site and puts some limits on where the residential could go,” Baxter said. “I found it interesting because I like geometry, and to have this parameter I was working around, watching the zoning requirements carve out how this thing can be laid out, it lent itself to a more playful roof form and more of an interesting façade.”

The project also should complement the city of Portland’s ongoing Foster Transportation and Streetscape Project. This will reduce vehicle traffic from two lanes to one in either direction between Southeast 50^th and 90^th avenues. It also will slow down traffic, make the existing streetscape more pedestrian friendly and create a catalyst for future development along Foster Road.

There are other residential and commercial projects currently under way in Lents, but the YMCA Foster will remain unique among them for its mix of apartments and daycare. While it won’t technically qualify as affordable housing by being limited to certain income levels, Baxter said, the one-, two- and three-bedroom units that will be available still will fall below the market average in Portland.

“It’s a mix of ones, twos and three-bedroom units, which is complimentary to families moving in,” he said. “It’s convenient for families who want to live in the units and walk their kids downstairs to daycare.”

Because the daycare facility is an integral part of the project, there will be plenty of glass incorporated into the design, as well as natural wood finishes on the façade and interior.

Summit Real Estate Management is the property owner, and the project will be funded through a mix of public and private money. A general contractor has not yet been selected, Baxter said. That process will involve a negotiated contract, he added.

“It’s all about finding the right fit and the right price,” he said.

On the Boards is a 91��Ƶ feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact Josh Kulla at 503-802-7226 or jkulla@djcorprod.wpengine.com.

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