PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. — A mixed-use development proposed to replace a Save A Lot grocery store will now be a two-story building, rather than three.

The project’s original design was for a four-story building with both commercial space and residential units at 4425 N. Prospect Road. That plan was then modified to three stories, with the residential component eliminated.

Now the proposal has changed again, this time to a two-story building, as the developers look to save money by eliminating the steel components necessary for a three-story building, according to developer William Torchia.

“It was basically an economic decision,” he told the Journal Star. “Just the cost of construction to go three stories, the type of construction you have to do to go that high is totally different. It actually adds a lot of steel, a steel structure into the building. So, going back to two stories, we’re allowed to eliminate all of the steel structure that we had to do and now we can build a two-story building out of wood. Economics was the driving force behind reducing the size of the building from three to two stories.”

The eliminated floor would have been office space, Torchia said. The first floor will hold commercial space that Torchia and village officials hope and expect will attract sales-tax generating businesses. The second floor will be occupied by accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen.

Peoria Heights Mayor Matt Wigginton told the Journal Star he would have preferred a three-story building, like the one proposed to the village board earlier, but he understood the economic reasons behind the decision.

“From my perspective, would I have loved a four- or three-story building?” he said. “Absolutely. Absolutely. I’ve said it time and time again, in Peoria Heights we don’t have an unlimited amount of space. We have to build up; we can’t build out. I would have preferred a taller footprint, but again I understand the realities that were presented and I am not in the commercial real estate world, so I’ll just leave it to the people who are.”

The project’s total investment, including the cost of land acquisition and demolition of the Save A Lot building, will be $12.5 million, board trustee Beth Khazzam said.

The changes to the development plan sparked a debate Tuesday night among village board members regarding a lack of clarity in the village’s zoning code as to what actions officials could take, if any, when an approved site plan changes like this one did.

Village attorney Mark Walton told the trustees that the village’s code does not specifically address an instance like this one, whereas a city like Peoria, which has hundreds of pages of zoning code, would.

Board members Sarah Devore and Nate Steinwedel on Tuesday night advocated for the village code to be reviewed in wake of changes to the development plan.

Devore said the board was shown a three-story building and was now being asked to accept a two-story project. Whether or not that violated village code, she said, was up to interpretation, but it still “materially changed the project presented to the public and approved by this board.”

“What concerns me most in this situation, among several others we have found ourselves in, highlights a weakness in our code,” Devore said. “We spend significant time reviewing projects, holding public meetings, considering the impact on the community and approving plans based on what is presented to us. Yet, when a substantial change is presented to us, we find ourselves debating whether we even have the authority to require that it come back through that same public process.”

Wigginton told the Journal Star he is open to amending the village code, and amendments are in the works, but he is not in favor of retroactively applying rules.

“It’s hard to paint that with a broad brush because typically how the village has operated is less burden on development and encouraging things to happen in the Heights, and so when you get into the weeds on some of these things, it could have the opposite effect, where you chase away business and development,” he said. “One of the things the Heights has is how we built this momentum and record of success is we try to work cooperatively.”

Some of these concerns will be addressed in the village’s revised zoning code, which should come out later this year, he said.

Despite changes to the project plan, the village board moved ahead Tuesday night in approving a tax-increment financing deal with the developers that will see them reimbursed based on how much sales tax the property generates.

If the property generates more than $2 million in sales, the developers will receive a 100 percent TIF reimbursement. If it generates more than $1 million, the reimbursement will be 80 percent, and if the generated sales are less than $1 million, the reimbursement will be 60 percent. Total reimbursement will not exceed $2.5 million.

Torchia said the developers, which include himself, Ciaron Graham and Brandon Dean, are excited about the TIF and believe it is a fair deal for them and the village. He also said the goal is to fill the first floor of the development with sales-tax generating businesses and that the process of attracting those businesses has been going “very well” so far, with announcements on the horizon.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Journal Star and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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The vision for redevelopment of Lloyd Center drew testimony from more than 50 people during a Portland Design Commission hearing on Thursday, and many expressed their opposition.

Most testifiers spoke about the value of the communities created at the mall in recent years. They asked for preservation of both the existing building as an indoor space out of the rain and the year-round indoor ice rink.

However, the project team is proposing to replace the building with interconnected mixed-use buildings and open space, including a seasonal outdoor rink.

“In light of all the testimony, most of it had to do with what happens inside of these buildings,” Commissioner Zari Santner said.

Thursday’s hearing was the Design Commission’s third look at redevelopment plans for the 27.1-acre site that consists of the mall and the Regal Cinemas lot south of Northeast Multnomah Street. Next month, the group is expected to vote on the proposal.

Both the Nordstrom building and the sky-bridge were demolished to accommodate construction of a new music venue. The mall will close later this year.

ZGF Architects designed the master plan for owners Urban Renaissance Group and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust. The project team also includes civil engineer DOWL, structural engineer KPFF, and landscape architect Field Operations of New York.

When Lloyd Center opened in 1960, it was exposed to the elements. Glass ceilings were added in the late 1980s, according to the project team’s report. The goal of redevelopment is to reverse the inward focus and build a neighborhood around open space, said Nolan Lienhart, a ZGF principal and its director of planning and urban design.

The vision for the area calls for integrating new residential, retail, entertainment, and employment space with a dynamic and connected public realm. Community gathering spaces would be accessible to all.

Approximately 20 percent of the master plan area must be dedicated open space for the public, senior city planner Ben Nielsen said. The master plan envisions high-density residential and commercial buildings framing a network of diverse but complementary connected open spaces, the applicant’s report states. It includes more than 6 acres of parks, open space, and plazas, said Tom Kilbane, managing director of Urban Renaissance Group. There would also be two pedestrian-oriented promenades. Any proposed open spaces will need to go through a design review process as part of a condition of approval for the master plan, Nielsen said.

The Design Commission’s vice chair, Joe Swank, asked where the team proposes to locate the seasonal ice rink.

“The market square seems like an obvious area, but it could be other places as well,” said Allison Rouse, a ZGF landscape architect.

The master plan area is expected to gain up to 7 million square feet of mixed-use buildings, including both affordable and market-rate housing. Utilities to support these uses would be located underground.

The project team is requesting two adjustments are requested with the master plan review. One is to remove the general required building line standards from three areas. Another is to remove required building line standards for sites with frontage on a street, except for three other areas. City staff recommend approving the two requests.

Santner asked the project team, when it returns before the commission, to give a general sense of what residential, commercial, retail and community spaces they will try to accommodate in the development.

The project team will return before the Design Commission on March 5.

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CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — “What is going on at the old school on Queen Street?” is a question developer Vern McKissick has encountered frequently on social media.

Behind the grand white columns that front the neoclassical building in the heart of Chambersburg, the project known as Live and Work @ Central has been in the works for the better part of a decade.

It is a sister development to Rose Rent Lofts, the town’s original high-school-turned-apartment-building that opened in the fall of 2020. The history is a bit complicated, because both buildings were constructed decades apart before being combined in 1958 into a massive city-block structure — a school known as Central Junior High. After closing in 1986, it sat vacant for four decades until McKissick presented a vision to peel back layers of history and redevelop the structure as downtown housing.

After significant time was spent removing asbestos and addressing other environmental hazards, the classrooms, bathrooms, hallways and most other spaces in the school at the corner of Queen and Third streets have been divided up into residential units. A recent tour of the maze of steel and drywall revealed glimpses of original elements, such as the tiled bathroom floors and hardwood hallways that run side by side through some units.

If all goes to McKissick’s plan, Live and Work @ Central will be finished before the end of the year at a cost of about $10 million.

As a “destination live-work” complex, it’s geared toward professionals who want to work where they live but desire a separate environment where they can focus.

Most of the 18 residential units are loft-style apartments that will be leased to tenants who live there full-time. There are studios, one-bedroom units and potential two-bedroom units (if a loft is used as a room). The nature of the redevelopment means that no two are alike.

Live and Work @ Central will also offer four corporate apartments for short-term lease. Looking out from the front of the building, each unit ranging from 1,200 to 2,500 square feet will have a fully furnished living space connected by a spiral staircase to a professional office space.

“We’re definitely targeting destination office, which in this day and age is about people that are small operations, but they have a lot of folks working from home,” said Kristen McKissick, Vern’s wife and an interior designer. “But they need to bring everybody together occasionally.”

She said they first learned about the live-work concept in San Francisco, which was “trying to cultivate more affordable ways for businesses to come into neighborhoods.”

“So, the concept was that if you lived where you worked, your business had a lease but that you were living and using the business’ heat and their utilities and so on, so you were able to afford a lot of those living expenses tax-free because they’re under the business expense,” she said. “And then you’re sort of sub-renting your own personal living area from your own business. And that would be enough of a break on your expenses to keep you going through the ups and downs and whatnot.”

With Chambersburg located in a “hub zone,” the McKissicks hope the units will attract federal contractors and other professionals from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

“We’re hoping some of the people frustrated with Virginia price tags and taxes will come up and enjoy it here,” Kristen McKissick added. “We’ll have a lot of urban features. We’ll have fiber, probably an EV charger.”

The plan for Live and Work @ Central always included a live-work element, but interest in corporate apartments at Rose Rent Lofts showed the McKissicks they had dug into a local gold mine.

“It’s the executives from Volvo and doctors that are here part-time from WellSpan Health, surgeons and oncologists, and things like that, that Chambersburg (Hospital) borrows part-time or brings here to train because they’re the corporate headquarters,” Kristen McKissick said.

Some units have been unofficially leased out, and the McKissicks estimate the residential phase will be done in June. Attention will immediately turn to transforming the old auditorium into the “business columns.”

The layout will include a few conference rooms, including a sunken one in the former orchestra pit and one surrounded by soundproof “smart glass.”

“So, if you’re looking at the stage, that conference room would be soundproof and it would have the smart glass in it, so you could have the privacy if you needed,” Kristen McKissick said. “It could be signed out by tenants.”

The space will stay big and bright, with giant curved windows looking out onto Queen Street. Vern McKissick also plans to keep some of the historic design elements visible under plexiglass or something similar.

“We’re probably going to leave some of the ruin, clean it, seal it and let it show what 100 years of patina looks like,” he said.

Live and Work @ Central will also have a green roof, and a cafe tentatively called “Act III on Main.”

“A place for adults” that is not a bar and offers a quiet environment conducive to conversation, Vern McKissick said.

It will have a theater theme, and design elements will be changed out every six months or so to represent a new “show,” Kristen McKissick explained.

The timeline and tilt of the project have changed in the years since ground was broken in 2017. The project that is now Live and Work @ Central was once supposed to have classrooms and other spaces that organizations and businesses could use, according to reporting in the Public Opinion in 2019. A cafe built on the stage in the auditorium was once supposed to be the first part finished.

The COVD-19 pandemic changed that.

“Originally we thought that the commercial part would be the biggest and first in demand,” Kristen McKissick said. “When COVID came along, we made sure that almost all the suites could be converted to residential if things didn’t come back, and that we could make sure that we could lease them separately. On the other hand, we didn’t really back away from the commercial piece. We just were trying to make sure we had a plan that it didn’t have to go all commercial.”

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Chambersburg Public Opinion and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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BOSTON — After years of living on the street and crashing on friends’ couches, Quantavia Smith was given the keys to a Los Angeles studio apartment that came with an important perk — easy access to public transit.

The 38-year-old feels like she went from a life where “no one cares” to one where she has a safe place. And the metro station the apartment complex was literally built upon is a lifeline as she searches for work without a car.

“It is more a sense of relief, a sense of independence,” said Smith, who moved into the unit in July. She receives some government assistance and pays 30 percent of her income for rent — just $19 a month for an efficiency apartment with a full-market value of $2,000.

“Having your own space, you feel like you can do anything,” she said.

Metro areas from Los Angeles to Boston have taken the lead in tying new housing developments to public transit, often teaming up with developers to streamline the permitting process and passing policies that promote developments that include a greater number of units.

Building housing near public transit helps energize neglected neighborhoods and provide affordability, city officials say, while ensuring a steady stream of riders for transit systems and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the number of cars on the road.

“Transit-oriented development should be one of, if not the biggest solution that we’re looking at for housing,” said Urban Institute Land Use Lab research director Yonah Freemark, who has written extensively on the topic. “It takes advantage of all of this money we’ve spent on transportation infrastructure. If you build the projects and don’t build anything around the areas near them, then it’s kind of like money thrown down the drain.”

The Santa Monica and Vermont Apartments, where Smith lives, is part of an ambitious plan by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build 10,000 housing units near transit sites by 2031 — offering developers land discounts in exchange for affordable housing development and other community benefits.

In Washington, D.C., the transit authority since 2022 has completed eight projects that provided nearly 1,500 apartments and a million square feet of office space. About half were in partnership with Amazon, which committed $3.6 billion in low-cost loans and grants for affordable housing projects in Washington, as well as Nashville, Tennessee, and the Puget Sound area in Washington state. Almost all are within a half-mile of public transit.

“Big cities face the greatest challenges when it comes to traffic congestion and high housing costs,” Freemark said. “Building new homes near transit helps address both problems by encouraging people to take transit while increasing housing supply.”

In Boston, the Pok Oi Residents in Chinatown is a 10-minute walk to the subway and a half-dozen bus stops. That’s a draw for Bernie Hernandez, who moved his family there from a Connecticut suburb after his daughter was accepted into a Boston university.

“The big difference is commuting; you don’t need a car,” said Hernandez, who said he can walk to the grocery story and pharmacy. His 17-year-old daughter takes the subway to school. Now, his car mostly sits idle, saving him money on gas and time spent in traffic.

“You get to go to different places very quickly,” Hernandez said. “Everything is convenient.”

States across the country are passing laws targeting restrictive zoning regulations that for decades prohibited multifamily construction and contributed to housing shortages.

Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state law allowing taller apartment buildings on land owned by transit agencies and near bus, train and subway lines.

“Building more homes in our most sustainable locations is the key to tackling the affordability crisis and locking in California’s success for many years to come,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored the bill.

California joins Colorado, which requires cities to allow an average of 40 housing units per acre within a quarter-mile of transit, and Utah, which mandates about 50 units per acre. In Washington, the governor this year signed a bill allowing taller housing developments in mixed-use commercial zones near transit.

“We want to ensure that there are mixed-income, walkable, vibrant homes all around those transit investments and that people have the option of using cars less to improve the environmental health of our communities,” said Rep. Julia Reed, who authored the Washington bill. “It’s about giving people the opportunity to drive less and live more.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has made housing a priority. Among her most potent tools is a 2021 law that requires 177 towns or communities nearby to create zoning districts allowing multifamily development. The state provided nearly $8 million to more than 150 communities to help create these zones and threatened to cut funding for those that don’t. More than 6,000 housing units are in development as a result.

“You put housing nearby public transit (and) it’s great for people,” Healey said. “They can literally get up, leave their home, walk to a commuter rail and get to work.”

Among the first to comply was Lexington, which has approved 10 projects, including a $115 million complex with 187 housing units and retail space.

Walking past earth-moving equipment and dump trucks at the construction site earlier this year, project manager Quinlan Locke said: “This is a landscape yard. It’s commercial. It’s meant for trucking. Two years from now, it’s going to be meant for people who live here, work here and play here. This is going to become someone’s home.”

Some advocates argue the lofty goals of transit-oriented housing are falling short due to fierce local resistance and lack of funding and support at the federal and state levels.

Higher mortgage interest rates, more government red tape, rising construction costs and lack of investment at transit stations also have contributed to a troubling trend — nine times more housing units built far from public transit versus near it in the past two decades, according to a 2023 Urban Institute study.

In Massachusetts, 19 communities still haven’t created new zones. Some unsuccessfully sued the state to halt the law, while residents rejected new zones in others. Lexington eventually shrank its zone from 227 acres to 90 acres after residents complained.

“If we allow the state to come in and dictate how we zone, what else are they going to come in and dictate?” said Anthony Renzoni, a selectman from the town of Holden, which sued the state and is drawing up a new zoning map after residents rejected the first one.

In Los Angeles, the six-story complex where Smith lives in East Hollywood is home to 300 new residents since opening in February. The area has gained a Filipino grocery and a medical clinic. A farmers market is set to open early next year.

Half of the building’s 187 units are reserved for formerly homeless residents like Smith, who had been living in a rundown motel via a voucher and before that on the street. She’s been assigned a case worker and is getting help with basic life skills, budgeting and finding work.

Equally important: Smith, who can’t afford a car, doesn’t need one.

“I’m very, very fortunate to be somewhere where the transit takes me where I want to go,” she said. “Where I want to go is not that far.”

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The team with a long-awaited plan to redevelop Centennial Mills, in Northwest Portland, will have to wait at least four more weeks for potential approval after design commissioners on Thursday punted on a vote.

Commissioners agreed to a request from Portland Permitting & Development staff members who said they need time to write a condition of approval regarding river access, and to tie up other loose ends.

Commissioners had appeared to be on the verge of approving the redevelopment scheme, and a staff report prepared for Thursday’s meeting recommended approval.

The proposal from a local group led by Lindquist Development would transform the largely vacant 4.4-acre parcel at 1362 N.W. Naito Parkway. Lindquist proposes to construct three buildings with 272 residential units and four retail spaces.

Two of the buildings would be five stories, while the remaining building would rise six stories in a five-over-one configuration. Plans call for including 174 below-grade parking spaces.

The developer also has set aside land for open space, including a woonerf — a shared roadway for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists — a plaza and a staircase that would provide Portlanders access to the Willamette River.

“This has an opportunity to be an iconic moment along the river,” Commissioner Tina Bue said.

The plan also dedicates space for a pedestrian bridge over Naito Parkway. But Kurt Schultz, principal and director of housing at SERA Architects, who is the lead designer for Centennial Mills, acknowledged that there’s no funding in place for the bridge.

Members of the public who testified on Thursday expressed concern about whether the river access would be good enough, and how to ensure Lindquist Development follows through with its promises.

Centennial Mills represents a unique opportunity to give Portlanders access to the river in Northwest Portland, said Sage Bachman, community outreach manager for the Human Access Project, a local advocacy group.

“In reality, there are very few ways for people to physically connect to the river,” she said.

Bachman added that the city’s Northwest quadrant is “completely lacking in public access to the river.”

For design commissioners, the remaining questions were largely aesthetic. Some commissioners said they were torn between a desire to honor the site’s industrial history, while allowing for some design flexibility.

Designers don’t necessarily have to use the darker colors of industry, Bue said.

“Is there a different way to look at color as a response to the environment instead of just harkening back to what was there before?” she said.

The project is up against a ticking clock: A zoning change that will limit the site’s buildable land area will take effect in December. If the project is not entitled by then, the new rule may affect the project’s feasibility, Schultz said.

The project’s extensive public space is “more than adequate,” Schultz said.

“We’re just trying to preserve buildable site area on a very constrained site, and we’re concerned about losing even more buildable area to open space,” he said.

The four-week delay until the commission will again consider the project is only the latest setback for Centennial Mills. Prosper Portland tried for years to entice developers to build on the site after the city took control of the parcel in 2000, only to be repeatedly rebuffed.

Previous developers to consider the site before eventually backing away include Lynd Opportunity Partners, Harsch Investment Properties, LAB Holding, Venerable Properties and Intrinsic Ventures. Finally, in September 2024, Prosper Portland sold the site for $1.25 million to 1362 Centennial Mills LLC (MLR Ventures), tied to Portland developers Tim and Lucas Ralston, washing the city’s hands of the troubled property. The Lindquist group soon took over from the Ralstons.

The Centennial Mills project team is tentatively scheduled to return before the Design Commission on Oct. 16.

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Astoria’s Pier 39 has hit the market, offering more than 110,000 square feet of mixed-use space on the Columbia River.

The property houses 26 tenants, including Rogue Pier 39 Public House, a coffee shop, a financial planner and the Hanthorn Cannery Museum, in a cluster of low-slung buildings with reddish-orange roofs east of downtown Astoria. The commercial space is 42 percent occupied, according to CBRE, the listing agent.

The listing also encompasses an adjacent 2.06-acre parcel. The land is zoned for multifamily, hotel, retail or mixed-use development, and is the last undeveloped site of its kind in Astoria, according to CBRE.

The parcels are located within an opportunity zone and an enterprise zone, offering tax benefits to developers and investors. The site attracts 50,000 visitors a month on average, according to CBRE.

Longtime owner Floyd Holcom is selling the property. An Astoria resident and U.S. Army special forces veteran, Holcom reached out to Wes Bochner, a Portland-based CBRE broker and U.S. Navy veteran, to sell the property. Erin Smith and Trent Steeves are also managing the listing for CBRE.

Holcom purchased the property in 2002 and owns it through a limited liability company, NBSD.

The pier traces Astoria’s economic transformation from reliance on natural resources to a focus on tourism. The pier was home to Hanthorn Cannery, the first and largest tuna cannery in Astoria, which later became a Bumble Bee Tuna cannery.

CBRE has not published a listing price for the property.

“Comparable properties in San Francisco and Southern California have traded at 10x valuations of where we expect Pier 39 to sell, reflecting the massive investment upside with lease-up and redevelopment of remaining original cannery spaces,” Bochner stated in a news release.

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Project name: Willamete Tower

Location: Portland

Completion: February 2024

Size: 493,550 square feet

Owner/Developer: Alamo Manhattan

Architect: WDG Architecture Dallas

Interior Designer: SGL Design Group

Engineers: KPFF, Linda Tycher & Associates, Brightworks Sustainability

General Contractor: Andersen Construction

Submitting Company: Andersen Construction

Other Key Participants: Prosper Portland, City of Portland Building Department, Portland Water Bureau, Portland Bureau Of Transportation

Subcontractors: ABC Roofing, ACME Scenic & Display, Advance Welding, All Trades General Contractor, Aluma Systems, ASI Structures, Astound, BASCO, Berg Electric Corporation, Brix Paving, CHI Cos., Columbia Cascade, D&R Masonry, Dallas Glass, DeaMor Associates, DE-EL, DERO, DeWitt Construction, Eastern Steel Erectors, Ernsdorf Design, Forensic Building, Fought, GB Manchester, H Corp., Hunt, Instafab, Interior Tech, Klinger Masonry, Lanz Cabinets – Eugene, Larusso Concrete, Loy Clark, Maintenance Man, Maxim Crane Works, Mid-Valley Glass & Millwork, Northwest Scaffold Service, Ocean Park Mechanical, Otis Elevator, Outside the Lines, Pacific Foundation, Pacific Post Tensioning, Pacific Stair, Patriot Fire, Paulson’s Floor Covering, Point Monitor, Precision Rail of Oregon, R&R Floors, R2M2, Rebar, Sardonyx, Sawtooth, SDS, Skyline Sheet Metal, Standard TV & Appliance, Starline Windows, Sustainable Floors, Teufel Landscape, Wessco, Westech Construction, Westlake Consultants, WPI

Rising 23 stories along the Willamette River, this mixed-use development delivers both high-end apartments and significant environmental improvements to a once-industrial riverfront.

The Willamette Tower offers 340 market-rate units, including 19 townhome-style apartments providing a unique two-story living experience. The includes 3,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and parking for 355 vehicles.

Developers faced substantial challenges working alongside the river. Groundwater levels required installation of a dewatering system while construction crews drove foundation piles more than 40 feet deep to reach stable ground.

The site’s industrial past presented additional obstacles. Construction teams removed more than 30 old piers using specialized equipment mounted on barges. Workers also discovered and safely removed abandoned oil barrels that had leaked into the surrounding soil, necessitating site-wide excavation and replacement of contaminated areas.

Among the project’s innovations is the creation of a 40,000-square-foot riparian habitat supporting fish in the Willamette River. This collaborative effort involved multiple agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon Department of State Lands. The habitat features strategically placed boulders and tree trunks creating environments for fish and plant life.

The project connected the northern and southern portions of the Willamette greenway path.

The development earned LEED Homes Multifamily Mid-Rise Gold certification, reflecting its commitment to sustainability. Environmental features include stormwater planters that filter runoff before it reaches the river.

Residents enjoy numerous amenities including a gym, bike room, podium-level sundeck, and club room. The 22nd floor features a demonstration kitchen with camera and monitor capabilities alongside a dining room. The penthouse units feature a specialty HOMMA system. HOMMA is a smart home/interactive system for lighting, heating/cooling, blinds, and door locking. The system is controlled through a mobile app, in-home control pad, and motion activated sensors. This was the first larger scale installation for the company.

Working with Prosper Portland, the developer incorporated a public plaza with interactive fountain, creating a neighborhood gathering space. The agency also helped source local minority, women, and emerging small business vendors for various project elements.

Construction innovations included in-slab ductwork for unit exhaust systems and a combined drain/waste vent system that reduced plumbing lines and deck penetrations, allowing for more open interior spaces.

There were goals for the fountain that was funded by Prosper Portland, and Andersen Construction met the 20 percent DBE/SBE/WBE goal. In addition, Andersen had three DBE/SBE/WBE firms as part of the larger project: La Londe Electric, Scovill Construction and Western Rebar.

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Project name: TimberViewLocation: Portland

Completion: December 2024

Size: 74,385 square feet

Owner/Developer: TimberView VIII LLC

Architect: Access Architecture

Engineers: Caliber Plumbing & Mechanical, DCI Engineering, Summit Engineering

General Contractor: Truebeck Construction

Submitting Company: Access Architecture

Other Key Participants: City of Portland, Brightworks Sustainability Consultants

Subcontractors: Acousti-Level Floor Systems, All Trades General Contractor, Authority Dock & Door, Berrien Concrete, Black Line Glazing, BrandSafway, CARE Industries, Carpentry Plus, Cascade Tower & Rigging, Centurion Fire Protection, Contract Flooring & Interiors, Coria Landscaping, Crossover Construction, Diversified Fall Protection, Eagle Striping, Elite Electrical Group, Extreme Excavating, Flynn BEC, Frontier Door & Cabinet, Galloni Granite, General Sheet Metal, Green Transfer & Storage, Ha’s Painting, Kalesnikoff Mass Timber, Kinetic Parking Solutions, Kittelson & Associates, McDonald & Wetle, Mid-Valley Glass & Millwork, Mill Plain Electric, Northwest Delta, Otis Elevator, Pacific Foundation, Pence Kelly Construction, Permapost Products, Procraft Equipment, RDH Building Science, Sign Wizards, Sowles, Standard TV & Appliance, System Design Consulants, TerraCalc Land Surveying, VPI Quality Windows, Westech Construction, Whiskey Hill Electric, Zeeland, Zochert Fence

A groundbreaking eight-story affordable housing development in Northeast Portland is showcasing how sustainable building materials and premium amenities can coexist in housing for lower-income residents.

TimberView VIII, located at the corner of Northeast Glisan Street and 99th Avenue, provides 105 affordable units to tenants making 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income while targeting LEED Platinum certification. The development is among the first to use Oregon’s newly adopted building code amendment allowing for mass timber buildings under Type IV-C construction. Its primary structure consists of Glulam beams and columns with cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels for flooring.

The use of mass timber elements necessitated top to bottom team coordination. TimberView was built using 56,304 cubic feet of sustainably harvested PNW lumber, which instead of releasing carbon sequesters it long-term into the building and results in a net impact akin to removing approximately 370 cars from the road for a year.

TimberView offers 28 studio apartments, 56 one-bedroom, 15 two-bedroom, and six three-bedroom units ranging from 331 to 1,019 square feet. Residents benefit from a rooftop deck, community room with mountain views, lobby, on-site laundry and bike parking for 160 bicycles. The ground floor houses Array Food Hall, a restaurant incubator space featuring pods for four food establishments and a bar, designed to create a mixed-use environment where people can live, work and eat.

As the tallest building in the neighborhood, the views from TimberView’s many units are breathtaking. The height allows the building to be seen from the 205 freeway near the Glisan exit, so it acts as a welcoming landmark for the Gateway neighborhood, much like the historical Gateway Arch that gave the neighborhood its name.

An innovative hydronic water system supplies radiant floor heating throughout the apartments, providing energy-efficient heating rarely found in affordable housing.

Located in Portland’s Gateway Neighborhood, TimberView replaces what was previously a single-family home and aims to be a catalyst for development in an area targeted by the city for dense growth outside downtown.

Access Architecture designed the building, with DCI Engineers handling structural engineering and Truebeck Construction serving as general contractor.

The project aligns with Portland’s 2045 Housing Needs Analysis, which determined that 120,000 more housing units are needed by 2045, with an additional “catch-up” supply of 55,000 units needed by 2032.

The development is conveniently located near the Gateway/NE 99th transit center with access to multiple transit options. This walkable location reduced on-site parking requirements, allowing for maximum units and amenity spaces.

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Project name: Terminal 1 Block A & C, Port of Vancouver USA

Location: Vancouver, Washington

Completion: 646,835 square feet

Size: October 2024

Landowner/Lessee: Port of Vancouver USA

Developer/Lessor: Lincoln Property Company

Architects: West of West Architecture & Design (design architect) DLR Group (executive architect)

Interior Designer: West of West Architecture & Design

Engineers: Mackenzie, Piper Mechanical, KPFF

General Contractor: Robertson & Olson Construction

Submitting Company: DLR Group

Other Key Participants: City of Vancouver, Portland Street Art Alliance and artists Jeremy Nichols, Hayden Senter, Ana Gabriela

Other Associates/Consultants: Cascade Electrical, GeoDesign NV5, Kittelson & Associates, Walter P. Moore, BEE Engineers, Brightworks, PLACE, Code Consultants

Subcontractors: 2 Down Services, Able Fence, Anderson Specialties, Axiom Division 7, Basco Appliances, Blankenship Equipment Repair, Building Material Specialties, Cascade Electrical, CDI Blinds, Cedar Landscape Construction, Conco, Concrete Designs, Consurco, Cornerstone Masonry, Cosco Fire Protection, Ecoglo, Flash Parking, Floor Solutions, Ground Control Systems, Huntco, Interior Technology, LaRusso Concrete, LCDA, LJP Construction, Mission Glass, Mt. Hood Steel, Overhead Door, Pacific Foundation, Pacific Stair, Piper Mechanical, Pro-Bel Enterprises, Sawtooth Caulking, Schindler Elevator, Sign Wizards, Skyline Sheet Metal, Sound Vanguard Solutions, Spectrum Woodworking & Interiors, Sunset Stucco, Vancouver Paint Group, Vancouver Paving, Vancouver Sign, Western Construction Specialties, Western Partitions, You & I Construction

The Port of Vancouver USA’s Terminal 1 Block A & C development is transforming the city’s waterfront into a dynamic mixed-use destination that honors its maritime heritage while creating new economic opportunities.

Completed in October 2024, the project features two mid-rise office towers rising nine and 10 stories above a shared landscaped podium. The development delivers 287,100 square feet of office space, 12,835 square feet of retail, and a 346,900-square-foot parking structure.

“The Launch,” a pedestrian axis that bisects the towers, recalls the site’s history as a wartime shipbuilding hub while providing sweeping views of the Columbia River and city skyline.

Lincoln Property faced significant challenges during development, including negotiating a long-term lease within just 90 days while simultaneously modifying project plans from a mixed office-residential design to an all-office development.

During the pandemic, supply chain disruptions were a major concern. The team prioritized domestic materials, partnering with a local Vancouver vendor to develop the distinctive metal exterior featuring blades and serrated edges that create dynamic interactions with sunlight.

The towers have achieved LEED Gold v4 certification, incorporating bird-safe glazing and native plantings that support pollinator habitats. The project reduces landscape irrigation by 75 percent and includes occupiable roof terraces, bike storage facilities, and EV charging stations.

ZoomInfo has established its West Coast hub at Terminal 1, leasing both towers and cementing the development’s role as a premier business destination in the Vancouver-Portland metro area.

The Port of Vancouver USA and City of Vancouver were critical to the project’s success. Their leadership is transforming the former 1920s warehouse site into an extension of downtown Vancouver with strategic freeway visibility and direct connectivity to Portland via the Interstate Bridge.

Public art features prominently, with murals by local artists Jeremy Nichols, Hayden Senter, and Ana Gabriela depicting imagery inspired by the Columbia River, Indigenous stories, and the city’s industrial heritage.

General contractor Robertson & Olson Construction completed the project with exemplary safety standards, earning multiple START Certifications from the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. DLR Group was executive architect on the project.

“The successful public-private partnership between the Port of Vancouver USA and Lincoln Property Company, spanning over five years, enabled the bold vision of constructing a Class A world headquarters for the tenant,” noted Patrick Gilligan, senior executive vice president with LPC, in the project submission form. “This collaboration also facilitated the execution of the largest lease signing in the Portland metro market in recent years.”

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PROJECT: St. Helens Riverwalk, phase 1

LOCATION: St. Helens

SIZE: one half mile

START DATES: March 2021 (design), April 2024 (construction)

COMPLETION DATE: June 2025 (phase 1)

COST: $3 million (construction)

OWNER/DEVELOPER: city of St. Helens

PROJECT MANAGER/PRIME CONSULTANT: Mayer/Reed

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Advanced Excavating Specialists

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Mayer/Reed

ENGINEERS: Otak, PAE, NV5

OTHER ASSOCIATES/CONSULTANTS: Archaeological Investigations Northwest, Architectural Cost Consultants, Naughton Communications, Pacific Habitat Services

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The grand opening of a linear park on Thursday marked a major milestone in the city of St. Helens’ mission to transform 24 acres of former industrial land into a vibrant mixed-use River District.

A half-mile stretch of former industrial land along the Columbia River has become a public amenity. The design emphasizes sustainability, habitat restoration and integration with the city’s broader trail and open space networks. Mayer/Reed designed the entire corridor up to 30 percent before shifting its focus to final design and implementation of phase 1, which was built by Advanced Excavating Specialists.

Key features of phase 1 include improvements to Columbia View Park, approximately 300 feet of riverwalk, interpretive signage, stepped seawalls, scenic overlooks, improved riparian and shallow water habitat for fish and wildlife, and links to Columbia County’s waterfront trail system and the new Columbia View Circle.

Funding is needed to complete phase 2, which will include construction of an amphitheater stage and playground in Columbia View Park. Central and southern riverwalk sections will feature beach access, a plaza, an accessible gangway to a launch and dock for light watercraft, a picnic area, and a large, cantilevered overlook.

The riverwalk is a key component of St. Helens’ broader Waterfront Redevelopment Project, which includes the simultaneous design and construction of the Streets and Utilities Extension Project, led by Otak. This project will provide multimodal connectivity between downtown, the Columbia River and the future River District.

“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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