The deal to create a $150 million mixed-use hub at the former home of Truitt Bros. Cannery fell through, but the developer helming the project said his company hopes to revisit the contract if Salem can prove its worth as an investment.

Aaron Stickney, co-founder and managing member of SilverSphere Capital, previously told the Statesman Journal that the purchase was under contract and expected to close this summer, with demolition following shortly thereafter.

Stickney and SilverSphere stepped in after the plan to transform the former cannery north of downtown stalled under previous leadership. The deal fizzled because the seller wasn’t willing to extend the contract, Stickney said.

Almost 800 apartments, a grocery store, an automatic parking garage, a wine bar, and restaurants were planned for the site.

Jordan Truitt, who acted as the property’s listing broker along with Josh Kay of First Commercial Real Estate, confirmed that the purchase and sale agreement had expired.

“The buyer and seller have been unable to reach reasonable terms for any further extensions of the agreement,” he said. “The Truitt family has been a thoughtful and patient steward of this property for generations and remains fully committed to the redevelopment of the cannery site.”

Stickney said he was hopeful they could return to the table and close the deal, but he expressed serious concerns about investing in Salem.

“Several things are stalling any progress in Salem: the growing homeless situation that no one seems willing to address, ongoing City Council infighting, and no real support at the city level for changing anything,” he said.

Stickney recently crafted a white paper �پ��ٱ������“Economic Development & Growth Plan” for Salem City Council and City Manager Krishna Namburi. The proposal calls for introduction of a “Prosper Portland”-style model to spur economic development in the city that could generate $13 million to $34 million in revenue over the next five years.

The proposal also could bring in more than $100 million in private investment and up to 2,600 new jobs without new taxes or bonds, he added.

Stickney told the Statesman Journal in June that a private-public partnership between city leadership and businesses like his could turn Salem around.

“We’re at the point economically that Salem could be the next emerging market,” he said at the time.

He said city leaders showed little interest in his proposals, and he’s yet to see action on any of them.

“I’m surprised that Mr. Stickney is saying that a lack of public-private partnership is his reason for not moving forward with the project,” Community Planning and Development Department Director Kristin Retherford said. “We have had two very productive meetings with Mr. Stickney since he stepped into the lead development role this spring.”

The cannery is a very complex site, Retherford said, with river and creek frontage, potential historic and archaeological impacts, and a rail line running down Front Street. Salem is moving forward with creation of an urban renewal area to pay for infrastructure needed to support the project, and the city has obtained a federal grant to design the long-term improvements to Front Street for redevelopment in the area.

“We have been very excited about Mr. Stickney’s ideas and development experience and the opportunity to collaborate with him on the project,” Retherford said.

When talking to residents and business owners, Stickney said he hears that people want change. They want to clean up encampments, fill vacant storefronts and attract commerce. He said he doesn’t see that same desire to change among city leaders.

“If nothing changes, we may just take out money and go to Portland,” he said. “It’s been really disappointing. We had high hopes for Salem.”

Portions of the cannery were first constructed in 1914 and owned by various food processors until the Truitt Bros. Cannery began operating there in 1973. The business started by brothers Peter and David Truitt canned local pears, green beans and cherries. In peak season, the cannery would employ 800 people.

When the property went up for sale with a $13 million price tag in 2021, Peter Truitt said he had high hopes for the site. He wanted a seller who would honor its history while investing in the community and revitalizing the area north of downtown, he said.

“The lasting legacy of the Truitt family is to leave the property better than when they found it,” he said.

The city, neighbors and the Grant Neighborhood Association have been very supportive during the process, Jordan Truitt said.

“The site carries approved land use entitlements, strong interest from the development community and the continued support of city leadership and the community at large,” he said.

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

The post $150M project in Salem stalls; developer slams city appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first look at plans to develop Broadway Corridor‘s Parcel 6 with a 13-story mixed-use tower. The property is located at the northeast corner on Northwest Ninth Avenue and Johnson Street.

This is the second development within the Broadway Corridor Master Plan area to advance. The first, Block 4A, was presented to the commission for design advice last year and recently was approved by city staff, Portland Permitting & Development staffer Staci Monroe said.

The Parcel 6 project is valued at $95 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

Mithun is the project’s designer. The team also includes lead developer Related Northwest, co-developer Melvin Mark, and public partner/owner Prosper Portland.

The 140-foot-tall building would be an L-shaped concrete tower atop a three-story podium. The proposal is for 200-plus middle-income residential units for people earning 50 to 120 percent of the area median income. The building would include 4,000 square feet of retail/commercial space on the ground floor, structured parking for 100 vehicles, on-site loading space, and 100 bicycle parking spaces. Plans include the full design and partial development of the Park Avenue alley along the eastern frontage.

A net zero goal is proposed for the project. The southwest-facing L-shaped massing would reduce glazing costs and provide both sunny and shady areas for residents, according to the design team.

Exterior building materials would include metal cladding on the upper tower and brick below. Commissioner Brian McCarter said the differentiation in materials between the tower and the podium is strong and reads as a very simple material palette.

Vice chair Joe Swank said he believes the design of the tower and podium is strong on Ninth Avenue and Johnson Street but along the Park Avenue alley and Kearney Street, the brick and metal do not read as much like a podium. Team members believe the design is working so far on a conceptual level, Mithun partner Heidi Oien said, but they will explore it further. McCarter added that he believes there is good direction and as the design is refined, it will improve.

Active use is required on the ground floor along Johnson Street, where there will be widened sidewalks.

“The ground floor consists of commercial space, lobby, leasing office and back-of-house elements,” Monroe said of the proposal.

Vehicle access will be available on all frontages except for the eastern. There, the Park Avenue alley will be a 40-foot-wide public, pedestrian-only space spanning the length of Parcel 6 (Block 6) and Block 7. A creative space is planned for this area to draw people in, Monroe said; elements could include public art, plants, lighting, and materiality. Mithun is proposing an open, paved space. The design team envisions clusters of trees for shade, Mithun partner Dorothy Faris said.

Plans call for a two-way cycle track on the south side of Johnson Street and a shared bike lane on Ninth Avenue. Vehicle and bike parking would be along the frontages and in a parking garage. The garage and loading area would be accessed off Kearney Street.

The project team is proposing a modification to ground-floor window coverage along Kearney Street, because more than half of this frontage would be garage access, loading space, mechanical space and back-of-house space. The requirement is for 40 percent coverage by ground-floor windows, and Mithun is seeking a 15 percent reduction.

One portion of this frontage would be the bicycle room. The design team should seek a way to include glazing for the room but still ensure it’s private and secure for residents, McCarter said.

For public art, the master plan identifies six potential locations, two of which are adjacent to Parcel 6 – one at the northeast corner of Johnson Street and Ninth Avenue and one in the Park Avenue alley along the parcel’s eastern frontage. Public art is not identified on the proposed site plan; however, the project team plans to begin discussions with the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.

Weather protection is not yet identified in the proposal, but Oien said the team intends to provide something overhead along Johnson Street and could explore other areas if necessary. The commissioners suggested making sure canopies are adequate along Johnson Street and the Park Avenue alley.

If funded, ground is expected to be broken in late 2027.

The team will likely pursue a Type IX design review by staff, Monroe said. However, Type II or Type III are also options.

The post Portland Design Commission offers advice for tower project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

It’s early, but the city of Portland’s moratorium on development fees appears to be moving some multifamily developers off the sidelines and into building, according to permitting data and interviews.

In fact, it led one developer to propose a new project. Joe Westerman on May 1 requested early assistance from Portland Permitting & Development for a four- to five-story mixed-use building with 158 apartments in 213,644 square feet at Northeast Sandy Boulevard and 52nd Avenue.

If the project were to advance, it would represent a rare boost of supply to Portland’s tight housing market.

“I’ve been building apartments in Porland for 30 years, and I kind of got away from it when working with the city got so unruly,” Westerman said.

So, what changed?

“Portland is incentivizing developers with not having to pay the system development charges,” he added. “It’s probably going to be $3 million that you don’t have to pay. That’s – that’s nice.”

System development charges fund city infrastructure through various city bureaus, but the fees have drawn blame for discouraging housing proposals by increasing costs.

SDCs average about $20,000 per unit; they can range from $15,000 to $35,000 per unit, according to a City Council document.

Only 818 market-rate housing units were produced in Portland in 2024 — the lowest rate in more than a decade. In response, the City Council last summer approved a moratorium on SDCs that will last until Sept. 30, 2028.

The development fee moratorium is helping keep projects alive, said Ezra Hammer, a land-use attorney at Ballard Spahr.

“For a pro forma that has seen compression over an entitlement period, the SDC waivers are helping with that compression,” he said.

Hammer said he’s also fielded increased interest from “out-of-town folks who are pleasantly surprised about the tonal shift we’re hearing.” That’s after Portland’s reputation soured amid pandemic shutdowns, protests and regulatory obstacles.

“The city appears to want to attract investment in multifamily housing,” Hammer said. “I haven’t seen those projects materialize yet, but it’s a big shift from the world we were in before where capital had absolutely no interest in Portland.”

Portland Permitting & Development is tracking an uptick in building permits issued since the fee moratorium began in August 2025. Some projects that had apparently stalled were given building permits.

As of Jan. 15, 265 new housing units complied with the program for a total of $6.68 million in SDC exemptions — an average of $25,221 per unit. An additional 207 units have had their permits issued and are on track to receive $4.17 million in development fee exemptions but have not yet completed compliance in the program, according to the agency. The city ordinance that created the exemptions requires new housing projects to pour a concrete foundation within 12 months of permits being issued.

PP&D is expected to present a full report on the program to the City Council after Aug. 15, when the exemptions will have been in place for a year.

“We see indicators that the SDC exemption is helping new housing units get developed,” PP&D spokesman Ken Ray stated in an email. “It is early in the program, and we expect we’ll have a clearer picture this fall after we’ve had a year’s worth of activity to review.”

The moratorium and builder-friendly vibes could even be enough to get someone like Westerman — a longtime Portland investor — off the sidelines. His JMW Properties owns four multifamily properties in Portland, one in Vancouver, Washington, and one in Medford. Westerman has brought on board Koble Creative to design the Sandy Boulevard project, which is named Rose City Mixed-Use in early planning documents.

“This could be a really amazing project,” Westerman said. “It has a beautiful southern exposure. You could have on the second floor an atrium, and … units on the inside. You could have fresh air in there; you could have skylights in there.”

Westerman said he wants to build relatively roomy studios and apartments with one or two bedrooms rather than the micro-units that some developers have built to boost rental rates per square foot.

Westerman owns the entire block, including the building at 5137 N.E. Sandy Blvd. that hosts the discount store Friday Deals. The larger building at 5201-5223 N.E. Sandy Blvd. includes G.O.A.T. Bar and Hollywood Fitness, a longtime neighborhood gym owned by George Camalli.

Westerman said he hopes Hollywood Fitness will be the anchor tenant in the new building, in a 10,000-square-foot storefront space. “I like that — having to deal with one tenant,” he said.

The project could also affect the Rose City Food Park. But the food carts may be able to move to the block’s west end, Westerman said.

Koble Creative previously designed Westerman’s Cedar Commons development in Medford.

“They’re a good local architect,” he said.

Westerman, a contractor, expects to perform the construction in-house.

A new outlook in the city government gained Westerman’s attention, he said, in contrast to what he considered an anti-developer stance when the permitting agency was overseen by former city commissioner Chloe Eudaly.

“The permits center became an area of ‘no,’ and I think that’s changing,” he said. “We are going to early assistance to find out all of the issues if there are issues, and then we’ll do a cost model and a pro forma model. And we’ll see if it papers out.”

Westerman also owns a large swath of land in Gateway that he’s so far been unable to redevelop. He also suggested he’d be happy to take on investors for the Sandy Boulevard development.

“Anyone who would like a partnership, give me a call,” he said.

Portland needs more housing, and it also needs some good news, Westerman said.

“It’s easy for me not to be happy with Portland,” he said. “But the bottom line: I would like to be part of the solution.”

The post Portland’s suspension of fees spurs mixed-use development appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Development of Eugene’s Butterfly Lot, next to the Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion, is on the horizon.

Paradigm Properties founder Dan Neal last week shared with the Downtown Neighborhood Association preliminary plans for the 0.67-acre parcel. The project — tentatively named The Butterfly, in reference to the parcel — would include 80 to 100 market-rate dwellings ranging from studios to two-bedroom units with a den, all with decks, he said.

The building could be between eight and 12 stories tall to accommodate the number of units, Neal said. Retail space and restaurant space are expected on the ground floor.

The building would be L-shaped to create a plaza and connect the space with the pavilion next door.

Developers have been talking with market leaders about the possibility of including an on-site office space for them. Plans so far include some underground parking for tenants.

The property has been in flux since the city purchased the lot in 2018 for construction of a new City Hall there.

In 2021, the Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion was built at 85 E. Eighth Ave. on part of the Butterfly Lot. Now that City Hall has relocated to the former EWEB headquarters, Amanda D’Souza, development programs manager for the city of Eugene, said there is an opportunity to rethink the future of this downtown site. Now, the lot’s southern portion houses the farmers market, and the northern portion serves as a surface lot.

In spring 2025, the city changed zoning for the property to allow for mixed-use developments on the parcel.

“We’ve heard clearly from the community that we need housing, more housing in the downtown core, and so this site is going to make the perfect opportunity to achieve that goal,” D’Souza said. “Activating a gravel lot, bringing more vitality and energy to the core and the park blocks and increasing the supply of housing.”

Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency bought the property from the city to lead redevelopment and issued a Request for Qualifications to identify a team that would be able to achieve the goals for the site, D’Souza said. Eugene-based Paradigm Properties was chosen.

Neal said he is hoping community members are excited to see the land gain housing along with a vibrant and active ground floor.

“There hasn’t been a new, market-rate project built in the city of Eugene’s downtown urban core in over a quarter of a century,” Neal said. “In fact, I heard from city staff that you have to go back 50 years to find any market-rate housing project in the core of downtown that didn’t receive some financial support from the city in order to make it financially feasible.”

The total project is expected to cost about $60 million, Neal said. Timelines aren’t firm yet, because the project is still preliminary, but he said construction could begin in about 18 months. Construction may take nearly two years, according to Neal, so completion could occur sometime in 2029.

Funding for this project comes from construction loans, private equity, Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency. The development qualifies for city assistance via its Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption and Downtown Fee Assistance programs.

In May, the city plans to release a public survey of the site’s draft proposal for community feedback, D’Souza said. Sometime in June, the Urban Renewal Agency board and City Council are expected to consider the proposal.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Register-Guard and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

The post Mixed-use project planned for Butterfly Lot in downtown Eugene appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Roughly five years after receiving the Portland City Council’s approval, the Sutton has arrived. Construction recently concluded on the development formerly known as Fremont Place – a 17-story mixed-use building between Northwest Naito Parkway and the Willamette River.

The 175-foot-tall building holds 236 apartments, a 5,800-square-foot restaurant space and an array of amenities. Residents will have access to outdoor terraces with panoramic views, fire pits and barbecue grills, quiet work areas with private coworking spaces, a lounge with bottle storage, a fitness center, on-demand digital fitness rooms, and a pet spa and grooming room.

However, the journey to completion wasn’t always a smooth one. The development, designed by TVA Architects for Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. (LPC West), had a contentious beginning.

Initially, the Portland City Council upheld a Pearl District Neighborhood Association appeal that expressed concerns about the proposed building height and potential impact on views of the Fremont Bridge. However, the decision was later reversed, allowing the project team to move forward.

TVA Architects principal Tim Wybenga described the development challenges as “excruciating and incredibly drawn out.”

Despite the possibility of creating a massive block that would have met all city requirements, the team opted for a more thoughtful approach. By intentionally shifting the tower off-center from the podium, they ensured preservation of views of the Fremont Bridge from The Fields Park and the surrounding area.

Interior complexities

The 346,000-square-foot structure features a complex design, driven by neighbors’ demands and city requirements. Challenging setback requirements, including a “step back” at 45 degrees starting 35 feet above the greenway, further complicated the design. Additionally, other requirements at various heights resulted in only eight identical floor plates among the 17 stories, according to Andersen Construction senior project manager Ben Miles.

Inside the Sutton, units are studios or have either one or two bedrooms. A specific design directive from LPC West was for all residents to be able to see eastward views from their front doors, Wybenga said. That was an interesting challenge, he added, that influenced the building’s form.

Also, kitchen and floor finishes alternate on each level. Combined with level changes and LPC West’s view requirement, the Sutton has nearly 20 different unit configurations. That presented challenges because units were unlike those in typical projects with identical spaces from one floor to the next to allow for easy replacement in case of damage, Andersen Construction project manager Katie Hoyt said.

“You don’t quite get that when you have unique layouts and unique finishes,” she added.

For this project, products such as doors and drawers were fabricated in smaller batches to meet specific finishing needs. The flooring was ordered in bulk and subsequently processed with acoustic pads and protective wear layers; then it was delivered to the site as needed.

While smaller orders required meticulous coordination, the use of alternating finishes aligns with the emerging trend among luxury apartments inspired by the condominium market, Wybenga said.

Liquifiable soils

The Sutton’s location on sandy riverfront soil posed another obstacle. To ensure stability and mitigate the risk of liquefaction during seismic events, 106 large steel pipe piles and 124 deep-soil mixing columns were used.

However, the construction team encountered unexpected challenges during the installation. In a trial conducted six weeks before the project began, the initial four piles – expected to go 106 feet deep – ended up at 175 feet.

Despite multiple attempts to adjust the pile depth and consulting with the project’s geo-engineer and structural engineer, it became apparent that additional pile material was required. However, all piles had been preordered from overseas.

“It was too late to get more – that was already on a boat; it was already coming,” Hoyt said.

Steel pipe piles do not arrive full length (depth) and require splicing during installation. Given the significant quantity of piles typically necessary for a riverfront property, the engineering team suggested using 24-inch-diameter steel piles instead of more common 9-to-12-inch-diameter ones. While this decision allowed for a smaller order and increased efficiency in splicing and driving, it presented challenges in sourcing the larger piles.

With limited time to order more material from overseas, the team scrambled to find a local supplier. Through Pacific Foundation, one was found: Pipe & Piling Supplies of Auburn, Washington.

The locally sourced piles arrived on trucks on time for installation, while the bulk order came via a barge down the Willamette River and then a crane. That approach eliminated the need for approximately 80 trucks to travel along Naito Parkway, Hoyt said.

The increased depth required for the piles resulted in a six-week calendar delay due to the longer installation process for each pile. On average, the piles reached a depth of 150 feet, surpassing the anticipated depth by approximately 44 feet. During installation, the piles are expected to develop a plug on the end, which is crucial to their load-bearing capacity. However, the larger piles took longer to develop the plug, necessitating further depth adjustments, Miles explained.

Despite these construction challenges, the Sutton was selected as the “Multifamily Development of the Year” by the Commercial Association of Brokers of Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The Sutton also is a finalist in the 91��Ƶ’s 2023 TopProjects awards competition. Winners will be announced during an event on June 1, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Oregon Convention Center. Tickets cost $185 each.

The post Perseverance pays for project team in Portland appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Construction of a 24-story mixed-use building in Portland’s West End wrapped up last week – after about three years of work.

Downtown Development Group‘s 300-foot-tall 11W, designed by ZGF Architects, is at 1140 S.W. Washington St. The building features approximately 8,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, about 107,000 square feet of office space, 213 apartments, and four levels of underground parking. There are also separate amenity spaces for office and residential users.

Casey Miller, a Turner Construction project manager, said about 40,000 square feet of office space is leased and approximately 24 residential units are rented so far. That includes the mega penthouse – a 3,700-square-foot suite on the top floor.

Residential amenities include a lobby, a commercial chef’s kitchen with a dining area and balcony on the 25th floor (for private events), a fitness studio, a yoga room, a spa treatment room, an outdoor pool, a TV theater and bar, a work lounge, a pet spa and an irrigated pet relief room, and rooftop barbecues and firepits.

Every level of office space features a different layout and balcony configuration accessed by large, operable doors. In January, Downtown Development Group and investment firm Cresset Partners announced that Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, an international law firm, will lease 12,339 square feet – it was 11W’s first lease agreement for office space.

Due to different activities in the building, careful consideration was given to sound and acoustics, especially between floors, Miller said. For instance, a conference meeting taking place in an office underneath a residential fitness room where weights are being dropped would not be ideal. In building areas where sounds could drop to the floor below, a kinetic system involving rubber pucks designed for sound isolation was installed between the concrete structural slab and the topping slab. Under the pool deck, an extra layer of insulation was even added, and in the fitness room, the flooring system includes a 2½-inch padded floor as well as a spring system in the ceiling to reduce noise.

11W is on track to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating.

The post 11W arrives with office space, apartments and more appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

In this short video Gresham Redevelopment Commission Executive Director Josh Fuhrer gives a brief overview of Rockwood Rising, a long-awaited plan to redevelop a key property in the impoverished Gresham neighborhood of Rockwood. Once an unincorporated area of the county between Portland and Gresham, Rockwood has remained behind the development curve in spite of the region’s red-hot housing market. This has left plenty of room for enterprising developers to seek out public-private partnerships like Rockwood Rising, which has seen RKM Development team with the city of Gresham to make the project work. Check it out here:

The post VIDEO: Rockwood Rising aims at lifting east Multnomah County appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Plans for a Pearl District mixed-use building and a proposed hotel in Southwest Portland have gained unanimous Portland Design Commission approval.

Design commissioners on Thursday approved with conditions Portland-based Vallaster Corl Architects’ design for Couch 9, a proposed 11-story, mixed-use building, at 115 and 125 Northwest Ninth Ave.

They also fully supported – with slight revisions – a design by Atlanta-based HC Architecture for the 299-room Porter Hotel by Hilton on the former Pendleton Building property at 202-218 S.W. Jefferson St.

Plans for the Couch 9 project, developed by Portland-based Urban Assets Advisors, call for 137 apartments, approximately 8,000-square-feet of commercial space and two levels of underground parking with 87 spaces.

Overall, commissioners said they were impressed with the design for Couch 9 and praised the bright red recessed balconies on portions of the facade. But, as in previous hearing for the project, they expressed lingering reservations with a wall of balconies in varying shades of orange on the proposed building’s west side. As a condition of approving the project, they requested modifications to that façade.

“I still am not comfortable with the west balcony elevation,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “It’s the opposite end of the spectrum from what’s on the other two faces.”

During the public testimony portion of the hearing, neighboring residents also raised concerns with plans for that side of the building. The proposed designs for the west side made the building appear cheap and motel-like, neighbors testified. They also worried about seeing clutter from building tenants on the balconies. Several neighbors testified that they didn’t like the pops of bright color and would prefer a more neutral façade.

Vallaster Corl Architects partner Don Vallaster said the design team thought the loud colors would bring a new vibe to that portion of the Pearl District.

“For us, we thought it was time to add a little bit of color and texture to the context of the neighborhood,” he said.

In response to Design Commission feedback at a design review hearing for the project last month, the design team on Thursday presented revisions to the west façade. This included removing the false columns, adding depth to the balconies and modifying the color gradation.

When the design team shared how plans for that part of the building had evolved, several commissioners said they preferred the previous design that they reviewed in March. Savinar, who earlier in the hearing said he couldn’t vote in favor of the project, moved to approve the project on the condition that the west façade again include the false columns between the balconies. This would add more interest to that side of the building, commissioners reasoned.

The commission also requested modifications to the Porter Hotel design before approving the project, developed by Syracuse, N.Y.-based Widewaters Group to be part of Hilton’s Curio brand. Plans for the 16-story, 200,000-square-foot hotel call for a ground floor lobby, restaurant, bar, market and pizza take-out window. Planned amenities include a rooftop restaurant and a basement pool, sauna and fitness area.

Commissioners praised the blue glass mosaic design on building’s main façade, but had worries about also using patterned stone tile for the pilasters on the ground floor. The pattern on the stone tiles was too busy in context with the glass mosaic, Commissioner Guenevere Millius said.

“The conflict I’m seeing is there are too many contrasts,” she said. “That stone wants to hold a big brick building on top.

As a condition of approving the project, commissioners asked the design team to replace the stone tile pilasters with narrower versions made from precast concrete. This revision would help offset the base with the rest of the building, Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser said.

“It makes it feel lighter at the base,” he said. “The precast (concrete) quiets it down and brings attention to glass … because the project has come so far along, I think that would be a great improvement.”

The post Couch 9, Porter Hotel gain city approval appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A mixed-use project planned on North Lombard Street is expected to take advantage of a “gateway” location.

Alan Jones, principal of Portland-based Jones Architecture, on Jan. 9 applied to the Portland Bureau of Development Services for early assistance with plans to construct a four-story building with 100 apartments, ground-floor retail space and between 70 and 80 below-grade parking stalls at 8247 N. Lombard St.

Farid Bolouri in August 2013 purchased the approximately 38,000-square-foot lot with plans to demolish the four existing buildings to make way for the new development, Jones said. Bolouri recently completed a smaller, similar project in Sellwood.

“I think (Bolouri) sees a lot of similarities between Sellwood and St. Johns,” Jones said. “The great thing about this site is that it’s really where Lombard changes into a more pedestrian-oriented street. It’s a real gateway into St. Johns.”

The building will have a mix of mostly studios along with one- and two-bedroom apartments, Jones said.

“We haven’t decided the exact matrix of the units,” he said. “I think (Bolouri) is interested in the University of Portland student market, but also wants to offer some larger units.”

The building will likely be three wood-framed levels on a concrete podium, though Jones said that the possibility of all above-ground components being wood has not been ruled out.

“We’d really like to do the whole thing out of wood so the first-floor retail spaces can have the wood characteristics, like ceiling beams,” Jones said. “We’re really trying to be good urban neighbors and look at how we can make the building really fit well into the context of the rest of the St. Johns neighborhood.”

The building will have approximately 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

“It’s being designed as flexible space that the developer would like to see as a mixture of two larger restaurant spaces and about a half-dozen smaller retail spaces,” Jones said.

The area largely has single-family residences; however, Jones noted that Bolouri’s proposed 100-unit project is following the new, 165-unit Marvel 29 near the St. Johns bridgehead.

“There’s a great opportunity for growth in St. Johns,” he said. “It’s got a great downtown-like fabric, and I think these projects are going to change the neighborhood quite a bit.”

A pre-application conference is scheduled for Feb. 4. Jones said the team would like to start construction this summer and deliver in summer 2016.

The post Another development is on tap near St. Johns appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Continued in-migration, a strong lending forecast and decreasing vacancy rates in the Portland area mean new office and industrial construction could ramp up in 2015, while multifamily construction could begin to cool off.

Several real estate industry professionals earlier this month participated in a group discussion about 2015 during a breakfast event held by the Oregon-Columbia chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management at the Oregon Convention Center.

“In the overall market cycle, I feel like we’re in about the sixth inning,” said Chris Nelson, co-founder of Capstone Partners. “Will we get extra innings? I’m not sure. In multifamily, it might be nearly time to sell, but I feel we still have growth potential.”

The metro area is on track to have 7,000 permits issued for new multifamily projects by the end of 2014, and Clay Newton, a vice president at Kidder Mathews, is predicting that 7,500 permits will be issued in 2015, with construction increasing in the suburban markets.

“I’m seeing urban, mixed-use developments under way in the suburbs,” he said. “I think that’s a trend that’s going to continue to grow.”

Newton said mixed-use developments help create a “sense of place” for tenants.

George Macoubray, a partner at Commercial Realty Advisors Northwest, said Portland’s increasing population of well-educated young people want to live in “20-minute neighborhoods.”

“They don’t want to buy a car, but they’re willing to spend money on craft beer and coffee,” he said. “They want the focus on local – both retail and restaurant – and they want all these things within a 20-minute walk from their house.”

At its lowest, Portland’s vacancy rate was at 3.7 percent. Newton predicts that will increase to 4.3 percent by the end of 2015, but said developers have “the green light to build” until vacancy rates exceed 5 percent.

“Jobs drive pretty much everything,” Nelson said. “And with continued job growth … in-migration will help increase the demand.”

Eric Haskins, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle, said Portland’s booming high-tech industry will continue to create demand for office space, pushing the vacancy rate in the city’s Central Business District to below 7 percent by the end of next year. The suburbs, too, are seeing record-low vacancy rates, Haskins said.

“Next year we will have our sixth straight year of positive net absorption in the city,” Haskins said. “Low vacancy rates will push more development and more adaptive reuse and redevelopment.”

Haskins predicts space constraints in the CBD will increase asking rents for office space to $30 per square foot and spur development in the suburbs.

“I think we’ll see a significant increase in sales volume in 2015 and the price per square foot will be above its pre-recession peak,” Haskins said. “Five years from now I think we’re going to look back and realize we were part of a fundamental shift in Portland from a second- to a top-tier city.”

Haskins and several other panel members said they expect 2015 will be an active and “exciting” year.

In September, Jones Lang LaSalle ranked Portland as the nation’s No. 8 high-tech hub.

“Investors are being told to invest here,” Nelson said.

Investors want in on Portland’s market, so financing is available for speculative development of office and industrial space.

“On spec development there’s financing happening; there’s plenty of capital out there,” said Ken Griggs, president of Norris, Beggs & Simpson Financial. “Banks are expecting an expanded supply of capital for the next few years.”

Recent college graduates want to live in Portland, Newton said, and continued job growth in the area will continue to fuel construction of industrial and office space.

Dave Ellis, a principal at Capacity Commercial Group, predicts industrial vacancy rates will dip to below 5 percent by the end of 2015.

“Not only are we building new product, but it’s being leased,” Ellis said. “I predict 1.5 to 2.5 million square feet of net absorption by the end of 2015.”

Ellis said if fuel prices stay low, he expects to see construction of distribution centers for online retailers like Amazon. E-trade distribution centers can have footprints of up to 1.2 million square feet.

Macoubray said e-commerce is creating construction opportunities for retail as well. He cited Cabela’s, which started as a catalog-only retailer, but now has stores often built close to a highway or freeway.

“Any online company that doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar store I predict will be out of business in 10 years,” Macoubray said. “People want to buy online and be able to go to the store if they want to pick it up or need to return it.”

The post Portland building boom may continue appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.