A large senior housing project under construction in Lake Oswego will provide 216 new units for that growing population. The Springs Living, a McMinnville-based senior housing provider, has customized the development to suit the high-end needs of Lake Oswego residents and appeal to the sensibilities of modern seniors, who are more active and engaged than those of previous generations.

“They’re not their parents,” said Fee Stubblefield, president and founder of The Springs Living. “The Silent Generation is much more discriminating. They’ve got lots of options and they will not move in unless it’s right.”

As a result, The Springs Living at Lake Oswego has been crafted to cater to an increasingly sophisticated customer base. The five-story building is being erected on a 4.5-acre parcel at Boones Ferry Road and Kruse Way. According to Stubblefield, his company never would have considered building a high-density project on such a valuable piece of land when it started in the mid-1990s. These days, there is new demand for dense, urban infill senior housing projects with ample amenities.

Building residents will have access to a pool and full spa, a wellness center, a 100-seat theater, and five dining venues. A rooftop terrace includes a wine bar, a bocce ball court and a putting green. On-site health care, valet parking, and porter and concierge services will also be provided.

General contractor Todd Construction began work on the project in 2017, and completion is slated for November. The project’s architect of record is Ray Yancey, who was working with Myhre Group Architects at the project’s start, and according to Stubblefield is now with LRS Architects. Stubblefield declined to disclose the total project cost, but said that the construction contract is valued at approximately $65 million.

The 373,000-square-foot structure consists of three levels of wood-framed construction over two floors of post-tensioned concrete, including a full level of below-grade parking. It will house independent living, assisted living and memory care units with studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans. The building is about 75 percent leased, making it The Springs Living’s most successful pre-leasing endeavor to date.

Stubblefield attributes that success in part to the 3.5 percent population growth of people age 75 and older in Lake Oswego (that rate is double that of other communities) and in part to changes in senior housing trends in the decade since his firm opened a project in the Tanasbourne area of Hillsboro. At the time, building senior housing in densely populated areas was thought to be a risky move.

“That project changed us to realize that we’re going to go the very best locations,” he said. “The residents that we serve want to be there, and be an integral part of the community that they helped build.”

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Portland architecture firm Myhre Group Architects will soon shut down, according to a former client.

Fee Stubblefield, owner of senior housing company The Springs Living, worked with Myhre Group in the past, including for a large project now under construction in Lake Oswego. He told the Daily Journal of Commerce the company will be dissolved within 60 to 90 days.

The president of another local architecture group said it has received multiple applications from Myhre Group employees.

Myhre Group President David Hamilton declined to comment on the firm’s status.

Stubblefield said The Springs is continuing to work with former Myhre Group architect Ray Yancey, who he said has joined LRS Architects. A spokeswoman for LRS declined to comment on whether Yancey has been hired.

Myhre Group was founded in 2000 by a team of five former Ankrom Moisan Architects employees led by Jeff Myhre. Touting a strong relationship and understanding with developers, Myhre found immediate success based on his dedication to customer service, which he proudly made available 24 hours a day.

As with other design firms, Myhre Group struggled in the wake of the Great Recession, before experiencing a slight resurgence. But then Myhre Group was fired from a notable 2013 project in Portland’s Overlook neighborhood following backlash from local residents; the firm was replaced by TVA Architects, as previously reported by The Oregonian.

Stubblefield said Myhre Group has always been a pleasure to work with, but that switching to LRS has been an easy process.

“It’s been a very amicable and professional resolution,” he said. “We’re appreciative to Jeff Myhre and the attitude he has taken in transitioning his firm.”

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A four-building apartment project will bring 276 units to the AmberGlen area of Hillsboro when crews complete construction next year. LMC Construction is building The Arbory for Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer The Wolff Company, on a four-acre parcel along Northwest Amberglen Parkway.

The Myhre Group Architects-designed project consists of four buildings – two large, four-story buildings measuring 125,000 square feet each, and two three-story buildings – one at 66,000 square feet and another at 33,000 square feet. The structures feature a combination of wood framing, steel and post-tensioned concrete podiums.

Around 150 tradespeople are on site daily working on the project. The buildings will be leased in phases beginning next spring, and total completion is slated for fall 2018.

Residential units will range in size from studios to three-bedrooms. Amenities will include a weight room, a yoga studio, a dog wash area, a bike repair and storage space, a community kitchen and a rooftop deck. Both tuck-under and surface parking will be offered.

The project team includes Atlas Landscape Architecture, civil engineer Humber Design Group, and structural engineer Froelich Engineers. The buildings are being framed by Wood Mechanix, and Jet Industries is performing electrical, HVAC and fire sprinkler systems installation, with Point Monitor subcontracted for low-voltage systems. Roger Langeliers Construction Co. is performing concrete work. Tapani Plumbing, Westside Drywall and Floor Solutions are also working on the project.

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Six Oregon projects were honored recently during the 2016 Gold Nugget Awards event, which recognizes excellence and innovation in complex design-build residential and housing-related efforts.

Two of the projects – 2125 Franklin and the Chehalem Cultural Center – received grand awards while the rest were named merit award winners in the international competition.

2125 Franklin, at the University of Oregon in Eugene, won in the “best campus housing – faculty or students residential – institutional use” category. The five-story, mixed-use project was designed by KTGY Architecture + Planning for developer American Campus Communities. Adroit Construction Co. was the builder.

The Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg was honored in the “judges’ special award of excellence – rehabilitation” category. The project was designed by Scott | Edwards Architecture and built by Triplett Wellman Contractors.

Scott | Edwards was part of the project team for two merit-level projects: the Albertina Kerr Louise Building in Gresham and the Canterbury residence in Portland. The Louise Building, built for Albertina Kerr Centers, was entered in the “best commercial project under 20,000 square feet” category. The Canterbury residence, built by iBuildPDX.com, was entered in the “best custom house under 4,000 square feet” category.

The Alameda, another Portland project, received a merit award in the “best renovation or restored single house” category. Chris Barlow Architects Inc. was the architect; the builder was Northwest Heritage Renovations.

The Rose Villa’s Rose Villa pocket neighborhood and town center project earned a merit award in the “best senior housing – on the boards” category. Myhre Group Architects served as the design architect and interior designer while RLPS Architecture served as the architect of record. The general contractor was R&H Construction.

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A generation that has always preferred doing things its own way has started to change senior housing.

Or so say many professionals in the design and construction sectors. A number of firms in the Portland area, including builders like R&H, Perlo and LCG Pence as well as designers like Ankrom Moisan, Myhre Group and LRS, have made senior living a central focus.

R&H is working on four such projects in Oregon – Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego, Rose Villa in Milwaukie, Cedar Sinai Park in Portland and Dallas Retirement Village in Dallas. The firm is predicting that the future of assisted living will hold more single-floor layouts, highly customizable design and feature options, and further renovations, according to R&H principal Norm Dowty.

“We’ve been in senior housing for some time now, and it continues to be a strong market,” he said.

Bob Boileau of Myhre Group Architects said senior housing is a good fit for the firm because it incorporates Myhre Group’s other core competencies: mixed use, interiors and hospitality.

People entering retirement communities these days tend to want the same things their grandkids want, Boileau said. That’s why the pool has a slide.

“We want them to know what health services we provide, but that’s not what sells,” he said. “It’s the active stuff, and contributing to a neighborhood. And there’s a pent-up demand for this. It’s what a lot of people are looking for.”

is perhaps the biggest senior living facility going up in the Portland area. It is one level, with “pocket-style” units and fun amenities as well as shops and restaurants that face outward, not in. Housing options are also highly customizable.

In general, Rose Villa was intended to feel more small-town and pedestrian-friendly, Rose Villa CEO Vassar Byrd said.

“But the difference is just that we are also on a campus where we also have pretty intensive health care options, so as they get older, people don’t have to face the incredible disruption or chaos of trying to find a nursing home when they’re already sick,” she said. “We have really transformed from what was once called a retirement community to more of a mixed-use community designed to serve people as they age.”

Part of the problem with traditional retirement homes is what Byrd calls an “institutional imperative.” Care facilities for older people have been perceived as cold, sterile buildings resembling medical offices where rules must be followed and the management is in charge. More and more new residents enter Rose Villa with different expectations.

“The baby boomers – they’re not like my grandparents,” Byrd said. “The folks coming online today are used to getting their own way. They understand consumer activism, to getting all the information they are entitled to. You need to partner with them in a serious way.”

The Mary’s Woods nonprofit continuing care facility was established by an order of nuns – the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary – who still sponsor the home and live there. Because of the sisters’ longtime residency in the area (they established an academy here in 1859), they view time differently than other developers, said architect Laurie Linville-Gregston, the project manager for Ankrom Moisan Architects.

The expansion added 200 units for individual living and a 40,000-square-foot commons area with natatorium, dining room, kitchen and administrative space. The facility was occupied throughout the renovation, presenting further difficulties for crews. The project was first proposed in 2003, but given the sisters’ deliberative decision-making – and the Great Recession – numerous revisions were required.

“Their process is a little slow,” said George Signori, an Ankrom Moisan senior associate. “But when the economy crashed, they were glad they hadn’t started yet. And it sat until the sun started shining again.”

Ankrom Moisan designed the tower-style Mirabella in the South Waterfront District. It has more of an urban feel, Linville-Gregston said. But Mary’s Woods was designed to incorporate its tranquil natural surroundings.

With a retail component, Mary’s Woods is also mixed use, like a lot of new assisted living. The shops serving food and drinks cater to drivers of nearby Oregon Route 43. Designers sought to better integrate the campus with its surrounding community, as well as with nature, Signori said. In traditional retirement homes, one enters a closed system without a need to leave.

“This one was intended to be a little more forward-thinking,” he said. “Well, actually, it’s backward-thinking – this is the way they used to do it in the old days.”

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After returning before the Portland Design Commission for a fifth time, designers of a planned 15-story mixed-use building with a ground-floor supermarket and underground parking learned they still have work to do.

Commissioners made it clear that approval for the project on the northwest corner of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street, currently a parking lot, would not be granted Thursday. They then spent about three hours discussing their concerns and the changes they would like to see. The project is slated to come back before the Design Commission on Feb. 4, 2016.

All of the changes requested by the commissioners concern the building’s façade that faces a pedestrian mall and Pettygrove Park, city planner Staci Monroe said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar said he would like the building to have standout features that would impress people viewing it from the park.

“It could be more diverse with windows and materials,” he said. “Look at it with the landscape and the building and the user altogether.”

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said the project “pushed a lot of buttons” with its massing scale, modifications of setbacks and landscaping.

“This is a very special place in the city,” he said. “The landscape architects have done a great job, but it’s a seven that could be pushed up to an eight.”

Simpson also said that although he likes floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the building’s entry points from Southwest Fourth Avenue feel “a little pinched.”

Representatives of Myhre Group Architects and Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture spoke about the project on behalf of Chicago-based developer Core Spaces.

Tom Pope, a partner at Hartshorne Plunkard, said that his firm, the project’s primary designer, has been working diligently with city staffers and has received approval for planned massing from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Halprin Landscape Conservancy and others.

Pope said that the design team’s changes include: adding a gate to separate residential from public parking, using a perforated panel screen for mechanical equipment on the tower roof, expanding to 650 bicycle storage spaces and putting “100 percent glazing” on all four corners.

The development will provide 424 residential units on upper floors, a 33,000-square-foot supermarket and 5,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Two basement levels of parking accessed from Southwest Harrison Street will serve about 150 vehicles. A large loading dock, 35 feet by 10 feet, will be located next to the underground garage entry on Harrison Street.

The building will consist of an L-shaped tower with a lower podium and two levels of townhomes on the north and east portions of the site, adjacent to the pedestrian mall and Pettygrove Park. Outdoor common spaces are proposed atop the second, fourth and 15th floors. Exterior finishes include a glass curtain wall, aluminum windows, metal panels and cast-in-place and vertical board-formed concrete.

During the hearing, several people who live in the neighborhood objected to plans for tree removal and loading zones as well as an anticipated increase in traffic.

Nikki Dennis, who lives on Harrison Street, said the neighborhood does not need a big supermarket and disputed the city’s claim that the trees to be removed were diseased.

“They are only being removed because they were asked to be removed,” she said.

Larry Risch, also a Harrison Street resident, agreed that the trees should not be removed and objected to the loading dock being located on Harrison Street.

“Harrison Street doesn’t look like a loading zone,” he said. “There’s no need for a grocery or they could use smaller trucks or a drive-thru.”

However, Chris Kopca, asset manager for Downtown Development Group, said the project will be good for downtown Portland.

“The development of 420-plus units of housing is a huge benefit to the neighborhood,” he said. “And it will be market rate, not designated as student housing, and it will be a significant addition to the neighborhood.”

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R&H Construction is continuing work on a $30 million transformation of Rose Villa, a retirement community in Milwaukie. Crews broke ground during summer of 2013 on the project, which is adding 75 total units that are spread between new cottages and urban-style apartments in two mixed-use buildings.

The Myhre Group Architects-designed project also includes a pedestrian-friendly “Main Street,” a town square-type space between the mixed-use buildings that can be closed to vehicular traffic for farmer’s markets and other events. New amenities include an indoor pool with a lazy river and a slide, yoga and cardio spaces, billiard room, indoor/outdoor rooftop cocktail lounge, spa, and performance space. The project is slated for completion next summer.

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Neighborhood concerns have fueled significant adjustments to plans for two Portland projects undergoing the city design review process.

Neighbors of a proposed Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in the Pearl District and a planned full-block, mixed-use building near Portland State University testified to the Portland Design Commission last week that they were pleased to see their input reflected in revised project designs. But several neighboring residents said they had lingering reservations with the design of the proposed developments.

Design commissioners agreed and offered further suggestions on Thursday for how to ensure the developments would fit into the neighborhood context. Both projects must return before the commission for a future hearing to gain city design approval.

A third design review hearing for the Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel Pearl is scheduled for July 23. The project team for the Hub at Portland, a proposed 15-story, mixed-use building at the corner of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street, sought commission feedback on the development in a fourth design advice request hearing on Thursday, but has not yet applied for design review, according to city planner Staci Monroe.

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Hampton Inn & Suites Pearl

Wisconsin-based Raymond Management Co.’s Hampton Inn & Suites Pearl would be built in place of three older warehouse structures at 821 N.W. Everett St., 338 N.W. Ninth Ave. and 303 N.W. Park. The project is being designed by Madison, Wisconsin-based Gary Brink & Associates Architects and Portland-based Hennebery Eddy Architects. Plans call for an eight-story, 201,000-square-foot hotel with 243 rooms, 9,000 square feet of ground floor retail, 104 parking spots on the second and third floors, and an eco-roof on the eighth floor.

The proposed L-shaped building would wrap around the neighboring Park Northwest Condominiums, at 333 N.W. Park. In a design review hearing for the project last month, Park Northwest residents testified they had concerns with the proposed development, including noise from the hotel’s rooftop mechanical equipment right outside their windows. They also urged the hotel developer to enhance the proposed eco-roof to make up for their lost views.

Hennebery Eddy founding principal Tim Eddy on Thursday told the commission that the project design team, after meeting with Park Northwest residents to address their concerns, had hired an acoustical consultant to analyze the anticipated sound of the planned mechanical equipment.

“The upper end of the noise is somewhere between a dishwasher and a conversation,” he said.

The hotel’s proposed eco-roof, designed by Portland-based Lango Hansen Landscape Architects, would also enhance views toward the building from Park Northwest and other surrounding Pearl District condo buildings, such as The Elizabeth, Eddy said.

“Instead of mechanical units, you’ll see a green roof,” he said.

Design commissioners said they were pleased overall with the revisions to the project design, but raised lingering concerns about proposed signage and lighting that would illuminate portions of the hotel façade. Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser said he wasn’t a fan of the cursive lettering on the Hampton Inn & Suites brand signs.

“I think it would help them to upgrade their sign packages,” he said. “It kind of downgrades the architecture in my opinion.”

Commissioner Guenevere Millius said she appreciated the design team’s efforts to address the concerns of neighboring residents, such as commissioning the sound study.

“I think it’s an extremely good gesture to make as a neighbor,” she said. “I think it’s come a long way.”

Hub at Portland

Commissioners on Thursday also offered further feedback on the Hub at Portland, Chicago-based Core Campus’ proposed development for a site at 325 and 333 S.W. Harrison St. that is currently a parking lot. Plans for the 15-story building call for 35,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor for a potential grocery store, 425 apartments on the upper floors, and 158 below-grade parking spaces.

Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and Portland-based Myhre Group Architects presented a design that had been significantly revised since the project last went before the commission in March. Changes included eroding away the portion of the building that would face nearby Pettygrove Park and the Halprin Open Space Sequence to offer a fourth floor green roof and terrace space. The taller sides of the building would face Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harrison Street.

“This is a great shape because it really addresses the urban edge on Harrison and Fourth (with) the bulk of the building being stepped way back,” Myhre Group principal Bob Boileau said.

A large number of neighbors of the proposed project attended and testified at the hearing on Thursday. Neighbors reiterated concerns brought up at previous design advice hearings that the development would be out of context with the rest of the neighborhood and exacerbate traffic congestion in the area. Many also acknowledged that the design of the building has come a long way since the initial proposal and praised the project team for addressing their input.

“I would like to thank the developers who really did work with us on this,” said Judith Buffo, a facilitator with South Auditorium Greenway Environs community group.

Design commissioners said they also believed the latest iteration of the project was moving in the right direction, but worried the proposed development was trying to pack too much into a constrained site.

“It still feels like it’s spilling over a little bit,” Commission Chairman David Wark said. “Loosen it up a bit … Less square footage could benefit it.”

Millius said she felt plans to include grocery store in the project might not be a wise choice.

“It’s such a hard site to cram that use into,” she said. “It would have to see most of its traffic coming on foot because they don’t want to drive there. I’m in support of where the building is going. I think the design moves are there, but it feels like a lot to ask of the site.”

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Plans to carve out a new plaza on the Lloyd Center side that faces Northeast Multnomah Street still need tweaking, according to the Portland Design Commission.

Commissioners offered feedback Thursday to the Portland-based Waterleaf Architecture, Interiors & Planning team designing Dallas-based Cypress Equities‘ $50 million mall remodel. The hearing focused on one of the most significant changes – punching out a portion of the parking garage to create a plaza next to Macy’s, facing Holladay Park.

“The vision is to open the mall to the community,” Mark Mikolavich of Waterleaf Architecture told the commission. “It’s to establish this entrance as the front door to the south. It’s a transformation that turns the mall outward literally.”

But, as in previous hearings for the project, commissioners said the plaza designs still missed the mark. Several said they’d like to see a more inviting outdoor space. Commissioner Tad Savinar suggested adding more elements besides outdoor café tables with umbrellas, such as benches, a fountain or public art.

“I’m not talking about clutter,” he told the design team. “Take the umbrellas out (and) this is a concrete slot. That’s not what the client is looking for and that’s not what we want.”

Mikolavich and Waterleaf Architecture partner Bill Bailey sought feedback on several revisions to the plaza design based on previous comments from the commission. These included moving the curtain wall that gives approaching pedestrians a glimpse of the interior closer to the street, mounting a set of flagpoles on the wall of Macy’s instead of extending them to the ground and eliminating plans for a green wall in the plaza. The design team also proposed several options for the placement of canopies along either side of the plaza.

“We’re hoping to get some clarity, some feedback, on these design ideas,” Bailey said. “We really do want this session to focus on the plaza design.”

After seeing the current plans, commissioners said they were left wanting more. Commissioner David Keltner said it would be nice if the plaza felt like a place where people could relax.

“You’ve definitely accomplished your goal of getting people from the street into the mall,” he said. “Is there the ability to have a zone or layer that says, ‘You can stop here for a minute?’ ”

Several commissioners said they’d prefer that the flagpoles extend to the ground.

“To me, it’s kind of awkward,” Commission Chairman David Wark said. “Can you still mount it on the wall, but bring it all the way down?”

Savinar said his primary concern was that the plaza design acknowledged its users.

“There’s a place that a human being can inhabit; that’s what I’m looking for,” he said. “In order to make this a true entrance for people, you have to make it beyond architecture.”

In addition to feedback on the Lloyd Center plaza, commissioners on Thursday held two design advice request hearings. The first was for Hub at Portland, a proposed 15-story, mixed-use development designed by Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture in partnership with Portland-based Myhre Group Architects at 325 and 333 S.W. Harrison St. The second hearing discussed the Market Street Apartments, a planned nine-story apartment building, at 1133 S.W. Market St., designed by Portland-based SERA Architects.

A hearing for the Hub at Portland, developed by Austin, Texas-based Core Campus, attracted a large number of neighboring residents, who testified that the proposed development would create too much shade over nearby Pettygrove Park, be inconsistent with other buildings in the neighborhood, exacerbate traffic congestion in the area and contribute to noise pollution.

Plans for the U-shaped building call for 400 units of mostly student housing, 35,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space for a potential grocer and below-grade parking for 97 vehicles.

Commissioners generally agreed with residents, and said that the design didn’t adequately respond to the surrounding district.

“It really feels like you’re just filling up the site,” Commission Vice Chairman Ben Kaiser told the design team. “It’s your right, but it’s not acknowledging the neighborhood – and there’s nothing else that big.”

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The redevelopment of a Southeast Portland retirement community earned national recognition in this year’s Environments for Aging Design Showcase.

A $60 million project, designed by Portland-based Myhre Group Architects and Lancaster, Pa.-based RLPS Architects, to revamp the center of the 22-acre Rose Villa campus off Southeast River Road received an Award of Merit in the competition’s unbuilt category. The redevelopment, which is currently under construction, was among five top projects in senior care settings selected for an award by a 23-member jury of design professionals.

An awards ceremony will be held at the EFA Conference April 19-21 in Baltimore. The winning projects also will be profiled in the spring 2015 issue of the EFA magazine.

Crews from R & H Construction started work last June. The project aims to give the Rose Villa a neighborhood feel, make it more pedestrian-friendly and add more open space. The transformation, which targets the baby boom generation, is scheduled to be complete in spring 2016.

Plans called for tearing down apartment buildings constructed in 1960s and replacing those with 75 new units. The residences will be divided between cottages and urban-style apartments in two mixed-use buildings also containing various amenities, including a fitness center, dining area and cafe.

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