naito development – Daily Journal of Commerce /news/tag/naito-development/ Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Mon, 13 Mar 2017 17:33:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.6 /files/2023/08/favicon.webp naito development – Daily Journal of Commerce /news/tag/naito-development/ 32 32 Old Town conflict coming to a head /news/2017/03/09/old-town-conflict-coming-to-a-head/ Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:13:02 +0000 /?p=161620 With the Grove Hotel redevelopment on track to wrap up this year, the clock is ticking for the search to find a permanent home for the Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp across the street.

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Partners in the Grove Hotel project on West Burnside Street have filed a lawsuit to force the eviction of the Right 2 Dream Too camp, which has operated for five years on a site that the Portland Development Commission has an option to purchase. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ)
Construction on the project is continuing, with an opening expected in November, as city officials search for a permanent home for . (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ)

A tower crane looms over the Grove Hotel at the gate to Portland’s . Workers in highlighter-yellow visibility vests move on the upper floors among the window frames.

The sidewalk along Burnside Street is closed by permit for construction, but around the corner on Fourth Avenue, a man sleeps on the sidewalk outside the entrance to Right 2 Dream Too, a camp for those with nowhere else to go.

Time is running short for Right 2 Dream Too, which has called a quarter-block on the northeast corner of West Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street home since October 2011.

The backers of the Grove Hotel project – renovation of a 113-year-old, three-story building and construction of an adjacent nine-story addition – plan to open in November after filing a lawsuit to force the eviction of the camp. It operates as a nonprofit that helps homeless people get established and find jobs.

Staffers from Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office met again recently with Right 2 Dream Too representatives, but so far, no solution is at hand.

“Discussions have been good, but there’s not an obvious solution that’s presented itself,” said Michael Cox, a spokesman for Wheeler.

An attorney for the camp, Mark Kramer, did not return messages seeking comment.

The Portland Commission has an option to purchase the block occupied by Right 2 Dream Too; that agreement requires the property to be clear of the camp and other potential development obstacles by April 7. The 30-month deadline was already extended once, in October.

“We do have some time still,” said Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the PDC. “The way that it’s currently written is PDC has the option to purchase this parcel. If those conditions aren’t met, then we’d need to have a conversation with the landowners to ensure those conditions are met.”

The project to create a 113-room hotel with ground-floor retail and restaurant space remains on track to open in November, said , head of . Construction was delayed by rough winter weather.

“We had pours scheduled and the concrete trucks couldn’t roll,” he said.

is the general contractor. The design is by Surround Architecture and Studio Tack.

The Grove Hotel project, which includes renovation of an existing three-story building and construction of a nine-story addition, is slated for completion late this year. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ)
The Grove Hotel project, which includes renovation of an existing three-story building and construction of a nine-story addition, is slated for completion late this year. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ)

Grove Hostel Property LLC entered into a development agreement with the PDC in 2011, and the $650,000 purchase closed in February 2015. Uhlman said the price – seemingly a bargain for Portland’s urban core – reflected the property’s condition and the substantial amount of work needed to redevelop it.

The project is complex. To gain approval from the , the developers agreed to renovate the existing 19,450-square-foot building rather than demolish it. A nine-story addition will face Fourth Avenue.

Construction began in March 2016. Filament Hospitality, based in San Francisco, will manage the hotel, Naito said.

Before the hotel opens, the developers want Right 2 Dream Too out. The developers on Feb. 7 sued Michael and Linda Wright and Daniel and Donna Cossette, who own the property that is home to Right 2 Dream Too.

The lawsuit says the homeless camp is incompatible with hotel operations next door. The lawsuit says the camp is in conflict with a safe pedestrian environment and the “social value” for the neighborhood.

The shelter reduced the hotel project’s fair-market value by $900,000, which caused the loss of the developers’ financing, the lawsuit charges. Grove Hotel Partners LLC and Grove Hostel Property LLC are seeking more than $1.6 million for their costs and lost business.

Moving the camp has proved difficult. A plan to relocate Right 2 Dream Too to a city-owned property at Southeast Third Avenue and Harrison Street was scuttled in August by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. The appeals board said a long-term tent camp would violate the parcel’s industrial (IG1) zoning.

Several property interests fought the camp’s proposed move east of the Willamette River. They include the Central Eastside Industrial Council, developer Killian Pacific, East Side Plating Inc. and Marquez Properties PDX, a limited liability company.

Right 2 Dream Too’s limbo leaves the PDC waiting. The agency’s option to purchase the 7,762-square-foot parcel is for $1.2 million.

The timing is politically sensitive. City leaders have been under enormous pressure to find a solution to Portland’s enduring homelessness problem. Efforts to establish a homeless shelter at Terminal 1 along the Willamette River foundered last winter. Four deaths of homeless people were attributed to hypothermia.

The PDC has not decided what to do with the quarter-block, Uhlman said.

“We haven’t set a course for that property yet,” he said. “It is a parcel where we really want to involve the community and have something that’s supported as far as what comes next.”

 

Still searching for shelter site

Developer Homer Williams is again working behind the scenes to find a Portland site for a large-scale homeless shelter after his proposal to establish one on the city-owned Terminal 1 lot fell through.

For Williams, it’s back to the drawing board. He’s not changing course on the type of shelter he’s looking for: a large building – most likely an industrial one.

“The only way that you’re going to be able to create space in the short term is going to be in taking existing buildings – primarily warehouses, that type of thing – and retrofitting them,” he said. “That’s what we’re in the process of working on. Hopefully we’ll have identified the first one and get a budget in place and start on down the road.”

Williams has established a nonprofit organization, Oregon Harbor of Hope, to find a site for a homeless shelter and arrange funding for it. He is focusing on government-owned sites.

“We’re going to look at both city and county and other publicly owned properties,” he said.

The city of Portland sold the Terminal 1 site in December to Lithia Motors for $12.5 million after concerns were raised about the property’s suitability as a potential homeless shelter.

Some stakeholders have questioned whether the city should address homelessness by relying on Williams, who as co-founder of Williams & Dame Development is known for building gleaming glass residential towers. He said he wants to get everyone involved.

The city is awaiting Williams’ next proposal, said Michael Cox, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s spokesman.

“This office has told Homer that he should go ahead and put together a plan for what his idea is in terms of timeline, budget and site suggestions, and we’ll review that plan when we get it,” Cox said.

Williams said tackling Portland’s enduring homelessness has been a time-consuming but interesting challenge.

“It’s been a good learning experience,” he said. “This is an area that a lot of people have a lot of strong feelings about. Right now, the most obvious problem is the chronic homelessness. It’s in every neighborhood. We’ve got to help mitigate that and get these people into a safe place with a roof over their heads.”

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Grove Hotel construction poised to start /news/2016/03/18/grove-hotel-redevelopment-poised-to-start/ Sat, 19 Mar 2016 00:28:25 +0000 /?p=147620 Construction is set to start in about a week at the Grove Hotel in Old Town Chinatown.

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Naito Development has secured building permits and signed a contract with Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Betty Company to begin work on the $30 million renovation of the ex-Grove Hotel on East Burnside Street. (Surround Architecture)
Naito has secured building permits and signed a contract with , a Balfour Betty Company to begin work on the $30 million renovation of the ex- on East Burnside Street. (Surround Architecture)

Almost two years after purchasing the ex-Grove Hotel at East Burnside Street and Northwest Fourth Avenue, is ready to start renovating the building.

and in 2014 were chosen by the Portland Development Commission to develop the property after a previous development plan fizzled. Naito and his partners paid $630,000 for the 27,570-square-foot building.

Budgeted at about $30 million, the project to renovate the 109-year-old building will also include construction of a nine-story tower. Retail shops, restaurants and bars are planned for the ground floor.

Naito said building permits have been secured, and he signed a contract Friday afternoon with Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company, to oversee construction. Surround Architecture is in charge of the building design and New York-based Studio Tack will design the interior.

Work should begin in about a week, Naito said, and staging for the project will take place on the sidewalks of both East Burnside Street and Northwest Fourth Avenue.

Naito said earlier that he hopes the city is able to relocate the homeless camp, across the street from the hotel, by the time construction is complete in about 18 months.

Naito said he grew up in the neighborhood and remembers pulling hand trucks of boxes around when he worked at , his family’s business. His father, Bill Naito, was a business leader and philanthropist known for his work to preserve historic structures and revitalize downtown Portland.

“It’s great to be back in the old neighborhood and I think the Grove Hotel project is going to become a kind of icon in ,” Naito said. “And I think it’s going to be something that my dad, if he were around, would be proud of.”

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Hearing on Grove Hotel plans to be continued /news/2015/10/20/hearing-on-grove-hotel-plans-to-be-continued/ Tue, 20 Oct 2015 21:56:37 +0000 /?p=140451 A hearing before Portland's Historic Landmarks Commission on the proposed redevelopment of the Grove Hotel has been extended to Nov. 9.

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An Historic Landmarks Commission hearing on Naito Development's planned redevelopment of the Grove Hotel in Old Town/Chinatown has been extended to Nov. 9. (Surround Architecture)
An hearing on ‘s planned redevelopment of the in Old Town/Chinatown has been extended to Nov. 9. (Surround Architecture)

A hearing before Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission on the proposed redevelopment of the Grove Hotel has been extended to Nov. 9, according to Mark Vanderzanden, creative director of Surround Architecture, the project’s designer.

The hearing was held over from Oct. 12 because of a letter from retired history professor Jacqueline Peterson Loomis. She wrote on behalf of the , which she serves as a board member.

Loomis wrote that the foundation objects to the location of the hotel entrance on Northwest Fourth Avenue and the size of the proposed electric sign. But mostly the group objects to the height of a proposed tower addition to the long-vacant three-story building on West Burnside Street.

“The proposed nine-story, 100-plus-foot hotel tower is clearly incompatible with the surrounding one- to three-story buildings of the New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District,” Peterson-Loomis wrote. “… Approval of a building higher than 75 feet within one of Portland’s downtown national historic districts would be an unheard of and dangerous precedent.”

Vanderzanden said that at the Oct. 12 meeting, commissioners seemed ready to approve the redevelopment project, and about 30 people expressed support. He said Loomis was the only person who raised an objection.

The property is being redeveloped by Naito in partnership with of New York City and San Francisco-based Filament Hospitality. The group purchased the property for $630,000 after being selected by the Portland Development Commission in May 2014.

The team is planning a $30 million project to refurbish the 108-year-old ex-hotel building and add a nine-story tower to hold a boutique hotel. Retail shops, restaurants and bars are planned for the ground floor.

City planner Grace Jeffreys said she recommended that the Historic Landmarks Commission approve the project, but commissioners weren’t completely sold on the plans.

“They still had some concerns about the treatment of the north elevation (and) the replacement storefront, and they were looking for more historic detailing on the transoms,” she said.

Jeffreys said that despite those concerns, commissioners indicated that “this could be a project they could support.” The site is directly across the street from the homeless camp, which the city is hoping to relocate to Southeast Portland.

“I know there’s been a lot of local support for this project, and the majority of opinions were that it will be a revitalizing development for the neighborhood,” Jeffreys said. “ (American Institute of Architects) Portland supports it, as do a majority of the testifiers and people who submitted written testimony.”

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Old Town Chinatown refreshment /news/2015/05/29/old-town-chinatown-refreshment/ Fri, 29 May 2015 22:59:37 +0000 /?p=135321 Work is under way to bring a new look to the Grove Hotel -- and the surrounding neighborhood.

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The redevelopment plan for the in calls for renovating the existing three-story building and constructing a nine-story, 63,000-square-foot addition (courtesy of ).

is preparing to bring a completely new look to the Grove Hotel at the corner of Northwest Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street – and the neighborhood itself – in a couple of years.

At present, the former hotel, built in 1907, is derelict. Homeless people sleep in the doorways – overflow from the homeless camp across the street.

Naito said he is hopeful the city will find a new location for R2DToo in time for his company, Naito , to start construction around October on the property at 401-499 W. Burnside Street.

The city last year pledged money to help the homeless camp relocate. In April, City Commissioner Amanda Fritz announced that the city is working on a plan to buy from the Oregon Department of Transportation a half-acre plot to house the homeless camp. The land, about 9,000 square feet, is in the near the new .

Naito said he hasn’t closely followed developments between the city and R2DToo, but he’s keeping a positive attitude.

“We’re not going to open for 18 months, so I have to assume that relocation will be completed by then,” he said.

If the camp moves, the lot could be used as a staging area for construction, Naito said. He said his company asked the city for the right of first refusal for future purchase of the privately-owned R2DToo lot, but was refused by the Portland Development Commission. But Naito said he’ll be first in line if and when bidding on the lot begins.

“I would love to be able to stage there,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s closing both sidewalks and on-street parking (during construction), which is kind of a challenge.”

Negotiations to secure the land for the homeless camp are continuing, said Josh Alpert, Mayor Charlie Hales‘ director of strategic initiatives. He said a few more weeks of work remain on the second phase of an environmental review of the proposed site. In the meantime, the city is talking with potential neighbors of the site as well as meeting with R2DToo representatives. If all goes well, he said, a purchase agreement for the property could come before the City Council in about a month.

Alpert said he couldn’t speak for R2DToo, but noted that its representatives have been in constant communication with the city.

“They’ve seen the site many times, and I think there’s a good chance they’ll be agreeable,” he said.

Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the PDC, which is headquartered in Old Town Chinatown, said the rejuvenated hotel will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood that is experiencing a revival.

“That location, by old Chinatown gate, is truly the gateway to our neighborhood,” he said. “Everything this project represents and how they’ve gone about it is really exciting.”

The Grove Hotel has languished since the PDC bought it in 2010 for $3.7 million. Previously, developers backed out of a bid to revitalize the building because they lost financing and failed to lure commercial tenants to the gritty neighborhood.

Following a competition held by the PDC in May 2014, Naito Development and two project partners – New York-based and San Francisco-based Filament Hospitality – were chosen to redevelop the property. The group agreed to purchase the building for $630,000.

Naito and his company are planning to invest about $30 million in the project, which calls for refurbishing the existing building and adding a nine-story boutique hotel. No public money will be used to revitalize the property, he noted.

Plans now call for the new hotel being incorporated with the existing building. Retail shops, restaurants and bars will occupy the ground floor.

Naito said the Grove will be competitive with other high-end boutique hotels in the city.

“It will be pretty sophisticated for Portland,” he said. “It will feel like an international hotel, and we’re shooting for a 3.5-star rating.”

Staying at the Grove won’t be like staying at big-box hotels, he said.

“We’re geared toward people who prefer not to stay in those hotels but want a Portland experience,” he said. “The big chains are cranking out their own versions of boutique hotels, but I don’t know how authentic they can make them.”

Preserving authenticity is very important to Naito, and he’s currently waiting for final design approval from the city’s .

“We got our design advice request and are now working on the application based on the landmarks commission comments,” he said. “There’s a myriad of details we need to get into the actual application, and we’re trying to get it in at the end of July or August.”

Naito said he’s not worried about attracting retail to the location and said Ingrid Summerfield of Filament Hospitality has years of experience in boutique hotels. She has opened other refurbished hotels that have turned neighborhoods around, and Naito believes the Grove will transform the entrance to Chinatown – the neighborhood where he grew up.

“The hotel will have a 24-hour cafĂ© on the corner of Fourth and Burnside, with a specialty restaurant open in the evening adjacent to the cafĂ©, all on the first floor,” he said. “On the ninth level, we’ll have an outdoor deck and bar and I hope in the summertime we can open up the doors and have spectacular views.”

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2015 Newsmakers: Naito Development /news/2015/02/26/2015-newsmakers-naito-development/ Fri, 27 Feb 2015 00:26:16 +0000 /?p=131843 Will Naito has big shoes to fill. His grandfather, Bill Naito, was among the earliest to see the importance of redeveloping Portland’s Chinatown and Old Town.

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Will Naito, left, and Bob Naito (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ file)
Will Naito, left, and (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ file)

Will Naito has big shoes to fill. His grandfather, Bill Naito, was among the earliest to see the importance of redeveloping Portland’s Chinatown and Old Town.

Through the 1950s and early ’60s, Old Town was known as Skid Road. At a time when most developers were abandoning downtown for the suburbs, Naito saw value and potential in reclaiming derelict and abandoned buildings in both downtown and the area.

In 1975, he renovated a department store building built in 1910 and turned it into one of the earliest mixed-use renovation projects in the area. The project, dubbed The Galleria, helped secure Naito’s reputation as a developer willing to breathe new life into old properties.

When Bill died in 1996, his son Bob Naito took over as head of the firm, continuing the family tradition of finding new purposes for old buildings. The firm, for example, moved the historic Simon Benson House to the Portland State University campus, where it was renovated as a visitor center and alumni office.

also has led by example when it comes to finding sustainable ways to renovate older buildings. Recent green projects include a LEED platinum renovation in the historic Halprin blocks in downtown Portland and , a project currently rising in Portland’s River District that’s also targeting a platinum rating.

In 2009, Bob’s son Will Naito joined the firm as a project manager. Both Will and Bob are part of the team that last year was handed the task of redeveloping the 117-year-old in Old Town Chinatown. The project calls for a 52-room, 190-bed boutique hotel.

“When we bring people from out of town here – developers, architects, designers, hospitality professionals – they get excited at the potential in Old Town Chinatown,” Will Naito said. “Sometimes locals forget what a gem they have here. Helping to revitalize it is what we do. I guess you could say I’m doing what my father and grandfather did, and I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”

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Pre-application conference scheduled for Grove Hotel /news/2014/12/03/grove-hotel-pre-application-conference-scheduled/ Thu, 04 Dec 2014 00:28:41 +0000 /?p=128161 Construction crews could begin redevelopment of the Grove Hotel in Old Town Chinatown in as few as six months.

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The Grove Hotel in Old Town Chinatown is expected to become a boutique hotel as part of a $14 million to $20 million project. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ file)
The in is expected to become a boutique hotel as part of a $14 million to $20 million project. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ file)

Construction crews could begin redevelopment of the Grove Hotel in Old Town Chinatown in as few as six months.

, a principal at Naito , on Nov. 25 applied to the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a pre-application conference concerning design and seismic upgrade options for the 117-year-old building.

In a joint partnership, , New York-based and San Francisco-based Filament Hospitality are proposing a 52-room, 190-bed boutique hotel for the site.

Erik Matthews of Surround Architecture Inc. said the conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 23.

“We had a preliminary structural meeting to talk about whether a seismic upgrade would or would not be necessary,” Naito said.

The project calls for renovation of the existing three-story building and construction of a nine-story, 63,000-square-foot mixed-use building containing retail and hotel space.

Matthews said the project is estimated to cost between $14 million and $20 million.

“We’re trying to steer clear of doing all the seismic upgrades on the existing building because we’re trying to manage the budget accordingly,” he said. “It’s a matter of priority; we do want to make sure the building is safe for the tenants.”

Naito Development in May purchased the property from the Portland Development Commission for $630,000. The PDC in 2010 bought the parcel for $3.7 million.

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One step closer to Grove Hotel redevelopment /news/2014/08/18/one-step-closer-to-grove-hotel-redevelopment/ Mon, 18 Aug 2014 17:05:40 +0000 /?p=120893 The Portland Development Commission Board of Commissioners last week unanimously approved the sale of the Grove Hotel property in Old Town Chinatown to Portland-based Naito Development for $630,000.

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The Portland Commission Board of Commissioners last week unanimously approved the sale of the property in to Portland-based for $630,000.

The PDC has owned the 27,570-square-foot building on West Burnside Street since 2010, PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. The sale should be finalized within the next four months, and will likely happen quicker than that, he added.

PDC officials earlier this year selected a proposal from Naito Development in partnership with New York-based and San Francisco-based Filament Hospitality to redevelop the property into a boutique hotel. The proposed $6.9 million project calls for a 52-room “design-oriented lifestyle” hotel with ground-floor retail space.

Uhlman said PDC officials are hoping that the project will contribute to revitalization of Old Town Chinatown.

“We, the PDC, are just really pleased with this (development) team, and we’re really optimistic with what they’re trying to do,” he said. “The vibe of the neighborhood will be significantly changed.”

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Revving up for revitalization /news/2014/05/19/revving-up-for-revitalization/ Mon, 19 May 2014 21:12:01 +0000 /?p=116050 The Grove Hotel redevelopment team believes the project can spur others in Old Town Chinatown.

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project manager Will Naito, left, and principal are part of the team planning to redevelop the 117-year-old in Portland’s neighborhood. (Sam Tenney/91ĘÓƵ)

Change in Old Town Chinatown won’t happen overnight, and the Grove Hotel redevelopment team knows that.

“For the hotel to succeed and to really be that catalyst, there has to be more – especially, ground-floor retail – activity going on,” said Bob Naito, principal of Naito . “And I think we’ll stimulate it with the galleries and maker spaces, and all that stuff is going to come, but we’re going to have to incubate and nurse it along.”

A joint partnership of Naito Development, New York-based and San Francisco-based Filament Hospitality last week was chosen by the Portland Development Commission as its preferred development team among five finalists vying to redevelop the Grove Hotel. Pending completion of a disposition and development agreement with the PDC, the Naito team will purchase the building for $630,000. The group is not requesting any public money to help pay for the proposed $6.9 million project.

The iconic, 117-year-old building at the gateway to Old Town Chinatown has languished since the PDC purchased it in 2010 for $3.7 million. Previously, developer David Gold and local businessman John Jay bid to revitalize the building, but lost financing and failed to lure commercial tenants to the gritty neighborhood.

Criminality still exists there, but the new development team isn’t deterred. Ingrid Summerfield, co-founder and principal of Filament Hospitality, cited a renovation she oversaw near San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood when she was president and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality.

“When we opened the (Commodore Hotel), we had prostitution, drugs – we had all kinds of issues right in front of our door,” she said. “Over the course of a year or two, the neighborhood very much changed and today you wouldn’t recognize it because it’s become revitalized.”

Add lights, restaurants and people, she said, and criminals become less comfortable.

To address homelessness, Summerfield said the key is creating opportunities for permanence. She is a board member of the Community Housing Partnership, a San Francisco nonprofit that buys derelict buildings and rehabilitates them into permanent affordable housing. She thinks there may be similar opportunities in Portland, but the Grove Hotel project will come first.

“I think the first real opportunity is the fact that you have a near-empty building that’s boarded up,” she said. “That in and of itself is an eyesore and kind of sets the stage to the entry of Chinatown. By revitalizing and renovating the property, it gets it a whole different sense of arrival. That I think is probably the most important component … You give that property a concept and an element of confidence and pride, and all of a sudden it has a much sunnier outlook.”

The Naito/Eagle Point/Filament proposal calls for a 52-room, 190-bed “design-oriented, lifestyle” boutique hotel. Each room will have at least one bed, a bathroom, a flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi, but be smaller and cost less than a typical downtown hotel room. The ground floor will feature retailers, bars, coffee shops and restaurants; Naito said he has received strong interest from local chefs, and the group may partner with Lake Tahoe-based Basecamp Hotel. Banks have expressed interest in providing financing.

The proposal came together somewhat serendipitously. Naito Development shares a building with Tarlow, Naito & Summers LLP Attorneys at Law. One of the law firm’s partner’s daughters – Bridget Summers – is an associate at Eagle Point. She stopped in to visit and inquire about development opportunities in Portland.

“That was Friday,” Naito said. “Monday morning, PDC released the RFP for the Grove Hotel. How is that for coincidence?”

Within 48 hours, the group formulated a concept based on the idea that a hotel should be a jumping-off point to the city. Naito credited his son Will Naito, a Naito Development project manager, and Summers for touting that model.

Stephen Chan, a principal at Eagle Point, is employing that model to varying degrees in projects across the country. He’s not worried about Old Town Chinatown’s gritty reputation. When he thinks of the Grove Hotel, he’s reminded of the Phoenix Hotel – a rock ‘n’ roll themed hangout in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood that Summerfield managed for Joie de Vivre.

“You go there today and (the area is) probably worse than Portland is, seriously, in terms of what’s there and around there,” he said. “And at the same time, the Phoenix has continued on for well over two decades now with its hip style. And (the area is) really part of the character of it, and it’s done phenomenally well.”

Meanwhile, Old Town Chinatown, Chan said, is on the rise. Indeed, a new five-year action plan for the neighborhood identifies approximately $57 million in urban renewal funds that could become available for revitalization, and businesses are already starting to mobilize.

Also, the Grove Hotel redevelopment team is buoyed by the pending relocation of the homeless camp across the street. In February, a group of Pearl District stakeholders committed $846,000 toward a new home for the camp. It hasn’t moved yet, but Naito said the team has about 20 months to figure it out before the Grove Hotel reopens.

Gold and Jay didn’t have that luxury, and Bob Naito said this new project would not have come together without the extensive legwork completed by them.

Also, Summerfield has personally opened approximately 25 hotels – many adaptive reuse projects – throughout the country. She has focused on creating “demand generators” – businesses that can meet neighborhoods’ needs.

“I’ve never seen it not work,” she said.

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Hotel-hostel hybrid proposal selected for Grove Hotel /news/2014/05/14/hotel-hostel-hybrid-proposal-selected-for-grove-hotel/ Wed, 14 May 2014 23:05:42 +0000 /?p=115776 The Portland Development Commission's advisory committee tasked with selecting a preferred developer to revitalize the Grove Hotel in Old Town Chinatown has selected a joint proposal by Portland-based Naito Development and New York-based Eagle Point Hotel Partners.

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The winning proposal for redevelopment of the calls for creation of a hotel-hostel hybrid of sorts.

The Portland Commission‘s advisory committee tasked with selecting a preferred developer for the property has selected a joint proposal by Portland-based and New York-based . The two companies plan to renovate the long-vacant, century-old building to hold 52 rooms and 190 beds for rent.

The proposal isn’t much different from one that developer David Gold pursued in spring 2013. That deal fell apart because of the presence of the homeless camp across the street.

Eric Jacobson, senior project manager for the PDC, said economic conditions now favor a hospitality concept.

“One, the economy has really picked up and interest in Portland and Old Town Chinatown has really picked up,” he said. “And I think secondly, this lifestyle hotel/hostel concept is really taking off across the country. It’s apparent to us that there is a market demand for these real social places at a lower price point than a traditional hotel.”

The Naito/Eagle Point team (which also includes hotel operator Filament Hospitality) was one of five finalists vying for the property. Developers Aaron Jones and Don Mutal proposed a market-rate housing concept; and Urban Development Partners suggested a mixed-use office model; and three others offered variations on the hostel idea.

Jacobson said all of the proposals were strong candidates, but added that the PDC chose a hospitality concept because of its ability to bring people to the streetscape.

“I think the key thing was really activation of the space,” he said. “The office use could be very positive, but on the other hand it wouldn’t be as activated at night and on weekends.”

He said PDC officials shared similar reservations about the housing concept, which called for 11 micro retail stores and 18 tiny market-rate apartments. He said the Naito/Eagle Point team’s hostel proposal trumped the others because of experience and financial capabilities.

The team is offering to pay $630,000 in cash for the property. A nonbinding memorandum of understanding and due diligence period of 60 to 90 days will likely follow a meeting with the developers next week.

One aspect of the Naito/Eagle Point proposal that will not be included in the final deal was a request to have first right of refusal to redevelop the lot where R2DToo resides, should the camp be relocated, and providing the PDC acquires the property. Discussions are ongoing.

“We’re really viewing these as two separate things in that we’re not going to make redevelopment of the Grove Hotel contingent upon anything having to do with the R2DToo property,” Jacobson said. “It’s a stand-alone property.”

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