Plans for a new four-story mixed-use building in Portland’s Alphabet Historic District received praise at a Historic Landmarks Commission design advice hearing on Monday.

The Allied Works Architecture design of a building at the corner of Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street would have five residential units above 925 square feet of ground-floor retail space and eight long-term bike parking spaces.

The 1,789-square-foot site has sat vacant since a 2016 gas explosion destroyed the historic Alfred C. F. Burkhardt House.

“I think the design is amazing,” Commissioner Wendy Chung said. “It really does draw from the historic features of the neighborhood. Even though it’s clearly a modern building, it’s a perfect example of something that’s compatible but modern.”

Allied Works Architecture’s Rebecca Wood said the team was inspired by the simple masonry in the district. The project by R&A Development would feature glazed porcelain tile and painted vertical metal fins, custom twisted painted metal ornamental balconies, a painted metal canopy, painted aluminum-clad wood windows and French doors. They are also proposing to replace three trees that were destroyed in the explosion.

“I really appreciate your efforts in looking at the examples in the district and putting a modern spin on it,” Commissioner Annie Mahoney said. “Overall I think it’s a wonderful design.”

Commissioner Matthew Roman wondered if the residential windows without balconies would be too tall to fit well in the neighborhood, but others said they believed the windows would provide a nice contrast.

The proposal doesn’t request any modifications to code, which commissioners noted and appreciated. They praised the simple and clean look of the building – the balconies would be flush with the exterior walls and the building’s height would be the same as the adjacent structure.

Dan Koch of Allied Works Architecture said the team presented the proposal to the Northwest District Association’s planning committee, which liked the design.

At 45 feet tall, the building would be the maximum height allowed in the district. In a letter to commissioners, the neighborhood association stated it would like to see an increase in the building’s height of three to five feet in order to raise the level of the ground-floor retail entry to match the level of the sidewalk.

Commissioners said they would support the modification. However, Koch said the additional height would be a detriment to the overall design of the building.

“We were very intentional in trying to meet the design guidelines,” he said. “I appreciate your reasonable and thoughtful input. Now we will take that and make this better.”

Commissioners said they hope the building’s design will be an inspiration to others.

“The design and attention to detail is well appreciated,” Commission Chairman Kirk Ranzetta said. “We look forward to seeing the next iteration.”

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A project is under way in Northwest Portland to reconstruct a building damaged in a fall 2016 gas explosion. R&H Construction is rebuilding 2281 Glisan, a five-story mixed-use structure originally designed by Allied Works Architecture and completed in 2000.

The building sustained harm after utility workers on a nearby site severed a gas line, causing an adjacent building at 2275 N.W. Glisan St. to fill with gas. The resulting explosion leveled that building and directed a concentrated blast at 2281 Glisan, heavily damaging the slab and steel on the west side of the second and third floors. The explosion resulted in pan decking being separated from steel by about seven inches.

Following the explosion, crews with Interstate Restoration performed heavy demolition work and cleaned up the site. R&H Construction began work on the rebuild in November 2017, performing additional demolition work including removal of MEP systems, façade and slabs. The building has been stripped down to its structural members, with pieces of damaged steel and slab removed. A total of 10 pieces of compromised steel on levels two and three have been replaced, new pan decking has been laid, and slab pours are slated for this week.

The building will be rebuilt to its original design, save for a change to the elevator system, which now runs to the top floor and includes an overrun on the roof. The building’s top two floors are a residence for owners Bob and Ann Sacks, the third floor will be office space, and the second and ground floors will consist of either office or retail space or a mixture of the two. The project is slated for completion this September.

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Plans to repair one of the two structures damaged in gas explosions in October 2016 were approved by the Bureau of Development Services last week. Staffers approved Allied Works Architecture‘s proposal to repair the structure at 2281 N.W. Glisan St.; it was one of two buildings damaged by gas explosions.

The submitted plans call for the building to be rebuilt following its original design. The only difference will be an elevator overrun extending 57 feet – 12 feet higher than the original elevator overrun. The additional height means the overrun will extend five feet above the roof of the building’s fifth floor.

While the overrun will be new construction, the building’s existing foundation, steel skeleton and roof will be used. The entire building, including the overrun, will be clad in metal paneling.

Completion of the project is expected in summer 2018.

An older building at the corner of Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street was totally destroyed by the blasts. Its replacement also is being designed by Allied Works Architecture. That project will require more time because of the more extensive design review process required, according to property owner Robert Sacks.

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After two natural gas explosions heavily damaged two Northwest Portland buildings, the property owner is at work on building them anew.

Developer Robert A. Sacks, who has owned the two parcels at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street since 1985, is moving quickly to rebuild after the Oct. 19 explosions.

Allied Works Architecture is already at work for Sacks’ A&R Development on a rebuild of a 17-year-old building at 2281 N.W. Glisan St. that it designed originally, and construction from scratch of a three-story building at 500-510 N.W. 23rd Ave. to replace a 111-year-old structure that was destroyed.

The modern building at 2281 N.W. Glisan St. needs substantial repairs, but A&R will reuse the existing foundation, steel skeleton and roof, Sacks said. The older building, on the corner of Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street, was leveled in the gas explosions; the new one will be mixed-use.

“We’re going to make 23rd Avenue great again,” Sacks said.

The repair of the 15,000-square-foot building at 2281 N.W. Glisan St. is poised to begin in about six months, Sacks said. That building housed a Dosha Salon, two floors of offices and the private residence of Sacks and his wife, Ann.

Robert Sacks expects the rebuild and renovation project could be completed by the summer of 2018.

“Hopefully 18 months from now we’ll be moving into a new building,” he said.

The Glisan Street building was architecturally notable – it won the Mayor’s Award for Design Excellence from former Mayor Vera Katz, and it was included in a Phaidon Atlas of the best architecture of the late 20th century.

Allied Works Architecture also is designing the new building to replace the one that was destroyed. Construction of the new structure, approximately 5,500 to 6,000 square feet, will follow four to five months after the Glisan Street building project because of a longer design review process, Sacks said.

The twin projects follow a nightmare incident for any developer. Sacks was in his Goose Hollow office that October morning when he received a call from the owner of longtime tenant Noah’s Bagels that the eatery was being evacuated because of a gas leak.

“By the time I arrived, it was already in flames,” he said.

Sacks, age 66, and his wife lost use of their personal residence when the Glisan Street building was hit by the gas explosions. They moved into a farmhouse they own outside of Portland.

“We feel fortunate to be able to move ahead as quickly as we could,” Sacks said. “We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves.”

As for his lost residence, “it’s just stuff,” he said.

Sacks is thankful the incident wasn’t worse.

“It could’ve been a lot worse,” he said. “Nobody died.”

Three firefighters, two police officers and three others were injured by the explosions after an excavator hit an underground gas line, according to Portland Fire & Rescue. Two of the injured firefighters have returned to work, but Lt. Peter St. John, who suffered several leg fractures, has not, Fire & Rescue spokesman Rich Chatman said.

Sacks said some tenants were inadequately insured, or have had to fight with their insurance companies for payment. He said his insurance company had enabled him to tackle reconstruction quickly. Sacks said he’s not involved in any litigation stemming from the incident.

For Allied Works Architecture, the twin projects give the firm an opportunity to make a mark in one of Portland’s trendiest neighborhoods. Northwest Portland has seen substantial reinvestment via densely built commercial and residential development.

“It’s a wonderful urban, walkable, mixed neighborhood,” Sacks said.

Dan Koch, an Allied Works principal who served as project architect for the Glisan Street building nearly two decades ago, is the lead architect designing both of A&R’s projects. Architects don’t often get the chance to design the same building twice.

“It’s not really an opportunity that you want to be handed, given the circumstances,” Koch said.

The Glisan Street building should be nearly identical in external appearance.

“From the outside, the goal is to have it reconstructed just as it was,” Koch said.

The only changes will be driven toward technical improvements.

“We’ll be making upgrades in terms of energy code,” Koch said. “The silver lining to be able to work on it again (is) we hope to improve it in terms of performance and longevity.”

The new construction at 500-510 N.W. 23rd Ave. will have to go through an extensive design review process. The neighborhood is in a historic resource protection overlay zone that wasn’t established when the Glisan Street building was developed.

Koch expects the neighboring buildings to look substantially different.

“That project will be completely separate in terms of design,” he said.

Sacks said he initially looked to Allied Works at his wife’s suggestion. The couple was impressed by the Maryhill Overlook, which was completed in the Columbia River Gorge in 1998.

“When we set out to build a building on the property, which at that time was a parking lot and a small house, we knew that we wanted to build something that had our residence on the top,” Sacks said. “Ann suggested that we look at Allied Works, who at that time had not built any buildings but had done some other work.”

Sacks has worked in development since the late 1970s, but only for about the past 15 years as a full-time developer. He practiced law before that, while developing on the side.

Sacks grew up in Boston and attended the University of Michigan, where he met Ann, a noted businesswoman. He first came to Oregon as a law student at the University of Oregon. Sacks soon embarked on a legal career, first as a public defender and then as an attorney for labor unions. Eventually, he opened a civil litigation practice with partner Henry Kantor.

Sacks increasingly turned his attention to development when Kantor was appointed as a judge. “At that point, I pretty much retired from practicing,” Sacks said.

Sacks now works with his nephew, Dave Schrott.

A&R Development has since developed the Ace Hotel in the West End, the Lumberyard Indoor Bike Park in Northeast Portland and Cooper’s Hall Winery in Southeast Portland, among other projects. A&R’s most recent project is the renovation of the Suttle Lodge at Suttle Lake in Sisters.

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Bremik Construction has named the subcontractor responsible for causing the gas leak that apparently led to explosions that leveled a 110-year-old building in Northwest Portland and injured eight people, including rescue firefighters and police.

Tualatin-based Loy Clark Pipeline Inc. was performing excavation work Wednesday morning on public right of way at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Glisan Street, where Bremik is constructing a building on a vacant lot, according to a Loy Clark Pipeline spokeswoman.

A Loy Clark Pipeline employee removing earth with a backhoe nicked an underground 1-inch coated steel pipe, resulting in a 3/4-inch gash and a nearby building becoming filled with gas, the spokeswoman said. The crew alerted authorities and the utility company, NW Natural, she added. At about 9:40 a.m., as firefighters were evacuating the area, two blasts about 10 seconds apart ripped through the building, sending material flying in all directions and a plume of thick smoke into the air.

The exact cause of the explosions is still unknown, pending an investigation by several agencies – Oregon State Patrol, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Portland Fire Bureau and the Portland Police Bureau.

Three firefighters, two police officers and three civilians suffered injuries.

Loy Clark Pipeline was founded in 1957. It specializes in underground utility work, directional drilling, conduit and vault work and saw cutting of asphalt and pavement. The company won’t release additional information about its employees, according to a spokeswoman. The company’s crew had obtained all necessary clearances to perform the work it was doing, she said.

Bremik is building a 36,000-square-foot mixed-use building at the site, which formerly held a Plaid Pantry store. The developer of the $14.8 million project is Rosehill Investments Inc. and the designer is Ankrom Moisan Architects.

The building destroyed by the explosions contained a bagel shop and a tattoo shop. Another building nearby, 2281 Glisan, was significantly damaged by the blasts. It was designed by Allied Works Architecture and completed in 2000. It housed a Dosha Salon location and condominium units.

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