Demolition of a building formerly used by The Oregonian newspaper is under way in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood. In its place will rise a mixed-use building, Canvas at Press Blocks, with 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, seven stories of office space and a ninth-floor tenant amenity space. The building is one of three being constructed as part of the Press Blocks redevelopment; also planned are a 23-story residential tower and a three-story office-and-retail building one block east.

Staton Companies is demolishing the 175,000-square-foot building, located at 817 S.W. 17th Ave., for general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis. The structure formerly held large newsprint rolls, which were moved through the building by a large gantry crane and transported by tunnel to the full-block printing space on the adjacent block to the east.

The warehouse was constructed of double-T precast wall and roof panels, some of which are being supported through the demolition sequence by shoring braces installed by Omega Morgan; it’s performing welding work and crane assistance for Staton. The building’s concrete wall panels are being saw-cut at the top, after which the remaining gantry crane rail is cut and the loose panel is laid down on the ground and crushed on site. The removal of roof panels involves demolishing the concrete webs on either side of the double-T panel beams, and then cutting the beams to allow them to drop.

Demolition work is about halfway complete. The building will be taken down to grade by December, at which point shoring pile and deep foundation subcontractors will install temporary shoring so the site can be excavated for a single level of below-grade parking. The contractor estimates coming out of the ground around March 2019, then taking about 10 months to build the eight floors of post-tensioned concrete. A ninth-floor with amenity space, a terrace and mechanical penthouse will be constructed using structural steel. Substantial completion of the project is slated for mid-2020.

The site’s constraints 鈥� TriMet MAX lines to the west and the north, a bus line to the east, and occupied buildings on the block’s southern half 鈥� will require the project team to carefully orchestrate deliveries of materials.

鈥淚t’s about as just-in-time construction as it gets,鈥� said Mike Sager, senior project manager with Lease Crutcher Lewis. 鈥淚t basically comes off a truck and goes in the building. It’s all about logistics on this one.鈥�

The Press Blocks project is being conducted in partnership between Security Properties and Urban Renaissance Group, which previously acquired and redeveloped The Oregonian’s headquarters building at 1320 S.W. Broadway. Invesco Real Estate is serving as an investment partner. GBD Architects designed the Canvas at Press Blocks building. Mithun is the architect of the two buildings on the full-block site, which does not yet have an anticipated construction start date.

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Omega Morgan and Sarens have joined forces to form Omega Morgan Crane Services.

The joint venture operation, based in Portland, will offer Pacific Northwest construction companies access to a crane fleet that will include 550-ton, 450-ton and 275-ton cranes along with 60-ton cranes and boom trucks.

Omega Morgan plans to beef up its current roster of 350 employees by adding 35 positions to serve clients through the new crane services division.

The partnership with Sarens also allows Omega Morgan to provide local projects with more than 1,500 crane assets for complex or long-term projects, according to the company.

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