The Oregon Ballet Theatre has relocated to a building in the South Waterfront as work begins on the demolition of its former headquarters in Southeast Portland. General contractor R&H Construction has completed a three-month tenant improvement on the Opsis Architecture-designed facility at 720 S.W. Bancroft St.

The project team sought to re-use as many materials as possible from both the old building in Southeast Portland and the existing materials in the new location, which was previously office space. Glass storefront walls and doors and bars were re-used in the rehearsal studios, as were ceilings and other materials. OBT executive director Dennis Buehler estimates that re-use of materials added approximately $200,000 of value to the project, while in-kind donations by R&H and Opsis added another $100,000.

The new space features three rehearsal studios, where ceilings were raised approximately six feet and specialized dance floors were installed.  Also included are a gym/training room with separate physical therapy space, offices for staff and a box office,  spaces for the wardrobe department and the education outreach departments, and locker rooms for both company dancers and students.

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The old Oregon Ballet Theatre building in Portland’s Buckman neighborhood is fenced off and days from being razed, with a six-story, mixed-use project ready to rise in its place.

The city recently issued permits for demolition, shoring and concrete work on the Modera Belmont project site at , a proposed 200-unit, five-over-one structure by Mill Creek Residential Trust. The Texas-based merchant developer closed on a $6.5 million land sale with OBT last month. Serving as its own general contractor, Mill Creek is also currently at work on the Modera Pearl project in the Pearl District.

Subcontractors so far have performed soft demolition and asbestos abatement on the old OBT building, which was constructed as a Wells Fargo bank 50 years ago. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment should move in next week, according to Sam Rodriguez, senior managing director for Mill Creek. Permits for construction of the building superstructure could be approved in two months, he said. The project timeline is 22 months, with completion scheduled for October 2017.

Earlier this week, Oregon Ballet Theatre began operating in its new South Waterfront location at 0720 S.W. Bancroft St.

Modera Belmont’s architect is SERA Architects. Plans call for 11,469 square feet of commercial space with a basement garage with 105 parking spots, two loading docks and storage space for 302 bicycles. The U-shaped building will feature a ground-level courtyard and a gathering area on the east side of the roof.

The site is a full city block in Portland’s Central Eastside, bounded by Southeast Sixth and Southeast Seventh avenues and Southeast Morrison and Southeast Belmont streets.

The project didn’t have a simple trip through design review; the Design Commission held five hearing on it in six months before voting to approve in August. Several significant revisions were made, including the addition of more retail space on the ground floor, more balconies and alterations to the facade.

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A long-sought Northeast Portland affordable housing development that has undergone multiple redesigns has gained the Portland Design Commission‘s permission to move ahead.

Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved plans for Hazelwood Plaza. The 62-unit complex, at 312 N.E. 102nd Ave., will consist of two five-story buildings with a central entry plaza, three ground-floor retail spaces and 44 tuck-under parking spaces.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and require 18 months to complete, said project architect Alberto Rinkevich of Portland-based ARDesign LLC. A general contractor has not been hired yet; several companies are still being considered, he said.

Portland developer Ricardo Berdichevsky since 2012 has sought to build the approximately $6 million Hazelwood Plaza, but the effort stalled during the city design review process. In response to commissioners’ feedback offered during four design advice hearings for the project, Rinkevich made multiple revisions.

“We are here for the fifth time and we changed a lot during the process,” he told the commission on Thursday.

Design revisions included changing materials planned for the facade of the 59,018-square-foot development and sticking to a more neutral color palette instead of original plans for highlights of bright red and blue.

“We tried to articulate the facade in a rhythm of different colors and materials on both sides (and) two different colors of cement board lap siding,” Rinkevich said.

Plans to build one long building with an enclosed tenant amenity space in the middle were also nixed in favor of two separate buildings that share a central ground-floor entry plaza and second-floor terrace.

Design Commission Chairman David Wark said he appreciated this move.

“I think the break is way more successful now,” he said. “It’s a total break in the building.”

Hazelwood Plaza will be the fourth affordable housing complex in the Portland area owned by Berdichevsky’s company, Quail Court Management. In October 2013, the project received the Portland Housing Bureau’s approval for a 10-year tax abatement via the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption program.

After voting to approve the project, Commissioner Tad Savinar commended the Hazelwood Plaza project team for sticking with the lengthy revision process.

“I really appreciate your patience,” he said. “I know you’ve come in here a few times and thought we were all nuts … You’ve found a way to design a building that I’m proud to have in the city. I really appreciate your time.”

Also on Thursday, commissioners offered feedback on Mill Creek Residential Trust‘s Modera Belmont, which is being designed by Portland-based SERA Architects. The mixed-use development is expected to replace the Oregon Ballet Theatre building in Southeast Portland.

Plans call for a six-story, 230,000-square-foot building, at 818 S.E. Sixth Ave., with approximately 214 residential units and 105 spaces of below-grade parking. The ground floor of the U-shaped building would include 7,000 square feet of retail space facing Southeast Morrison Street, live-work units facing Southeast Belmont Street and an at-grade courtyard facing Southeast Sixth Avenue with apartment patios and large stormwater planters.

Commissioners suggested reducing the number of materials used on the facade, which includes fiber cement board and four types of metal panels, and widening the ground-floor courtyard.

The planned courtyard would be too narrow, and stormwater planters would diminish it further, Commissioner Guenevere Millius said.

“I would like to see a courtyard that was a little more generous,” she said. “The slot courtyards – they’re just not very meaningful courtyards.”

Wark pointed out that a larger design issue was the lack of cohesion. He said that facades appeared too busy.

“There needs to be one clear concept,” he said. “Right now, there’s a lot of conflict … I don’t see the need to get too acrobatic with the massing.”

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SERA Architects, midway through schematic design for a new mixed-use development that will replace the Oregon Ballet Theatre building in Southeast Portland, is seeking design advice from the city.

Kurt Schultz, a SERA principal, scheduled a Feb. 5 hearing to gain feedback from the Portland Design Commission for Mill Creek Residential Trust‘s Modera Belmont project. The planned six-story, 230,000-square-foot building, at 818 S.E. Sixth Ave., will have approximately 220 residential units, ground-floor retail space and below-grade parking.

The design team is making good progress, but would like commission’s feedback on the overall look of the project before seeking city design review approval, said Sam Rodriguez, managing director of Mill Creek Residential Trust’s Portland office.

“The aesthetics are up in the air right now,” he said. “It’s going to be kind of a modern building picking up from the industrial influences in the neighborhood.”

The development will be geared to attract residents age 25 to 35, with amenities such as a bike storage and repair room and a rooftop terrace, Rodriguez said. Plans for the ground floor call for 7,000 to 8,000 square feet of retail space facing Southeast Morrison Street, and live-work units facing Southeast Belmont Street.

Mill Creek Residential Trust last fall purchased the 14,000-square-foot Oregon Ballet Theatre building, with plans to demolish the 74-year-old structure to make way for new development. Rodriguez declined to give the sale price and the estimated cost of the project.

Rodriguez said he hopes to start construction on the development by the end of this year. Mill Creek Residential Trust will serve as the general contractor.

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The Oregon Ballet Theatre building in Southeast Portland is on pointe for demolition.

Mill Creek Residential Trust‘s Portland office is negotiating to buy the 74-year-old building for an undisclosed amount, said Sam Rodriguez, the office’s managing director.

The ballet company will occupy the 14,000-square-foot building at 818 S.E. Sixth Ave. for about another year while its administrators look for a new home, Rodriguez said.

Mill Creek has hired SERA Architects to design a new mixed-use building for the site, though no plans have been drawn up yet. The architect has applied to the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a pre-application conference to discuss design options. No date has been set for the conference.

“The development is very preliminary,” Rodriguez said. “We’re doing the environmental and geotech analysis now.”

Rodriguez said the development firm will demolish the existing building and start from scratch, erecting a six-story structure with about 220 studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments, retail space on the ground floor and approximately 125 below-grade parking spaces.

“We’re looking to see if a large or midsize box store could go in on the ground floor,” Rodriguez said. “There would be about 10,000 square feet of retail space.”

The existing building housed a Wells Fargo bank branch before the ballet company purchased and remodeled it, Rodriguez said.

Calls to Oregon Ballet Theatre were not returned by press time.

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