The Portland Design Commission on Thursday unanimously approved two midrise office buildings proposed for Oregon Square in the Lloyd District.

The twin buildings would occupy the southern half of the Oregon Square superblock. The easternmost building would be five or seven stories, while the westernmost building would rise to six or nine stories, depending on which design American Assets Trust — the developer and owner — selects.

The buildings would sit atop a shared underground parking garage with 246 stalls accessed from Northeast Oregon Street and Ninth Avenue.

The development would add anywhere from 413,697 square feet to 593,000 square feet of office space in the Lloyd District at a time when some employers are pulling back from large, central offices.

Commissioners lauded the design from GBD Architects. “This one was easy,” said Commissioner Don Vallaster.

The buildings share similar designs based on a grid. Materials are largely steel and glass, with honed white aggregate concrete panels used as visual framing.

“The architecture has a certain rigor to it that allows it to expand,” said Kyle Andersen, a GBD principal who presented the project.

Some commissioners said they preferred the architectural expression of the taller designs. Commissioners also strongly suggested the buildings not share the same height.

“If these two buildings end up at the same height and they’re effectively the same, I don’t think that’s a good outcome,” Commissioner Jessica Molinar said.

Andersen replied that the buildings would have differing heights to set them apart.

While urban office space has shown some signs of weakness during the pandemic, American Assets Trust, a major San Diego-based real estate firm, is moving ahead.

As a superblock property, Oregon Square can offer much larger floor plates than Portland’s typical 200 feet by 200 feet blocks.

“The market is demanding large floor plates,” Andersen said. “Our goals were to generate large, efficient and flexible floor plates.”

Plans call for Northeast Pacific Street to be rebuilt through Oregon Square as a curbless private street. A north-south pedestrian and bicycle path would bisect the buildings and provide a link to Hassalo on Eighth, a residential project designed by GBD for American Assets Trust that was completed in 2015.

Commissioners had a long discussion that sought to discourage GBD from using tropical hardwoods on exterior soffits. Commissioner Chandra Robinson floated the idea of using design guidelines that deal with a project’s “public realm” to discourage the use of exotic imported woods.

“I still don’t like tropical hardwoods,” Robinson said. “Global warming is public realm. I don’t think it’s worth it to get a little bit of hardwood from Southeast Asia.”

Andersen said using domestic woods can be challenging. Cedar, for example, doesn’t meet building code, he said.

Bureau of Development Services staffers warned against creating a new requirement on the fly.

“There’s consequences if it’s not perfect,” said Tim Heron, a development reviewer for the bureau. “The language needs to be clear. The language needs to be enforceable.”

In the end, commissioners agreed to make a nonbinding recommendation to avoid tropical hardwoods, and to revisit the topic at a future Design Commission retreat.

Commissioners approved the design with few quibbles.

“The quality is so high — urbanistically, landscape and architecture — it’s just hitting all of the buttons very strongly,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

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American Assets Trust has filed a proposal to construct two new mid-rise office buildings totaling 370,000 square feet at the Oregon Square property in the Lloyd District.

The early plans submitted to the Portland Bureau of Development Services show the San Diego-based real estate investment trust is looking to move ahead despite economic uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic.

A phased approach would be used to develop the buildings, which are being designed by GBD Architects. Construction would take place on Block 90, at 729 N.E. Oregon St., and Block 103, at 827 N.E. Oregon St. The two blocks make up the southern half of Oregon Square, and are currently occupied by two-story office buildings constructed in the 1940s.

The Block 90 building would be five stories, while the Block 103 building would be six. They would be linked by one level of underground parking.

GBD Architects has entered the BDS‘ early assistance process for design review on behalf of American Assets Trust. The project team recently held a virtual meeting to introduce the project to the Lloyd District Community Association.

“What we’re hearing in the community right now is there’s still a lot of potential for office, especially large-floor-plate office,” said Wade Lange, an American Assets Trust vice president and regional manager of its Portland properties.

During the first quarter, the Lloyd District commanded average asking rents of $36.69 per square foot, compared to $34.08 across the Portland-metro area; also, Lloyd’s 7 percent vacancy rate was lower than the 12.1 percent rate around the region, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Portland has remained a strong market for American Assets Trust, Steve Center, vice president of office properties, said during an April 29 earnings call. The company’s existing buildings in Portland were 100 percent leased, he said.

American Assets Trust is “in the early stages of design development of two new office buildings on the two remaining blocks at Oregon Square, which we will continue to evaluate pending market conditions,” Center said.

The company will not build the structures on speculation, Lange said.

“We’d like to find tenants before we begin any construction,” he said.

The Oregon Square project team has been working to meet in person rather than via video, Lange said.

“It’s harder,” he said. “It’s just a slower process than getting in a room and working through everything.”

The new commercial buildings’ ground floors will be adjustable, Michelle Schulz, a GBD Architects principal, stated in an email.

“That’s likely office in the current market environment, but we are keeping the possibility for all commercial uses at the ground floor to be flexible for the future,” she stated.

Portland design guidelines encourage active ground-floor use, often meaning retail. The project is not yet scheduled on the Portland Design Commission‘s agenda.

While the new buildings are being planned, work is about to begin on a remodel of the northwest building at Oregon Square. The project is in the final stages of permitting, Lange said. Turner Construction is the general contractor.

The renovation of the 33,276-square-property is expected to be delivered in early 2021, Center said.

The other building at Oregon Square, at 830 N.E. Holladay St., on the northeast corner of the parcel, is leased to WeWork.

Closures related to the coronavirus pandemic have hit the Lloyd District hard. The neighborhood relies on big venues for events and shopping, including the Oregon Convention Center and Lloyd Center mall.

“It’s a little concerning that the convention center, the Moda Center, (Veterans Memorial Coliseum) and the mall are very important to the neighborhood, and it looks like those types of venues will be the last thing to reopen because of the coronavirus crisis,” Lange said. “So we’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

American Assets Trust is beginning to consider how to reopen office buildings it owns, said Lange, who expressed confidence the Lloyd District will emerge from the pandemic in a strong position.

“I don’t think long term it will have any impact,” he said.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday gave its first impressions of possible alternatives for Phase 2 of the Oregon Square development in the Lloyd District. In summer 2016, plans for a 325-foot tower at 827 N.E. Oregon St. was approved by the commission.

GBD Architects on Thursday presented three options for a revised tower. The first would be a shorter, 250-foot all-office tower. The second option would be a 20-story, broader office and residential tower, including six stories of offices and 14 stories with a total of 287 apartments. The third option would be an 18-story building with 10 stories of offices and eight stories with a total of 150 residential units.

All three options would include ground-floor retail space. A big difference was that two of the three would be wider than what was approved previously.
“Really we are here to explore options,” said Kyle Andersen, an architect with GBD Architects.

It’s possible that the project team may try to gain approval for an option and still not have a decision whether to include residential space, he said.

The design team and developer American Assets Trust looked for guidance from the Design Commission as to what would be palatable among the options.

“It’s a significant change – it’s a change of use, so we came in early,” Andersen said. “A lot of things are changing in the market, so we want to be a little bit nimble.”

A lot of the changes would be at the building’s edges. The all-office tower would include approximately 300,000 square feet of office space. The options that would include residential units have approximately 120,000 square feet of office space.

The third option would have a profile and floor plan closest to plans approved previously.

“By shuffling the floors we could keep the shell of the building but just space floors on the building,” Andersen said.

Commissioner Don Vallaster asked which option the developers preferred.

“The one that makes us the most money really,” said Wade Lange, regional manager for American Assets Trust.

For other developments, that has been a combination of office space and residential space.

Commissioners expressed concerns about the massing and the shading that could change. They were receptive to a broader building as an overall concept, depending on impacts on the open plaza.

“Is the bulk going to create more shaded plaza area?” Vice Chairman Tad Savinar asked.

Also on Thursday:

Block 40

The commission also got its first look at plans for Block 40, at 3714 and 3718 S.W. Macadam Ave. in the South Waterfront District. The proposed project would include two nearly identical buildings. A Spanish staircase would run between Southwest Macadam and Moody avenues, separating the buildings.

Texas-based HLR Architects‘ design for Alamo Manhattan Properties LLC calls for ground-floor retail space, 200 residential units, 240 parking spaces and a rooftop terrace in each building. Each structure would stand 250 feet and have 7,000 square feet of retail space.

The commission discussed a variety of options, including whether the buildings should be identical.

“Why are these two buildings the same?” Savinar asked. “Can you have one block treated one way and the second block treated some other way?”

Another concern among commissioners was how the building would serve as an entrance and exit to the South Waterfront.

“These elevations are extremely important because they are flanking the entrance into the South Waterfront,” Commission chairman David Wark said. “The first impression a lot of people get is going to be that first floor of your building. It has to be something that really sets the stage for the rest of the district.”

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The developer of Oregon Square, the four-block mixed-use development in the Lloyd District, is weighing a major change that illustrates how developers consider the best use for their properties.

American Assets Trust last month quietly proposed changing schemes in Oregon Square’s second phase in a design advice request submitted to the city of Portland. Block 103 would become a speculative office building, instead of one with apartments.

Wade Lange, vice president and regional manager at AAT, said office use is just one option the developer is considering.

“We have no direction yet,” he said. “We’re just looking at options.”

The project description submitted to the Bureau of Development Services isn’t binding. It is meant to give the developer and city staff a framework to discuss an upcoming project.

Yet the indication that AAT is considering a change to offices just months after the Design Commission issued approval bolsters an evident trend among developers toward offices and away from multifamily.

It’s not uncommon for developers to change schemes during the development process, but doing so can be costly.

“It’s a big lift,” said Chris Nelson, co-founder of Portland-based developer Capstone Partners. “To make that change, it’s a pretty big change. You’re going to completely rethink how that property is going to be used and utilized.”

Changing the proposed use of a building in development can easily set a project back a year for redesign and a return to the Design Commission for re-approval, Nelson said. Project teams that change schemes also must go back for different financing because the cost and revenue structures change.

Oregon Square was approved by the Design Commission on Oct. 6, 2016. It was the second trip through design review for Oregon Square, this time with a phased approach and more apartments. The development was first approved by the Design Commission in November 2015.

As approved last year, the building on Block 103 was to be a 30-floor mixed-use building with 347 apartments over ground-floor retail space.

The new proposal would do away with the apartments, replacing them with office space, and adding below-grade parking for prospective office tenants.

Lange met with architects from GBD Architects on Monday to discuss the options for Oregon Square’s second phase. Lange said no decisions have been made, and AAT will take a long view toward the likely market dynamics.

“We’re really looking down the road because we’re quite a ways from putting a shovel in the dirt,” he said. “We just want to examine all the different options and arrive at the highest and best use from an investment standpoint.”

The San Diego-based company acquired more than 16 acres in the Lloyd District in 2011. The four-block development is seen as a keystone property for the district.

AAT was earning an average $24.95 per leased square foot on its Lloyd District office properties, according to an April securities filing. The 581,670 square feet was 75.8 percent leased as of March 31.

Lange said the possible switch to office space is not driven by softening in the luxury apartment market.

“No, it really is just kind of keeping all of our options open as we start working through the details,” he said.

AAT’s Lloyd District apartments were performing well as of March 31, when the company most recently reported public investor data. Hassalo on Eighth‘s apartments have largely filled up after opening for leasing last year. The Velomor building’s 177 units were 92.7 percent leased at average monthly base rents of $1,638. The Aster Tower’s 337 units were 91.4 percent leased at $1,626 average rents. And the Elwood building’s 143 units were 94.4 percent leased at $1,497 average rents.

There was no change in scheme for Hassalo on Eighth, which was AAT’s first development in Portland and was completed in 2015.

“It was always going to be residential,” Lange said. “It was what the market needed; it was what Lloyd needed.”

Nelson said it makes sense for AAT to explore office uses for future phases, particularly in the Lloyd District, where an office submarket is already established.

“To switch some portion of the business plan to office seems like the natural thing to do,” he said. “It’s an established area for office and if you see the supply-demand fundamentals changing, it makes sense to make a shift depending on the property and the market.”

The pace of submissions for new multifamily proposals has slowed dramatically since the city of Portland adopted an inclusionary zoning program that went into effect Feb. 1. Oregon Square is not subject to those regulations because it went through the entitlement process before then.

Making multifamily projects profitable has become challenging, Nelson said.

“The economics of ground-up multifamily right now are really difficult,” he said. “They were before the inclusionary zoning regulations, and they were before the relatively new construction excise tax. The economics are really challenging.

“It’s not a rent-growth market anymore – there’s more choice,” he added.

Developers constantly attempt to forecast the likely market for when they develop a given product. In both the office and multifamily sectors, significant new inventory is expected to come to market this year and in 2018.

Office developments by their nature depend on fewer tenants than multifamily ones, making it imperative to score tenants who will take significant space.

“The speculative nature of office has a higher risk,” Nelson said.

Developers in general are trending away from designs that are tied to specific uses. That’s part of the reason for the renewed popularity of historic warehouse structures, which can be used for residential, office, retail or even hospitality purposes, said Noel Johnson, principal at Portland developer Cairn Pacific.

“A good building’s a good building,” he said.

Johnson said Portland’s design review process should be agnostic to how a building is used. More employers are offering the “comforts of home” at work, blurring the tidy definitions of residential and office. Additional trips through the design review process because of a change in use add costs with little benefit, Johnson said.

“It’s an interesting illustration of how our land use and development codes are broken,” he said. “Why is design review concerned with use?”

The post Changing development schemes appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland Design Commission narrowly approved Oregon Square on Thursday after commissioners criticized the Lloyd District superblock design as unwelcoming to the public and inadequate to create a lively outdoor space.

The design passed 4-0, with two commissioners abstaining. Chairman David Wark had indicated he could not support the project, but after informally polling other commissioners, changed his vote to “aye.”

Wark said he voted in favor of the project “under protest.” Besides Wark, commissioners Don Vallaster, Julie Livingston and Jessica Molinar also cast “aye” votes; Tad Savinar and Andrew Clarke abstained.

If the Design Commission rejected the design, commissioners faced the prospect of a potential reversal by the City Council on appeal. The commission’s approval means Oregon Square can move forward toward obtaining a building permit.

“I think that was a great decision,” said Ernest Rady, president and chief executive of American Assets Trust, the San Diego-based developer behind Oregon Square. “The alternative is eight old office buildings that you can’t be proud of.”

The design seemed to fall short for commissioners, who said the developer missed an opportunity to create a public space in the center of Oregon Square on par with Pioneer Courthouse Square or Director Park.

Oregon Square could add more than 1,000 multifamily units to Portland’s eastside. The developer’s investment for both phases could total $500 million to $600 million, with half of that spending coming in phase one, Rady said.

Oregon Square is a major move by American Assets Trust to expand its footprint in Portland’s apartment market. Plans for the first phase call for two buildings: on block 90, a 24-story mixed-use podium and tower building with 429 residential units; and on block 91, an 11-floor mixed-use building with 190 residential units.

A second phase, if American Assets Trust moves ahead with it, would bring a 30-story mixed-use building with 347 residential units on block 103 and an 11-story building with 163 residential units on block 102.

The superblock is bounded by Northeast Seventh and Ninth avenues and Holladay and Oregon streets. The project would be near the Lloyd Center and Oregon Convention Center in Portland’s fast-growing, close-in eastside.

Oregon Square was initially approved by the Design Commission in November 2015. But in May, American Assets Trust unveiled revised plans to break Oregon Square into two phases, necessitating a return trip through the city’s design review process. The developer cited concerns about bringing a large number of units to market all at once.

For American Assets Trust, a publicly traded company, the project comes on the heels of Hassalo on Eighth, which brought 657 multifamily units in three Lloyd District buildings. That project has stabilized, and is now 98 percent leased, said Kyle Andersen of GBD Architects.

“We’re definitely amidst a renaissance in the Lloyd District,” Andersen said.

Hassalo on Eighth units were fetching an average leased monthly rent of $1,488 as of June 30, American Assets Trust reported to federal securities regulators. At the time, Hassalo on Eighth units were 86 percent leased.

Design commissioners were sharply critical of American Assets Trust’s plans for Oregon Square’s central plaza. The developer’s revised proposal eliminated plans for a large water feature in the plaza, and proposed installing public art off to one side instead of making it a central element.

“I just find it to be a place without meaning, a place without richness, a place without a reason to go there,” Savinar said.

The project will return for a type II design review before Bureau of Development Services staff, led by planner Staci Monroe. Conditions include installing art during the first phase, softening a corner of one building and building ground-floor “live-work” units facing the plaza to commercial standards.

Wark unsuccessfully pushed for punching a narrow road or lane through the project from Northeast Seventh to Northeast Ninth avenues. He said an east-west lane would help “activate” the square at the center of the project.

“What a lane or street does more than anything, I think, it communicates the impression that it’s public,” Wark said. “I don’t know if this does. It becomes a compound, a cloistered element. Also, what’s the draw?”

Andersen protested that building a road through the site would require dramatic design modifications and could prove unworkable.

Rady, who had sat silently through most of the three-hour hearing, pleaded with commissioners to give American Assets Trust the flexibility to design an economically viable project.

“We want to do what’s right for Portland, but we also have to do what’s right for our shareholders,” Rady said.

American Assets Trust has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, and investments from major players such as Vanguard. The development team appeared frustrated by the commission’s design criticisms. Before the final vote in favor, the developers were whispering in the audience about appealing to City Council.

At one point, Rady said the development team would do its best to make the plaza an active, attractive public space. Wark replied, “Before you get your building permit, we’re going to help you do that.”

Savinar warned in the future that the Design Commission must do a better job upon initial review of superblock projects.

“These superblock projects are always problematic because there is so much to get your arms around,” he said. “We have to be really careful on the first go-round. We have to really be tough first out of the box.”

Vallaster said he could not enthusiastically support the project. “The project has some strengths, and it has some weaknesses,” he said.

Rady sought to reassure commissioners that the project would be a plus for East Portland. “It’s going to be something that you’ll be proud of,” he said.

The post Oregon Square moves ahead appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The design team for Oregon Square, a two-phase superblock development in the works due south of Hassalo on Eighth in Northeast Portland, still has a lot of work to do.

City planner Staci Monroe told the Portland Design Commission at a hearing last week that staff did not recommend approval for the project planned on property bounded by Northeast Holladay and Oregon streets and Seventh and Ninth avenues.

Submitted plans for phase 1 of Oregon Square call for two mixed-use buildings on the property’s west side and a portion of a central plaza. An 11-story building would have 189 residential units, ground-floor retail space and a loading bay on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue. A 24-story building would have 438 residential units, ground-floor retail space and a loading bay on Oregon Street.

Plans for phase 2 call for two mixed-use buildings on the property’s east side, the remainder of the plaza and underground parking for 170 motor vehicles. An 11-story building would have 163 apartments, ground-floor retail space and a loading bay and garage entrance on Ninth Avenue. A 30-story building would have 347 apartments, ground-floor retail space and a loading bay and garage entrance on Ninth Avenue.

A previous iteration of the project was approved by the Design Commission in November 2015. Then the developer, American Assets Trust, earlier this year shifted to a phased approach. Design changes triggered a new review process.

Kyle Andersen, principal at project designer GBD Architects, said he had hoped that the effort to gain the commission’s approval would be further along following “slight changes” to the central courtyard that will unite the entire development.

However, commissioners on Thursday expressed concerns about a lack of active use because residential units had been added to the ground floor and courtyard-facing retail space had been eliminated.

“It’s too homogeneous, and the same attention needs to appear in this scheme as it did in the last scheme,” Commissioner Julie Livingston said. “There needs to be a bit more differentiation in those outdoor rooms.”

Livingston was also concerned about activation of the courtyard. She referred to small waterways in front of residential units on the courtyard as “moats” that would cut down on activity.

“When a pedestrian comes into this property there’s nothing that says to come in,” she said. “So put a road through or get rid of those moats. There are a whole bunch of things going on that have privatized the feeling (of the courtyard).”

Landscape architect Mauricio Villarreal, a member of the design team and a principal at PLACE Studio, said he agreed that the “character and quality” of the plaza needs more development, but added that building a road would be a mistake.

“If you’re expecting us to come in with a road or it’s a no go, that’s a very big deal for us,” he said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar also agreed that there is nothing to invite pedestrians into the plaza and it needs more active use.

“You take the residential away and I might see it differently, but what you have is privatized space,” he said. “You don’t see it that way, but I do.”

Savinar said changes to the courtyard created “an extremely different environment” and seemed to him more like a privatized garden.

Anderson assured commissioners that the courtyard would be active, noting that American Assets Trust will sponsor farmers markets and street fairs in the courtyard as it has for its adjoining property, Hassalo on Eighth.

“It’s a much smaller plaza but has a richness of different uses,” he said. “All the buildings have lobbies that are open on both sides, and you have a public elevator to parking.”

Near the end of the meeting, Livingston said she wouldn’t push for a road through the property if the design team were to return with a different solution.

“If you come back with a really strong resolution on the courtyard and the residential space, you may not need the automobiles,” she said. “What it comes down to is that you will have to solve the design problem very well.”

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American Assets Trust is downshifting as it plans for Oregon Square, the massive superblock development expected to serve as an anchor for the Lloyd District.

The revised plan to split the project into two phases comes amid efforts to attract tenants to American Assets Trust’s most recent multifamily project, Hassalo on Eighth.

Wade Lange, vice president and regional manager for American Assets Trust, confirmed that the developer now prefers to build Oregon Square in two phases.

“We’re looking at that as an awful big piece to add right now,” he said Tuesday. “We’re looking at a phased approach.”

Early assistance from the city of Portland’s Bureau of Development Services has again been requested for the project. Oregon Square previously won approval from the Design Commission in November.

New plans call for a western phase fronting Seventh Avenue with two buildings, one 11 stories and another 24 stories, with an eastern phase to follow.

The first phase would encompass approximately 560 residential units, depending upon the mix of apartment sizes (still under review), and about 14,000 square feet of retail space.

“We’ve asked our architects to keep it as close to the previously approved design (as possible),” Lange said.

American Assets Trust is working with GBD Architects of Portland. GBD’s Kyle Andersen is listed as the applicant.

American Assets Trust still intends to move forward, Lange said, even though more developers are openly worrying that supply of multifamily units is outpacing demand.

“We’re still excited about the potential, particularly in the Lloyd District, close in, eastside,” he said. “The options with transit and such make this an ideal location. Even if the market slows, we’ll have a location and a product that appeals.”

The retail space’s design is still being developed by GBD and American Assets Trust.

“Our meeting with the city is going to be very helpful in that,” Lange said.

A contractor has not yet been selected for Oregon Square.

“That’s a ways down the road,” Lange said.

Hassalo on Eighth was completed in 2015. Lange said the aim is for the 657-unit complex to be 95 percent leased by the end of the year.

“We’re really tickled with where we are right now, but ideally if we could be stabilized on the project before we phase the next phase (at Oregon Square), if you will, that’d be great,” he said.

Overall, 364 units, or 55.4 percent, at Hassalo on Eighth were leased by March 31, according to American Assets Trust’s first-quarter financial results. The Velomor building was the most fully leased at 85.3 percent, up from 81.9 percent at the end of 2015. But Aster Tower was only 44.8 percent leased, up from 29.1 percent, while Elwood was 43.4 percent leased, up from 24.5 percent.

At the same time, rents declined. The average monthly base rent per leased unit fell from $1,584 to $1,500 at Velomor, from $1,447 to $1,353 at Aster Tower and from $1,309 to $1,302 at Elwood.

Portland’s apartment market has been among the hottest in the nation, but there are some signs of cooling at the top. Park Avenue West‘s luxury apartments are only 15 to 20 percent full. And six weeks’ free rent reportedly is being offered to attract new tenants to Block 17 Apartments in the Pearl District.

A pre-application conference for Oregon Square is scheduled for June 14.

The post Firm slowing Oregon Square development appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The concept of a “superblock” – a combination of commercial, retail and housing – has roots in Europe, but has not been common in American urban building.  However, projects finished recently in Portland’s Lloyd District offer a model for the viability of a superblock in the city.  The Oregon Square project, funded and developed by American Assets Trust, incorporates four towers around a large public plaza with 820,000 square feet of residential space, 50,000 square feet of retail space, 240,000 square feet of office space, 1,200 underground parking spaces and parking for 1,200 bicycles. The project incorporates Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum-level sustainable features throughout the development.

American Assets Trust also recently completed Hassalo on Eighth, a mixed-use development featuring three buildings incorporating nearly 600,000 square feet of residential space, 272,000 square feet of office space and 58,000 square feet of retail space.

Both Hassalo on Eighth and Oregon Square come on the heels of two other American Assets Trust-funded projects: the iconic First & Main Building and the Lloyd Center Tower.

Naysayers were plentiful several years ago as the projects were proposed, due in part to the Lloyd District’s high crime rate at the time as well as problems with infrastructure and concerns about the area’s economic feasibility. Unfazed, American Assets Trust and its partners stuck to their vision to make a strong impact on Portland’s real estate market.

“By focusing on creating a neighborhood with retail and residential incorporated into the commercial buildings, we’ve made a more efficient, vibrant place to live and work,” said Wade Lange, a regional manager and vice president with American Assets Trust. “The entire 14-block area is an eco-district. It has the largest wastewater treatment facility in North America, treating 45,000 gallons a day, saving seven million gallons of water a year with nothing going into the sewer system. What we don’t reuse, we put back into the aquifer.  We believe it’s one on the most sustainable living areas in the city.”

It’s also an area that now features a true multimodal transportation system. Lloyd District transportation surveys indicate that 7 percent of people working in the area commute by bike. Hassalo on Eighth and Oregon Square also are located in areas with highly pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares and easy access to light rail and buses.

“It’s not just a place to come to work,” Lange added. “It’s a very livable environment. These projects incorporate the best of both worlds.”

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GBD Architects has endured many months of design advice and review for two big projects, and the payoff came Thursday when the Portland Design Commission approved both.

Oregon Square

First, the commission OK’d the design for Oregon Square. The massive superblock in the Lloyd District will feature four mixed-use buildings: two 11 stories, one 21 stories and one 30 stories.

The site is bounded by Northeast Seventh and Ninth avenues and Holladay and Oregon streets. The total development will have 50,000 square feet of retail space, 908 below-grade parking spaces and a public plaza surrounded by the four towers.

Kyle Anderson of GBD told the commission that balconies had been added to the northeast block, Block 102. The southwest block, Block 90, has been lifted one foot to provide a taller storefront at ground level, he said.

“We also calmed down the patterning to add to the curtain wall on the east façade,” he said.

For the southeast block, Block 103, GBD put more glass into the podium skin and agreed with city staff that it is preferable for the tower to hit the ground.

Anderson mentioned other changes to the plans, including materials and width to the plaza bridge, mobile seating in the plaza, public art, fenestration options for Block 90, options for the residential lobby entrance on the southeast corner of Block 103, and color options for the rooftop mechanical screen for the northwest block, Block 91.

Loading bays and the parking garage entrance will be at Southeast Seventh and Ninth avenues and Oregon Street. Those details, supported by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, will receive a separate Central City Parking Review on Nov. 9, city planner Staci Moore said.

After discussion, with Commissioner Tad Savinar abstaining, the design was approved with a few conditions: clarify material for the edges of the walkway over the stormwater feature in the plaza, move the plaza elevator to the east and put the stairwell on the west side, and increase the curtain wall on the west side of Block 90. GBD also agreed to dark gray for the mechanical wall on the roof of Block 91.

Commissioner Jeff Simpson congratulated the GBD team for a job well done and taking the commissioners’ past advice.

“Thank you for really listening,” he said. “It’s been a long process.”

Commissioner David Wark also praised the effort by GBD.

“There is a big difference between what we’ve seen today and the first (design advice request),” he said. “This is one of the largest projects we’ve ever reviewed, and you responded so well to our comments … The architecture of this phase is exponentially better than the first phase.”

Con-way development

The second GBD design, this one approved unanimously, was for a 119,600-square-foot site in the larger Con-way Master Plan area. Currently, two parking lots occupy the property, at 1621 and 1717 N.W. 21st Ave.

The north block, Block 294E, will hold a multilevel mixed-use building ranging from three to 14 stories with a landscaped forecourt. For the south block, Block 295E, a six-story mixed-use building and a three-story residential building are proposed. Parking will be in a two-level underground garage, accessible from Northwest Savier and Thurman streets.

GBD Architects is working with Jones Architecture on the project, and both companies were represented at the design review.

Alan Jones of Jones Architecture told the commissioners he has been in contact with the Regional Arts & Culture Council about helping select an artist for public art for the forecourt, which includes a grove of sequoia trees.

After a lengthy discussion about details, the commission’s conditions included involving RACC in the selection process for an artist to provide public art, reducing the size of the planter in front of the glass-in elevator in the plaza, bringing the glass closer to ground level and expanding the bike room.

Following the vote, Savinar praised the project and said it brought out designs he didn’t see in the original Con-way Master Plan.

“You have found a vocal grace, consistency and attention to craft,” he said.

Market Hill

In addition, commissioners heard a design review presentation for Market Hill at Southwest 20th Avenue by developer Sean O’Neill of Scotia Western States Housing, based in Tucson, Arizona. The project is a new five-story, 16-unit residential building with one level of partially below-grade parking for 20 vehicles on a vacant, 16,000-square-foot, steeply sloped lot. Vehicle and pedestrian access will be off of Southwest 20th Avenue and exterior materials will include face brick, metal panel, profiled metal panel and anodized aluminum windows and doors.

According to city planner Grace Jeffreys, the project will receive another review on Dec. 17.

Broadway Tower

Also, the commission responded to a request for design advice for Broadway Tower in downtown, at 701 S.W. Columbia St. GBD Architects’ early design calls for a new 19-story building to hold a hotel and office space as well as ground-floor retail space and four levels of below-grade parking. Primary exterior materials would include glazed curtain wall systems and metal panels.

City planner Hillary Adam said the Broadway Tower team will receive additional design advice from the commission on Jan. 7, 2016.

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GBD Architects principal Kyle Anderson, in an effort to get the green light for Oregon Square on Thursday, spent more than four hours before the Portland Design Commission and left with a date to return.

The commission was complimentary at times and critical at others, but the end result was that Oregon Square will need another review on Nov. 5. Anderson is confident that at that time the team will secure approval for the Lloyd District superblock project.

“Next time it will be an approval; it will be short,” he said. “The things that we need to study, we can study and I’m sure build consensus. It feels better to sit in a four-and-a-half-hour meeting knowing that the next one is going to be a lot shorter.”

The massive project is due to include four buildings – one 30 stories, one 21 stories, and two 11 stories each. An enormous plaza will provide nearly 100,000 square feet of open space and be approximately two and a half times the size of Pioneer Courthouse Square. In total, the development will included 940 residential units, 50,000 square feet of retail space and 908 vehicle parking spaces underground.

“In reality it’s four buildings and a large plaza, so it’s five projects,” Anderson said. “Five projects in four and a half hours doesn’t sound that bad when you parse it up.”

GBD Architects has spent nearly a year working on the Oregon Square project for San Diego-based developer American Assets Trust. The Design Commission has provided design advice three times and design review twice.

Overall, the commission was pleased Thursday with many of the steps taken by GBD Architects. Commissioner Jeffrey Simpson liked the redesign of the plaza.

“You guys have come leaps and bounds with this space,” he said.

Commissioner Ben Kaiser was adamant that the plaza needed to receive more sunlight, though others were OK with the amount of shade.

However, the commissioners expressed concern that the bridges in the plaza looked temporary. And Commissioner Julie Livingston opposed the use of bridge grating because women would have a hard time walking across in high heels.

“I’ll always represent my gender,” Livingston said, drawing laughs.

The planned courtyard sculpture – a kinetic effort by Jeffery Laudenslager estimated to cost $500,000 – also drew criticism.

“We’ve seen this before,” Commissioner David Wark said.

Commissioners’ concerns with the sculpture aside, they said that the art is probably not something that would hold up approval.

“There were some good comments,” Anderson said. “There’s some things we need to study and take a position on. We made a lot of progress this time with the feedback we got from the last meeting.”

Oregon Square is poised to dramatically change the face of the Lloyd District. The 30-story building will be the largest building in Portland on the east side of the Willamette River, and the plaza is expected to become a massive gathering spot.

Anderson, though weary after Thursday’s meeting, was excited talking about there being a light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re looking at a 30-story high-rise that’s got some really interesting moves on it that are going to be pretty cool and pretty exciting,” he said. “To see that tower going up, along with the other development, is just going to change the eastside. It’s really exciting to be a part of it.”

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