Developer Landon Crowell’s appeal of the Portland Design Commission‘s denial of his Ankeny Apartments project was extended for a second time by the Portland City Council on Thursday.

The next hearing on the project planned at 1122 S.E. Ankeny St. is scheduled for June 8. The council previously heard arguments during a three-hour hearing on April 12.

As designed, the L-shaped complex would include 17 luxury apartments and be the city’s first and nation’s seventh net-zero-energy multifamily structure. Strong opposition has come from neighboring property owners, the Buckman Community Association and the Design Commission.

During the first hearing on the appeal, the City Council requested that the Our Land Development team meet with the neighborhood group and immediate neighbors. Though the meeting with the Buckman Community Association took place, the meeting with the immediate neighbors has not.

One of the driving forces in the mediation is the fear that if the Ankeny Apartments proposal fizzles, an even larger proposal for the site could follow. New building height limits will rise to 125 feet next year. The Ankeny Apartments proposal calls for a structure 75 feet high.

“It’s in the best interests of the neighbors to get to yes,” Commissioner Amanda Fritz said at the April 12 meeting.

Resolutions Northwest and the Portland Bureau of Development Services are helping facilitate the negotiations.

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