Adidas‘ plans for three new buildings on its North Portland campus met with a generally positive reception from the Portland Design Commission on Thursday, but neighbors showed up in force to critique the proposed expansion.

The shoe and apparel manufacturer is pushing forward with a major expansion to accommodate 1,000 new employees at the North Portland site and another at Montgomery Park. Portland is the North American headquarters for the German company.

Neighbors said the campus fits uneasily in the Overlook neighborhood among single-family homes. Neighborhood relations with Adidas have had ups and downs in recent years, with concerns focused on parking, smokers in the surrounding neighborhood and Adidas’ employees having views into homes and yards.

The expansion involves three proposed buildings, referred to as the North building, the South building and a loading building.

The North building would reach five stories and also have five stories of underground parking. The South building would add three stories atop a 1.5-story parking garage, effectively making a 4.5-story structure. The one-story loading facility would be built on the northwest corner of an existing surface parking lot west of North Greeley Avenue.

The three buildings total 191,586 square feet, and the project is valued at $143.5 million.

The project is large enough that Bureau of Development Services staff split the design advice hearing into two meetings. The first, on Thursday, covered the site and massing. A second design advice meeting scheduled for May 24 will cover architecture and landscaping. The project will be subject to a staff decision in a Type II land use review, unless it is appealed to the Design Commission.

Design commissioners noted Adidas has proposed to build far less than the site could hold legally. The buildings in total make for a 0.9-to-1 floor-area ratio; up to 3-to-1 is allowable under city code.

“I think where the new square footage is located is appropriate,” Design Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said. “I very much appreciate that Adidas is not building as much as it could on this site. Considering the development capacity of this site, this seems very considerate.”

Lever Architecture is designing the project. Seattle landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, also known as GGN, is on board too.

Commissioner Andrew Clarke raised the possibility of several smaller buildings to create more of a “village feel.” But when asked by Lever Architecture principal Thomas Robinson to clarify, Clarke said the designers should not “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

“Our key is to create a mass that works as a work space but also as a good neighbor,” Robinson said.

The designers have conducted shadow studies to ensure the buildings won’t block neighbors’ sunlight at certain times of year.

Some neighbors said the campus plans are out of character with the surrounding neighborhood.

“The scale of that building, it’s just too close,” said Scott Ringsage, who lives at the corner of North Webster Street and Delaware Avenue and would be a neighbor of the South building.

Already, Ringsage said he feels he can’t garden in his yard without being watched by Adidas employees.

“I can’t go anywhere in my garden and not be looked at,” he said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar said Lever and the rest of the design team have strong track records before the Design Commission.

“I want to tell the neighbors that these firms are really good firms and they tend to get through design review with flying colors where other firms get held back because they’re not doing a good job,” he said.

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Adidas North America plans to add three new buildings to its campus in North Portland’s Overlook neighborhood.

Plans for the campus’ east side call for two new buildings: a three-story structure with a gym and a café where a tennis court now sits, and a five-story office building with parking on an existing parking lot. On the west side, the clothier seeks to construct a three-story building with additional dining and meeting space between the existing black and green buildings.

Design advice for the expansion is being sought by applicant LEVER Architecture.

Also, the Adidas store will be moved from 5055 N. Greeley Ave. to Montgomery Park around June, and some employees will temporarily move to other locations in Portland.

Adidas declined an interview request. But in a prepared statement, Adidas North America President Mark King said the expansion comes amid “unprecedented growth” for the footwear and apparel brand in North America.

“This growth has brought more people to our office, and our Portland workforce has more than doubled in three years, from about 800 to more than 1,700 people,” King stated. “We know this can present challenges, so we’re working quickly to find solutions. We love being part of the Overlook community, and it’s really important to us that we continue being a good neighbor.”

Adidas representatives met with the Overlook Neighborhood Association to discuss the expansion plans. Parking has been an issue in the neighborhood.

Moving the store should help alleviate the parking crunch, Adidas spokeswoman Ngozi Monu stated in an email message.

Overlook Neighborhood Association members could not be reached for comment.

Adidas isn’t the only major footwear and apparel manufacturer in Portland that is expanding. Nike is adding four new buildings totaling more than 1.5 million square feet at its Washington County headquarters. Under Armour opened its new local headquarters on Barbur Boulevard last year.

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Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider has expanded into Portland’s Overlook neighborhood, signing a lease for more than 21,000 square feet at 1211 N. Loring St.

The cider-maker also announced a major investment from Shobi Dahl, co-founder of Dave’s Killer Bread.

Reverend Nat’s, founded by Nat West, opened in 2011. The business moved to its current location at 1813 N.E. Second Ave. in 2012. The company expects to transfer operations to the new facility in early 2018.

Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider was advised by Jake Bigby of CBRE and Leigh Gill of Immix Law Group in the transaction.

“My team has been looking for a larger cidery for more than a year, but we had very high expectations, including staying in the historic Albina township of Portland,” West stated in a news release. “Shobi approached me about a building he was looking to lease to an entrepreneur and we immediately found common ground. I couldn’t be happier with the arrangement.”

Reverend Nat’s expects to be able to produce nearly 25,000 barrels annually in the new facility because of additional tank capacity. The cidery produced 4,500 barrels in 2016 and is on track to make 5,500 barrels this year.

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