Portland’s latest code amendment package to improve land use regulations received the City Council‘s approval on Thursday. The Regulatory Improvement Code Amendment Package (RICAP) 11 is intended to streamline zoning across the city. The changes will take effect Nov. 1.

“RICAP projects are intended to identify technical corrections, clarify existing regulations, remove unnecessary barriers and improve the overall functionality of our code,” Housing and Permitting Committee Chair Candace Avalos said during a committee meeting in June. “The package includes dozens of relatively small amendments, but together they create a more predictable, efficient and user-friendly system.”

RICAP 11 is part of an ongoing series of code amendment projects. The previous one, RICAP 10, was adopted by the city council in June 2024 and took effect that October. Its amendments focused on housing production, economic development and regulatory reduction.

In the next year or so, other projects will be presented to the committee and the City Council, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Director Eric Engstrom said. They include possible reform of the design review process, a Central City-focused package, and the Code Alignment Project (CAP) 2.

“Collectively, we’ll be looking at things like parking and frontage issues, repurposing existing buildings, elements of the tree code, continued work on middle housing codes and a lot more,” Engstrom said during the June committee meeting.

Thursday’s direction amends Title 32 (signs and related regulations) and Title 33 (planning and zoning). RICAP 11 includes 56 zoning code amendments focused on minor parking updates including access to bike parking areas, rules for setbacks and screening for mechanical equipment, regulations for outdoor shelters to align with what the city has allowed through its housing emergency, and allowances for larger signs in parks and open spaces, among others.

The council passed several amendments to the package late last month. These include allowing residential use in the Campus Institutional 1 zone and removing screening requirements for detached mechanical equipment.

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By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard / Register-Guard

Costco wants to expand both its parking and its gas station pumps at its Eugene store, and has two ideas for how it could do so, both of which involve tearing down the closed Office Depot across the street.

In a dated May 21, first reported by Eugene Weekly, Costco representative LUA Consulting told the city Costco wants to demolish the former Office Depot, restripe the surrounding area to create additional parking and expand the existing gas station.

Under this plan, Costco would create 202 parking spaces for Costco employees on the north side of Chad Drive. Costco also would plant trees, and the new parking area would have 13 percent tree canopy.

Costco would simultaneously add four new gas pumps to the existing gas station, replacing 14 parking spaces. Each pump includes two nozzles, so this proposal would bring the number of nozzles from 24 to 36.

In the second plan, dated June 16, Costco would demolish both the Office Depot and its existing gas station. Costco would expand parking where the current gas station is, and build a new gas station and additional parking on the Office Depot lot.

The new gas station would be built to serve 40 vehicles at a time.

Customers would access the new gas station through proposed entrances off Chad Drive and Coburg Road. The Coburg Road entrance would cut through the parking lot currently shared by Winco, Taco Bell and Video Only, with Costco restriping the parking lot to outline the new car route. This plan also would add square footage to the existing Costco building.

According to documents obtained by the Register-Guard through a public records request, Costco and City of Eugene staff were scheduled to meet to discuss the project June 17.

In the application requesting that meeting, LUA, Costco’s consultant, said it does not believe the development will increase peak-hour traffic in the area, but notes that at least the first plan would increase pedestrian traffic and asks the city if upgrades to the pedestrian crossing on Chad Drive will be needed for the project.

Costco purchased the Office Depot building across Chad Drive in 2009. The office supply store closed in May.

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In the early 1990s, Oregon was one of the first to adopt statewide administrative rules requiring transportation planning based on roads sized to accommodate vehicles during the height of demand – typically the pm peak hour. Although the rules contemplated planning for alternative transportation, the focus was on single-occupancy-vehicle congestion during the business-hour commute. Couple that with minimum parking requirements that were based on, for example, square feet in a grocery store or the number of seats in a theater – with little attention to peak times of usage or shared parking opportunities. The result is dispersed uses surrounded by parking that discourages walking, cycling and investment in public transportation. Residential, off-street parking mandates not only separates homes from supporting commercial uses but also significantly increases the cost of housing. A variety of sources have estimated that the cost of requiring off-street parking to multifamily housing adds $20,000 to $60,000 per unit.

In response to Oregon falling further and further behind in achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by the Oregon Legislature in 2007, Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-04 mandating that all agencies, including the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) adopt rules directing local plans to meet these goals. The resulting Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules imposed new planning obligations that, despite applying statewide, are primarily directed at the Portland-metro area and Oregon’s other seven metropolitan areas, including 52 of its most populous cities.

The obligations get complicated quickly but the one that is easiest to understand and will likely see immediate impact (and perhaps greatest immediate consternation) is that local governments may no longer require off-street parking in transit-serving areas or for certain uses. As of Jan. 1, 2023, metropolitan governments are prohibited from applying any regulations that impose minimum off-street parking mandates within three-quarters of a mile of a rail transit stop or within half a mile of “transit corridors.” The definition of “transit corridor” can change based on subsequent transportation planning, but for purposes of the immediate deadline, it includes bus service with a scheduled frequency of at least four times an hour during peak service.

Portland long ago eliminated off-street parking minimums within the urban core, much of which is served by MAX light rail and streetcar lines, so the new rules will not have much impact there. However, TriMet offers peak-hour bus service more than once every 15 minutes snaking through most Metro-area suburban areas, so the rules will likely have a significant impact for new development whether it is commercial, industrial, single-family or multifamily. Further, local governments are prohibited from requiring off-street parking for special uses such as residential units smaller than 750 square feet, group homes, affordable housing, shelters, and day care facilities. These rules do not preclude development from electing to provide off-street parking subject to any otherwise applicable maximum limit regulations.

Although there may be some flexibility in timing where appropriate progress is made, by June 2023, affected cities must either repeal all parking mandates within their boundaries or adopt a package of parking reform options including, for example, charging for all off-street parking separate from rent (even for commercial and industrial uses), imposing a tax on parking revenue, and adopting parking maximums. By Sept. 30, 2023, cities with populations exceeding 100,000 that elect not to remove parking mandates must charge on-street parking prices equivalent to at least 50 cents per day per spot for 5 percent of the total on-street parking supply, with an increase to 10 percent of the supply by Sept. 30, 2025.

With respect to reviewing applications for new development, by March 31, 2023, all cities must require that at least 40 percent of parking spaces in new multifamily or multiuse developments have conduits to serve electric vehicle charging. As of June 30, 2025, all transportation modeling accomplished for development review must show that the project will not increase vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This last standard may prove challenging and may require a whole new evaluation framework for developers and public and private transportation engineers who up to this point are focused on mitigated impacts from vehicles rather than not having them.

What might be of greater interest to planning policy wonks is that these rules require local governments to study and identify areas suitable for designation as Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs). The rules provide that by the end of 2023, all larger non-Portland metropolitan cities such as Eugene/Springfield, Bend, Salem/Keizer/Albany, Corvallis/Philomath, Grants Pass/Medford/Ashland must submit to the DLCD a CFA study and follow up with implementing CFA plan policies, zoning designations and development standards. CFAs must be sized, either together or separately, to accommodate at least 30 percent of the total identified number of housing units necessary to meet all current and future housing needs.

This feeds into the housing needs analysis obligations imposed by HB 2001 from a few years ago. Only lands with high levels of alternative transportation and in proximity to urban centers may qualify. In addition, these studies must include a Housing Production Strategy Report explaining how equitable housing objectives will be achieved, including how the city is affirmatively furthering fair housing opportunities for communities of color, low-income communities, people with disabilities, and other state- and federal-protected classes as well as addressing homelessness, affordably homeownership, displacement and gentrification. The DLCD is to evaluate the accuracy and sufficiency of each report against a series of review criteria and either approve or remand the report for further study. Implementing CFA zones and development code standards, including prioritization of public buildings, open spaces, as well as block length maximums, must be adopted within one year thereafter.

On the strictly transportation planning side, the rules mandate transportation system plan (TSP) major amendments and detailed transportation modeling on a schedule for local government compliance. Portland Metro and Salem/Keizer/Albany initial study efforts must be accomplished no later than May 31, 2024. The rules require authorizing greater development in transit corridors and downtowns, prioritizing multimodal performance measures (as opposed to focusing solely on capacity enhancements for vehicles), and prioritizing public investments accordingly. Again, all transportation modeling may not increase VMT per capita. Given increases in background traffic, particularly pass-through traffic which local governments independently cannot control, the framework for this modeling will take additional work.

Although the DLCD and ODOT have committed to assisting local governments in these efforts, the existing legislative funding commitment extends only to cover the project deadlines within this biennium. The DLCD received $768,000 from the Legislature to be used for equitable engagement and scenario planning for potential CFA area. The city of Springfield has estimated its planning costs will far exceed its proportional share of this appropriation. Although Minneapolis and San Francisco have adopted regulations prohibiting off-street parking requirements, Oregon is the first state to attempt to force cities into a more urban, dense, multimodal model that includes all larger cities. The success of this effort will hinge on the Legislature’s commitment to fund local government efforts and the public’s willingness to embrace transforming Oregon into a future that prioritizes fighting climate change over accommodating cars.

Edward Sullivan is a retired practitioner of land use and municipal law with more than 50 years of experience. Contact him at esulliva@gmail.com.

Carrie Richter is an attorney specializing in land use and municipal law at Bateman Seidel. Contact her at 503-972-9903 or crichter@batemanseidel.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither of the authors nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

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A development bonus being considered by the Portland City Council would allow developers to build apartment buildings with no parking in exchange for providing deeper affordability.

For buildings with at least 50 percent of units rent-restricted at 60 percent of area median income, developers would not have to meet parking minimums.

The bonus is already available to projects within 500 feet of frequent service transit or 1,500 feet of a light-rail station. The proposed amendment would eliminate parking requirements for deeply affordable housing throughout the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said the aim of the proposed amendment, and others, is to entice such development throughout the city.

“The intent is to expand affordability,” he said at Wednesday’s council meeting.

New affordable housing buildings often include some parking for residents’ use, although typically fewer spaces are provided than at comparable market-rate apartment buildings. There is also affordable housing in historic buildings throughout downtown and Old Town Chinatown that do not have parking.

“For affordable housing, we do have parking sometimes,” Dan Valliere, CEO of REACH Community Development, said in an interview. “It depends a lot on the affordability level and the location. At a close-in location, sometimes that’s not necessary.”

The no-parking bonus is likely to raise opposition from neighbors concerned about street parking and density. Proximity to transit can make a difference, Valliere said.

“The majority of people that rent affordable housing apartments that REACH manages do not have a car and are able to not have a car because the majority of our units are located close to transportation,” he said.

The amendment would be part of Better Housing by Design – a city zoning project to encourage denser development in multi-dwelling zones. Those zones are by land area only 8 percent of the city, but tend to be near transit – a mapping analysis found 89 percent of multi-dwelling zone properties are within 1,500 feet of frequent service transit.

Parking has been an obstacle to development of affordable housing, according to a city analysis. Structured parking typically costs around $40,000 per space, and takes up area that could be used for housing, according to the city.

Affordable housing developers have broadly supported the Better Housing by Design proposal.

Valliere said it often makes sense to build some parking. At times, REACH goes beyond parking minimums. But any flexibility is welcome, he said.

“We appreciate the option not to require any number of spaces,” he said.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has expressed concerns, saying Better Housing by Design fails to address Portland’s history of racist zoning.

“I still believe if we pass this as is – not even addressing the amendments – that we are once again solidifying racially discriminatory policy and reaffirming that past bad practices continue on,” she said.

Hardesty also criticized program aspects that discourage demolitions in historic districts and in some cases apply to only one property. An amendment pitched by Wheeler would rezone the Anna Mann house in Laurelhurst for use as an 88-unit affordable housing project.

“Writing exceptions for individual properties are very problematic to me,” Hardesty said.

Commissioners heard more than three hours of public testimony on the proposal Wednesday, but did not take a vote. The council will again take up the matter on Nov. 21. It will be the third hearing for Better Housing by Design after an initial council hearing on Oct. 2.

Written testimony will be accepted until Nov. 21, but commissioners closed the record on oral testimony.

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The Central Eastside Industrial Council has commissioned a parking study as an increase of jobs in the urban district has not come with additions of spaces for motor vehicles.

The study is “to determine exactly how much parking we have and how much parking we need, and whether we’re using the parking that we have efficiently,” said Brad Malsin, the council’s president and a Beam Development principal.

Portland‘s zoning, in particular the Central City 2035 plan, limits residential and office uses in the Central Eastside in an attempt to protect the district as an industrial sanctuary. As multifamily and office development creates pressure on industrial space across the city, the Central Eastside is meant to remain a place where industrial businesses can continue to flourish.

That has become a challenge.

“I think it needs to be done,” Jim Kennison, director of bakery operations at Franz Bakery, said of the parking study. “It is the industrial district, and the industry is getting kind of crowded and pushed out.”

Pressures have grown. In June 2018, Autodesk moved from Lake Oswego to the Towne Storage building, a renovated 100,000-square-foot warehouse south of the Burnside Bridge that was originally built in 1916 and has no parking. Media reports at the time said Autodesk had 200 employees at the location, with room to scale up to 500.

The construction software firm declined a recent interview request, and did not respond to an email asking how many employees work at the Towne Storage building.

Whereas the parking situation is a problem for many employers, it’s an opportunity for some developers. Harsch Investment Properties‘ 7 SE Stark building, nearly completed, has six floors of parking with 265 stalls.

“It’s a critical need,” said Jordan Schnitzer, president of Harsch Investment Properties. “Many tenants realize that while lots of people walk and bike and use Uber, there’s a lot of people that still drive their cars and a lot of people that want to visit businesses.”

Some of 7 SE Stark’s parking will be available to other users, Schnitzer said.

“We’re first going to take care of our tenants, and then any excess parking, we’ll take care of Olympic Mills and the public,” he said.

The Olympic Mills Commerce Center, a commercial building near 7 SE Stark, has tenants including Olympia Provisions and Fish Marketing.

Gerding Edlen‘s 5 MLK, another building under construction in the area and expected to be delivered early next year, has three floors of underground parking. A spokesperson for the developer did not respond to a message seeking comment. An executive with Apex Real Estate Partners, the leasing agent for the project, also did not respond to requests for comment.

District Office, a six-story building from Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners at 525 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., will have one floor of underground parking.

The growth affects many longtime industrial businesses, which rely on parking and easy access for trucks to transport their products. Franz Bakery has operated in the neighborhood since 1906, and is in a relatively good position with three parking lots for its approximately 500 employees in the district. Few employees use public transit, Kennison said, because of schedule challenges.

“Our problem here is we work pretty much 24/7,” he said. “Bus service and light rail is not great on holidays or weekends.”

TriMet spokeswoman Tia York stated via email that the Central Eastside “enjoys some of the best supply of transit in the region.” Next spring, bus line 20 will be upgraded to frequent service – every 15 minutes – joining six frequent service lines currently operating in the area. TriMet is also working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to accelerate bus service to make riding transit more attractive, York stated.

The Central Eastside Industrial Council also operates the Water Avenue Shuttle, which runs two shuttle buses during peak commuting hours from the Dairy Building on Southeast Eighth Avenue to the Oregon Convention Center.

Kennison said some small businesses have moved out of the district. That’s hardly an option for a company the size of Franz, he said.

“We’re a big company,” he said. “It’s going to be really hard for someone like us to move – I’m not saying that’s happening.

“Smaller businesses that can be more mobile, they don’t want to hassle with the parking,” he added.

The Lloyd area, just north of the Central Eastside, has its own parking challenges. Go Lloyd, a business group, conducts an annual parking survey of more than 13,000 on-street and off-street parking spaces. In 2018, the survey found usage rates were 10 percent higher than during the previous year.

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In 2017, Portland is poised to be the city that works on parking garages.

The city is preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars on parking even as it pursues goals to fight climate change and promote dense, walkable neighborhoods.

The moves by the Portland Development Commission and the Portland Bureau of Transportation are prompting new criticism from a coalition of activists and armchair urban planners who are pushing a future for central Portland that is less reliant on cars.

The PDC is working with Mortenson Development to build a $20 million, 425-stall parking garage adjacent to the Hyatt Regency hotel, which crews are expected to start building near the Oregon Convention Center in June. Meanwhile, in a previously unreported move, the PDC is in discussions with Guardian Real Estate Services to buy the parking portion of the proposed Block 33 mixed-use building in Old Town Chinatown for an as-yet-undisclosed sum, and then lease it back to the developer.

Also, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the PDC are moving forward on plans to renovate the city’s towering parking garage between Southwest Ninth and 10th avenues and Morrison and Yamhill streets.

Taken together, the plans indicate the city wants to grow central Portland’s parking stock alongside the extensive parking construction planned by private developers.

The public parking garage spending comes as the city promotes other initiatives, from the streetcar to Biketown to the $135 million vehicle-free Tilikum Crossing, to get residents and visitors out of their cars and on their feet or into public transit vehicles or onto bikes.

The largest parking project on the boards is Mortenson‘s $25.9 million deal with the PDC to build the parking garage at the Hyatt Regency hotel near the Oregon Convention Center. Critics of new parking say it’s a risky long-term deal.

PDC documents show the hotel would use 375 stalls, with the other 50 stalls to eventually be sold to TriMet. The garage would bring in approximately $1.8 million in annual net operating income, according to the agency.

Tony Jordan, a Portland activist who founded the anti-parking group PDX Shoupistas, said he’s skeptical that the garage will meet projections given the rise of ride-share platforms such as Uber and the proliferation of do-it-yourself lodging like Airbnb.

“If this garage next to the Hyatt is such a good deal, why isn’t Hyatt doing it?” said Jordan, whose group is named for Donald Shoup, an influential urban planner.

“You have a building that’s going to be around for a long time, that PDC is going to pay for for a long time, that’s going to exist in a very different transportation environment,” he said. “All of these factors conspire to say that this garage is not going to be full in 2025.”

A PDC spokesman said that without the garage, the Hyatt Regency hotel – a long-planned anchor for the Lloyd District – would not be built.

“The project doesn’t move forward without the garage,” PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. “Fundamentally, this is part and parcel to that.”

The garage is to be constructed with further development of the site in mind. A 100,000-square-foot office building on top of the garage would help increase density and activity, including along the MAX light-rail line, and increase property tax revenues, according to the agency.

The Hyatt Regency is expected to bring in $600 million in tourism spending each year and millions of dollars more in tax revenue. The hotel could also give Portland enough capacity to host big events such as an NBA All-Star game.

“It’s a 600-room hotel,” Uhlman said. “That’s a really big number of guests. It’s pretty difficult to imagine a hotel of that size without a parking operation.”

The PDC has already given Mortenson $1.2 million to design and plan for the parking garage, all of which has been spent, according to a report from the agency.

Ground is anticipated to be broken in June, and the PDC is holding ongoing meetings for interested subcontractors.

The PDC has taken note of the criticism regarding its focus on parking garage construction. The agency even posted a lengthy explanation on the frequently asked questions section of its website.

Ethan Seltzer, a Portland State University professor of urban studies and planning, said it makes sense for the city to incorporate motor vehicle parking into its plans.

“As long as there are cars in the road, there’s going to be a need to have somewhere to put them,” he said.

Yet there’s a risk that driver behavior could change so quickly in coming years that large parking garages will become relics. Urban residents are driving less, and the advent of driverless cars could dramatically change demand for parking.

“What seemed like total science fiction a few years ago is seeming like an inevitability in the next five,” Seltzer said. “If you have driverless cars, you don’t need parking structures. You don’t need parking.”

Developers are broadly supportive of more parking in Portland’s urban center.

“Parking is not a highly profitable component,” said Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian Real Estate Services. “It drives many deals forward or not. “The idea of having more parking rather than less, if the city would partner it’s just going to increase the development potential in the city.

“You need people in the core to have a successful development.”

Guardian’s development plans for Block 33 include two levels of underground parking with 200-plus spots. The site has the potential for more, Brenneke said.

“We have potential to do a third (level) and are considering that,” he said. “We would probably need a PDC-type partner if we were going to do that.”

Guardian sent a letter of intent to sell the parking to the PDC, according to the Feb. 8 document. Jordan obtained the letter via a public records request.

The deal has not been finalized, Brenneke said.

“We have no deal with PDC, but we’ve had some dialogue,” he said.

The full-block project also has to clear the Historic Landmarks Commission, which questioned the proposed height in an initial hearing.

“We’re trying to get our height issue figured out,” Brenneke said. “Our deal works at 125 feet; it doesn’t work at anything less.”

Additional parking would increase the project’s cost.

The city is also working to extend the life of existing parking garages. In February, the city submitted a design advice request to make improvements to the seven-story Smart Park garage at Southwest 10th Avenue and Yamhill Street.

The city wants to remove stairs and elevators from two corners in favor of additional retail space. Existing retail tenants have received 18 months’ eviction notice, but will be welcome to reapply for space in the building later, according to the agency.

The plan also calls for mechanical upgrades, access improvements and new canopies and solar panels. The number of parking stalls will not change.

The post City driving ahead to expand parking stock appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland Development Commission has amended its development agreement with Mortenson Development for a planned parking garage to serve the new hotel near the Oregon Convention Center.

The project to build the 442-stall parking garage is now expected to cost approximately $32.2 million, up from an earlier estimate of about $25.9 million.

The garage is considered a key support project for the 600-room Hyatt Regency hotel, and will not only provide needed parking, but also serve as a steady source of revenue for the PDC. The agency estimates the garage will generate $1.85 million annually.

Construction of the hotel is expected to commence once financing is in place in June 2017. The garage project will follow.

The PDC pointed to several reasons for the 24 percent cost increase.

• Additional foundation superstructure adds $1.6 million to the building’s cost. The superstructure changes are necessary to support future development of an office building atop the parking garage, according to a PDC staff report.

Overall, the PDC is spending $3 million so that an office building can be built on the parking garage.

The design also allows TriMet to operate a ground-floor police precinct without disruption of its operations.

• TriMet’s design specifications were responsible for an estimated $2.1 million cost increase. The transit agency has asked for 19,000 square feet of commercial space and 47 secured parking spaces.

The change requires deeper excavation and more shoring than first anticipated, PDC project manager Eric Jacobson said.

The agency had earlier indicated it would need only 14,000 to 15,000 square feet. The cost increase will be passed on to TriMet.

• Changes to gain the Portland Design Commission’s approval will add $2.3 million in development costs. These changes include adding ground-floor retail space and bicycle parking, and modifying exterior design and materials.
• Costs are projected to increase by $320,000 because of the state’s 1.5 Percent for Green Technology in Public Buildings program. PDC staff had not initially realized the garage would be subject to the program.

“We hadn’t budgeted for that in part because we don’t build and own too many buildings,” Jacobson said.

Mortenson Development is expected to deliver the hotel in mid-2019, and then the garage. Mortenson Construction is the general contractor. Both companies are part of M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis.

The parking garage would add to the PDC’s portfolio an asset that could generate revenues for other programs. Currently, the PDC owns two parking structures: Station Place Garage at Union Station and parking at the Strand condominiums in Southwest Portland, near the Willamette River.

The PDC’s board approved an amended development agreement by a unanimous vote Dec. 14.

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As Portland moves forward with ridding city code of parking minimums, a Seattle-area firm is heavily investing in a series of urban studio apartment buildings with no parking.

The developer’s plans are not dependent on city officials’ decision, enacted in a Nov. 23 City Council vote, to do away with requiring developers to include parking in multifamily projects of more than 30 units. The changes, part of comprehensive plan amendments, will take effect in January 2018.

But the project illustrates the type that Portland is poised to see grow as millennials demand apartment units in close-in neighborhoods and developers find they can build them with little or no parking.

The development model is likely to exacerbate existing conflicts between developers and residents who fear greater traffic and a deficit of street parking in established neighborhoods.

Koz Development, based in Snohomish, Washington, recently asked for planning assistance with a proposal for an apartment building with 95 studio units and no parking at 1111 N.W. 16th Ave., in the Northwest District near Interstate 405.

Koz is also developing across the street, at 1015-1039 N.W. 16th Ave., a project that calls for 128 units and no parking. A design review hearing was held Dec. 1, and the developer hopes to obtain a building permit soon.

Residents are deeply concerned that Koz will plop down 223 units in an established neighborhood with no additional parking and little city investment in infrastructure.

“I know the city’s wishful thinking is that they think once the traffic gets bad enough, everyone’s going to get around on mass transit,” said Roger Vrilakas, a resident who serves on the Northwest District Association planning committee. “But they don’t have any plans to make a world-class mass transit system.”

The many-units, no-parking model is most profitable for both the city and the developer, Vrilakas said.

“The additional increase in services to the Northwest (District) is nil, so (city officials) get to rake it in and the developer gets to rake it in, but the rest of us get to live in the type of cities we left in the ’80s,” he said.

Vrilakas emphasized he wasn’t speaking for the planning committee.

Koz Development works to find urban sites where the model makes sense, chief executive Cathy Reines said.

“We for the most part build our projects with little or limited parking while making sure we’re located near mass transit,” she said.

Koz was attracted to Portland by strong economic indicators and a growing rental-friendly population, Reines said.

“Portland has a great millennial demographic, and that’s growing,” she said.

Brian Worley, a spokesman for Mayor Charlie Hales, who backed eliminating parking minimums, said Hales was not available for an interview.

Increasingly, developers are building studio apartments, which offer the highest returns per square foot. That’s beginning to make a dent in the need for more affordably priced rental housing, but it’s also causing parking congestion across Portland and leading tenant advocates to point to a lack of larger units.

While some residents of Koz’s developments will surely have cars, the developer seeks to appeal to non-drivers, said Joshua Scott, a vice president with the firm.

“We are certainly looking for residents that have limited or no interest in automobiles for transportation,” he said.

Most of Koz’s units are studios, but some units at the 128-unit development in Northwest Portland will offer two bedrooms, Scott said.

The apartments will be distinct from “micro-units,” which often share bathrooms and kitchens, Scott said.

In Seattle – where development often serves as a harbinger of what’s to come in Portland – apartment units have become ever smaller. The Seattle Times recently spotlighted an ad for a 130-square-foot “studio” apartment that includes a sink and a toilet open to the rest of the unit. One Reddit user referred to the apartment as a “prison cell with large windows.”

That is not Koz Development’s model, Scott said. Each Koz unit will have its own cooking facilities, bathroom and loft used for sleeping or storage.

“We do fully self-contained, small studio apartments,” he said.

The interiors themselves are high quality, with durable finishes and a modern aesthetic, Scott said. Also, ample bike parking will be provided.

The model is intended for young people who want to live in the city and not stay holed up in their homes.

“We don’t have a lot of other amenities because we really encourage residents to live in their communities,” he said.

In addition to the Northwest Portland projects, Koz is at work elsewhere in the city. Scott expects to break ground within a month on a 30-unit project, with no parking, at 2161 S.W. Yamhill St. in Goose Hollow.

Then Koz will tackle a 114-unit project at 2211 S.W. Fourth Ave. near Portland State University, with 25 parking spaces located in a ground-level garage. Finally, the developer plans an approximately 80-unit project at 1299 S.E. Ankeny St. with approximately 15 parking spaces.

Koz designs its projects with in-house architects. Seabold Construction is under contract for the Goose Hollow project, and general contractors have not been selected yet for the subsequent projects.

Koz found success with several projects in the Seattle area, including in the University District, before replicating the model in Portland and Tacoma, Washington. Koz is looking at additional markets, Reines said.

Many new, large projects offer parking, although parking ratios have declined in some cases to 0.7 parking spots per unit or less.

Investors continue to support parking, believing many prospective tenants still demand space for their cars.

“To create even a small amount of parking, just five or 10 stalls, is everyone doing their part,” said Noel Johnson, a principal at developer Cairn Pacific.

Building no parking at all can lead to problems, Johnson said.

“It creates a hotspot in the neighborhood,” he said. “It creates frustration.”

Koz’s Northwest Portland projects are near several bars and eateries. Scott said the buildings will provide a noise buffer from Interstate 405.

Northwest Portland neighborhoods have created parking districts to give residents the ability to find street parking. Koz’s projects near Northwest 16th Avenue and Marshall Street are in a parking district known as Zone K. Nearby, in Zone M, residents who serve on a parking committee have discussed capping the number of parking permits issued to residents. Already, there are twice as many passes as spaces, which is possible because not everyone parks in the neighborhood at the same time, said Karen Karlsson, who serves on the Northwest Portland parking stakeholder advisory committee.

Zone K’s parking regulations are less robust, Karlsson said.

“That number of units in Zone K is a disaster,” she said.

The post Seeking tenants, but not cars appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

As a new round of 21st-century towers and smaller multifamily buildings take shape throughout Portland, motor vehicle parking is changing. In many cases, developers are finding they can make do with less parking now than before the recession.

At the same time, city planners are pushing residents away from private vehicle trips. Portland’s newest bridge, Tilikum Crossing, has no room for cars. Neither will Flanders Crossing, a small bridge expected to attract heavy usage when it opens over Interstate 405 in 2018. TriMet has pushed its MAX light-rail system out to Milwaukie and could soon extend it southwest to Bridgeport Village.

Where does that leave parking? Single-occupancy vehicles, though increasingly derided as passé, still are used for the majority of commuting trips.

Most multifamily investors expect to see a healthy amount of parking included in projects.

“We don’t have enough confidence to build a significantly expensive project with no parking at all,” said Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group, a major Portland developer. “That said, we’re building it to half a stall per apartment, so we’re not building it in abundance.”

Downtown Development Group is at work at Southwest Third Avenue and Ash Street on a multifamily building that will include one floor of underground parking. The company also is working with Gerding Edlen at Southwest 11th Avenue and Washington Street on a proposed 30-story tower that, as initially envisioned, would include four floors of underground parking. A pre-application conference for that project is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Parking remains essential for large projects, Goodman said.

“Building parking is expensive,” he said. “If we could, we’d build no parking, but the reality is we’d be afraid we wouldn’t lease out our buildings downtown.”

Park Avenue West, one of Portland’s tallest buildings, was completed earlier this year and has ample parking. The building at 760 S.W. Ninth Ave. has 249 parking spaces for its 202 residential units and 13 floors of office space. Park Avenue West tenants also have access to 1,179 additional parking spaces at Fox Tower and Director Park.

“Parking is a critical component to negotiating a (commercial) lease,” said Vanessa Sturgeon, president and CEO of TMT Development, which developed Park Avenue West.

Office tenants expect one parking stall per 1,250 square feet of office space, Sturgeon said.

“As much as we like to think people are finding different modalities to get into and out of town, the demand for parking has not changed,” she said.

At Park Avenue West, creating space for so much parking wasn’t easy. Crews dug 95 feet below ground to accommodate six floors of parking.

“Park Avenue West is the deepest hole ever dug in the city of Portland,” Sturgeon said.

The hole couldn’t be any deeper.

“We were really constrained because of the water table,” she said. “We went down as deep as we could go, and we went below sea level, actually.”

Demand for downtown parking could have supported far more spaces, Sturgeon said.

“If we had been able to do double the amount of parking, we would have been able to utilize all of it,” she said.

TMT plans to include parking in its future developments, Sturgeon added.

At present, the city of Portland requires parking for sites with more than 30 apartment units, and more spaces are required for larger projects. For a site with 31 to 40 apartments, 0.20 parking spaces per apartment are required. For a site with 41 to 50 units, 0.25 parking spaces per unit are required. For a site with 51 units or more, 0.33 parking spaces per unit are required.

Urban Asset Advisors is at work on four projects. Of those, three include parking. The one that doesn’t is an eastside project for which the developer has land under contract but has not closed. The lot’s frontage is too small to accommodate underground parking, said Tim O’Brien, president of Urban Asset Advisors.

“In general, we believe every project should have parking to the extent you can get it in,” he said.

Urban Asset Advisors is constructing Couch 9 in the Pearl District. The development will have 69 parking spaces for 136 apartment units, or 0.51 spaces per unit. After Couch 9 is completed, Urban Asset Advisors will rent the spaces.

Portland parking spaces are renting for about $165 a month to more than $200 a month, O’Brien said.

The amount of parking in a given development is determined largely by location.

“The closer the project is to transit and bicycle corridors and walkability to employment centers, the less parking you need,” O’Brien said.

Investors are not demanding as much parking as they did a few years ago, when a 1-to-1 ratio was expected – a parking space for each apartment unit. A couple of years ago, the typical threshold had fallen to 0.6 parking spaces per multifamily unit.

The Cordelia Apartments, a 135-unit building developed by Mill Creek Residential Trust in 2014, raised eyebrows when it came in below 0.5 parking spaces per unit. Other projects have since been built with even fewer spaces per unit.

“Our overall thinking about it is that parking ratios do continue to decline,” O’Brien said.

Parking is still regarded as a worthwhile amenity, and investors tend to frown on projects with too little parking.

“Investors definitely are the tail that wags the dog,” O’Brien said.

Parking also helps ensure the long-term viability of a project, he added.

“You have to have a good exit strategy,” he said. “Not only is it the right thing to do and socially responsible, but it makes the project more viable and more marketable.”

When a lot is too small for underground parking, technology can play a role. For Quimby19, a 90-unit development in Northwest Portland, Urban Asset Advisors ended up using a mechanical stacking parking system. The development features 13 surface spaces and 34 in the mechanical system.

That ended up saving money, O’Brien said. Typical parking spaces cost about $50,000 each, while mechanized spaces cost about $30,000 each.

The post People are gaining spaces, but what about cars? appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Salem Health‘s redevelopment plan for an 8.4-acre parcel adjacent to its hospital took one step forward last week and two steps back this week.

After gaining permission from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals to demolish 90-year-old Howard Hall, hospital administrators learned this week that they cannot proceed with plans to create a large parking lot and remove nine significant trees. LUBA‘s latest decision throws a monkey wrench into the overall project.

“We’re just really surprised,” hospital spokeswoman Sherryll Hoar said. “We never thought LUBA wouldn’t agree with the (Salem City Council) on this one.”

Salem Health officials want to demolish Howard Hall, create a commemorative garden, develop a playground (open to the public) for children with disabilities and construct a “therapy loop” for patients relearning to walk.

However, plans for the site also include a surface parking lot with 264 spaces, which is more than Salem Revised Code allows on a parcel that size. Plus, if a parking lot of that size were allowed, its development would trigger necessary removal of nine significant trees. Hospital officials asked that the number of spaces be approved on the grounds that the parking would serve existing buildings on other campus lots, and the Salem City Council gave its OK in August.

The South Central Association of Neighbors (SCAN) filed an appeal with LUBA, arguing that city code does not allow parking spaces provided for the subject lot to be located on another lot. LUBA agreed with SCAN and remanded the decision to the City Council.

The nine trees would have been removed to make space for the parking lot. LUBA determined that because the parking lot wouldn’t be allowed, the trees wouldn’t need to come out.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do now,” Hoar said. “We found out Monday afternoon and are currently consulting with our team on how to proceed.”

Hoar predicts that the hospital’s development team will make a decision by the end of the week, but said LUBA’s decision will require significant changes to existing plans.

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