The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine has officially closed on a complex financing package to convert the 1911-built Globe Hotel building into the new home of the school.

While preliminary renovation work started last week, the college was waiting on the purchase of its new market tax credits to finalize the last piece financing. Through the help of the Portland Development Commission and the National Development Council, the college has sold $14.25 million, nearly half the project cost, worth of tax credits to US Bancorp Community Development Corporation.

New market tax credits are offered to projects that help with job-creation in low-income and distressed census tracts. The renovation of the Globe Hotel is expected to create 110 construction jobs as well as 10 permanent full-time positions at OCOM.

The project also received funding from historic tax credits as well as $6.2 million in low interest loans from the PDC.

The project is being led by Portland-based Beam Development. Local firms Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects and LCG Pence Construction are also working on the renovation.

A public groundbreaking ceremony is being held on Tuesday, June 28, adjacent to the building on the corner of Northwest Davis Street and Northwest 1^st Avenue from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Once complete, the four-story building will have 39,580 square feet of usable space, including a 4,300-square-foot penthouse space that is being added to the top of the building. The project will mark the eight sustainable historic rehabilitation project to take place in the Skidmore Old Town Historic District, and the second new market/historic tax credit collaboration to take place between PDC, NDC and US Bank.

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After a decade of playing at PGE Park, the Portland Beavers will play their last home game at the stadium on Sept. 6 against the Las Vegas 51s.

A few days later, while the Beavers are packing up their bats and leaving Portland in search of a new owner and a new home, the stands of PGE Park will begin to fill up with construction workers pushing to complete renovations in time for the first home game of the Timbers, the city’s new Major League Soccer team.

Greg Holloran, project manager for general contractor Turner Construction, said the construction side of the project should be relative easy to tackle. The timeline, however, is another matter.

“It’s certainly going to be challenging with such a tight building window,” Holloran said.

Turner and its subcontractors will have to squeeze the equivalent of nine months of work into six months. With such a small time frame, crews will be working selected overtime to complete the stadium on schedule. In addition, as with any job in the Northwest, crews will be battling the elements and working throughout the rainy season, Halloran said.

“The benefit with the stadium is you have a large site, so you can spread people out over a large area and have different crews work on different projects,” he said.

When the project to renovate PGE Park first got the green light, Turner realized work would need to be done on a fast track, so the project was split into two stages.

During the first round of work, which was conducted last fall, the playing field was peeled back and a foundation for new stands was poured.

The next round of construction, which is scheduled to begin shortly after the Beavers’ last game, will begin by peeling back of the playing field again so crews can reach the foundation. Workers will then focus on building a seating bowl, which will connect the stands that once bordered the first-base line with those that bordered the third base-line. The new seating structure will be composed of steel with precast treads and risers and will transform the stadium into a configuration fit for only football and soccer games. A large steel canopy also will be constructed to cover a great deal of the eastern stands.

“The new construction is really going to transform the stadium into one of the most authentic soccer environments in the country,” said Chris Metz, spokesman for the Timbers. “It’s already such a great place to watch a match, but the addition of the east-side grandstands creates a whole encompassing feel to the field and gets people closer to the action.”

When complete, the additional stands will increase the capacity of the park from 15,418 to about 20,000.

In addition to the new seating, a new physical therapy clinic with views of the field will be constructed at the southeast corner of the stadium. The new construction will also result in a new club restaurant and the expansion of the concourse on the south and east side of the stadium.

Construction is set to wrap up in early April, about one month after Major League Soccer’s season starts. The Timbers are hoping the league will let the team begin its 2011 season with a series of away games until the stadium is ready, Metz said.

Metz said this is also the final year of the PGE naming rights deal with the stadium, and although PGE has committed to stay on as a corporate sponsor, the stadium will be renamed upon entering a new naming-rights partnership. Metz said discussions are being conducted with a number of interested companies.

The post Short clock for PGE Park’s soccer remodel appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The city of Beaverton, still working on a stadium plan for the Portland Beavers Triple-A baseball team, has hired Don Mazziotti, former executive director of the Portland Development Commission, as its new community development director.

Mazziotti recently was a development consultant for the Beavers. The team’s owner, Merritt Paulson, is eyeing land in Beaverton on which to build a stadium.

Mazziotti said his former connection with the Beavers will in no way influence his development decisions at the city. Beaverton’s Business Development Services Director Gary Brentano will remain the city’s point person for the stadium project, Mazziotti said.

“I just plan to do a lot of listening and a lot of learning,” Mazziotti added.

Amy Miner, public information manager for the city of Beaverton, said Mazziotti will play a major role in urban renewal and downtown redevelopment efforts. The ballpark would be a part of the larger revitalization effort, she said.

Mazziotti applied for the community development director position on July 20, he said. His last day as a consultant for Gallatin Public Affairs was July 29.

There were 83 applicants for the position, Miner said.

One of the reasons Mazziotti was hired, Miner said, is because he has more than 35 years of development experience. Mazziotti replaces city planner Steven Sparks, who had served as the interim community development director for two years.

Mazziotti also belongs to a number of boards, some as a paid member. He does not plan to step down from any of those positions once he starts his new job on Sept. 28.

The post Ex-PDC executive director will lead Beaverton development appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Beaverton has a new community development director, and it’s a familiar name for the city, still in the midst of contemplating how it could become the new home for the Portland Beavers Triple-A baseball stadium.

The city of Beaverton today announced that Don Mazziotti, the former executive director of the Portland Development Commission, would become the new head of Beaverton’s development department.

Most recently, he acted as a development consultant for the Portland Beavers Triple-A baseball team, as the Beavers’ owner Merritt Paulson began eyeing land in Beaverton for the development of a new Triple-A baseball stadium.

Mazziotti said his former job as a consultant for the Beavers will in no way influence his development decisions at the city.

Those decisions will remain up to Gary Brentano, Mazziotti said. Brentano is Beaverton’s business development services director and is the point person at the city for the stadium project.

“I just plan to do a lot of listening and a lot of learning,” Mazziotti said.

Amy Miner, public information manager for Beaverton, said Mazziotti would play a major role in urban renewal efforts and redeveloping downtown Beaverton. The ballpark would be a part of the larger revitalization effort, Miner said.

Mazziotti said he had his sights on the position before his last day as a consultant for the Gallatin Public Affairs, which was July 29.  Mazziotti applied for the community development director position on July 20, he said.

There were 83 applicants for the position, Miner said.

According to the city of Beaverton, Mazziotti was hired because he brings more than 35 years of development experience to the position. In taking the position, Mazziotti replaces Steven Sparks, who had operated as the interim community development director for two years.

Mazziotti also belongs to a number of boards as a paid member and does not plan to step down once he starts his new position on Sept. 28.

The post Former Beavers’ stadium consultant is Beaverton’s new development director appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The city of Beaverton announced today that it has hired Don Mazziotti as its new community development director .

Mazziotti previously worked as the head of the Portland Development Commission, so he knows urban renewal and redevelopment, which is one of the four focus areas of Beaverton’s Community Development Department. The city of Beaverton was kind enough to mention that in a press release about Mazziotti’s new position.

He also previously worked as a consultant at Gallitan Public Affairs. where he helped scout locations for a guy named Merritt Paulson, who was looking for a new place in Portland to put a baseball stadium for his AAA baseball team called the Beavers. The city of Beaverton apparently forgot to mention this in its press release, so we thought we would be nice enough to do so here.

91��Ƶ reporter Tyler Graf got off the phone with Mazziotti not too long ago and is working up a story with more information from Mazziotti about his new role in Beaverton, including how he plans to handle the whole six degrees of separation thing between himself and the Beavers’ baseball stadium.

The post Beaverton’s six degrees of baseball separation appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The city of Beaverton announced today that it has hired Don Mazziotti as its new community development director .

Mazziotti previously worked as the head of the Portland Development Commission, so he knows urban renewal and redevelopment, which is one of the four focus areas of Beaverton’s Community Development Department. The city of Beaverton was kind enough to mention that in a press release about Mazziotti’s new position.

He also previously worked as a consultant at Gallitan Public Affairs. where he helped scout locations for a guy named Merritt Paulson, who was looking for a new place in Portland to put a baseball stadium for his AAA baseball team called the Beavers. The city of Beaverton apparently forgot to mention this in its press release, so we thought we would be nice enough to do so here.

91��Ƶ reporter Tyler Graf got off the phone with Mazziotti not too long ago and is working up a story with more information from Mazziotti about his new role in Beaverton, including how he plans to handle the whole six degrees of separation thing between himself and the Beavers’ baseball stadium.

The post Beaverton’s six degrees of baseball separation appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Did he or didn’t he? That’s the debate that’s apparently cropped up over a claim by the owners of BG Plaza in Beaverton that Mayor Denny Doyle during a private meeting Friday told them the city is no longer interested in condemning the property to make room for a baseball stadium.

“The Mayor told us he that the city no longer wants to consider condemnation … ,” Domonic Biggi said in a release issued Monday afternoon by his family, which owns the Cedar Hills Boulevard office/retail complex.

But on the heels of the Biggi release came one from the city in which Doyle said the meeting was little more than a “get-acquainted” chat, with “no commitments” made by anyone.”

The problem is that the meeting was private. So Doyle doesn’t feel it’s appropriate, or necessary, to comment further on what was — or wasn’t — said, according to Amy Miner, the city’s public information manager.

For Gino Biggi, Domonic’s father, the debate is moot. No matter what Doyle did or didn’t say, Gino Biggi said he believes the city eventually will try to condemn the Plaza property as part of a plan to create new home for the Portland Beavers when they lose their current base at PGE Park in Portland in 2011.

During a council meeting Monday night, however, Gary Brentano, the city’s business services development director, said the city’s studying four possible places in Beaverton where the stadium could be placed.

Gino Biggi has his own idea about where the city should put the stadium, specifically on a chunk of land behind the Beaverton Transit Center. Biggi and other members of his family own small pieces of land there, which could be combined with land that a trailer park and a residential complex sit on to total about 17 acres, he said.

The one place he won’t willingly stand for the city putting a stadium, however, is in a location that would include BG Plaza. He purchased the property in the 1940s, he said, and for years the property was a losing deal. Now, however, with the Plaza paid off and about 85 percent of space there leased out, Biggi’s finally reaping the benefits of what he says was a lifetime of investment.

“That (property) pays me a hell of a lot of money,” he said, “a hell of a lot. It’s not for sale.”

The post Beaverton mayor: no commitment on BG Plaza site appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Did he or didn’t he? That’s the debate that’s apparently cropped up over a claim by the owners of BG Plaza in Beaverton that Mayor Denny Doyle during a private meeting Friday told them the city is no longer interested in condemning the property to make room for a baseball stadium.

“The Mayor told us he that the city no longer wants to consider condemnation … ,” Domonic Biggi said in a release issued Monday afternoon by his family, which owns the Cedar Hills Boulevard office/retail complex.

But on the heels of the Biggi release came one from the city in which Doyle said the meeting was little more than a “get-acquainted” chat, with “no commitments” made by anyone.”

The problem is that the meeting was private. So Doyle doesn’t feel it’s appropriate, or necessary, to comment further on what was — or wasn’t — said, according to Amy Miner, the city’s public information manager.

For Gino Biggi, Domonic’s father, the debate is moot. No matter what Doyle did or didn’t say, Gino Biggi said he believes the city eventually will try to condemn the Plaza property as part of a plan to create new home for the Portland Beavers when they lose their current base at PGE Park in Portland in 2011.

During a council meeting Monday night, however, Gary Brentano, the city’s business services development director, said the city’s studying four possible places in Beaverton where the stadium could be placed.

Gino Biggi has his own idea about where the city should put the stadium, specifically on a chunk of land behind the Beaverton Transit Center. Biggi and other members of his family own small pieces of land there, which could be combined with land that a trailer park and a residential complex sit on to total about 17 acres, he said.

The one place he won’t willingly stand for the city putting a stadium, however, is in a location that would include BG Plaza. He purchased the property in the 1940s, he said, and for years the property was a losing deal. Now, however, with the Plaza paid off and about 85 percent of space there leased out, Biggi’s finally reaping the benefits of what he says was a lifetime of investment.

“That (property) pays me a hell of a lot of money,” he said, “a hell of a lot. It’s not for sale.”

The post Beaverton mayor: no commitment on BG Plaza site appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.