PROJECT: New De La Salle North Catholic High School campus

LOCATION: 4300 N.E. Killingsworth St., Portland

COST:��$26 million

START DATE: July 2020

END DATE: October 2021

OWNER: De La Salle North Catholic High School

OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE: Shiels Obletz Johnsen

ARCHITECT: Bora Architecture & Interiors

ENGINEERS: Mazzetti (civil), Catena Consulting Engineers (structural), Interface Engineering (MEP)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:��P&C Construction

OTHER ASSOCIATES/CONSULTANTS: Acoustic Design Studio (acoustical), Code Unlimited LLC (code consulting), Halliday Associates (kitchen), Kelsay Environmental Consulting (environmental), Lango Hansen Landscape Architects (landscape), NV5 (geotechnical/environmental), PSI (special inspections), Radongreen (radon)

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: De La Salle North Catholic High School offers a private, faith-based college preparatory education to urban students with limited educational opportunities, turning no one away because of an inability to pay. Since opening in 2001, the school rented two locations. Now it’s operating at the first new Catholic high school campus in Portland in more than 50 years. De La Salle North Catholic is co-locating with St. Charles Parish, which previously operated a Catholic elementary school from 1950 to 1986.

A $26 million capital fundraising campaign was led by Mary and Tim Boyle, in two phases over 30 months. Phase one included $20.5 million for renovation of an existing building to become an academic wing, and new construction of the commons, courtyard and parking lot. Phase two sought $5.5 million for a gymnasium and additional work. Phase one of the campaign was launched publicly in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. At that point $2.2 million more was needed in order for construction to start. Undeterred by uncertainty generated by the pandemic, the fundraising team successfully met its phase one goal and broke ground in July 2020. Two months later, the team raised the minimum amount required to build the gymnasium.

The new campus accommodates more than 350 students. It includes a private courtyard, a commons, state-of-the-art science labs, a specialized art classroom and the Michael Kelley Gymnasium. The science classrooms can accommodate both technology-based and hands-on learning in physics, biology and chemistry.

The school welcomed 274 students on Sept. 7, while crews finished constructing the commons and gymnasium. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 22.

“Building Blocks” spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcorprod.wpengine.com/building-blocks.

The post Building Blocks: New high school campus appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Multnomah County this week celebrated the grand opening of the Gladys McCoy Health Department Headquarters, a new public health building that will bring an array of services and 500 employees to the western edge of Portland’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood.

The nine-story, $94.1 million building is over a decade in the works, and includes pharmacy services, specialty clinics, examination rooms, open office space, and a large central laboratory that will service 20 off-site county clinics. A large ground-floor space will serve as a public health emergency command post and a meeting space. Employees will move into the space next month from an outdated 10-story building (also named for the late Gladys McCoy, a former county chairwoman) at 426 S.W. Harvey Milk St.

The grand opening marks the completion of a two-year project by construction manager-general contractor J.E. Dunn, which began major work on the ZGF Architects-designed project in February 2017. Shiels Obletz Johnsen served as the owner’s representative. A total of 935 skilled tradespeople worked on the project – up to 250 on the site at one time at the peak of construction. The project team utilized 31 percent apprentice labor and 28 percent DMWESB-certified firms.

Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury, speaking at the opening ceremony, praised a project labor agreement between the county, contractor, labor unions and other interested parties. The PLA created a framework so that the project partners “could work together to overcome the historic barriers that have kept the construction industry from being open to everyone,” she said.

The project was funded in part by Prosper Portland, which contributed $36.4 million in tax increment financing from the River District Urban Renewal Area. The building is located within the Broadway Corridor, a 34-acre area that could eventually see up to 4 million square feet of mixed-use development.

“This is a key moment in our long-term partnership with Multnomah County,” said Kimberly Branam, Prosper Portland’s executive director. “This building signals the transformation to come within the Broadway Corridor, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring the Pearl District and Old Town together.”

The post Officials welcome new county health building appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Skanska USA is seeking bids from subcontractors for work on Beaverton’s new Public Safety Center.

The 72,000-square-foot building is being constructed at 12500 S.W. Allen Blvd. to house the Beaverton Police Department and Emergency Management Division. The city expects this project on a corner property to be a catalyst for redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood.

The design by FFA Architecture and Interiors anticipates growth of the city agency through at least 2050. The two-story building will have an open work environment.

Shiels Obletz Johnsen was hired by the city to provide management of entitlements, planning, design, construction and sustainability for the $35 million project. Construction is expected to wrap up by 2020.

The scope of work open for bidding includes: cast-in-place and tilt-up concrete, site concrete, electrical, fire detection and alarm, access control and security, low-voltage communications, mechanical HVAC, fire protection, plumbing, cross-laminated timber, structural steel, miscellaneous steel, passenger elevators, masonry, gypsum assemblies and stud framing, door frames and hardware, glass and glazing, finish carpentry and architectural woodwork, bituminous roofing, roofing accessories and specialties, metal wall and roof panels, lockers, mobile storage shelving, site concrete and concrete paving, flooring and tile, painting and coatings, signage, metal-framed skylights, asphalt paving, folding panel partitions, toilet bath and laundry accessories, toilet compartments, bituminous damproofing, joint sealants, decorative fences and gates, security barriers and gates, landscaping and irrigation, building specialties, police specialties, and site furnishings and specialties.

All bids for structural concrete, site concrete and concrete floor finishes must be submitted either via email to: Francesca Gambetti at francesca@sojpdx.com, or via sealed envelope to: Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Attn: Francesca Gambetti, 1140 S.W. 11th Ave., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97205.

All other bids should be submitted either via email to: Derek Bourque at derek.bourque@skanska.com, or via sealed envelope to: Skanska, 222 S.W. Columbia St., Suite 300, Portland, OR 97201.

The deadline to submit a bid is noon on Friday, Oct. 5.

The post Subcontractors sought for Beaverton project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Multnomah County and city of Portland officials are eyeing a long-vacant warehouse near the Steel Bridge as a potential site for a 200-bed permanent homeless shelter.

Converting the warehouse, at 320 N.W. Hoyt St., into a shelter could exacerbate tensions with property owners and business operators in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, but it also would offer public officials a long-term alternative to the temporary-shelter hopscotch they’ve engaged in recently.

“We haven’t had a big permanent shelter in the downtown core, and we still see that need,” said Denis Theriault, spokesman for Multnomah County and the Joint Office of Homeless Services.

Negotiations with the property owner, Alco Investment Co. of Seattle, are under way, Theriault said. The Joint Office is seeking a long-term lease for the shelter.

“There isn’t a lease yet,” he said.

The Joint Office has applied for an early assistance meeting with the Bureau of Development Services to determine whether the property could host a shelter.

The warehouse, built in 1925, needs significant renovations before it can function as a shelter, Theriault said. Carleton Hart Architecture and project management consultant Shiels Obletz Johnsen are at work on the project. Transition Projects, a Portland nonprofit, would operate the shelter.

Some neighbors are fighting the drive to establish another center for homeless service in Old Town Chinatown. The Old Town Chinatown Community Association has held public forums on the topic, and met with Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury.

“It’s just not the right time to add any additional social services to the neighborhood,” said Helen Ying, chairwoman of the neighborhood association.

The group has sent a letter to Wheeler and Kafoury protesting the proposal.

Guardian Real Estate Services President Tom Brenneke said adding a shelter would not conform to a years-old agreement with the neighborhood that there would be no net gain in shelter beds. Guardian owns two properties nearby – Block 33 and the Tuck Lung property.

“I am opposed to it,” Brenneke said. “The area’s overburdened with that type of social service. We already have a significant facility in Bud Clark Commons, and adding 200 more beds doesn’t seem to be in keeping with the agreement.”

Theriault said the shelter could make a positive contribution to the neighborhood.

“We understand there are livability concerns in Old Town Chinatown,” he said. “This shelter is a way to help.”

Public officials continue to receive complaints of homeless individuals lining up to wait for a bed in Portland’s few available shelters. Part of the strategy to address those complaints is to offer a 24-hour, low-barrier shelter with in-house services, Theriault said.

The Joint Office is evaluating the possibility of closing other facilities in Old Town Chinatown if and when the Hoyt Street shelter opens to lessen the burden on the neighborhood.

Wheeler supports the Joint Office’s strategy, spokesman Michael Cox said.

A large shelter would also lessen the city’s and county’s reliance on short-term, temporary shelters hosted by developers. In recent winters, the Menashes, Malsins and others have agreed to host short-term shelters.

The Portland Business Alliance supports using the Hoyt Street site, president and CEO Sandra McDonough said.

Neighbors have legitimate livability concerns, she said, but those are being addressed by measures such as increased police patrols on foot.

“There’s not a lot of sites,” McDonough said. “So this represents a good, long-term site that will work.”

The post Multnomah County pushes for homeless shelter appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Two new members have been appointed to the board of Prosper Portland.

Francesca Gambetti, a project manager and partner at Shiels Obletz Johnsen, and Peter Platt, owner of the restaurant Andina, were appointed to three-year terms by Mayor Ted Wheeler, and unanimously approved by the City Council on Wednesday.

Gambetti served on the Portland Design Commission from 2003 to 2006. At Shiels Obletz Johnsen, a local project-management consultancy, Gambetti has ushered projects that include Mercy Corps headquarters and Broadway Rose Theater.

Platt’s Andina restaurant is a Peruvian fine-dining destination in the Pearl District. The restaurant was named The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year in 2005.

The two newcomers replace Tom Kelly, who served as chairman and leads Neil Kelly, a residential remodeling firm; and Mark Edlen, co-founder and chairman of Gerding Edlen, a major Portland-based development firm. Their terms were expiring.

Wheeler said in a news release that both the new appointees had demonstrated a commitment to Portland. Gambetti and Platt said they were committed to equitable economic development.

Prosper Portland’s board has a number of major projects in its near future. These include the remake of the U.S. Postal Service site and the wider Broadway corridor in Northwest Portland, attracting development to the Centennial Mills site, shaping a politically sensitive proposed project on a vacant lot owned by Legacy Health in North Portland, efforts to broaden prosperity to historically disadvantaged groups and finding solutions for Prosper Portland’s long-term financial stability.

The post Gambetti, Platt appointed to Prosper Portland board appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A groundbreaking was held Wednesday for the Multnomah County Health Department’s new headquarters building in Old Town-Chinatown. The Gladys McCoy Building, which has been a decade in the making, will provide a much-needed upgrade from the department’s current downtown facility. The nine-story, 157,000-square-foot building will be erected on the eastern half of a block bounded by Northwest Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and Northwest Hoyt and Irving Streets, adjacent to the Bud Clark Commons.

The ZGF Architects-designed building was approved by the Portland Design Commission last month, and construction manager-general contractor JE Dunn will begin work on the $93 million project next month.�� Shiels Obletz Johnsen is serving as the owner’s representative for the county.

Approximately 500 previously scattered county employees will work in the building, which will house a pharmacy, three specialty clinics, administrative offices and work areas. Substantial completion is slated for October of 2018, and final completion is expected to follow that December.

The post County breaks ground on $93 million health building appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday heard nothing but support for plans to double the height of the proposed Multnomah County Health Department building.

A half dozen people, including Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury, told City Council that original plans for a new 75-foot building would not provide enough space and that a 150-foot building is needed.

The first reading of an ordinance that would allow the height increase took place Wednesday. The height allowance would apply only to the new building’s site, Block U of the Couch Addition.

“We will see you in a week for the second reading, (when) I think City Council will approve,” Mayor Charlie Hales said.

The health department needs a new home, Kafoury said, because its present one – the McCoy Building on Southwest Stark Street – was built in 1923 to suit a department store and not to house medical professionals.

“This is the largest department in Multnomah County and touches the lives of everyone who lives in or visits Multnomah County,” she said.

Consolidating many offices scattered throughout the county will bring hundreds of health care professionals to work in the new building planned for a vacant lot bounded by Northwest Hoyt and Irving streets, Sixth Avenue and Broadway. The lot is next to Bud Clark Commons, a transitional shelter and day center for people experiencing homelessness.

“Those 350 health care professionals will add to the Old Town Chinatown economic vitality,” Kafoury said.

Douglas Obletz, consultant for the county and president of Portland-based Shiels Obletz Johnsen Inc., said the new building is a “technically challenging” project and that the original proposal for a six-story building was insufficient.

Plans previously called for the building to have 105,000 square feet, according to the proposed ordinance, but the county has determined it needs between 120,000 and 150,000 square feet.

The ordinance would increase the base height of the building to 105 feet and make Block U eligible for up to 45 additional feet in height bonuses. Detailed information on the draft ordinance is available at www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/mchdhq.

City planner Nicholas Starin said floor area ratio (FAR) allowances could be used to add building height by incorporating features like day care, rooftop gardens and eco-roof features, housing, historic features and other elements.

“It would still be subject to design review,” Starin said of the project. “The building would be quite near Union Station, which is historic.”

One point of contention in the past has been the view corridor to the iconic clock tower at Union Station, but Starin showed several slides indicating that the view corridor would be open from four different locations, including the Steel Bridge and the Broadway Bridge.

The city has also been working with the Old Town Chinatown Community Association, the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and Transition Projects, which operates Bud Clark Commons, to meet their concerns.

“We’re working on a good neighbor agreement between stakeholders that will be in place before design review,” Starin said.

In addition to the McCoy Building, the health department also leases space in the Lincoln Building on Southwest Oak Street, where most administrative functions take place, according to the draft ordinance.

“Initially, the county considered dispersing some functions into various other facilities,” it reads. “However, as the estimates of construction costs have risen, in part due to the upswing in the economy, the rationale for a single facility to centralize its activities has become increasingly apparent. The growing cost of continued occupation of the largely obsolete McCoy Building has especially contributed to a sense of urgency to relocate MCHD (Multnomah County Health Department) into a more energy-efficient facility built to contemporary seismic and safety standards.”

The draft ordinance states that the new building will allow the health department to consolidate most of its administrative functions and provide three direct-service clinics.

The post Boon expected for Multnomah County project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

An independent middle and high school in downtown Portland may finally secure a forever home.

The Northwest Academy, a nonprofit, currently leases space in five downtown buildings. Officials have applied to the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a pre-application hearing regarding plans to expand and consolidate operations into two buildings.

“We have people that we hired – they’re called ‘wranglers’ – who spend their days escorting students between buildings,” said Mary Folberg, head of the academy. “Our middle-schoolers (are) pretty young, so we don’t let them travel alone at all.”

Shiels Obletz Johnsen, based in both Portland and Seattle, on Dec. 2 submitted an application to discuss expansion of two existing buildings – Century Plaza, at 1221 S.W. 12th Ave., and Century Tower, at 1201 S.W. 12th Ave. – to accommodate the school.

Folberg said enrollment in the past two years has grown from 150 students to almost 200, and the school needs more space.

“We’re really scrapping to get by with the spaces we have,” she said. “We’d like a long-term solution for a home for this school.”

The academy currently occupies about 12,000 square feet in Century Plaza and 5,000 square feet in Century Tower, Folberg said. Between the five buildings, the school occupies about 42,000 square feet. Combined, Century Tower and Century Plaza have approximately 70,000 square feet.

The school has operated in downtown since its establishment in 1996. In 2012, officials tried to purchase the former YWCA building at Southwest 10th Avenue and Main Street, but the deal fell through.

“That got pulled out from under us and was really a heartbreaker for this school,” Folberg said. “It set us back and we’ve had to be really strategic with our growth. We are turning down a lot of kids every year that we don’t want to turn away.”

The post Northwest Academy looking to expand and consolidate appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Work on the began last March in Gresham. The CMU and steel structure will house police support functions, including support for patrol officers in Rockwood, evidence storage and processing areas, and a community room. Partners on the project include general contractor , construction manager , and architects . Targeted major completion of the project is set for this November.

The post Public safety facility under construction in Gresham appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Lake Oswego City Councilor Bill Tierney announced on Tuesday that he is withdrawing support for a proposed extension of Portland’s streetcar line into the city, essentially halting plans for the full project.

Tierney was the swing vote in a vote last April that moved plans forward, so his reversal puts the city council on the same side as opponents to the streetcar project, which most recently was estimated at around $208 million.

“The dust hasn’t even settled from last night’s discussion in Lake Oswego, so I’m not sure that anyone knows what all of the implications are,” said Doug Obletz of , which manages construction and operation for and has been studying a future extension to Lake Oswego.

Councilor Sally Moncrieff, who supported the project in the past, also expressed doubts about moving forward with the streetcar extension now. The majority of Lake Oswego residents oppose the project, as well, according to a survey conducted by , last November.

While the full extension might be off the table, Portland City Councilors have also expressed interest in a shorter, $70 million option headed toward Lake Oswego but ending at Southwest Nevada Street, just past the south end of Willamette Park. That option has already won neighborhood support, according to Obletz.

“I think Portland City Council made it clear that they wanted that option studied, and it’s fair to say that there is pretty much unanimous support for the streetcar in the John’s Landing neighborhood,” Obletz said.

The final report regarding the “minimum operable segment” is expected to come out next week.

“These big transportation projects are challenging in the best of times, and these are not the best of times,” Obletz said. “We’ve got this report coming out, which is a good chance to clean up misperceptions of the project, and outlines a less expensive, faster option. It will provide data for people to consider a shorter project if that’s what they want to do.”

The post Streetcar line stands to be shortened after Lake Oswego council support shifts appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.