President Donald Trump‘s announced deployment of the Oregon National Guard to protect federal facilities in Portland focuses attention on a corner of the South Waterfront that has already seen significant protests this year.

Protests have coalesced at 4310 S. Macadam Ave., where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leases an 18,300-square-foot building. By chance, the ICE facility is located across a narrow driveway from a Tesla dealership where protesters gathered throughout the spring and summer to voice objections to CEO Elon Musk’s role in federal government cuts.

Trump’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops has galvanized opposition in the state. Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Monday, seeking to block Trump from federalizing the National Guard members.

“Putting our own military on our streets is an abuse of power and a disservice to our communities and our service members,” Rayfield stated in a news release.

The planned troop deployment caught the attention of Portland’s business community. Anyeley Hallova, founder of developer Adre, said the narrative of Portland streets as out of control — often driven by video from 2020 protests — was false.

“It’s very apparent to me and other leaders in Portland that this is a very deliberate action to come into a peaceful city that’s really on the rise and doing well,” Hallova said in a video posted to social media. “Everything that’s being said about our city is incorrect. The pictures that are being used are over five years old.”

As night fell on Monday, about 30 protesters peacefully demonstrated along the sidewalk at the ICE facility. Local and federal law enforcement personnel monitored the protesters but did not interfere or interact with them. Roads remained open, although a protest encampment occupied a portion of the sidewalk.

The ICE building is owned by the Lindquist Family Limited Partnership, led by longtime local developer Stuart Lindquist. The low-rise office structure, on 1.1 acres, was completed in 2013.

The city has initiated a land-use investigation into whether immigrants are being detained at the facility for longer periods than allowed by city zoning.

Lindquist declined to comment when reached on Monday, and did not respond to written questions. He has long been part of the city’s real estate ecosystem. He began building homes in West Portland in the 1960s and then moved into other real estate sectors.

Separately, Lindquist is part of the development group that has proposed to redevelop Centennial Mills, on the Northwest Portland waterfront. The three-building mixed-use project would hold 272 residential units and four retail spaces. The Portland Design Commission‘s potential approval for that project is pending.

Protests began at the ICE building on June 2, according to the state’s lawsuit. Protesters briefly erected a temporary barrier that blocked the facility’s driveway, but it was quickly cleared by Portland police.

The controversy surrounding the ICE building adds to the strange tableau in the South Waterfront, where its neighbors include the Telsa dealership and an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant. To the north is the former Zidell Marine land purchased by the Portland Diamond Project for a potential Major League Baseball stadium site.

In between, the neighborhood is dominated by a series of high-rise condo and apartment towers, alongside sprawling medical offices owned by Oregon Health and Science University, a major employer and anchor in South Portland.

OHSU did not answer questions about how the protests and potential troop deployment are affecting its South Waterfront sites. But in a prepared statement, the medical group wrote: “OHSU is actively monitoring the situation relative to impacts to OHSU operations. OHSU is committed to a safe, peaceful environment for our patients, students and staff.”

The South Portland Neighborhood Association did not respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.

Police made 25 arrests between June 11 and June 19 stemming from protests at the facility. No arrests have been made since June 19, according to the lawsuit. But separately, Portland police stated that two arrests were made Sunday. The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday reported additional arrests of protesters who allegedly pointed a laser at a military helicopter.

The protests, “with some limited exceptions, have been relatively small and sedate,” according to Rayfield’s lawsuit. “And the protests bear no resemblance to the substantially larger and more turbulent protests in 2020 near the federal courthouse in Portland.”

Portland police have even stood down a 50-officer Rapid Response Team because it was not needed, according to the lawsuit.

The state’s lawsuit also expressed concern that the military presence would cause an “economic chill.” In previous urban troop deployments in California and in Washington, D.C., foot traffic dropped, and economic activity was reduced, according to the lawsuit.

Mitch Green, a veteran and District 4 city councilor, criticized what he called the Trump administration’s “unlawful designs for Portland” in a video posted to social media on Monday.

Mayor Keith Wilson was joined on Monday at a press conference by other mayors from the Portland-metro area. He pointed to the state’s lawsuit against the troop deployment as the key to Oregon’s strategy to head off the move.

“The number of troops that we want or need is zero,” Wilson said. Portland would accept federal help, particularly with housing and health care costs, he added. But “this deployment isn’t something we’ve asked for,” he said.

The state’s case was assigned to federal District Court Judge Michael H. Simon, who held a conference call between the parties on Monday. Simon said he will hear Oregon’s motion at 10 a.m. on Friday.

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There was a moment, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, when some owners of empty or underperforming spaces in Portland struck upon a common solution.

Live events, particularly concerts, would cure what ailed commercial landlords. Where retail was weak, events would prove strong. Where once had been a Nordstrom – a pillar of the increasingly musty anchor-store concept – there would soon be a Live Nation concert venue.

That was the driving idea at the Lloyd Center mall. And in the South Waterfront, plans for a mixed-use district at Zidell Yards had given way to a semi-temporary events venue with capacity for 10,000 attendees.

The venues would prove a keystone to thriving, walkable entertainment districts. 91��Ƶ would draw foot traffic. While there, attendees surely would spend money at adjacent retail shops, restaurants and bars.

At the time, concert venues were hot – a JLL report in May 2019 noted a burst of facility renovations, including a $56 million auditorium upgrade in Philadelphia and a $35 million amphitheater update in Atlanta.

Remember when we used to go to concerts?

That concept collapsed sometime around March 11, when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, an NBA player tested positive for COVID-19, stock indexes fell precipitously and actor Tom Hanks announced on Instagram that he had contracted the virus.

Suddenly crowds, particularly indoors, seemed like a terrible idea.

That left two notable Portland developments in the lurch.

The Zidell project has not moved forward since a Design Commission hearing in October. The project appears to be on pause. Tom Henneberry, chief operating officer for ZRZ Realty, declined to comment, and referred questions to Live Nation, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Hacker was designing the venue.

“We are currently not engaged in work on this project,” Audrey Alverson, the architecture firm’s marketing director, stated in an email.

At the Lloyd Center, Cypress Equities had inked Live Nation to a long-term lease in 2018 to build a concert venue. At the time, the mall’s manager said the venue could open in 2020.

Cypress Equities’ plans for the venue centered on a 4,000-seat theater and multiple secondary venues in the former Nordstrom space on the mall’s west end.

Cypress Equities, based in Dallas, did not respond to a request for comment. Live Nation Entertainment also did not respond to a request for comment. Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, is a publicly traded company that earned $11.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

At the South Waterfront, the Live Nation amphitheater would connect from the western base of Tilikum Crossing. Plans submitted to the Bureau of Development Services described a 10,000-seat amphitheater featuring a performance stage, raised seating, a large plaza, trailers and other supporting structures, and a perimeter fence. The venue was “intended to occupy the site for seven years with the possibility of an extension.”

Design commissioners told the project team that the concert venue could improve its response to the surrounding area, particularly when the venue is not being used.

“The proposal needs to do more to relate to the neighborhood on a year-round basis,” Staci Monroe, a BDS reviewer, wrote in an October 2019 summary memo.

The project is “off to a good start … but has a long way to go,” she stated.

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A ceremony was held Friday to celebrate the grand opening of the Knight Cancer Research Building, a $190 million facility on Southwest Moody Avenue in Portland‘s South Waterfront. A joint venture of Andersen Construction and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. built the SRG Partnership-designed project for Oregon Health Sciences University.

The seven-story structure houses laboratory and office space with capacity for 650 employees, including experimentalists, technicians, researchers and support staffers, united under one roof with the mission of working collaboratively to eradicate cancer.

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Check out this brief video from Oregon Health and Science University’s new Knight Cancer Research Building on the South Waterfront. The $190 million research center is expected to be finished later this year and will host up to 700 scientists, researchers, students and support staff. The building was designed with input from those parties, as well as contractors involved in the process, leading to a unique design that features widespread use of common spaces and open floor plans.

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GBD Architects hit the right combination of historical reverence and architectural beauty in its proposal for two seven-story buildings in the South Waterfront District, according to the Portland Design Commission.

Commissioners on Thursday praised GBD’s design for blocks 42 and 45, calling it a significant architectural asset to the area before approving the proposal with a 4-0 vote. Commissioner David Wark abstained.

“Now when we see anything else,” Commission Vice Chairman Tad Savinar said, “I am going to say, ‘Take a look at Block 42/45,’ because they are excellent examples of how you can build in this economy, and with these sites, to do something that is extraordinary.”

Cairn Pacific is developing the project for owner Prometheus Real Estate Group. Block 42 will have close to 200 market-rate apartments and Block 45 will have around 315. Each building will have approximately 14,000 square feet of retail space.

The development site is bordered by Southwest Lane Street on the north, Southwest Bond Avenue on the west, Southwest River Parkway on the east and Southwest Lowell Street on the south.

The two buildings were designed to reflect the area’s history of use by the shipbuilding and lumber industries. For Block 42, designers tried to give the appearance of wood stacks as they might have appeared in the early 1900s.

“We are excited about the rich character that (the building) creates along the street,” said Tye Bailey, an associate with GBD Architects. “Looking at lumberyards, you have the stacks oriented in all these different variations. So we applied that logic to the facade in a way that creates an alternating rhythm of texture and light and shadow around the building.”

Designers took advice from a previous hearing and reworked the live-work units and the retail space to create a larger shopping zone in the northwest corner. They also reconfigured a plaza to create more community space.

The end result left commissioners with little to criticize.

“It’s just what it needs to be a proud building,” Savinar said. “No tricks, just architecture.”

Design Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston was equally complimentary.

“The changes that you’ve made, while pretty subtle, really have turned this from a strong building with a big idea into an extraordinary building with a big idea,” she said.

Commissioners were nearly as complimentary of the Block 45 design. The concept aims to pay homage to the waterfront’s shipbuilding legacy.

“We tried to make the three buildings look like ships,” said Ashley Koger, an associate with GBD Architects.

The main issues commissioners had with the plans were the lack of canopies on the ground floor and placement of balconies on the east and west ends of the buildings.

Though the balconies became glass juliets and another foot was added to the recess for the retail space, in place of canopies, it wasn’t enough to win Wark’s vote even though he was complimentary of the design overall.

“The canopies are the thing for me,” he said. “I think these are exemplary projects in many ways. The projects will set a new level of quality for the South Waterfront with the exception of canopies.”

The lack of canopies wasn’t enough to dissuade other commissioners though.

“You have done a great job,” Livingston said. “Both of these buildings are great additions to South Waterfront.”

Other projects addressed by the Design Commission on Thursday included:

Multifamily building

An appeal by the Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association of Type II approval of SERA Architects‘ design for a five-story market-rate apartment building at 6620 N. Richmond St. was put on hold for three weeks. An attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad had requested the record be held open. The appeal will resume on Sept. 28. The project owner/developer is Ben Wood of North Crawford Partners/Mainland North Richmond LLC.

Mixed-use building

The Design Commission sent plans for a six-story mixed-use building at 1732 N.E. Second Ave., in the Eliot neighborhood, back to the design team for revisions. Works Progress Architecture is designing the project for developer Parker McNulty of ENT Ventures VI LLC. The project will return before the commission on Oct. 5.

Also on Thursday:

City Council finalizes two decisions

The Portland City Council issued final decisions on two appeals stemming from Design Commission decisions.

Commissioners unanimously overturned the Design Commission’s denial of developer Landon Crowell’s proposal to build a 17-unit, L-shaped building at 1122 S.E. Ankeny St. Development of a proposed 70-foot apartment building, around a single-family residence, will be allowed to go forward.

Commissioners also unanimously rejected an appeal by neighbors of the Design Commission’s approval of the massive Press Blocks project on 1.5 blocks in Goose Hollow. The Goose Hollow Foothills League opposes the three-building project from developers Urban Renaissance Group and Security Properties.

The decisions were expected after previous City Council hearings. Commissioners Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman were absent from the meeting, which lasted fewer than five minutes. – Chuck Slothower

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Union ironworkers with Raimore Construction topped out the seven-story Knight Cancer Research Building on Southwest Moody Avenue in the South Waterfront this week. The $160 million project is being built for Oregon Health & Science University by a joint venture of McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and Andersen Construction. The design is by SRG Partnership.

Two floors of structural steel have been erected atop five levels of reinforced concrete and a below-grade parking garage. Raimore crews began setting steel for level seven and the roof the second week of this month, and celebrated placement of the final beam on Monday. The project is only the second major structural steel job for the growing firm.

When finished, the 320,000-square-foot building will house approximately 600 researchers and administrators dedicated to cancer research. It will contain laboratory space, administrative offices, a 200-seat auditorium, cafes and ground-floor retail space. Project construction began in summer 2016 and is slated for completion in July 2018.

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A debate about ground-floor apartments on Southwest River Parkway didn’t keep the Block 41/44 project from winning the approval of the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

The discussion focused on whether to configure units on the busy street as retail or residential units. After nearly an hour of wrangling, the Commission and the design team agreed to a live/work format and give the units street-level entrances.

The South Waterfront project, which was approved 4-0, will include more than 500 residential units, 10,000 square feet of retail space and 385 parking spaces. The original plan called for ground-floor residential units on the Block 44 portion of the project on Southwest River Parkway to be elevated above grade to give residents more privacy.

Commissioner David Wark voiced concerns that such an arrangement might hurt the vitality of the street, and said he wanted the design to encourage more retail.

“There is a very good example of the exact same set up of a mixed-use housing project just north of the Convention Center,” Wark said. “That whole north side has the same exact (ground-floor residential) units and it’s 100 percent dead. I just don’t see why we would support that.”

GBD Architects principal Kyle Andersen said the project design team, which included Jones Architecture, wanted to concentrate retail where it had the best chance of success – toward Abernathy Way. The complex will be bordered by Southwest River Parkway to the west, the Willamette River to the east, Southwest Lowell Street to the south and Southwest Lane Street to the north. Abernethy Pedestrian Way will separate Block 44 and Block 41.

Other projects in the south end of the South Waterfront District had incorporated ground-floor retail in the past, Andersen said. The strategy didn’t pay off.

“ … None of it was successful; it all failed,” Andersen said. “It was eventually converted back to residential. It’s very quiet up there.”

He added that the Block 44 units were designed in a way that allowed them to be converted into retail if the shopping climate proved it could support more space of that type.

However, Wark remained unconvinced. He was concerned that the level of renovation needed would make such a conversion difficult.

Commission Vice Chairman Tad Savinar had another concern – ground-floor residential units possibly resulting in a long line of closed blinds at the street level.

During the meeting, the Design Commission offered several approaches that would create enough privacy to encourage residents to leave blinds up, and finally settled on a live/work arrangement as the preferred choice for the ground-floor area.

In the end the design team agreed to that suggestion, with a condition to lower the units to on-grade units with accessible entrances from the sidewalk.

Commissioners complemented other changes that the architects, developer Cairn Pacific and landowner Prometheus Real Estate Group brought from earlier hearings. Those changes included darker roof material that wouldn’t reflect sunlight into other buildings, more signage on pedestrian walkways, and changing the color of pavement on Abernathy Way to show a difference between areas for autos and pedestrians.

A UNANIMOUS APPROVAL FOR TEN WEST

Efforts to renovate the five-story Ten West building at 1017 S.W. Washington St. earned the approval of the Design Commission by a 4-0 vote.

The project overcame concerns about the entrance at the southeast corner of the building, specifically the doors and saving the storefront transom.

Commissioners and project architect Jones Architecture were able to come to an agreement to work with city staff on a design that would simulate the look of the entrance without involving the construction issues that would have been required by saving the transom. Other renovations included replacing 126 windows, seismic upgrades and interior renovations.

MIXED-USE PROJECT SENT BACK FOR REVISIONS

A 200-foot tall proposed mixed use building at 140 S.W. Columbia St. was sent back to GBD Architects for revisions.  The building will include 347 residential units, 15,000 square feet of retail and office, and 244 parking spaces.

Commissioners wanted revisions to improve the coherency of the building, especially focusing on the materials on the second through fourth floors. The project will return for a short work session on Sept. 7 before another full hearing is scheduled for the project.

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Despite a recommendation of conditional approval from staff at the Portland Bureau of Development Services, the Portland Design Commission on Thursday decided designs for Blocks 41 and 44 in the South Waterfront need more revisions.

Developer Cairn Pacific and land owner Prometheus Real Estate Group want to include two 7-story buildings with a total of 524 market-rate apartments, 10,500 feet of retail space and parking. The complex will be bordered by Southwest River Parkway to the west, the Willamette River to the east, Southwest Lowell Street to the south and Southwest Lane Street to the north. Abernethy Pedestrian Way will separate Block 44 and Block 41.

“The building massing took an approach to create a hard urban edge to create some rhythm along the streetscape and create a lot of activity to reinforce the street edge,” Kyle Andersen, principal with GBD Architects, said. In addition to handling the design for Block 44, GBD teamed up with Jones Architecture for the design of Block 41.

The design team tried to soften the urban edge as it approached the river and tried to create space between the two structures, according to Andersen.

“In particular, (Blocks) 41 and 44 share some massing elements, which create some negative space between them,” he said.

However, some commissioners thought the buildings shared too many elements and suggested designers try to vary some design features to give each building a more distinct look.

“When I look at these two buildings, although I know you in your designer mode see them as two completely different buildings, with their muscularity and scale of the setbacks, they read kind of like twins,” said Commission Vice Chairman Tad Savinar. “I know that is not your intent. You’re working very hard not to have that.”

Of particular concerns for the design panel were the north elevation of Block 41 and the west elevation of the Block 44. Both elevations currently present long stretches with minimal elements breaking up each wall.

“I think there is an issue of extremely long, by Portland standards, walls that could use some attention. … The massing seems monolithic.” said Commissioner David Wark, who relinquished his seat as chairman to Julie Livingston earlier this month.

Another issue that concerned both commissioners and neighbors near the proposed development focused on the tops of the two buildings. The proposed designs for both buildings show white rooftops around HVAC equipment in order to maximize energy efficiency and reduce cooling needs of the structures.

Diane Pelaski said she and others living in buildings near the proposed development are concerned that such a treatment could reflect light and cause glare for people living in nearby apartments.

Neighbors said they also were concerned about possible conflicts between cars and pedestrians on Abernethy Pedestrian Way. In the current design Abernethy serves as both a driveway to the garages for both buildings and a pedestrian way that leads to the greenway and river to the east.

Commissioners recommended adding signage and possibly using different materials for pedestrian and vehicle areas to differentiate them.

“It seems like there is a logic and safety here that might help everyone out,” Savinar said. “You give (pedestrians) one color and cars another.”

For the the Block 41 structure, commissioners asked the development team to look at ways to increase retail along the waterfront

“We still don’t have a restaurant along that stretch of the waterfront,” Savinar said.

Commissioners were also concerned with massing and coherency of the Block 44 building, saying changes in color and height gave the impression of too many interlocking sections of different buildings.

One area of the project that drew compliments from commissioners was the use of landscaping, including how trees were used in the complex. Place Studio is the landscape architect for the project.

“The tree diversity and the use of different species (are) fantastic,” Savinar said. “In that landscaping strip, the diversity of trees is some of the best I’ve seen in the project, so I appreciate that.”

The project will return to the commission on Aug. 17.

Also on Thursday, the design commission unanimously approved a design for The Pearl Apartments, a new seven-story, market-rate apartment building at  1319 N.W. Johnson St.

Developed by The Paul Properties LLC, the 39,000-square-foot structure will include 58 residential units and approximately 3,400 square feet of ground-floor retail.

TVA Architects’ design for the project was approved on its second attempt before the commission. Commissioners were very enthusiastic of design revisions that they made.

“This will be a fantastic addition to the Pearl District,” said Commission Chair Julie Livingston. “It’s very well done and well executed. The quality and permanence guidelines you’ve just knocked out of the park as well.”

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The Zidell family, in the wake of its decision to close Zidell Marine Corp.‘s shipbuilding business, is unveiling plans to develop 5 million square feet of mixed-use space in the South Waterfront.

The massive redevelopment of the Zidells’ South Waterfront properties would include 15 to 20 buildings at full build-out. The Zidells plan to construct 1.5 million square feet of offices, 250,000 square feet of retail, grocery and dining space, 2,600 residential units, 200 hotel rooms, 5,500 parking stalls and several parks and other public spaces.

The existing shipbuilding facility is slated to be refurbished and reused as retail space.

And, yes, there are plans for a grocery store, a longtime demand of South Waterfront residents who currently must leave the neighborhood to buy groceries.

“We really want to try to make this village, this area, a really wonderful place to be,” said Tom Henneberry, chief operating officer of Zidell Yards.

Construction of the initial projects is slated to begin in late 2017.

Plans for Zidell Yards are emerging after years of intermediate steps. A briefing for the Portland Design Commission was canceled Thursday because of inclement weather.

The Zidells have held the South Waterfront properties for more than 80 years. The family’s holdings span 33 acres on the west bank of the Willamette River bisected by the Ross Island Bridge.

Much like at the Portland Development Commission‘s 14-acre U.S. Postal Service site in Northwest Portland, or Gramor Development’s 33-acre The Waterfront development in Vancouver, Washington, Zidell Yards represents an opportunity for a large, master-planned, urban community within the Portland-metro area. Planners and developers can start almost from scratch while building into existing infrastructure.

The exact mix of retail, office and residential uses could change in response to market demand, Henneberry said. The development is expected to have a 15-to-20-year phased build-out.

Some of the buildings will reach the 250-foot height limit allowed under zoning code. Eight buildings are envisioned as residential. The barge facility is planned as a 90,000-square-foot retail anchor.

Henneberry hopes to see a retail anchor tenant open in fall 2020. A residential tower would follow in spring 2021, and a grocery store later in 2021.

“The grocery store is a big deal,” he said.

After a grocery store is in place, office users may follow, Henneberry said. ZRZ Realty has already been in talks with hotel and grocery operators.

In September, Zidell Marine Corp. President Jay Zidell said the family’s decades-old shipbuilding business would deliver its last barge in 2017, launching around June 1. About 60 employees will be laid off. The move to get out of the shipbuilding business came as barges have grown too large for Zidell Marine to build at their facility.

“He felt that the timing was right,” Henneberry said of Jay Zidell’s decision to close the shipbuilding business.

The decision has opened up possibilities for Zidell Yards. Previous plans had to work around the marine facilities.

“They really didn’t have much opportunity to plan here,” Henneberry said of earlier efforts.

The Zidell family has no plans to sell any of its South Waterfront property.
“At this point, we want to own everything that we’re developing,” Henneberry said. “We’re not looking to sell land to other developers.”

The Zidells’ land includes substantial river frontage that was used to moor barges. Much of that land will be converted into a publicly accessible greenway.

The new developments would join The Emery, a ZRZ Realty residential-over-retail tower with 118 apartments that was completed in 2013. The retail spaces are occupied by Ecru, a stationery store, and a pet supply retailer that is due to open soon.

For residents, the prospect of further growth in the South Waterfront promises to add amenities and enhance vehicle access, particularly from the congested South Portal.

ZRZ is working closely with the Portland Bureau of Transportation and other agencies to improve transportation access for vehicles.

PBOT’s South Portal plan would extend Bond Avenue and turn it into a one-way southbound street. Moody Avenue would become a one-way northbound street.

“We’re trying to make the center of gravity of this whole neighborhood Bond Street,” Henneberry said.

Extending Bond Avenue will be a boon to residents, said Len Michon, chairman of the South Portland Neighborhood Association.

“That will certainly be a big benefit with regard to getting in and out of South Waterfront,” Michon said.

Plans for parks and open spaces are welcome, he said.

“We really want to have this be a very open community down here that anybody in the city would be happy to be in.”

Zidell Yards is due to take shape as major players transform the South Waterfront. Oregon Health & Science University’s $295 million Collaborative Life Sciences Building opened a couple of years ago, and construction is under way on the eight-story Knight Cancer Institute and expansions to the Center for Health & Healing.

Portland developer Cairn Pacific is working with property owner Prometheus Real Estate Group on plans for four buildings in the South Waterfront. Initial plans call for two seven-story residential-over-retail buildings facing the river on Block 41. Two larger buildings farther west of the river could follow.

“Over the next five or 10 years, I think we’re going to see a tremendous amount of development down here,” Michon said.

TriMet’s Tilikum Crossing has opened the South Waterfront to access by light rail and bicycle. Meanwhile, the Portland Aerial Tram has become a hub of commuting activity, with 10,000 riders a day.

“The public transportation is incredible,” Henneberry said.

Henneberry was hired in May to serve as master planner for Zidell Yards after months of consulting. He previously led development at The Yards in Washington, D.C., a 42-acre waterfront project.

The vision for Zidell Yards also encompasses wide swathes of public space. Gantry Plaza would be built at the base of the aerial tram where the Gantry crane is currently located. To the north, Meadow Park would connect the development to the street grid. Beneath Ross Island Bridge, smaller public spaces with uses such as half-court basketball or a dog park are planned.

The South Waterfront Greenway would stretch along the river. A dock is envisioned to extend into the Willamette, allowing access for recreationists.

“Obviously, we want to get people activating the river,” Henneberry said.

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Andersen Construction is continuing work on Osprey Apartments, a six-story mixed-use project overlooking the Willamette River in the South Waterfront. Originally known as Block 37, the 270-unit project will have a total of 270 residential units, as well as five ground-floor retail spaces and parking for 227 vehicles. GBD Architects designed the project for owner Mack Urban.

The building features two landscaped courtyards – one in the center of the building, and another terrace overlooking the river on the building’s east side. A second-floor community space adjacent to the courtyard will include a kitchen, lounge space, and a pool table. Other residential amenities include a fitness room and long-term bicycle storage rooms on each floor.

The project is slated for completion by mid-November.

Project Stats + Team – Osprey Apartments
Location: 3750 S.W. River Pkwy
Size: 281,000 square feet
Construction start date: December 2014
Construction completion date: November 2016
Owner: Mack Urban
Architect: GBD Architects
General contractor: Andersen Construction
Civil engineer: Harper, Houf, Peterson, Righellis
Mechanical engineer: Interface Engineering
Structural engineer: Kramer Gehlen Associates
Landscape architect: Lango Hansen

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