The Portland Design Commission shot down the St. Johns Neighborhood Association‘s appeal of staff approval given to the Central Lofts project at 8608 N. Lombard Street, by a 4-0 vote on Thursday. Bureau of Development Services staff had approved the project during a type II review in October.

“The building is very richly detailed and the materials have been well thought out,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said. “My sense is this works pretty well in sense of the diversity criteria in the guidelines. In general you could put the building in my neighborhood and I’d be happy.”

Jones Architecture‘s vision for developer Farid Bolouri’s project is for a 44-foot-tall, 27,000-square-foot structure featuring cross-laminated timber. The ground level would hold a restaurant and retail space, and the upper three stories would hold six one-bedroom apartments and 24 studios.

The neighborhood association based its appeal on three concerns. First, the group said, the design failed to apply characteristics and traditions of the St. Johns/Lombard Plan area. Also, the main entrances were not prominent or interesting, and the development diverged too much from the area’s established architecture, according to the group.

“The neighborhood is generally supportive of this development and excited about the project,” said Josh Guerra, who spoke for the neighborhood association. “The stakeholder group determined that three of the guidelines were not met.”

Of particular concern were the building’s entrances. Their small size, the neighborhood association stated, could negatively impact both the streetscape and the plaza at the corner of North Lombard Street and Philadelphia Avenue. Various community activities, including a weekend farmers’ market, take place there.

Alan Jones, founder of Jones Architecture, countered that given the size of the lot and the likely tenants, the openings were appropriately sized. The entrances’ locations could be altered to suit the types and sizes of tenants, he said.

“It is very likely that retail spaces in St. Johns are going to be smaller spaces geared toward local business,” he said. “That dictates the entrances.”

Another neighborhood concern was that the project would not blend with its surroundings. Designers countered that St. Johns has an eclectic and diverse collection of buildings.

“(The St. Johns/Lombard Plan) goes as far as to say future development should go on the path of diversity,” Jones said. “We take that to mean that future development should be of the time period it is built.”

In response to a claim that this building wouldn’t be on the same scale as others nearby, designers pointed out other projects significantly larger than their proposal.

Overall, the commission sided with the development team.

“Ultimately it is about that corner,” Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said. “That corner is just fantastic and its relationship to the plaza is fantastic.”

Commissioners also failed to find enough discrepancy from the St. Johns/Lombard Plan guidelines to justify overturning the approval.

“Regarding the guidelines, they seem to be nebulous enough that either side can find support or not support for this design,” Vallaster said.

Also on Thursday:

550 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The Portland Design Commission approved, by a 4-1 vote, Works Progress Architecture‘s design for a seven- or eight-story mixed-use building on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Market conditions will determine which version of the building developers Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners decide to build.

Livingston was the only commissioner to vote no. She had concerns about the building‘s response to neighborhood context.

Providence Park

The commission approved, by a 3-1 vote, alterations to the Providence Park expansion that was approved in August. Allied Works Architecture will make several changes – the most notable being the type of roofing material and the viewshed.

Vallaster cast the lone dissenting vote because of concerns about how changes would impact the view of the field from outside the park.

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