The Portland Design Commission on Thursday put forth a number of suggestions to improve a proposal for a new mixed-use building in the Eliot neighborhood, a few months after Bureau of Development Services staff denied the project team’s bid for approval.

VC Fargo, designed by Seattle firm Jackson | Main Architecture, is slated to be a 90-foot-tall, seven-story mixed-use building with 100 apartments (either studios or one-bedroom units) and ground-floor restaurant space. The building, expected to cost approximately $13 million, would rise at 25 N. Fargo St., between North Williams and Vancouver avenues.

After city staff provided advice on two occasions in 2018, the project was denied earlier this year. The designers appealed and are working with the commissioners to address their concerns, which focus on a large red box planned in the structure, a fabric awning that would wrap around a corner at ground level, and a planter box that would sit near the building entrance.

“From my standpoint it isn’t working,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said of the red box. “It wasn’t working then and it isn’t working now.”

Vallaster and other commissioners were in agreement that the problem with the red box is how it would relate to the rest of the building mass, which would be gray. They suggested that an extension of the red portion to further wrap around the entire structure would better integrate it with the full design.

The planter box near the entrance was proposed in response to criticism issued previously about plans to put it on the roof. This time commissioners took issue with the placement because the box would leave a narrow entrance space, which is also occupied by a bike rack.

There was also an issue of the plants themselves, which Commissioner Zari Santner said have a short blooming period and would be dead for most of the year. She suggested a change to plants able to endure the area’s wet climate.

A fabric awning that would wrap around the building’s restaurant displeased commissioners, but they suggested a simple remedy: a change to metal awnings that are already present on most of the structure.

A final point of contention was the presence of two community bulletin boards that each would take up a concrete wall at opposite corners of the building. Commissioners were uncertain whether a bulletin board fit in with the overall design, but were adamant that the complex does not require two.

“It could be useful, but not on both sides,” Santner said. “Something needs to be done to make it more inviting.”

Vallaster said he would like to see the walls pay homage to the surrounding area.

“It’d be nice to have sort of a richer contextual response to that wall,” he said. “Maybe there’s something that can kind of allude to the history.”

The design team will have a chance to make further modifications to its plan before appearing before the Design Commission at another appeal meeting, which has been scheduled for July 18.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the project was initially reviewed and denied by BDS staff.

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A proposal for a seven-story mixed-use building in North Portland was denied by city staff. The developer, Vibrant Cities, is appealing the decision.

An appeal of the denial of a proposal to build a seven-story mixed-use building in North Portland has been continued until June.

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday heard the appeal from Seattle developer Vibrant Cities of an earlier decision by the Bureau of Development Services to deny a land use application for construction of a 62,176-square-foot building at the corner of North Williams Avenue and Fargo Street.

Denial came out of the proposal failing to meet some of the city’s community design guidelines, according to the staff report. They included overly complicated massing and material, and poor storefront character along North Williams Avenue.

After a revised submission was presented Thursday, commissioners were still not fully satisfied with the proposed design; however, they indicated the team is on the right track.

“Overall, the applicant has made some really significant and really good improvements that go a long way to meeting community design guidelines,” Design Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

The design by Seattle firm Jackson | Main Architecture calls for a seven-story tower structure at the corner of Williams Avenue and Fargo Street. The tower’s relationship to the overall building massing was a concern for commissioners, as was the proposed location of a storefront canvas awning on the corner.

Meanwhile, the storefront along Williams Avenue also was criticized. As submitted, the building would have commercial space intended for light restaurant use at the corner of Williams Avenue and Fargo Street, but also bare concrete walls along much of its frontage along Williams Avenue. This will require improvement, commissioners said. But overall, the project appears to be moving toward approval.

“Overall, the massing of the building, the changes to the parapet – that is all nicely done,” Livingston said. “You will want to bring in some alternatives to that corner and where the water room is because most of us would like to see more transparency on Williams.”

The record will be held open until June 20, when the hearing will continue.

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Developer Vibrant Cities is focused on delivering housing units not only in ideal places, but also with reasonable rents. Currently, the Portland market is offering such opportunities for the Seattle-based company, which originated when SolTerra split into two entities.

In 2016, construction of Brooklyn Yard (developed by SolTerra) – a four-story building with 46 apartments – wrapped up at 4780 S.E. Milwaukie Ave. Currently, the firm’s Zeal Lofts – a six-story building with 216 micro-studios – and the Fargo – a six-story building with 100 apartments – are being developed in North Portland; both, like Brooklyn Yard, will have ground-floor retail space.

Another project is moving ahead: Ascend, a five-story building with 96 micro-apartments and retail space on Northeast Failing Street, between Williams and Vancouver avenues. Recently, people representing project team members Vibrant Cities, Seattle design firm Jackson | Main Architecture and general contractor Seabold Construction gathered at the Ascend job site for food, drinks and a low-key ground-breaking ceremony.

“The inspiration is making affordable homes in great locations, right?” Vibrant Cities CEO James Wong said. “And whereas there are a lot of millennials and young urban workers who want to live in the city, and it’s really hard for them to afford it, they can always afford to live in smaller spaces. But they get to be in the location that they want, so that’s key for us right there.”

Ascend will feature four wood-framed stories above a ground floor featuring a lounge for tenants as well as retail space, and a below-grade parking garage.

“This is group living; it’s not apartments,” said Robin Murphy, a Jackson | Main Architecture owner and principal.

In the group living model for Ascend, Murphy added, sleeping units will be arranged into 16 clusters. Each six-unit cluster will share a kitchenette that includes a three-quarter refrigerator, food storage, a two-burner cooktop and a sink. The sleeping units will range from 250 to 350 square feet.

Five micro-restaurant spaces will be built into the storefront facing Vancouver Avenue. They’re intended to complement the existing neighborhood.

“The intention is Vibrant Cities can just lease those spaces and (tenants) can operate immediately as opposed to going through the permit process,” Murphy said. “That’s an amenity everyone appreciates, and not just for the tenants, but for the whole neighborhood.”

Completion of Ascend is scheduled for spring 2020. Commercial Realty Advisors is handling commercial leasing arrangements.

Vibrant Cities also is working with Mississippi-based Sunray Hotels to develop a 23-story mixed-use tower in the Pearl District. The project team’s proposal calls for a 250-foot-tall building accommodating hotel and residential uses.

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