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The Burnside Bridgehead – a four-acre, four-block chunk of property purchased by the Portland Development Commission for $11 million in several deals between 1998 and 2006 – originally was going to be developed by now-defunct Opus Northwest. When it was unable to get large-scale development off the ground, the PDC opted to let several other developers pursue it in smaller increments. One of those projects could finally get a green light next week.

The Portland Bureau of Development Services has recommended approval for Myhre Group Architects‘ design of a six-story, mixed-use building at 419 E. Burnside St. for Seattle-based Trinsic Residential Group. Plans call for 157 residential units, two live-work units, ground-floor commercial space and rooftop terraces.

Also, the development will hold 50 residential parking spaces – including 11 tandem spaces – and 12 spaces for the adjacent building, according to a BDS staff report.

At a Design Commission meeting on Sept. 4, the developer and commissioners discussed moving the proposed location of a garage gate from Northeast Grand Avenue to Couch Street. The commissioners believe an entrance on Couch Street would be better suited for in-and-out vehicle traffic, because Grand Avenue has been identified in a Central Eastside design plan as a street best suited for pedestrian-friendly retail.

Relocating the garage entrance changed the building’s overall orientation, which now features a primary residential entrance on Grand Avenue and a continuous arcade along East Burnside Street.

The Design Commission will meet Dec. 4 to review the staff report and hear testimony from the applicant and any concerned citizens. The commission will then be able to adopt, modify or reject the proposed development.

Meanwhile, construction of a $58 million, 21-story tower at Block 67 is under way. The project team – Guardian Real Estate Services and Hood River-based Key Development Corp., Skylab Architecture and Andersen Construction – put together a development that will include 20,000 square feet of commercial space, 284 apartments and 200 parking spaces.

Andersen Construction began site work in October, and Brad Nile, a project executive with the contractor, said vertical construction will begin in January and require approximately 22 months.

Also, Key Development is planning to develop Block 76W, a small piece of land on the west side of the Couch Street couplet, with a two- to three-story commercial building that will mirror the larger tower.

Developers of a 10-story, mixed-use project on Block 75 – 111 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. – on Nov. 18 submitted permit applications to the BDS. The Design Commission in August approved Works Partnership Architecture‘s design that calls for ground-floor retail space, office space on the second through fourth floors and 75 apartments on levels five through 10.

The project development team includes representatives of Beam Development and Urban Development Partners as well as Carrie Strickland and William Neburka, both principals at Works Partnership Architecture.

Expectations are for Beaverton-based Yorke & Curtis General Contractors to finish the project in time for a May 2016 opening.

The Fair-Haired Dumbbell, two six-story buildings connected by sky bridges, is the first speculative office complex proposed for development at the Burnside Bridgehead. Guerrilla Development owner Kevin Cavenaugh, designed the buildings with a Florentine pattern wrap to resemble gift boxes.

Guerrilla Development collaborated with Fundrise to raise more than $5 million from 1,200 accredited investors to pay for the project, according to Katie Brotherton with Norris, Beggs & Simpson.

Carter Beyl, a broker at Norris, Beggs & Simpson, said the building “epitomizes the tech pilgrimage to Portland,” with its open space, timber-frame construction, expansive wood floors and robotic, stacked parking system.

Crews are expected to break ground in the second quarter of 2015 and finish by the end of the year, according to Brotherton.

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Not long after a fire destroyed a five-story wood-frame building under construction in Northeast Portland this past August, Portland Fire & Rescue began reviewing its security requirements for jobsites.

Federal and local investigators eventually determined that fire was arson, and requirements at the time – including installation of a chain-link fence around the site’s perimeter – had not deterred someone from igniting the blaze, Assistant Fire Marshal Doug Jones said. The structure, at the corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Monroe Street, and two adjacent homes were destroyed.

“It got our attention and we decided to do something about it,” Jones said. “Before, we required fencing, but we decided that was not good enough.”

Multistory wood structures, often in residential neighborhoods, are particularly vulnerable to arson, he said.

“They are like a pile of kindling sitting there,” he said.

Now, contractors constructing a four- or five-story wood-frame building in the city must have full-time site security, either with a work crew present or someone on patrol. Other new rules require that fire doors and sprinkler systems be installed as buildings are being erected.

The rules are flexible so that builders’ individual needs can be met, Jones said. Nevertheless, contractors are concerned about they will affect construction cost and practicality.

In February, the week the new regulations were issued, the fire marshal started showing up at one of Walsh Construction‘s jobsites, said Marty Houston, the company’s quality director.

The on-site security requirement could cost between $800 and $1,000 per week to implement, Houston said. Other regulations, such as installation of automatic sprinkler piping and heads upon completion of each floor, are not practical from sequencing and scheduling standpoints, he said.

“We’re not going to put a sprinkler system in during winter and have it freeze,” he said. “We’re also not going to add sprinklers as the building goes up. Everything has to be framed before the system is put in place.”

Walsh executives met with the fire marshal’s office to discuss alternative ways that the intention of the new regulations could be accomplished. A lot of gray areas still exist, Houston said.

Erik Timmons, a principal with Beaverton-based Yorke and Curtis, said he heard about the new requirements through an architect who was filing plans for a four-story multifamily project with the city of Portland.

Yorke and Curtis typically does not employ a 24-hour security watch, but does use a perimeter fence and cameras as deterrents, Timmons said.

“I understand where it’s coming from, but to require something like that seems a little heavy-handed,” he said. “For an average 10-month project, to have that every night and all weekends – that’s a pretty significant cost.”

At the Northeast Portland site where the fire was set last summer, Pavilion Construction is preparing to begin building a new five-story, 46-unit apartment complex. Its previous effort was about 60 percent finished at the time of the fire, company President Brian Gerritz said.

Since the fire, Pavilion has met with the fire marshal and updated the security on all of its projects in the Portland area, Gerritz said.

“We’re holding dialogue prior to going vertical with wood-frame (construction),” he said.

Pavilion will build the project with tighter security – including night patrol – on the site, Gerritz said.

“Given the history, Pavilion will have staff and guards (there) during periods of vulnerability,” he said. “We feel at this site an active body is going to be our best method.”

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When Petros Jarra and his wife Ainalem Sultessa moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 1974, they had no idea it would be permanent. But six years later, after they completed their studies, civil war made a return too dangerous.

Jarra and Sultessa changed their plans and opened Jarra’s Ethiopian Restaurant in Portland. It later moved to the Buckman neighborhood‘s southern edge.

“We wanted to do some business for ourselves,” Sultessa said. “(We thought) ‘We have this food that we can make that’s not familiar here. So we invited some friends to show them, and see if they like this food – and they did. So that gave us the idea to open up a very small place.”

However, after 31 years of service, Jarra and Sultessa are ready for another change. The restaurant will close, and the existing 4,100-square-foot building at 1435 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. will be razed.

Sultessa and Works Partnership Architecture last week presented plans to the Buckman Community Association for redevelopment of the property as a four-story, 30-unit mixed-use building – the Langano Apartments, named after a bar on the ground floor. When fully developed, the 9,500-square-foot site will include 2,800 square feet of retail space and 13 surface parking stalls.

Works Partnership Architecture and Yorke & Curtis General Contractors are walking Jarra and Sultessa through the development process.

The Langano, unlike most buildings in the area, won’t have a traditional square box frame. Instead, it will have three house-shaped masses with pitched roofs that appear to teeter over the ground floor.

Large, upper-story windows on the Southeast Hawthorne face will continue the asymmetrical theme, while the L-shaped floor plan will be canted inward at an acute angle. That feature may draw some added interest in the facade, but its main purpose is to open a south-facing hallway to additional sunlight.

During the meeting last week, one neighbor asked if there were other buildings around town that might offer clues as to what the Langano would look like when finished. Works Partnership Architecture principal Carrie Strickland couldn’t think of any examples – even in the firm’s portfolio.

“We’re not a firm that repeats a lot of our work,” she said.

Like many new urban apartment projects, the Langano has elicited concerns about its potential impact on parking. One neighbor believes the development, despite a parking ratio of 0.44 stalls per unit, would cause a “big mess” because little street parking exists in the area.

However, with only 30 units, the Langano isn’t required by city code to provide parking. Strickland said the group chose to include it because it not only increases livability, but also investment value.

“For Aina and Petro this is the next big thing that they’re going to be doing for maybe the rest of their lives,” she said. “So we’re setting up the building so that it can last an apartment market that may soften at some point, and setting up the building for the long haul.”

The Langano will include six studios, 18 one-bedroom units, and six two-bedroom units in an effort to attract a broad spectrum of renters. Strickland said many of those units will rent for less than $1,000, with studios starting at $850. The goal is to create a sustainable product.

“It’s all part of making sure this is a long-term investment project,” she said. “We’re not filling it up and selling it as soon as it gets stabilized.”

Jarra and Sultessa plan to retain ownership of the development, but hire a management company to look after it. The plan is to begin demolition by June 15, and finish development by March 2015. The group declined to share financial details of the project.

A Buckman Community Association board member, Susan Lindsay, said at last week’s meeting that she was pleased the Langano will include not only parking, but also ground-floor commercial space – details that other developers in the area have often skirted. She offered appreciation for the couple’s longtime commitment to the neighborhood.

“It’s rare that we get to have a long-term Buckman business owner redeveloping and continuing to manage their property,” she said. “You are our neighbor and you’ve been a part of our neighborhood much longer than many people that are now a part of our neighborhood, and I’m very happy you’re going to continue to be a part of our neighborhood.”

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