South Waterfront News

[SKgottime]

to allow future widening of I-5.

With gasoline prices predicted to reach $4/gal this spring and evidence that world peak-oil production occurred in 2005, I doubt that there will be much freeway widening in our future.

[PacificNW]

I agree with you to a point but the I-5 corridor has been designated (by the Feds) a major North/South transportation route crucial to the movement of commerce. It will be widened....just not for the commuters.... 4 trucks..

[sopdx]

Yes, and isn't that brilliant. We (the US) have divested from rail - a much more cost effective way of travel and transport and invested hugely in trucking. But no worries, trucking and the cost to transport goods will not be affected at all by rising gas prices.

[PacificNW]

⇑ I couldn't agree with you more...

[CUclimber]

Maybe they'll widen it to accommodate the tracks for the Seattle/San Francisco MagLev train. :haha:

[MarkDaMan]

On the waterfront
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tom Hallman Jr.
The Oregonian

Down at "the yard," where Zidell Marine Corp. builds barges on the west bank of the Willamette River, you don't watch men work so much as listen to them.

Metal hits metal in an explosion of sound. A blowtorch hisses sparks from deep within a steel shell. All across the yard, 52 men are scattered like ants, each with an assigned task.

Tony Hoppe, superintendent of barge construction, lights a cigarette as he watches a barge taking shape. At 344 feet long, 78 feet wide, 30 feet high and 3,300 tons, it's the largest Zidell has ever built.

"When you see one of these babies hit the water," Hoppe says, "it's like giving birth. Most people have no idea how much work goes into one of these."

Most never will.

Zidell, perhaps more than any other place, sits where the currents of Portland's past and future collide.

Right next to Zidell, the future sails by in the aerial tram and looks down from the condos of South Waterfront towers. Light-rail tracks snake through the area, helping create a neighborhood where none had been imagined before. Residents, for the most part, see the river as an urban playground or pretty scenery.

At Zidell, the past resides in the barges, steely workhorses of a river once flanked by industry. Now development is creeping up to the edges of Zidell's 33-acre site.

"We have to wait until after 8 a.m. to do our crane work," Hoppe says. "The noise might bother neighbors."

He shakes his head. "Ah," he says, grinding out a cigarette on the ground, "the place is changing."

At 8 a.m., Hoppe has been at work for two hours. He saunters through Zidell's office area with a certain toughness that comes from working with his hands and knowing what they can do.

At 54, he's been at Zidell for 24 years, working his way from the yard to running the barge-construction division. He wears a battered hard hat that seems glued to his head. After all these years, it's become a part of him, like the cigarette that appears in his hand every 30 minutes or so when he's in the yard.

He walks down a carpeted hallway, past the offices where deals are signed, and heads toward the yard. In the offices, workers are settling into desks, sipping coffee and chatting. The quiet is interrupted only by a phone or tap-tap-tap on a keyboard. The attire is business casual -- nice shirts, sweaters and clean shoes.

Hoppe's boots are thick, practical and dirty. Layers of clothes keep him warm and dry. Barge building is outside work. Pouring rain. Blazing heat. Thick snow. Doesn't matter. The work goes on. Once, the guys had to shovel 6 inches of snow out of the way so a crane could get a barge onto the tracks that lead downhill to the Willamette.

The only place that seems to have a heater in the yard is the lunchroom, a shantylike wooden building with scuffed wood floors, an old chair, three microwaves and a refrigerator that's seen better days. A small color TV with rabbit ears rests on a table. It's always on. The picture is fuzzy.

On this Monday morning in March, Hoppe is thinking about money. The $15 million barge project he's overseeing could end up behind schedule.

The barge is supposed to be finished in October. If Hoppe's crew doesn't get the barge in the water -- a spectacle that attracts onlookers in the South Waterfront high-rises -- when promised, the company faces a $2,000-a-day penalty that's written into the contract.

Hoppe pushes open a wooden door that leads from the hallway to the engineer's office, the last stop before the yard. He flips through blueprints. The 55 pages detail every inch of the 80,000-gallon barge. When done, it will have dedicated tanks to carry jet fuel, unleaded gas and diesel oil from Alaska to ports up and down the West Coast.

"A floating gas station," Hoppe says as he opens a second door and steps into the yard.

To stand in the yard is to visit a time when people built things that could be seen and explained. Look at a barge, you know what it does. How many of us understand how an iPod makes music?

The place was built by a Russian immigrant who fled his country as a young man to escape the pogroms, violent attacks on Jews. Sam Zidell, according to Zidell literature, ended up in Oregon because an uncle lived in Portland. He was a trader at heart, dealing with loggers and farmers. After dabbling in Roseburg for a year, he opened a business in Portland in 1916 that specialized in old machinery and parts.

Before long, he had a retail spot downriver -- about where Tom McCall Waterfront Park is now -- and a three-acre scrap yard at Zidell's current site. His material was piled more than 70 feet high, according to the literature, but carefully sorted into 150 kinds of scrap metal.

After the war, his son, Emery Zidell, joined the company and bought acreage near the scrap yard. He got into the business of dismantling ships and bought six aircraft carriers for $78,260. Like his father, the son had perfect timing. By 1960, the company had the largest dismantling operation in the United States. By the mid-1970s, the literature says, the company had dismantled more than 336 ships.

Emery Zidell also saw a way to use the recovered steel. Most U.S. barges then were made of wood. He proposed building them out of steel. In 1961, the company launched its first barge. It was 122 feet long, 32 feet wide and 9 feet tall. It weighed 100 tons and sold for $20,000.

"You used to be able to stand in the yard and see barges up and down the river," says Bill Gobel, Zidell vice president and chief operating officer. "There wasn't all this residential development around here. Upriver was a sawmill, and they'd barge pulp."

Gobel, 67, is a Zidell lifer, starting as an electrician's apprentice 48 years ago. His father worked at Zidell, too. Although Gobel works in the office now, barging remains in his blood. Most people, he says, don't understand the importance of barges.

"Potatoes from Idaho are barged," he says. "So is grain. Fruit and meat goes from Seattle to Alaska on a barge. The lumber to build houses."

Technology has changed the business. Draftsmen use computers, cranes can lift 25 tons with ease, and there's a certain amount of automation. But if Sam Zidell could drop by, he'd still recognize the place.

It takes the Zidell crew a year to build a barge, and they're glad for the business.

From 1983 to 1990, no barges were built at the site. The economy was so lousy that it was cheaper for Zidell to buy a barge on the open market and lease it -- becoming a kind of Hertz for barges -- than to build and try to sell one.

Everything changed in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil through a gaping hole. The government issued tough standards to protect the environment. New tank barges had to be double-hulled. By 2015, all old tank barges have to be scrapped; only double-hulled barges will be allowed.

In 1992, Zidell was contracted to build the first double-hulled barge on the West Coast. Zidell now has two projects going at once. Workers launch a slow start on a new barge while working on another that's well under way. So life in the yard is about juggling, moving men from project to project to avoid those late penalties.

Finding workers isn't easy, even though a welder pulls in $21 an hour. Workers have to be certified and pass tests, and must be able to read blueprints. Welds must be perfect. The U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping inspect each barge before it's approved for launch.

"My son is the classic example," Hoppe says. "He told me he can sit at the computer and make $20 an hour. We have an in-house class for welders. We bring them in and help them test. There's three in the class now."

Still, year by year, development creeps up on Zidell. The Old Spaghetti Factory is about a half-mile away. Hoppe sniffs the air. "Smells like my grandma's house around here," he says. "I'm Italian."

Hoppe glances at the tram. When something moves in the yard, men pay attention. Hoppe still isn't used to the tram, open since January 2007. Zidell had to move a crane and adjust the counterweight, Hoppe says, to avoid smacking it.

Office workers and condo residents frequently contact Zidell. Once, he says, someone saw sparks and wondered whether everything was all right. Nearby residents and office workers call the company to ask when a launch is scheduled. They enjoy watching from their windows.

In 2005, Zidell and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality entered into an agreement to clean up the site and river banks. Chris Kaufman, a senior project manager with DEQ, said the agreement lays out the scope of the project and when it will take place. Permits, he said, will be issued by the end of this year. Cleanup will take part in phases, ending in 2016. Depending on market forces, the company may relocate the barge-building operation, or get out of the business.

The company worked with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Portland to create a 20-page document to "represent the personal vision shared by the Zidell family." The plan calls for development to create a "distinctive" place in the city, one that has mixed uses and is "lively every day of the week." The district should be accessible by car, mass transit and bikes and on foot.

"It's clear this is destined for other uses," says President Jay Zidell, 60. "There's a renaissance in the entire district. We will be impacted, but it's not clear when. We have a very viable and active business and a good backlog of work. We see the business continuing for some period of time."

Jay Zidell, Sam Zidell's grandson, spent summers working in the yard as a young man. "It's remarkable what they built," he says of his grandfather and father. "It took courage, hard work and a little bit of luck along the way. You have to tip your hat to that generation for what they were able to do."

His mother, Min Zidell, now lives in one of the condos that overlooks the yard. From her window, she can peer down and see her husband's legacy.

She checks the site at least once a day. "I make sure," she says with a laugh, "they're working."

Tom Hallman Jr.: 503 221-8224; tomhallman@news.oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1205528109180200.xml&coll=7

[RED_PDXer]

nice story.. thanks for sharing!

It mistakingly refers to the streetcar tracks as light rail tracks, but no biggy..

[Dougall5505]

GREG ODEN!!!!

His only time in Portland before reporting in September will be to find a new place to live. He currently resides in Tualatin, but he said he wants to live in Portland, either in the Pearl District or in the newly developed South Waterfront.

"I want to be fully settled before we have to report back here," Oden said.




http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1206239106137470.xml&coll=7&thispage=3

[zilfondel]

Oh yeah! Finally, downtown's going to get a celebrity!

boy, are we podunk or what?

[rsbear]

Oh yeah! Finally, downtown's going to get a celebrity!

boy, are we podunk or what?

No.

[MarkDaMan]

Actually Channing Frye has a place in SoWa too. Supposedly another NBA player, not a Blazer, and his wife have their residence there also.

Maybe SoWa will becoming an NBA players enclave?

[Dougall5505]

yah desmond mason of the bucks lives in sowa, it would be interesting to know what other interesting/semi-famous people live in those buildings

[pdxtraveler]

Oh yeah! Finally, downtown's going to get a celebrity!

boy, are we podunk or what?

Hey don't forget Gus van Sant he is in the Pearl (Gregory).

[joeplayer1989]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portlanders

[Okstate]

Desmond Mason went to OSU (Oklahoma) back in the day. I used to see him around our small town all the time. I didn't know he was up in Portland.

[tworivers]

http://www.djcoregon.com/_images/articles/djc0401matisse.jpg

South Waterfront gets first apartments
The Matisse will offer high-end rentals in district dominated by condo towers, construction will start this spring

POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Tuesday, April 1, 2008
BY LIBBY TUCKER

The South Waterfront’s high-flying skyline is about to come closer to earth with the start of construction on the neighborhood’s first apartment buildings.

R&H Construction in June will begin work on the Matisse. The project consists of two five-story apartment buildings at Southwest Lowell Street and Moody Avenue being developed by Denver-based Simpson Housing, which declined to release the estimated cost of The Matisse.

Set inside the loop of the Portland Streetcar’s turnabout, The Matisse’s 272 rental units will be the first of 700 market-reate apartments called for in the Portland Development Commission’s South Waterfront urban Central District Development agreement. And the mid-rise, stucco and wood-paneled buildings promise to help ground the austere glass-and-steel condo towers that currently dominate the district.

“It will change the look of the waterfront,” Alexis Wheeler, a project architect with Ankrom Moisan Architects’ Seattle office, said.

To balance the district’s tall buildings, the Ankrom Moisan design team approached the Matisse like it was “a meadow in the forest,” Wheeler said. “All of a sudden there’s something a little lower and (of) a slightly more comfortable scale you can walk around and through.”

Instead of one large building at the site, the design team decided to split the project in two to provide a walkway on Thomas Street, which cuts through the center of the site. The common area and ground-level retail and live/work spaces will open the site to pedestrians and lend a sense of connection to the rest of the neighborhood and the nearby Willamette River.

The apartments also will open the district up to residents that can’t afford the down payment for a high-end condo. At market rate, The Matisse won’t quite reach the ground for the city’s low-to-moderate-income residents, however.

“They’ll be high-end, condo-quality apartments, to appeal to the same people that are buying down there,” Mike Kremers, senior project manager for R&H Construction, said.

To further diversify the South Waterfront and provide a “continuum” of housing prices in the district for all income levels, the PDC so far has plans to provide public funding to two more apartment buildings in the district within the next two years, said Komi Kalevor, a housing development finance manager with the Portland Development Commission.

The agency is in pre-development discussions with Williams & Dame Development on a project expected to contain 210 low-to-moderate income units at Block 49, a 40,000 square-foot lot across the street from The Matisse, according to the PDC.

No concrete plans have yet been laid for the other PDC project, which will be dictated by future vacancy rates and housing market conditions over the next few years, Kalevor said.

[baloneyjoe]

Anybody know what happened to the SoWa webcam? Now when i go to the website i had bookmarked for it, it's just a bunch of advertising for BinaryScience. How the hell am i supposed to indulge my compulsive urge to see how many more inches each building down there has grown every five minutes now?!?!?

[pdxtraveler]

I love how well they research these articles. 'First apartments', the Alexis has been under construction for a long time. Those have been designated as apartments from the beginning.

[PacificNW]

I don't know how up to date this plan is but I thought some of you might be interested:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/PacificNW/Dump/SouthWaterfront.jpg


http://www.amaa.com/portfolio/project/?category=housing&project=185&redir=L3BvcnRmb2xpby8/Y2F0ZWdvcnk9aG91c2luZyM0Mg==

[WonderlandPark]

^^ damn Spaghetti Factory, go figure a restaurant can have a lot that huge, there could be a nice dense project on that stupid lot.

[MarkDaMan]

^one day! They are sittin on a gold mine for their next generation.

[Castillonis]

I was thinking the same thing. The Alexan will be an apartment building. Did the author Libby mean to qualify that with "more affordable"? The statement from the developer seemed indicate that the matisse would be for people with fiscal means to purchase one of the existing condos. There are obvious contradictions in that article. I would call it sloppy or one of the fee for articles pieces.

[Sekkle]

^ Probably just sloppy. The article states...
The project consists of two five-story apartment buildings
while the rendering shows six stories (and I think it was described as 6 in the past as well).

[zilfondel]

where does it say that this project will be affordable? It doesn't.

[MarkDaMan]

Since it is a wood framed shorter apartment complex, could it possibly be on schedule to be completed before the Alexan?

[MarkDaMan]

Also, read somewhere that Prometheus submitted a 2nd tower to the design review commission?

[zilfondel]

^ sweet! Man Portland really needs new apartments. They're in such short supply... I read that this past year had the lowest number of new housing permits in almost a decade?

[BrG]

^one day! They are sittin on a gold mine for their next generation.

OSF owned all the land that Prometheus is planning to develop. They already cashed in a ton of it.

[BrG]

where does it say that this project will be affordable? It doesn't.


B49 is planned as affordable (i.e.- subsidized). B46 is market rate. It should cost somewhat less than Alexan to rent in, assuming construction costs end up less (cost escalation could affect that, but stick frame is much cheaper than high-rise... as you most likely know)

[MarkDaMan]

BrG, I was under the impression that Prom. has owned that land since the 80s, when they proposed a gated community low rise apartment complex?

[BrG]

BrG, I was under the impression that Prom. has owned that land since the 80s, when they proposed a gated community low rise apartment complex?

Interesting. I actually wasn't aware of that part of it. I didn't move here until 1991. The land was aquired about 12 years ago as far as I know. I'll verify. Prometheus' thing is low-rise, wood apartments though. They hold on to just about everything they develop too. They have a LARGE portfolio of properties.

Either way.... the OSF owners (local family) have no doubt been quite eager to get the neighborhood built up around thier waterfront restaurant.

Notably...One that could never be built again with the current regs. (Witness the eager tearing down of the old riverfront Who Song and Larry's building a bit south, with the intent to redevelop....only to have the new project submarined....and no restaurant to re-lease...and no way to reconstruct it. DOH!)

[MarkDaMan]

^I don't know the entire history of the Prometheus property. I actually learned from those anti-development and PDC hater bloggers about the 'original' plan. I don't know how accurate their accounts are though. I assumed slanted and exaggerated to a pretty good degree.

[WestCoast]

fencing around the Mirabella site has come down.

Also, the Alexan is looking way better than renders. Even with the awful above ground stuff, the windows are a nice blue color. Looking not bad.

Finally something other than the Ross/Atwater/3720 ugly green tinted windows.

[Sekkle]

fencing around the Mirabella site has come down.

Came down as in "the wind blew it over" or as in "they removed the fencing from the site and aren't going to build it now"?

[Dougall5505]

ahhh!!!!! i can't take it anymore. I'm going through web-cam withdrawal. i might just have to go down and take some pictures...

[bvpcvm]

Came down as in "the wind blew it over" or as in "they removed the fencing from the site and aren't going to build it now"?

hahahahahahaha i was going to ask the same thing

but driving by on i5 tonite i craned my neck and caught sight of a bulldozer on the lot...

[joeplayer1989]

ahhh!!!!! i can't take it anymore. I'm going through web-cam withdrawal. i might just have to go down and take some pictures...

yes yes yes, good things happen when u take pictures

[Diffbean]

Came down as in construction getting ready to happen. Excavation is planned to start next week.

[zilfondel]

I took some pics today. Need to post them online... too lazy... :P

[Dougall5505]

Ya I was down their too, and theres a excavator on the mirabella site and the alexan's glass looks good.

[MarkDaMan]

Waiting for business in South Waterfront
Thursday, April 10, 2008
By Stephen Beaven
The Oregonian

On the surface, it seems as if the South Waterfront District would leave retailers drooling with anticipation.

Lots of rich people have moved in, there's no competition for business, and as more condos are built and sold, the affluent customer base will grow, increasing demand for beer, pizza, coffee, paper towels, dry cleaning.

But so far, business owners say they're having a hard time making money, citing a lack of parking and a soft condo market. The neighborhood, between the Willamette River and Interstate 5, also is isolated and doesn't draw much business from outside.

"It's very difficult," says Kevin Countryman, owner of Bella Espresso and chairman of the South Waterfront Retailers Association. "You just don't have enough traffic. A lot of what I hear is that people aren't aware of what's down here."

Countryman says he's lost money at the coffeehouse since he opened in August, with rent and management fees that cost nearly $5,800 per month. He's had a hard time persuading his banker to finance a pizzeria in South Waterfront.

Residents aren't happy either. Some have complained about the lack of dining options and the suburban vibe from the half-dozen or so retailers that have opened. There remains, however, a sense that once the neighborhood is complete, it will include more businesses and more customers.

"I'm sure there's a promising future," says Tina Chong, who owns the Urbana Market. "But this is a tough time. The housing market is very bad."

Metro-area home values dropped in January for the first time since 1987, and more bad news is expected this summer. Plus, a condo boom has left the city with more supply than demand. Speculators who bought condos in recent years hoping to flip them are instead stuck, waiting for the market to rebound.

At South Waterfront, the Meriwether condo tower houses the Urbana Market, Bella Espresso, Bee Tailors & Cleaners and Le Hana, a Japanese restaurant.

In the nearby John Ross Building, there's an Umpqua Bank branch and Pampered Pooch, a dog-grooming shop. A new restaurant, the Bambuza Vietnamese Bistro, is scheduled to open early this month. The Daily Cafe serves sandwiches and salads at the OHSU Center for Health and Healing.

Countryman, who owns two other upscale Bella Espresso coffeehouses with his wife, Julie, and a business partner, still hopes to get financing for his Pizza a'fetta restaurant in the John Ross.

But to make the businesses work, he adds, more parking must be added. And the city or developers should erect signs that make it easier for people to find the neighborhood. And it would help if more of the condos were filled.

It's important for retailers to take the long view at South Waterfront, says Ashley Heichelbech, who is leasing space in the district for Urban Works Real Estate.

"It just takes time," Heichelbech says. "It takes time to build the Belmonts and the Hawthornes and the Westmorelands and all these great urban neighborhoods we have."

She acknowledges that it's tough to lease retail space in an unfinished neighborhood, especially in a falling market. But she adds that getting in early gives shops a chance to establish a distinct identity.

Countryman says he believes in the district and thinks that once the infrastructure is improved, he'll see more people buying lattes.

But his patience is finite.

"I'm only going to do this for a certain period of time," he says. "You can't stay in business when you don't have business."

Stephen Beaven: 503-294-7663; stevebeaven@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/120718051211850.xml&coll=7

[zilfondel]

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii11/zilfondel/pdx%20city/sowa1.jpg

^^^ Note the pedicab! (they have been all over the damn city lately) I also saw between 200-300 people walking and biking around SoWa Friday and Saturday. This neighborhood is quickly going to reach critical mass... it really needs that central park to get built so they can host events and stuff! I could also kill for the waterfront park to be connected to downtown.

[mudshark]

Sweet pic Zil......Me likes.....Been away for awhile and haven't had two seconds to peek in here. But that pic really is showing the progress. Think about 2 years ago........think about 2 years from now!

salutations everyone.........

[Diffbean]

Could be a tough summer for the current retailers, but I see a bright future for them on the horizon. The Alexan is close to having occupants and with the latest rumor (key word rumor) that the 3720 may become high end apartments also, the SoWa population may increase drammatically.

[Dougall5505]

Ohhhh a rumor! but anyway Diff, have you heard any other rumors about future retailers in 3720 and the alexan, or even mirabella?

[bvpcvm]

i'd be surprised if 3720 *doesn't* become apts; the same developer's already selling units in the cyan, but hasn't even begun marketing for 3720. given how much further along 3720 is, i don't expect to see anything for sale there.

[Diffbean]

The retail talk has been pretty slow. The only talk is the potential for Jimmy's Smokehouse and Pizzeria to get a location in the district.

[pdxman]

Ohhhh a rumor! but anyway Diff, have you heard any other rumors about future retailers in 3720 and the alexan, or even mirabella?

Hey dougall, I usually check out urban works real estates' website to see whats coming in sowa, and the pearl.

www.urbanworksrealestate.com

[Dougall5505]

Affordable housing is behind schedule
South Waterfront - Five years after pledges, apartments are stalled by money meltdown
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
RYAN FRANK
The Oregonian
In 2003, when Portland city leaders brokered plans for the $2 billion South Waterfront development, they pledged that the new, taxpayer-supported district would offer housing for everyone, not just the rich.

Five years later, that hasn't happened.

Under the deal, work on the first affordable apartment building was scheduled to finish by December 2006. Today, construction among the district's condo towers has yet to start.

The project that the Portland Development Commission hoped would break ground last fall has fallen to a scheduled summer ground-breaking. A second affordable apartment project faces big obstacles to meet its deadline, too.

What's the problem?

Yes, national economic forces have hit South Waterfront: Financial market contortions mean it's harder to sell low-income housing tax credits needed to build the apartments.

But the PDC also ran into obstacles: a ballooning budget for an aerial tram to Oregon Health & Science University, design changes on the first low-income apartment building, and cutbacks at OHSU, a major South Waterfront landowner.

With each delay, the projects have become more expensive as construction and land costs have risen.

"These are tough times to fund housing projects," said Patrick Quinton, a PDC senior development manager who manages South Waterfront work. "We think, given the market conditions, all the partners are doing what they can to meet the obligations."

The South Waterfront contract among the PDC, developer North Macadam Investors and OHSU requires the city agency to start construction of the first affordable apartment building by Nov. 30, 2007. Although the city is behind, neither the developer nor OHSU has objected.

South Waterfront is one of the most complex public-private real estate deals ever in Portland. For five years, the city has tried to juggle the shifting priorities of its largest private employer, OHSU, and hundreds of new condo owners.

But low-income housing advocates, who long have worried about the pace of the city's affordable housing construction, are concerned that South Waterfront's apartments continue to take a back seat to other priorities such as the district's tram, streetcar extension and parks. The schedule for a park project, for example, was moved up once the district's first condo buyers moved in.

Sam Chase, executive director of affordable housing group Community Development Network, said: "It continues to be frustrating that affordable housing is second to those other priorities."

Mortgage meltdown

The city's current plan is for the first affordable apartments to go up at the district's southern end on a plot known as Block 49.

The PDC bought the site in 2006 for $5 million from North Macadam Investors, led by Homer Williams. The purchase gave the city power to require that affordable housing be built on the land. The commission plans to sell the land back to another Williams' firm, Williams & Dame Development, to build the 200-apartment building.

Before the November 2007 construction deadline, the U.S. mortgage market melted down. Some tax-credit investors stopped buying because they had no income to offset with credits.

Late last year, plans for the Block 49 apartments changed as the building was in the midst of design work. City leaders wanted to double the number of apartments for the lowest-income earners, a single person making less than $14,250, or 30 percent of the region's median family income. Those 40 apartments, along with health or social services, would be marketed to returning veterans, said John Warner, a senior development manager at the PDC.

"That was a pretty good confluence of events," Warner said.

The financial market troubles, design changes and rising construction costs, however, mean the PDC probably will have to put more public money into the deal.

The project, known as The Tamarack, is now estimated to cost $50 million. The city's share -- raised through taxes on nearby properties -- could rise from its current $14 million budget to $20 million.

Numbers didn't work

A few blocks north, the city's second affordable apartment building is planned to go above a massive OHSU parking garage.

The university originally planned to build the roughly 1,500-space garage in 2005, then pushed back the schedule to 2010.

Last year, OHSU officials had set aside $70 million in its financial forecasts to build the garage in 2010. They tried to find a way for the parking garage's revenue to cover the debt payments on a construction loan. They also looked at bringing in other financial partners and diverting parking revenues from elsewhere on campus.

But they couldn't make the numbers work.

Making things worse, the university is in the midst of cutting expenses after the Oregon Supreme Court in December lifted the university's liability cap on malpractice lawsuits.

Now, Mark Williams, OHSU's vice president of campus planning and real estate, said he has started new talks with the city about the garage, including delaying its construction. (The university also has cut out spending in its five-year forecast for its second South Waterfront building planned near the aerial tram station.)

It's not clear when the garage or apartments might get built. Williams said all options are on the table.

"They're working as hard as they can to get that going," Quinton said.

The PDC already paid the university $3 million to reserve 100 parking spaces in the garage for apartment tenants. Under its contract, the commission could ask for a refund if OHSU doesn't meet the 2010 deadline. But the city would lose rights to the spaces if it receives a refund.

Meantime, the PDC hopes to buy other South Waterfront land for affordable apartments.

Ryan Frank: 503-221-8519; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com Staff writer Ted Sickinger of The Oregonian contributed to this report.


©2008 The Oregonian

[zilfondel]

hmm, maybe OHSU should rethink blowing $70 million on a glorified parking lot. increased bike facilities and transit would likely be a helluva lot cheaper...

[tworivers]

Their inability to build that garage could be the best thing that ever happened to the district. I fail to connect the dots between the message we've heard about the absolute constraints around auto traffic in Sowa (both within and going in and out) and the promise to build this enormous parking garage --right across the street from the neighborhood's primary park-- with affordable housing stacked on top. Uh...

[MarkDaMan]

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news_graphics/120846735566053200.jpg
(news photo)
L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune
Per-unit development charges help fund roads and parks in the new South Waterfront neighborhood.

Road fees may leap
Hefty boost in development charges could help fund South Waterfront improvements
By Jim Redden
The Portland Tribune, Apr 18, 2008

The Portland City Council could be asked to increase development charges in the growing North Macadam Urban Renewal Area to help fund more than $211 million in needed transportation improvements.

City transportation officials are meeting with area property owners and others to see how much more should be charged to build the streets, paths and transit lines in the area.

At two March meetings, city officials revealed the maximum allowable increase would raise the transportation fee that is charged to developers from $1,432 to almost $10,910 per apartment unit. Condominium and office buildings would experience similar hikes.

Such increases immediately were deemed unacceptable by Bob Durgan, a construction manager representing area property owner ZRZ Inc.

“That’s unaffordable,” said Durgan, vice president of development services for Andersen Construction. “Developers would simply go somewhere else to build.”

Kathryn Levine, a Portland Office of Transportation manager assigned to the so-called North Macadam Transportation System Development Charge Overlay project, stressed the $9,478 increase is intended as a starting point for discussions, not a serious proposal.

“We’re just trying to set parameters at this point,” she said.

Nevertheless, Levine notes that even if the fee is increased the maximum amount, it would pay for less than half of the transportation work envisioned in the area. The rest still would need to be raised from federal, state and local sources.

“The (transportation) needs are very great,” she said. “The question is, How high can we go and remain competitive within the region?”

In the region, transportation development charges currently range from $448 per apartment in Troutdale to $3,938 in Gresham, according to a recent city study.

The transportation funding shortfall is just one of several issues raising questions about the future of the South Waterfront Central District, the 130-acre tract in the heart of the area where high-rise towers are rising along the Willamette River, south of the Marquam Bridge.

Since work began in the district several years ago, the downtown condominium market has stalled. Financial problems have prompted Oregon Health & Science University to postpone construction on an underground parking garage that is supposed to be topped by an affordable housing unit.

And some residents are disappointed by the specifics of current plans for tranforming the riverbank into a greenway park.

At the same time, some projects in the area continue to move forward. An open house is set for Tuesday on the final design for a two-block neighborhood park. And a week later, OHSU will host an open house on its most recent plans for a satellite campus north of the Ross Island Bridge on property donated by the Schnitzer family.
Area had few existing roads

City officials have always known that transportation would be a difficult issue in North Macadam, especially on the land south of the RiverPlace project at the south end of Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

The concept crafted by the Portland Development Commission and approved by the council called for the densest neighborhood in the city to be built in a former industrial zone with few existing streets and where the north and south entrances – called portals – are restricted by Marquam Bridge supports and confusing signage.

Because of this, plans call for improving the existing streets and building new ones. But more than that, residents and workers also are supposed to be offered a variety of transportation options, including pedestrian and bicycle paths, a Portland streetcar link and a MAX light-rail line crossing the river.

Paying for the improvements is proving difficult, however, in part because of city policies governing transportation system development charges – fees on new construction to pay for transportation projects that improve capacity.

Under the existing charges, Transportation System Development Charge funds do not stay in the areas where they are collected. Instead, they are pooled together and distributed to eligible projects throughout the city.

After determining that North Macadam needs approximately $93 million in transportation work that qualifies for TSDC funding, city officials have proposed increasing the fees charged in the area, with the understanding that all of the additional money would be spent there.

“We are looking for a self-sustaining source of revenue,” city transportation Commissioner Sam Adams said.

This potential increase is being called the “overlay” proposal. First announced last November, it formally was presented to a meeting of the 26-member area stakeholders advisory group and at a public open house in March.

Reaction so far has been mixed. Mark Williams, OHSU development director for the area, said the teaching hospital is willing to consider the proposal, but has not taken a position on it yet.

“Something needs to done, that’s for sure,” Williams said.
PSU, OHSU may be included

Durgan agrees that something needs to be done, but he is afraid that imposing the entire increase in North Macadam is not the answer. Instead, he believes the city needs to consider applying it to a larger area – the area from OHSU’s facilities on Marquam Hill east to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, including Portland State University and South Waterfront.

Planners have talked about designating this area as a science and technology research triangle. The triangle concept will be studied in depth as part of the Portland Plan, the effort to update numerous city land use plans later this year.

“The idea is, people are supposed to be moving through this entire area all the time,” Durgan said. “If that’s the case, then the transportation needs of the entire area should be considered at the same time.”

No one – including Durgan – knows what the overlay increase would be if spread throughout the larger area.

Durgan admits it could be even higher than the maximum allowed in North Macadam because of the additional potential projects, such as reworking the Southwest Sixth Avenue exit off Interstate 5 toward PSU.

“The city needs to look at the bigger picture,” Durgan said. “It wouldn’t make any sense to fix all the problems in the area, but have people run into traffic jams when they try to leave.”

The stakeholders advisory group is scheduled to make its recommendation on the potential increase this summer. It could go to the council in the fall.
Parks don’t please all

Transportation improvements are not the only projects considered essential to improve livability in North Macadam. Plans also call for two new parks – a two-block neighborhood park just west of the South Waterfront Central District residential towers, and a section of an expanded greenway on the five-block stretch of the Willamette River east of them.

Like the overlay proposal, the two parks are drawing mixed reviews.

The final design for the neighborhood park will be presented at an open house Tuesday. It envisions a large lawn, a community gathering space, a native plant garden and storm-water treatment facilities. The construction budget is set at around $3.7 million.

Ken Love, chairman of the South Portland Neighborhood Association, which includes South Waterfront, is pleased with the current proposal.

“It will go a long way for making the area a real neighborhood,” he said.

Love is not so happy about plans for the greenway, however. He believes it does not include enough public amenities.

Although Love believes the proposed pedestrian and walking trails will be well used, he is disappointed that it does not include more specific sites for bird-watching and other recreational activities.

Patty Freeman, the greenway project manager for Portland Parks & Recreation, said the plan was developed through numerous meetings with stakeholders over the past few year.

“We understand that park supporters always want more,” Freeman said.

Work could begin on the South Waterfront Central District portion of the greenway this summer. It is budgeted at $6 million.

jimredden@portlandtribune.com

Two open houses are planned this month on future developments within the Central District of the South Waterfront Urban Renewal Area.

South Waterfront neighborhood park open house

What: Presentation of proposed final design for two-block area designated for public park.

When: Tuesday, April 22, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., presentation at 6 p.m.

Where: OHSU Center for Health and Healing, third floor, 3303 S.W. Bond St.

OHSU Schnitzer Campus open house

What: Update on plans for building a satellite OHSU campus south of the Ross Island Bridge

When: Tuesday, April 29, 4 p.m.

Where: OHSU Center for Health and Healing, third floor, 3303 S.W. Bond St.
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/print_story.php?story_id=120846504503873600

[Dougall5505]

video on oregonlive.com: http://videos.oregonlive.com/2008/04/south_waterfront_in_progress.html

[sowat]

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/121022610597100.xml&coll=7

Prometheus Real Estate Development, a California firm that plans to build as many as six high-rise residential towers in the South Waterfront district, is backing off plans to build a one-story sales office just north of the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant.
Instead, Prometheus will probably put its sales office in retail space planned for its first tower, to be built at Southwest River Parkway and Abernethy Street.
"Retail space is going begging" in the new district, says Ellen Brown, Prometheus project coordinator.
While condo sales have slowed to a trickle in the neighborhood, Pacific Retirement Services reports strong interest in its 30-story retirement complex at 3030 S.W. Moody Ave., where ground was broken recently.
The 280-unit complex might be filled from day one when it's completed in 2010, adding more seniors to a neighborhood where retirees and empty-nesters are already the dominant demographic.
FRED LEESON

[pdxman]

Thanks for the pics! I was just down there today and noticed all the activity going on. Sowa still has a long way to go but it should be great when its built out. It would be nice to see more jobs down there to provide more activity but until then I suppose the residents will have to do.

[sowat]

Thurs May 15, late in the day.
Hope this isn't too many pics for y'all.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9604/img0572vz4.jpg
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Thank heavens for the brave Bambuza. The food is very good, and they are super friendly.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5924/img0598we5.jpg
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http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/161/img0616hk2.jpg
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3734/img0618qs8.jpg

[MarkDaMan]

^Thanks for sharing...district is really turning into something!

[Sekkle]

great update. Thanks!

[tworivers]

I just want to say that everyone should go eat at Bambuza (http://www.bambuza.com/index3.html). My girlfriend (who was just in Vietnam last month) and I ate there last week and were really impressed --delicious, fresh authentic food; friendly people; nice minimalist interior; and also surprisingly affordable.

[Sioux612]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=l1y4iyWKR64

[Castillonis]

SW waterfront needs an ember to kindle the fire and start the progression towards a critical mass. It is important to do it soon while investors are willing to inject capital. Some concessions need to be made for the benefit of all parties. Apartments that rent at true market rate would be part of that equation. The future market price may increase significantly by making those concessions now and kindling the SW watefront.

A progressive grocery store would definitely help though I have been told by a developer that grocers demands are difficult to satisfy. The developer said to note that grocery stores such as Whole foods in the Pearl are located in smaller buildings. They need a minimal number of support columns and other items. They have a lower profit margin than other businesses. They need a customer base which the SW waterfront does not yet have. Also, how would a thriving stores traffic and parking effect current residents? It needs to be located close to the access roads so that customers do not need to travel into the core of the neighborhood by car. They just need to park at the grocery store which is located close to the access road. (minimize or reduce non neighborhood patron traffic into neighborhood versus every grocery patron traveling to center of neighborhood. Grocer not a parking lot for neighborhood)

Current store owners are probably taking a loss and need to watch the biggest expenses such as labor very closely. Labor needs to be watched closely in any business with medium to lower margins anyway. Hopefully the burn rate is lower.

Current developers and investors may not be ready to make concessions or change their business models enough. When I worked as an engineer I experienced management and employees who were out of touch because their disposable income was so much different than other peoples disposable income. The investors and managers also were resistant to significant changes in markets and acknowleging losses and rationalized continuing with the same plan. (Their money or debt is at stake)

This neighborhood has incredible potential. It just needs a critical mass to get it going.

[Diffbean]

The most logical location for a market (New Seasons we can only hope) is the current Discovery Center site. The rumors are the Discovery Center is moving closer into the district so that building will be vacant. It offers easy access on and off of Macadam as well as walking distance for residents of the district. There is minimal parking but enough for the commuters that would be coming from outside the district.

In addition, it would be an additional lunch/dinner source for employees of OHSU.

[Castillonis]

You don't have time to leave the clinic and eat. Residents make much less money (around 39k for the three years of residency) and work many more hours. Their ID card has money associated with it to be used in the cafeteria on the hill. Fellows that have finished their 3-5 year residency (examples family, peds, internal medicine, emergency medicine 3 years, General Surgery 5 years plus a possible research year) would make slightly more maybe 49k/year.

The business people on the hill might eat away from their desk, but it takes a considerable amount of time to leave the hill. You would need to have business off of the hill to justify the amount of time it takes.

The biggest reason they would not patronize the store would be a lack of time.

[Diffbean]

Appreciate your scenario's Castillonis, but as an OHSU employee and one that works directly with Attendings, Residents, Fellows, Med Students, etc. there is time to leave the hill to grab a bite.

Yes, their ID cards are supplemented with funds to use at the cafeteria based on the amount of call they take. However, you can only eat so many meals at the cafeteria.

I would disagree with your lack of time comment being an obstacle. I see it more as a benefit for a market. It would be a quick stop prior to heading home at the end of the day to get the necessities needed

[MarkDaMan]

^and increase Tram usage...although it is still above projections from what I've read.

[tworivers]

Crazy? Gutsy? Incredibly stupid?

New Restaurant: Lucier
by Christina Melander, special to The Oregonian
Thursday May 22, 2008, 2:55 PM

Walking through $4 million Lucier restaurant, on the South Waterfront, it's clear that owner Chris Dussin means to deliver a dining experience heretofore unseen in Portland.

With custom leather furniture from Italy and high-polish marble on bar tables; with true Kobe beef and a cart full of caviar on offer from the kitchen; with a wine list that spans $25 to $10,000 for a single bottle, Lucier aspires to be swankier than Bluehour, more contemporary than El Gaucho and as food-obsessed as Genoa during its heyday.

Whether Portlanders are of a mind to hold up their end of the bargain and shell out for luxe good times remains to be seen.

But you can't fault Dussin, his wife, Tyanne, and partner-chef Pascal Chureau for aiming high.

The restaurant they have created, with design direction from industry pros Alvarez + Brock, is supermodel stunning. Situated in a single-story standalone building about 10 feet from the riverbank, Lucier is wrapped in windows and handsome African hardwoods. Inside, a tasteful water channel snakes around the dining room, echoing the nearby Willamette. A reflective gold pod faceted like a gemstone conceals the bar and its noisy presence. Overhead, bronze tube chandeliers lend a bit of edge to the classy decor.

Will the food rival the trappings?

Chureau, who also is executive chef at Fenouil (the Dussins formed a business alliance with Chureau a year ago and bought out Fenouil founders David and Susan Regan), tapped his classic French training and assembled a brigade-style kitchen for Lucier. In this model, two cooks command each station -- garde-manger, salad, saute, etc. -- and handle every aspect of the dishes for which they are responsible. The goal is consistency. "It allows us to control the product from when it comes in the door to when it goes out on a plate," Chureau explains. "In other kitchens it's more typical for management to do the butchering. Here, when a tuna comes in, the fish station butchers, prepares and plates it. If there's a problem, you know where to go."

Preview menus were not available, but Chureau describes Lucier's food as modern European cuisine, pulling flavors from Morocco, Italy and Portugal as well as from France, and borrowing techniques from Japan. Menus comprise a la carte, bar and a seven-course chef's tasting menu that emphasizes a few ingredients -- tomatoes and the red mullet fish rouget, for example -- throughout the entire meal. To encourage diners to try luxury items like Kobe beef and live scallops in the shell, the kitchen will prepare them in tiny portions, coupling, say, an ounce of Wagyu beef with a New York steak to demonstrate the difference. Similarly, wine director Scott Calvert will pour several of his 200 Champagnes by the glass.

Champagne and caviar are a world apart from the Virginia Cafe*, founded by Dussin's grandfather in 1914, and the Old Spaghetti Factory*, opened by Dussin's father in 1969. The third-generation restaurateur has longed to open a high-end place for a decade and felt the time was right despite the shifting economy. "Things go in cycles," Dussin says. "People always find a way to go out and celebrate special occasions."

Lucier opens for dinner on Monday, May 26. 1910 S.W. River Drive; 503-222-7300

*Weird.

[Castillonis]

I took these photos on Saturday the day before they set up all of the tents in the park. Notice the new vietnamese fusion restaurant Bambuza which should be a welcomed addition to the neighborhood. You can see the progress on the Alexan. The Tram, OHSU, John Ross, and 3720 are also visible. Remember that you can look up and down as well.

Click on image to view 360 panorama
http://www.myphototours.com/examples/0010/stills/SWwaterfrontPark360_800x292.jpg (http://www.myphototours.com/examples/0010/virtual/SWwaterfrontPark360.html)

Virtual panorama controls
Turn off the music w/ the pause button located in the bottom row controls
Enlarge to full screen by clicking the button on the far right after the files have loaded completely.
Navigate by clicking the screen with your mouse and dragging.


NOTE: I took the photos that comprise this media and photo still on Saturday 31May08

[LSPDX]

I have yet to see a bad shot of the South Waterfront and I don't believe I ever will. Nice pics. :notacrook:

[bugsy]

Quick question,

Why doesn't the South Waterfront have a nightlife area? ya know similar to the pearl.

I think it would serve pretty well for a little nightlife scene on the wkends.

do you guys agree?

[ericb4prez]

the south waterfront is too old in demographic and a little stuffy to have any sort of nightlife going on over there...it's really a removed bedroom community.

[PDX City-State]

Not all nightlife has to be youthful, and I don't agree that the demographic is old and stuffy. I know a few people in their 20s and 30s living in the area.

While the area won't likely be home to dance clubs and hipster dives, South Waterfront could support the likes of a wine bar I'm sure. If such a place could be incorporated into a retail shop, then all the better.

I like the South Waterfront, and I don't believe Ryan Frank and other writers have given it a fair shake recently. Four years ago, it didn't exist, and now it has been anointed by the local press as what's wrong with the local condo market. Sales are slow, but don't count on them staying that way. It's quite impressive that a neighborhood that broke ground in 2004 would have a better skyline than some cities that have stood for hundreds of years.

[ericb4prez]

yeah...i know a few young people that live there too...i'm just talking about in general...

there is a bar that at la hana and i heard that a vietnamese joint just opened in the john ross.

[bugsy]

I just think its an untapped potential area to have clubs similar to the SOLO in the pearl or maybe even like the AURA. It would give the city much needed options.

Honestly, I bet you guys in about a couple years when the district really starts forming something like that indeed will show up.

[ericb4prez]

i completely agree that portland is lacking in the nightlife scene...

i feel like the rose quarter redevelopment could be a great place to do it...close enough to a lot of people but not too residential to get complaints.

[sowat]

Quick question,

Why doesn't the South Waterfront have a nightlife area? ya know similar to the pearl.

I think it would serve pretty well for a little nightlife scene on the wkends.

do you guys agree?

Several problems: lack of parking, easy access, and yes, probably the wrong demographic for nightlife, especially if you mean nightclubs. As a south waterfront resident, I welcome not being kept awake at all hours of the night with bars and clubs emptying into the street with loud drunken partygoers. There are restaurants and at least one bar, more will follow, but I can't imagine a raging nightlife over here.

[Castillonis]

As you progress through life you enjoy or appreciate different things. It is more difficult for some to understand this. I would not welcome this type of development after purchasing a condo at the SW waterfront. A wine bar would be much more appropriate for the demographics. You can certainly travel a short distance and enjoy a different atmosphere downtown if that is what you desire. This will become more apparent to many younger people as they transition to different periods in their life.

[bvpcvm]

anyone know what's going on with block 49?? signs showed up in the streetcar in march saying that in april the last stop would be closed due to construction. then the signs disappeared and - nothing. and while we're at it, what's going on with 46???

[sowat]

june 16, without crane

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9795/46001373zx3.jpg

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7416/27335323rd4.jpg

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/1264/81712013ev1.jpg

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http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/93/10ae7.jpg

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/3373/11co8.jpg

[dkealoha]

I just think its an untapped potential area to have clubs similar to the SOLO in the pearl or maybe even like the AURA.

I live 1 block from SoLo and I hate it. Most of the people that go there do not live in the neighborhood and don't respect the people that live here. Some girl screaming at 2:30 am out the window of a pink hummer limo isn't that nice to wake up to every weekend. Places like this should go in the cbd/downtown area where people don't live.

[sowat]

I posted similar (smaller) shots on the 3720 page. The cement blocks in the foreground are where SW River Parkway will extend south, and join the Spaghetti Factory car park, some of which I guess is being taken away.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2996/riverpkwyna9.jpg

[LSPDX]

Great pics!! :tup: I gotta say the 3720 is my favorite building in the South Waterfront.

[urbanlife]

I do have to say, as of right now, I do like how they are bringing the floor planes to the outside. Sort of highlighting the slab construction. I actually didnt know they were this far along with this tower, goes to show how much I go to the SoWa.

[sowat]

Unfortunately the signs for Pizza a Fetta have come down. This was expected to go in on the ground floor retail of the John Ross, facing the courtyard. See article below from http://wweek.com/editorial/3350/9855/ Oct 2007 about restaurants in SoWa. About a month ago I also noticed the LEASED sign came down from where Orupa was planned to go. So it looks like a longer wait for more restaurants in the area. Perhaps in the long run this will be a good thing. If anyone has been to Bella Espresso I'm sure you'll agree we'd all like to see something more lively and up-to-date than the dated 80's euro-cliche interior design disaster and sad food at Bella. :slob: Speaking of which, off the SoWa subject a little, the bakery cafe at Clinton Condominiums opened and is great, do go. :tup: I hope we get something like that when 3720, Alexan, and Mirabella are occupied. In time.

[from Oct 2007]
And now, SoWa’s even attracted beach food .

Bella Espresso’s South Waterfront shop (3580 SW River Parkway, 467-7532) is much like its original Cannon Beach location—both a mocha mecca with a fondness for faux-renaissance clutter and a quiet lunch spot to savor good sandwiches, cheesecake, imported gelato and local baked goods. What’s more, Bella owners Kevin and Julie Countryman and James Faurentino will import a branch of their other Cannon Beach establishment, gourmet pizzeria Pizza a’ Fetta , to the ground floor of SoWa’s John Ross tower this January. Eat Me eagerly awaits the arrival of kite stores and saltwater taffy shops.

That’s not all. Across the street, an upscale eatery called Orupa (Oregon + Europe, get it?) will debut this winter in the stunning Atwater Place tower. These new restaurants will add more to the already solid offerings found at Le Hana Japanese Bar and Grill (3570 SW River Parkway, 681-3885) and the tarragon-chicken-loving Daily Cafe (3335 SW Bond Ave., 224-9691).

[PacificNW]

I hope they get that pedestrian bridge across I-5 to the SoWa started and completed. That, in it self, would increase the SoWa foot traffic. :)

[pdxman]

I'm going to an open house for the ped bridge next week so I'll fill you all in after that...I think just getting more people living down there and somehow creating jobs down there will get the area going. This is where we have to depend on OHSU to come thru and make something happen.

[bvpcvm]

If anyone has been to Bella Espresso I'm sure you'll agree we'd all like to see something more lively and up-to-date than the dated 80's euro-cliche interior design disaster and sad food at Bella. :slob:

I couldn't agree more! Seriously, do they bus their hipster employees in from Belmont? I walked in and immediately had a vision of a hipster barista day labor center, heavily patronized by these guys.

[PDX City-State]

Hipster? Seriously, that's the most overused label in PDX. And besides, no hipster worth his or her salt would ever be seen in South Waterfont. That would mean they'd have to admit liking the tram, which could lead to a severe identity crisis.

I think jerkoff is a more apt descriptor. I had coffee there once and was treated like I wasn't there. For one, their coffee sucks. It's sad that these retail options set the bar so low in South Waterfront. I fear now that more respectable retailers will avoid South Waterfront because of round one. Then again, I could be wrong.

On the bright side, I ate at Bambuza last week and thought it was far better than average. It was by no means Pok Pok, but it was nearly as good as Pho Van. That's saying a lot. I highly recommend it.

[bvpcvm]

actually, you're right; working there invalidates their hipstertude. i guess it was the asymmetrical haircuts that confused me.

[IanofCascadia]

Okay, come on people. First we beg for more retail... then blast one of the few businesses with the guts to open up shop in the area. We then criticize not only the shop owners but also the employees, saying that somehow they don't fit in (let us all remember what the Pearl was like merely a decade ago).

While I'll admit that the coffee at Bella certainly isn't the best, I greatly appreciate the effort which shop owners went to in order to transform the place and personally quite enjoy the ceiling mural. The two story layout is also nice to write and get other work done.

The point I'm trying to make is that criticism is all well and good, but it won't turn an area into a lively and livable community. However, what will help to do this is greater foot-traffic and MORE diversity... not demographic stereotypes.

[PDX City-State]

Ian: I agree and my criticisms of the their staff don't run too deep. Still, I want to meet the person who convinced Bella it could survive in such a large place, and I'd like to meet the person who decided such a crappy buildout was somehow a good idea. I can't even imagine what they're paying in rent. It's probably the largest coffee shop in Portland, and it's rent is likely astronomical. It's suicide.

[sowat]

Yesterday I was informed by a forumer that Block 46 is not Prometheus's first project, in fact Prometheus doesn't even own 46. It was owned by Homer but it might be the one BrG is talking about being revised, I guess we will find out...

Block 46 is the Matisse, designed by Ankrom Moisan:
http://www.amaa.com/portfolio/project/?category=otb&project=173&redir=L3BvcnRmb2xpby8/Y2F0ZWdvcnk9b3RiIzI3
Web site says project client is Simpson Housing. This was supposed to start construction this summer, no? Has this changed? I wonder if they are rethinking he project now that 3720 is now a rental.

On the South Waterfront thread bvpcm recently asked what was going on with block 49, which is the Tamarack affordable housing project also designed by Ankrom Moisan.
http://www.amaa.com/portfolio/project/?category=otb&project=141&redir=L3BvcnRmb2xpby8/Y2F0ZWdvcnk9b3RiIzI4

Mark, any interest in asking Ankron what's going on?

[philopdx]

I thought the interior of Bella was kind of neat, and not like any other coffee shops in Portland. I'm too young to have drank coffee in the 1980's, so maybe I don't remember that Renaissance-themed places were supposed to be hokey.

The staff need some serious training on making a latte, but this being Portland, I would be rather disappointed if I saw baristas that looked... normal.

I do, however, feel terrible for the owners. I was the only one in that huge space when I visited and I reckon they must be losing their shirts on cash flow. I don't see how they are going to survive, which is a real bummer.

[IanofCascadia]

My guess is that Bella and the other places will do well in the end... so long as they stick around a few more years, even if they bleed badly in between. As has been mentioned before, the whole district really is nearing the point of critical mass. With the completion of the new apartments and Mirabella, the district's population could easily triple (or more) by 2010.

Indeed Philo, Portland's bar has certainly been set very high. I mean in most cities the people think of Starbucks (which I like as well) as "fine" coffee. We go to places like Stumptown and sometimes forget just how spoiled we are. However, both of the times that I was in Bella there were maybe a half-dozen others in there as well. They're probably losing money... I just hope it's not that bad.

[MarkDaMan]

so how long until Starbucks opens in SoWa and puts Bella out of business?

[IanofCascadia]

so how long until Starbucks opens in SoWa and puts Bella out of business?

Not what I'm saying at all. I like Bella, I like Starbucks, I like Peets, and I love Stumptown...heck, I can't think of a single coffee shop that I have been to that I don't like. I have a special appreciation for the current shops in SoWa since they were willing to take the risk of being the first (old Columbus argument we've probably all heard a thousand times).

Getting back to the subject at hand, anyone heard any news on Blocks 46 or 49? Both were supposed to start around now.

[cronked]

Here is an Autostitch from 6-23-08. Not too much different from the last one. Just a deeper hole.

http://24.20.132.93/mirabella/62308.jpg

[tworivers]

South Waterfront forges an identity
Neighborhood’s residents are warming to life near the river amid construction

POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Tuesday, July 8, 2008
BY SAM BENNETT (DJC)

On the Fourth of July, Norm Whitlatch helped throw a party for a couple hundred friends and neighbors.

Dubbed the South Waterfront Neighborhood BBQ and Potluck, it was the second annual Independence Day get-together for South Waterfront residents only, including soon-to-be residents of the Mirabella apartments.

For Whitlatch and his wife, Judy, the party was a way to meet neighbors and celebrate their new environs.

To the occasional visitor, the South Waterfront area can be a confusing grid of one-way arterials, construction equipment spilling onto narrow side streets and tall, uninviting condo towers. As Gertrude Stein would say, there is no there there.

But for residents who have just settled in or who have been there for more than a year, South Waterfront, though young, is a neighborhood with distinct character.

“This isn’t the Pearl District and that’s why we moved here,” said Whitlatch, who has lived with his wife in South Waterfront for a year and a half. “We like the proximity to the arts, and we rarely take the car out.” They said the Pearl has more pedestrian and car traffic on the streets than the retired couple cares for.

In the heart of the South Waterfront neighborhood, some of the action on the streets these days revolves around positioning and moving construction equipment, as workers build a continuing care retirement tower called Mirabella and an apartment tower called the Ardea. (<<Prometheus?)

Linda Wysong, June’s artist-in-residence at South Waterfront, said visitors have a much different perspective on the neighborhood than its residents. Wysong last month created a 15-minute video focused on the South Waterfront, its residents, construction workers and office workers at the OHSU Center for Health & Healing.

“What’s true today will not be true in six months,” she said, referring to the burgeoning neighborhood. “It’s different from the inside than from the outside. People from the outside tend to be more critical.”

Several people interviewed in the video, including a worker at the OHSU building, said South Waterfront does not have the feel of a real neighborhood. Others, however, said the area offers adventures for adults and children who want to explore the waterfront.

Stacey Bailey, who dropped by South Waterfront for lunch last week, said it won’t feel like a neighborhood “until construction is out of the way.”

But for others, such as the Whitlatches and Alberta Tapp, who lives in the Meriwether condo tower, South Waterfront is ideally situated to zip into downtown for arts events such as the symphony. Tapp moved from her home on nearly an acre of land in Wilsonville to a 1,250-square-foot condo, where she can watch wildlife and industrial life – as barges are constructed at an industrial site north of South Waterfront. She said community groups “make a great effort to make this a community.”

The Whitlatches, who live in the John Ross condo tower, left the Oregon coast to come to South Waterfront and live in what they called an “eco-friendly environment.” The couple said they are avid walkers and art-goers, and Norm Whitlatch joined a dragon boat team last spring.

Wysong said that although South Waterfront has a streetcar connecting it with downtown, it must make a greater connection with the rest of Portland.

“They have not found a way to integrate South Waterfront into the city,” she said. “How that connection is made is the open question.”

[sowat]

sowa pics 7-16-08

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/874/sowafromohsuds0.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3361/sowafromskytrainfr4.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6816/sowatrainhg9.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/2731/sowajz5.jpg

[brandonpdx]

what are those poles in the park?

[sowat]

what are those poles in the park?

some temporary 'art' installation, I guess