South Waterfront is ready for its close-up
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Fred Leeson
The Oregonian
A neighborhood unlike any other in Portland will finally start to blossom this year after years of planning and talk.
People will begin moving into slender condo towers with stunning views of downtown, Mount Hood and Ross Island. Patients and doctors will meet in a new medical building. Airborne visitors will be whisked silently to and from the neighborhood in silvery capsules suspended from a cable running to Oregon Health & Science University. The Portland Streetcar will provide a vital artery to downtown.
Although completion will take a few more years, the South Waterfront Central District (the official name) will show its face, springing to life from barren former industrial land south of the Ross Island Bridge.
It's the real test for many top architects and planners who worked on it. "Here, it's all being designed simultaneously," says Michael McCulloch, chairman of the Portland Design Commission, which reviews each new building proposal.
Even in the fast-growing Pearl District, architects have had a decade to learn from successes and mistakes. Not so on the South Waterfront.
"These developments are happening in quick succession," McCulloch says. "They are in sympathy with each other, but they are not evolutionary in terms of learning from each other."
The design commission has tried to make sure new buildings fit with their neighbors and create a pleasing pedestrian environment for residents and visitors. Many buildings will offer retail spaces at street level for neighborhood-oriented restaurants and businesses.
Further, a Portland Office of Transportation plan offers a unified approach to street furniture such as benches, street signs, utility poles and newsracks intended to lend a tasteful uniformity to the new district. Will it all work?
The answer will lie in the eye of each beholder. "It has been a challenge to imagine something as good as it possibly can be," McCulloch says.
Key elements to watch for this year:
Opening of the first condo towers, a 21- and 24-story duo called The Meriwether.
Topping out of The John Ross, a 31-story elliptical condo tower that will be the first to hit a 325-foot maximum height allowed in the district.
Completion of Building One, the start of a new Oregon Health & Science University complex that represents the university's first major expansion off Marquam Hill.
Start of service by the Portland Aerial Tram, that will carry passengers between the main OHSU campus and the central district in less than three minutes.
Extension of the Portland Streetcar along Southwest Moody Avenue from RiverPlace to Southwest Gibbs Street.
Clearing and planting of interim turf for a two-block neighborhood park bounded by Southwest Moody and Bond avenues between Curry and Gaines streets. Planning will come later for a permanent park design. "We don't want to start planning before residents move in," says Larry Brown, a Portland Development Commission senior development manager. "People who live there deserve to have a say in their park's design."
Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946;
fredleeson@news.oregonian.com
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