Sandy Pine | 124'-9" | 12 floors | On Hold

[uncommon.name]

The facade elements remind me of the Ritz Carlton building. It's a nice prominent and attractive building for that area.

[NOPO]

Great addition to the central east side. I can only hope as time goes by the area becomes more and more like a second central, dense, tall core of buildings.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Drawings [38 MB], Appendix [44 MB] and Staff Report, which recommends approval.

Snipped from the Appendix.

[AdamUrbanist]

I like the aesthetic, but IMO this part of town needs more buildings with a tighter relationship to the street edge. Especially along Sandy

[Rob Nob]

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

I like the aesthetic, but IMO this part of town needs more buildings with a tighter relationship to the street edge. Especially along Sandy

The tower steps back from the street, but there is a good story and a half to three story along the street edge.

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by Rob Nob

The tower steps back from the street, but there is a good story and a half to three story along the street edge.

I think it's a question of proportion. Wider streets need a more height to achieve a sense of enclosure. Similarly where the urban form is eroded with a lot of parking lots it's helpful when the new buildings really assert the street edge. It's not a bad building by any stretch, I just think it could do more to repair the urban environment.

[maccoinnich]

A green light to take wood to new heights



Will Portland finally get a mass-timber high-rise?

Plans for Sandy Pine, a 12-story, 125-foot-tall structure, were unanimously approved by the Portland Design Commission on Thursday. The building would hold 276 apartments (including six live-work units), 14,500 square feet of commercial space and bike parking, and 2.5 levels of below-grade parking for 178 motor vehicles.

The project is the second mass-timber tower LEVER Architecture has designed for a Portland site. Framework, a 12-story mixed-use building envisioned for the Pearl District, gained approval and even had building permits issued – but was never constructed. Financial difficulties halted the project in 2018.

Sandy Pine, if built, will be Portland’s tallest mass-timber building. The eight-story Carbon12, at 85 feet, became the tallest wood building in the U.S. when it was completed in 2018.

...continues at the DJC ($)

[maccoinnich]

Final Findings and Decision by the Design Commission

[maccoinnich]

Precision images has announced that they're moving from this site to 614 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Spring of 2023.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Precision images has announced that they're moving from this site to 614 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Spring of 2023.

LOL, I first read this as the developer was moving the project from Sandy to Hawthorne. I was confused.

[pdxsg34]

Sandy Pine applied for permit review last week. SE Sandy and Pine is going to look a lot different in a few years (assuming permits are issued) with this project and the 7-story (under review, appears to be moving forward) at 306 SE 8th directly west.

[jb111120]

How many units will the Sandy Pine development have? Portland maps says 476, but other sources say 276.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by jb111120

How many units will the Sandy Pine development have? Portland maps says 476, but other sources say 276.

Everything I've seen was ~276 with the exception of the Portland Maps link. 476 would be an unimaginable number of units in that building envelope.

[pdxsg34]

It appears the encroachment request for "Overhead lighting system / Light poles / Brick Pavers (TBD) / Plant Guards (TBD)" was Denied recently. I believe this was intended to span across SE 9th to the small ODOT-owned triangle lot to the west. This could be a dumb question, but why wouldn't the city consider selling that tiny lot to "SANDYPINE LLC"? Granted it was last year, but looking at PMaps, that lot was (and may still be) a derelict dump of a site that the city is clearly ignoring.

[maccoinnich]

The city doesn't typically sell right-of-way, and I'm not even confident that it can do so, but there is a process for street vacation where right-of-way reverts to the adjacent landowner. It's long and arduous though, so property owners tend to avoid unless it provides them with a really clear benefit.

On the denial: my experience is that the encroachment staff will deny anything slightly out of the usual, and then offer the ability to appeal. I wouldn't take the denial to mean that all the public improvements are going away.

Lastly, it looks like the permit for this building is now under review (it was previously just set up in the system, ready for the applicant to upload their drawings).

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

It appears the encroachment request for "Overhead lighting system / Light poles / Brick Pavers (TBD) / Plant Guards (TBD)" was Denied recently. I believe this was intended to span across SE 9th to the small ODOT-owned triangle lot to the west. This could be a dumb question, but why wouldn't the city consider selling that tiny lot to "SANDYPINE LLC"? Granted it was last year, but looking at PMaps, that lot was (and may still be) a derelict dump of a site that the city is clearly ignoring.

That triangular piece of ROW is a stormwater planter which is pretty cool. I've actually volunteered to help clean trash out of it in the past as it was designed by a firm I worked at formerly. Looking at Google maps I do see what looks like a ton of trash in it, but if you go to street view you can see it in more tranquil times. I will have to take a look at it when I have some time. BES manages it, so if there's still trash in it I'll give them a call.

[maccoinnich]

One design firm hands off mass-timber high-rise to another



Ankrom Moisan Architects has taken over from LEVER Architecture as architect-of-record for Sandy Pine – Portland’s anticipated first mass-timber high-rise.

LEVER Architecture designed the 12-story, 125-foot-tall structure for SolTerra Capital. An $80 million new construction permit is now under review for the project at 900 S.E. Sandy Blvd. The Portland Design Commission approved project plans in June 2022.

The transition from LEVER to Ankrom Moisan as architect-of-record was planned about a year ago to utilize both firms’ skill sets, SolTerra Capital CEO Brian Heather said. Ankrom Moisan will carry the project through construction documentation and to completion. LEVER is still involved with the project as the design architect, he added.

“We felt like LEVER did an awesome job on the design side, but they don’t have nearly the same multifamily experience as AMA [Ankrom Moisan Architects] in Portland,” Heather said.

...continues at the DJC ($)

[maccoinnich]

On the City Council agenda next week:

*Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program under the Inclusionary Housing Program for Solterra Sandy Pine located at 980 SE Pine St

Full ordinance here.

[pdxsg34]

Soho House’s new neighbor? Multnomah County’s drop-off site for drug users

Multnomah County on Thursday finalized a two-year lease with the owners of a Buckman property that will be used as a round-the-clock drop-off center for people caught with fentanyl and other street drugs.

...

Susan Lindsay, co-chair of the Buckman Community Association, told the board she worries police will relocate drug users from Old Town and downtown to Buckman – and drug dealers will follow.

“There was no on the ground involvement of anyone from the neighborhood or from the business community in terms of the siting of this,” she said.

...continues at the Oregonian

Oof. I really hope this doesn't kill the project. Permitting was last active in December. Perhaps developers anticipate the permitting process to take 2 more years, then start dev after the lease?

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

Soho House’s new neighbor? Multnomah County’s drop-off site for drug users





Oof. I really hope this doesn't kill the project. Permitting was last active in December. Perhaps developers anticipate the permitting process to take 2 more years, then start dev after the lease?

Multnomah County/Portland sure do a great job of shooting themselves in the foot. Portland get's something nice and suddenly they have to place these types of resources next door. Yes these resources are needed, but I feel they could have put more thought into location.