Economy doesn't deter architect
by Brian Libby, special to The Oregonian
Tuesday February 24, 2009, 6:36 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/02/economy_doesnt_deter_architect.html
Jeff Kovel has seen the headlines about our tumbling economy. He's noticed the number of construction cranes dotting central Portland have dwindled to scarcely any.
But Kovel, who heads Portland's Skylab Architecture, plans to go forward with a new office building when nearly all others are waiting.
The Weave Building, which Kovel's firm designed and is co-developing, is a 10-story, 50,000-square-foot project on a tiny 5,000-square-foot site on West Burnside Street with offices above ground-floor retail. Kovel says groundbreaking on the Weave, which will include offices and ground-level retail, could begin in as soon as six months.
In a weak economy, "this is a really defining time, and how you respond is important in terms of defining yourself," Kovel said. "We think the building is going to be a landmark along the Burnside corridor."
The Weave is to be built across Burnside from the popular Brewery Blocks development and between two McMenamins outlets: the Crystal Ballroom and Ringler's Annex. It will be just two blocks from Powell's Cityof Books and the streetcar line.
It's one of two buildings -- the others is the 22-story "12th and Washington" residential and office building now under construction -- that will test developers' ability to extend the Pearl District's success into downtown's west end.
Downtown office construction hasn't dried up entirely. Yet the most significant projects -- a 16-story building at Southwest First Avenue and Main Street and a seven- story boutique building on East Burnside at Sixth Avenue -- began before the current economic slide.
"I think the timing's been lucky in that we're a bit behind the recession," said Kovel. "Assuming things will stabilize, we're not sitting on a building completed with no tenants."
Office projects often languish on the drawing board until developers strike a deal with an anchor tenant. But Kovel said the Weave will go forward even without an anchor tenant.
Mark Edlen, managing principal of Gerding Edlen Development, said Kovel has a chance of hitting the right moment in the market cycle.
"Quite often the recession is the best time to start a new business," said Edlen, whose firm developed the Brewery Blocks and is building "12th and Washington."
"That's what Jeff is doing, in the sense that a building is an entity in and of itself. Quite often through tough times, innovation can have more of a chance of moving forward."
Real estate brokers are encouraging but skeptical.
"It's definitely in a creative part of town, so they may attract different types of users than for traditional office space," says Jeff Borlaug, vice president and director of brokerages for the Portland branch of Norris Beggs & Simpson.
"But I also think for tenants looking for more efficient traditional space, they're probably more apt to focus on economics versus moving to a new building in that size range," Borlaug said. "They're talking more to their landlords about extending their leases."
The Weave is designed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards, but developers don't intend to focus on the Weave's sustainability credentials in their marketing. Instead, they see the building's unique look, with a bold facade of angular glass and precast concrete panels, as a beacon for creative-industry workers.
As an extension of its marketing, Skylab worked with award-winning Internet design company Second Story to create a Web site for tenants that acts like social networking site such as Facebook to market their work collectively.
Although the Weave is yet to be approved by the city's Design Commission, it received strong encouragement during nonbinding Design Advice Review process. Skylab, which has won numerous design awards for projects such as Doug Fir Lounge on East Burnside Street and the M1 Residence in the West Hills, a private home featured prominently in the popular teen vampire movie "Twilight".
Kovel hopes the Weave will attract plenty of attention.
"My hope is it really becomes an example of somebody who went out on a limb and seized an opportunity to do something special," he said. "I think that type of approach is going to become more and more critical across the board. It's going to be harder to succeed with mediocre product or ideas. The competitive environment will hopefully draw more out of people."
--Brian Libby
Prev
Linear Mode
