Pearl District News

[philopdx]

Taken 6-26-2010:

[philopdx]

The Overton taken 6-26-10:



And The "Freedom Center", photographed by a gen-u-ine, capitalist patriot!! ...using a Japanese-designed camera assembled in Thailand powered by a Lithium-ion battery manufactured in China

[New Madrid]

someone clearly felt the freedom to make a huge mess of that project.

[smendesPDX]

thanks for posting the photos!

[Okstate]

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/07/02/pearl-office-building-under-construction/
Pearl office building under construction
POSTED: Friday, July 2, 2010 at 01:58 PM PT
BY: Nathalie Weinstein
Tags: General Services Administration, Pearl District

Portland’s Pearl District has a new office project under construction.

The U.S. General Services Administration announced today that construction has begun on the Overton Pearl, a 61,000-square-foot office project to be located at 1455 N.W. Overton St., in Portland.

The GSA in 2009 announced it would be moving its Portland field office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services into the new building, which is designed by Fosler Portland Architecture and is being developed by Overton Pearl LLC. The project was first announced in 2008, but Ross Buffington, spokesman for the GSA, said the developer needed extra time to start construction of the project.

The GSA plans to lease 65 percent of the building, which will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified.

Portland’s current immigration services office is located in the 511 Federal Building on 511 Northwest Broadway. When the GSA moves out, Buffington said it plans to donate the building to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which owns several properties nearby.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held July 6 for the project. Buffington said the ground floor of the project is already being constructed.

[MightyAlweg]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Friday, April 2, 2010
Union Station undergoes $9M overhaul
Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer

A $9 million renovation project will repair and stabilize Portland’s historic railroad station as it faces the future of high speed travel.

Constructed in 1896, Union Station is one of the oldest passenger stations on the West Coast and among the most dilapidated.

Clearly the author of this story is someone whose train experience is limited to the Zooliner, and she has never set foot in the other major railroad stations on the West Coast. The story was full of errors and false generalizations. I think Ms. Culverwell needs to hang up the car keys and stop jetting around on airplanes for her vacations if she's going to write a story on rail.

Portland actually has one of the most beautifully restored big city depots on the West Coast. Compared to Seattle's historically horrific King Street Station, or San Diego's very tired Santa Fe Depot, Portland's Union Station is the Taj Mahal. The cheap pre-fab modern stations in Tacoma, San Jose or Oakland can't even begin to compare. Portland also offers the most comprehensive passenger amenities on the West Coast, with plenty of Red Caps on hand, checked baggage service, several food and shopping options in the station, and the only First Class Metropolitan Lounge on the West Coast for Amtrak's sleeper car passengers.

Not even mammoth LA Union Station has a Metropolitan Lounge like Portland to offer first class and sleeper passengers. And LA has three sleeper car trains per day with the Coast Starlight, the Southwest Chief and the Sunset Limited, while Portland only has one daily and one semi-daily sleeper car train with the Coast Starlight and/or the Empire Builder.

I'm sure the gutters need replacing and the roof could be patched. And what building built in 1896 doesn't need seismic retrofitting? But really, Portland's Union Station is in comparatively good shape and offers a full menu of services and amenities to long distance and regional passengers. It's a real gem. And the next time I arrive in Portland on the Coast Starlight, I'll spend my usual few moments admiring the restored interior and exterior and gleaming marble.

With the new MAX line nearby and the Pearl District surrounding it, Union Station hasn't had it this good in decades.

[Eco_jt]

Originally Posted by New Madrid

someone clearly felt the freedom to make a huge mess of that project.

what do you mean by that? You just don't like the project? Or you know something about it, I'm curious because this is currently stalled, right?

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Okstate

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/07/02/pearl-office-building-under-construction/
Pearl office building under construction
POSTED: Friday, July 2, 2010 at 01:58 PM PT
BY: Nathalie Weinstein
Tags: General Services Administration, Pearl District

Portland’s Pearl District has a new office project under construction.

The U.S. General Services Administration announced today that construction has begun on the Overton Pearl, a 61,000-square-foot office project to be located at 1455 N.W. Overton St., in Portland.

The GSA in 2009 announced it would be moving its Portland field office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services into the new building, which is designed by Fosler Portland Architecture and is being developed by Overton Pearl LLC. The project was first announced in 2008, but Ross Buffington, spokesman for the GSA, said the developer needed extra time to start construction of the project.

The GSA plans to lease 65 percent of the building, which will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified.

Portland’s current immigration services office is located in the 511 Federal Building on 511 Northwest Broadway. When the GSA moves out, Buffington said it plans to donate the building to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which owns several properties nearby.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held July 6 for the project. Buffington said the ground floor of the project is already being constructed.

Any renderings of this available?

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Any renderings of this available?

in post #625 of this thread there's a photo with a rendering on a sign. it's ugly.

[mcbaby]

maybe it will at least have a green roof?

[philopdx]

Update from 7-18-2010:

[New Madrid]

Originally Posted by Eco_jt

what do you mean by that? You just don't like the project? Or you know something about it, I'm curious because this is currently stalled, right?

oh, no. I know nothing important, just that I think it's godawful looking.

[philopdx]

Update from 7-18-2010. I remember not so long ago when I was WAY busier.







And the FIRST window!

[Shilo Rune 96]

Turning out to be quite large! I'm really excited about the project but it does seem a bit disconnected from the Pearl. I was over there recently and the odd sidewalks (or no sidewalks) from the surrounding areas look recently paved, creating doubt in my mind that they will stay that way. Particularly it's the blocks along 13th Avenue in between NW Northrup St. and NW Quimby St. Overtime is will probably fill in better and won't seem disconnected.

- Just me thoughts so far.

[65MAX]

NW 13th doesn't get sidewalks. It'll have the same streetscape as the stretch from Everett to Northrup. So the new paving there is pretty much how the final street will look.

[philopdx]

Pearl Family Housing 07-24-2010:

[philopdx]

Update from 07-24-2010:

[bvpcvm]

it doesn't look to me like the "freedom center" is actually under construction. does anyone have any idea if it really is going ahead? or do they just need to stage it such that the office building goes up and then they build the housing?

[philopdx]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

it doesn't look to me like the "freedom center" is actually under construction. does anyone have any idea if it really is going ahead? or do they just need to stage it such that the office building goes up and then they build the housing?

Right now it looks like the plot that Freedom Center is going to be built on is being used as staging area for the Overton Office building. Maybe once Overton gets the lion's share of the structural work out of the way, Freedom Center can ramp up.

[Eco_jt]

this came from Patty Gardner, (planning chair for Pearl District Neighborhood Assn.)

JT <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 9:22 AM
To: Patricia Gardner <[email protected]>
Patti:

Just out of curiousity, do you know any details about when the Freedom Center Project will start? After "The Overton" office building is complete?


--
-JT



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
patricia gardner <[email protected]> Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 10:03 AM
To: JT <[email protected]>
that is my understanding-they are in for permit now and are anticipating getting it in early sept. I think. I guess then the question is do they start construction in winter-they aren't going underground so that will make it much easier (the pearl district due to proximity to river has a very high water table which can make underground work in winter difficult)
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