The Weave | Dead

[Delaney]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Two questions:

Why did it end up before City Council?

http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=26997

Bureau of Transportation

*43 Authorize an Air-Rights Lease Agreement with 409 Project LLC to construct, use and maintain a mixed-use building over the sidewalk portion of SW Stark Street (Ordinance) 10 minutes requested.

[Delaney]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Two questions:

Does this mean demo/construction is imminent?

Doubt it.

[urbanlife]

Well this is actual good news, I was expecting to read this project went into the crapper too....but then again, it isnt built yet.

[RoseCtyRoks]

Yeah, this one definitely needs to get rollin'
Grrrrrrrrreat news for downtown!!!!!
This will be a very practical height for new buildings in PDX for quite a few years, imo.

[mcbaby]

that should bode well for us right?

[crow]

all criticism aside - this is a nice image.

[PDX City-State]

Tis a nice image. It would be nice to see more in and around the Pearl that weren't mediocre Ankrom and GBD buildings.

[tworivers]

DJC today:

Portland’s Weave Building stalled
POSTED: Monday, June 21, 2010 at 12:46 PM PT
BY: Nathalie Weinstein

The Weave, an office and retail project planned along West Burnside, has yet to begin construction. Firms working on the project say the owner hasn’t secured enough tenants yet to get a construction loan for the project.


More than a year since Skylab Architecture announced the Weave Building would be built on West Burnside Street, firms involved with the project say they’re still waiting to hear when construction will begin.

According to Mark Denyer of MFIA Engineering, a mechanical engineering firm working on the Weave project, owner Jeff Kovel needs to lease out a percentage of the building before he can secure a construction loan. Until those tenants are secured, the project is on hold.

“We have taken our drawings (for the Weave) through design development level,” Denyer said. “Those are ready as soon as the owner gets the go-ahead to continue.”

Kovel confirmed that the holdup is related to the need to sign on more tenants but declined to comment further.

Scott Leverenz, a project engineer with Jacob’s Heating, said his firm was excited when it learned in September 2009 that it had been chosen as HVAC contractor for the Weave. But the firm is still waiting for paperwork from Kovel to make it official, Leverenz said.

This isn’t the first Portland project that the firm has seen stall lately, Leverenz said.

“Even the best of projects have been getting stalled because of financing issues,” Leverenz said. “It’s making it very challenging on our end. The financing nightmare paired with permit people being laid off at the city means projects are taking longer to go through to the construction phase.”

The Weave was first announced in 2008 as a 27-story tower that would become either a boutique hotel or luxury residences with ground-floor retail. City height restrictions, however, led Kovel in late 2008 to reduce the tower’s design to 10 stories. As condo projects around the city struggled, Kovel decided that offices would occupy the Weave Building’s upper floors instead of residences.

Now, the Portland Development Commission is in talks with Kovel to provide financial assistance for the Weave. Part of the city’s economic development strategy is offering financial assistance to businesses interested in relocating to Portland. According to Lisa Abuaf, central city manager for the PDC, a line item in the South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Agency budget for fiscal year 2009-2010 has $500,000 allocated to the Weave for such purposes. But that amount could change, depending on negotiations with Kovel, Abuaf said.

“PDC resources have been tied to the project as an economic development effort based on the tenants being targeted for the building,” Abuaf said. “(Jeff Kovel) has been pursuing apparel and design companies, which is one of the cluster industries PDC is working to bring to Portland. The amount of assistance we will provide is still up for discussion.”

As currently planned, the project would be 10 stories, with 50,000 square feet of space. LEED platinum certification is being pursued.

[smendesPDX]

http://djcoregon.com/news/2011/01/24/skylab-downsizes-portlands-weave-building/

Skylab downsizes Portland’s Weave BuildingPOSTED: Monday, January 24, 2011 at 09:54 AM PT
BY: Kelli Rogers

Skylab Architecture’s proposed Weave high-rise project has been downsized.

The firm led by architect Jeff Kovel announced today that the Blackbox building will open in place of the Weave at West Burnside Street and Southwest 13th Avenue.

The new 10,000-square-foot project will include five retail spaces along with second-floor office space, according to Amery Calvelli, spokeswoman for Skylab. Skylab principal Jeff Kovel wasn’t immediately available for comment on the development change, but in a press release he commented that the success of his 12th + Alder building led him to his new development scheme.

“The vibe at the 12th + Alder building is creative and collaborative, in part due to the fact that we’re constantly surrounded by a few small, like-minded businesses like ourselves,” Kovel said in the release.”We wanted to extend this concept deeper into the West End.”

Skylab collaborated with Project Ecological Development for Blackbox to develop the new project, which is meant to attract creative design companies. Tenants planned to occupy the ground-floor retail space include Swedish urban work wear company Dunderdon, local leatherwear company Tanner Goods, Seattle-based menswear boutique Blackbird and women’s boutique Phlox. Skylab and Project Ecological Development will occupy the second floor offices.

[tworivers]

Argghh. Welcome to Portland.

[New Madrid]

At least they actually got an interesting, appropriate mix of tenants for the ground floor.

I'm way more excited about Dunderdon and Tanner, two companies who've been in portland without a retail space for a long time, finally having storefront space than I am dismayed about losing Kovel's little midrise masterpiece.

[nobody]

The stores listed are all amazing, super excited for them really. I loved the idea of the building but I'll take a block activated by such great tenants. Blackbird is going to be phenomenal to have in town.

[cityscapes]

If there isn't a market to build the original design for this building how is there a market for a high end boutique like Blackbird?

[65MAX]

That headline is BS. The Weave isn't being downsized, it's being scrapped. A 2-story commercial building is NOT a downsized Weave. Exceptionally poor reporting from DJC.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by New Madrid

At least they actually got an interesting, appropriate mix of tenants for the ground floor.

I'm way more excited about Dunderdon and Tanner, two companies who've been in portland without a retail space for a long time, finally having storefront space than I am dismayed about losing Kovel's little midrise masterpiece.

I hate to say it, but I have to agree...even though I was really hoping this one would actually happen because I have always thought it would make for a great piece of architecture in the West End.

[tworivers]

I'm also excited for the commercial spaces, and just having that corner activated. But I still can't spin this any other direction besides "disappointing", as I was really looking forward to Skylab's mid-rise design coming to fruition. The renderings were beautiful and it would have provided a wonderful counterpoint to the historic ballroom next door.

Also... I agree 65MAX: exceptionally poor reporting, almost Tribune-like. The article doesn't even specify whether this is a renovation of the existing building or not -- one has to assume, of course, that it is indeed just a renovation. Seems doubtful that they'd demolish what is there to build a mere 2 stories of new building. I do wonder if they'll alter it significantly, like they did with 12th and Alder.

[Fisac]

Blackbox? That must be a new buzz word for "failure" in Kovel ego-speak.

That corner next to the Crystall Ballroom definitely deserves something better than just another trendy retail building with the Kovel-blackened mishmash of Twilight formalism and Dwell-modern interior design gimmickry, no? The original design was quite a daring architectural statement within the city, I have to admit, challenging the status quo for boxy high-rise buildings in the PDX skyline. However, as the renderings got flashier, the building itself became smaller, the details more predictable, and everything about it became typical. I know it's a consequence of the economy, but still, he should have least allowed his "tower" to fail with some dignity.

Now it is just a 2-story building with the same designer/developer sales spin to sell as more than it really is. Sorry, it's really a shame to hear this news.

[MarkDaMan]

Um, I thought 200 Market was already known as the "Black Box"

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Um, I thought 200 Market was already known as the "Black Box"

Exactly. Sheesh. Apparently, this disappointment will be neither big enough nor pink enough to call it Big Pink. FAIL. Come on guys, try again.

At this point, they shouldn't eve bother naming it. Just build it and lease it out.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Fisac

Blackbox? That must be a new buzz word for "failure" in Kovel ego-speak.

That corner next to the Crystall Ballroom definitely deserves something better than just another trendy retail building with the Kovel-blackened mishmash of Twilight formalism and Dwell-modern interior design gimmickry, no? The original design was quite a daring architectural statement within the city, I have to admit, challenging the status quo for boxy high-rise buildings in the PDX skyline. However, as the renderings got flashier, the building itself became smaller, the details more predictable, and everything about it became typical. I know it's a consequence of the economy, but still, he should have least allowed his "tower" to fail with some dignity.

Now it is just a 2-story building with the same designer/developer sales spin to sell as more than it really is. Sorry, it's really a shame to hear this news.

Wow, kind of hard on the guy seeing that this is an architect/developer project. It isn't like Kovel is doing this building for a client, this is basically his way of saying I can't afford to build the building I want, but I need to do something so this building can generate some revenue for me.

Would we much rather see what was originally proposed, sure, but I think it is a bit much to 🞵🞵🞵🞵 on someone because they can't afford to do what they want. When I first heard about this project, I knew it was going to be one of those ones that was lucky if it ever happened and it would of been Kovel's building like how Bside6 is WorksPA's building, but that isn't going to happen now, but I still hope this renovation or much smaller new building adds some good character to that part of downtown.