Pearl District News

[Shilo Rune 96]

Dark black windows would be neat ;D

[philopdx]

Update from today, June 18th, 2011: As the bright grey skies and darker yet whiter building wreak HAVOC with my white balance.

[2oh1]

If they do intend to have this building be stark white, I really hope the windows are very dark. It'll really pop. In the end, this looks to be a dramatic change, and I mean that in a good way.

[JoshYent]

This is coming along great!

[Shilo Rune 96]

Originally Posted by Shilo Rune 96

Current building:

I was in the area yesterday and the building has been torn down. I wasn't able to snap a picture but it's definitely gone. They are cleaning rubble up now. Oh, and the lot is fenced off and only includes the property where the building used to sit. In other words, that empty lot behind the old structure is not included in the project.

[Shilo Rune 96]

Originally Posted by Shilo Rune 96

I was in the area yesterday and the building has been torn down. I wasn't able to snap a picture but it's definitely gone. They are cleaning rubble up now. Oh, and the lot is fenced off and only includes the property where the building used to sit. In other words, that empty lot behind the old structure is not included in the project.

I got some photos today of the site. View them on my Pearl District site @ http://www.pearlhelp.com/12th-everett-photos/

[davehogan]

I hope this isn't a double-post, but I'm excited to see a new development that's not a full block this close to the Pearl. It seems like most of the new buildings near this have been full block buildings, so having some new buildings on blocks that aren't might break up the monotony a bit.

[davehogan]

If this building goes on the path I hope it is, it's going to be pretty awesome when they're done with it.

[crow]

I did not get a picture, but I noticed they had an industrial sash type window in place on the North side. It was black and really helped punch the white. You can also see some of the glu-lam beams in the penthouse structure. It is going to be a very striking building when done. Hopefully the public will get opportunities to see the interior in action after completion.

[philopdx]

Update from 7-10-2011:

[philopdx]

New Pearl Development @ 12th and Everett:

[philopdx]

Whoops, sorry for double post, didn't realize this thing had its own thread.

Update from 7-10-2011:

[maccoinnich]

Looks like they're actually past demo now, and into construction. There's large amounts of gravel on the site, and trenches being dug.

[bvpcvm]

I'm surprised to see this happening this quickly. It was just a couple months ago that they went through design review. In any case, a construction permit has been issued, so it looks like it's on its way.

[MarkDaMan]

Vestas could be a takeover candidate
By Christina Williams

Vestas was named as a potential candidate for takeover if consolidation takes hold in the wind energy industry.

The Associated Press reported Friday on a research note from Jeffries & Co.'s Gerard Reid, the analyst covering the wind industry.

Reid's premise is that depressed share prices will prompt a wave of consolidation in the wind power sector.

"If the market continues to discount Vestas prospects, it could be the next to go," Reid wrote in his report.

Vestas, based in Denmark, keeps its U.S. headquarters in Portland. Vestas shares are trading near the low end of their 52-week range at 114 Danish Kroner, about $21.82 per share. Shares were trading as high as 314 Danish Kroner, or about $60.11, last summer.

Reid named a number of international firms that could be on the market including China Ming Yang Wind Power Group, Gamesa, Suzlon and Nordex.

http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com...candidate.html

[tworivers]

Ugh.

ICE facility decision also jeopardizes PNCA

POSTED: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 12:26 PM PT
BY: Nick Bjork, DJC

Last week’s decision by a city hearings officer to reject a conditional use permit for a redevelopment project in Portland’s South Waterfront District dashed moving plans for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal agency.

But another organization also was affected by the ruling.

The organization that was going to move into ICE’s present digs – the Pacific Northwest College of Art – is now in limbo. The organization says it has plenty of due diligence to conduct in the meantime, but if the federal agency were to stay, the PNCA would need to retool its expansion plans.

“The transfer of the current ICE facility to the local art school is dependent upon ICE moving out,” said Stephanie Kenitzer, regional public affairs manager for the General Services Administration. “Until we are able to find a suitable location for ICE, we are unable to turn the building over to the school.”

ICE presently occupies the 511 Federal Building, a nationally registered historic structure at 511 N.W. Broadway that opened in 1919. The building no longer meets the federal agency’s needs, so the GSA in 2008 listed it as surplus property and started looking for a new home for ICE.

Then, in a competitive proposal process, PNCA won the rights to acquire the property at no charge if the facility would be used for educational purposes for at least 30 years. The school was eager to pursue expansion, and the city was optimistic about an opportunity to connect the Pearl District to Old Town/Chinatown.

“In my opinion, PNCA and the 511 project is the catalytic development that will finally bridge the raw and dynamic energy of Old Town with the newly developed Pearl District,” wrote John Jay, executive creative director with Wieden + Kennedy, in a letter of support for the project.

In June, with plans moving ahead to relocate ICE to the South Waterfront, the Portland Development Commission extended a $740,000 grant to the PNCA to pay for predevelopment costs associated with upgrading and converting the building into an educational facility. As part of the deal, the PNCA had to match the grant and use the money to conduct due diligence, prepare 20 percent construction documents for the project and begin developing a conceptual master plan for the campus.

But last week, Hearings Officer Gregory Frank shot down ICE’s plan to move to the South Waterfront. Residents had appealed the project proposal, and triggered conditional use review. Their biggest concern, and the reason Frank ultimately determined that the project shouldn’t move forward, was over a proposed 5,198-square-foot detention facility. No detainees would be held in the facility for more than 12 hours, but they could be released from there, near a charter school.

“The hearings officer found, based upon the evidence in the record, that release of detainees directly from the detention facility into the immediate neighborhood could pose an unreasonable threat to the safety of nearby users and residents,” Frank wrote in his findings.

The project developer – Lindquist Development Co. – and ICE officials have not determined their next step yet, according to Kenitzer, but they could choose to appeal the decision. An appeal would need to be filed by Aug. 24.

“We’re on a hold until we find out what ICE and the developer plan to do,” said Gus Baum, director of institutional research and planning for the PNCA. “There’s a chance they could appeal and move forward with the project, or choose a new location.

“In the meantime we’re just continuing our due diligence, which we have enough to keep us busy, and hoping that we can move forward with the project.”

[Shilo Rune 96]

http://pearlhelp.com/news/old-meirer...epot-buil.html


I took these photos with my iPhone awhile back but have been having problems since I upgraded to Max OS X Lion with my web design application (everything is fixed now):

http://pearlhelp.com/vestas-headquarters-photo-a/

[zilfondel]

http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon...-forecast.html

Vestas earnings beat Q2 forecast

Vestas Wind Systems A/S announced its second quarter financial results Wednesday, beating analyst expectations and providing momentum for its share price.

Earnings before interest and tax for the second quarter of 2011 were 77 million euros, about $111 million, up 143 percent from the 180 million euro loss the company posted a year ago.

Vestas reported delivery of 1,062 wind turbines to customers in the first half of 2011, up 38 percent from the year before.

The results put Vestas ahead of where analysts, who predicted earnings no higher than 75 million euros with many coming in with much lower estimates, expected. The news sent Vestas stock up Wednesday, trading up 24 percent.

Vestas, which had been identified as a potential takeover target in late July, had seen its stock slump in early August, closing Tuesday at 89 Danish kroner, or about $17.21. Trading Wednesday saw shares back up in the range of 110 Danish kroner, close to $21.29 per share.

Shares were trading as high as 314 Danish kroner, or about $60.72, last summer.

Reuters quoted Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel saying that his company is "not engaged" in wind industry consolidation but that he welcomes the trend as favorable to business.

Vestas' North American headquarters are in Portland.

[bvpcvm]

The "Freedom Center" (north side of Overton between 14th and 15th, next to the new INS building) appears to be under construction now.

[tworivers]

^^^Best name ever. Word on the street is that Fosler's next project is going to be called Douchebag Manor.