Pearl District News

[downtownpdx]

Anyone know which hotel brand?

[MarkDaMan]

^Some corporate box hotel.

Mystery Pearl hotel details emerge
Portland Business Journal by Wendy Culverwell , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Friday, October 26, 2012, 11:06am PDT

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog.../mystery-pearl-hotel-details-emerge.html

...This week, Middleton, Wisc.-based Raymond Management Co. disclosed it is leading efforts to build an eight-story hotel with as many as 220 rooms and two levels of underground parking in a request to Portland city officials for a pre-application conference to review the project.

The hotel would have an entrance on Northwest Everett Street.

Raymond Management is a division of Raymond Group, a hotel development and management firm with operations extending as far west as Idaho. Jeff Kraemer of Raymond declined to comment on the hotel or identify what brand it will operate under, saying the project is too preliminary for public comment.

According to its website, Raymond operates properties under six separate hotel flags — Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, TownPlace Suites by Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Country Inn & Suites and Homewood Suites by Hilton...

[Mr. Walch]

There is a pre-application in for the proposed hotel with some preliminary drawings. If you are sad about losing the nice old fabric buildings on the site now, these will not make you feel any better. At first glance the hotel looks like it could be built anywhere. Such a bad trade.

[Derek]

The tacky white building that's there now is hideous. I'd gladly take a "bland" 8 story hotel in that location instead. It's not a particularly desirable location to begin with, so I'm surprised they're building a hotel there.

[New Madrid]

Originally Posted by Derek

The tacky white building that's there now is hideous. I'd gladly take a "bland" 8 story hotel in that location instead. It's not a particularly desirable location to begin with, so I'm surprised they're building a hotel there.

what on earth are you talking about?

this is hardly tacky or hideous...

I'm also pretty baffled by the idea that a half block in the pearl is not a desirable location - homer williams, ann sacks and the new market across everett are probably confused too. I mean - that site is within a half block radius of the streetcar and the park blocks. Given that it doesn't directly front either (and thus is a marginally less expensive piece of land to buy and develop) probably makes it invaluable for a developer putting up a middling hotel that isn't relying on cache or visibility but rather on convenience and economy...

[Derek]

Yeah that thing is hideous. To each their own. If it wasn't completely white I might think otherwise.


What I meant was, is it's not the first place I'd put a hotel if I were a developer, but I am glad they're putting one there. It'll be good for the area.

[phillip_pdx]

Originally Posted by Derek

Yeah that thing is hideous. To each their own. If it wasn't completely white I might think otherwise.


What I meant was, is it's not the first place I'd put a hotel if I were a developer, but I am glad they're putting one there. It'll be good for the area.

I gotta say, Derek, its hard for me to believe you think the old building there is uglier than the new hotel... That old building is exactly the kind of fabric that made the Pearl District popular in the first place...

However, the old building is pretty short. Maybe a good solution would be to try and build a new structure on top of it.

[Derek]

I appreciate good architecture in older structures. To me, that building doesn't have it. I should know, I walk by this building every single day. It just doesn't do anything for me. If it was a beautiful low-rise building (like the Cumberland Apartments or the Balfour–Guthrie Building), then I'd definitely be more upset. Like I said, if it wasn't painted white, I might think differently of it. It doesn't sadden me to see that particular building go for an 8 story hotel that will bring some additional street activity to the area. I know the structure of the hotel isn't particularly eye candy, but it's not that horrible to me either.

[jaxg8r1]

Originally Posted by New Madrid

what on earth are you talking about?

this is hardly tacky or hideous...

I'm also pretty baffled by the idea that a half block in the pearl is not a desirable location - homer williams, ann sacks and the new market across everett are probably confused too. I mean - that site is within a half block radius of the streetcar and the park blocks. Given that it doesn't directly front either (and thus is a marginally less expensive piece of land to buy and develop) probably makes it invaluable for a developer putting up a middling hotel that isn't relying on cache or visibility but rather on convenience and economy...

Are you sure thats the right building? Per the pre-application above, it appears as though the building in the picture is on the Flanders side of 9th, while the application shows the Everett side. They're both white buildings, but I agree with Derek in that I'd much rather have an 8 story hotel than a 1 story building with no tenants. Obviously we would all rather have parking lots built upon, but we don't always get what we want..

[Derek]

Originally Posted by jaxg8r1

Are you sure thats the right building? Per the pre-application above, it appears as though the building in the picture is on the Flanders side of 9th, while the application shows the Everett side. They're both white buildings, but I agree with Derek in that I'd much rather have an 8 story hotel than a 1 story building with no tenants. Obviously we would all rather have parking lots built upon, but we don't always get what we want..

I completely forgot the 1 story side of the block doesn't have tenants (since we weren't discussing it )-it might have a random one on the corner? I'll double check soon-, but I'd much rather see the 1 story side go than the 2 story side. I still wouldn't shed a tear if the 2 story side went too.

[Mr. Walch]

I just double checked the pre-app and the proposal is for the whole west half of the block. I cannot really defend the existing buildings as architectural gems, but there is a bigger issue in question. Currently a large part of the Pearl's strength as a district comes in my opinion from its mix of old and new. It, unlike South Waterfront is not the homogenous product of a single era. The continuous erosion of older buildings could switch the feel of the neighborhood. While I don't advocate saving every building, I do worry that a threshold could be crossed with out us noticing until it is too late. In addition, unremarkable buildings like that are also affordable spaces that help maintain the economic and social diversity of the area. Without shabby old buildings there will be no artists and galleries and things that in my opinion keep the neighborhood interesting.

[New Madrid]

My assumption is that the "site" hatch on the pre app is the site connected to the mailing address of the project in question, however the drawings clearly show that the scope of the project extends beyond the quarter block highlighted. Either that or they simply hatched the quarter block when they meant to hatch the half... it happens.

The point I was making Derek - and I'm sorry if I presented it solely as one of aesthetic merit - is that getting rid of functional older buildings is acceptable (to me) only if they're being replaced with something better.

That single story portion on the sw corner? sure - it's not contributing anything, it's an garage. If someone felt like refurbishing it I'd be all for it but I can't imagine the cost to update it would ever allow the project to pencil. The building on the nw corner however is functioning well, contributes to the street and is, as philip points out, precisely the type of the building that makes the pearl what it is.

If we go knocking down every building that someone finds unappealing we will quickly be left with nothing. As mr walch is rightly pointing out - the issue is less about the individual buildings in question and really about the character of the neighborhood. (well, what remains of it.)

More generally - while I can understand that not every building is a gem (indeed, they shouldn't all be, imo) I disagree that we should just accept whatever middling design is being proposed just because it's being proposed... we should expect more from developers.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

Anyone know which hotel brand?

I'm pretty sure I know, but I don't want to get in trouble so I'll just leave it at we'll all know soon enough.

I think this is a cool project. Portland has too many full block projects, so one that's a 1/4 block seems like it has some potential here.

[MarkDaMan]

^I'm guessing Hampton Inn. I'm basing that on the window design in the Pre-App notice. It's very Hampton, and also the fact that about half the hotels in the Raymond Group portfolio are Hamptons. I very easily could be wrong though.

http://www.raymondteam.com/asp/PropertyList.aspx

[pdxtraveler]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

^I'm guessing Hampton Inn. I'm basing that on the window design in the Pre-App notice. It's very Hampton, and also the fact that about half the hotels in the Raymond Group portfolio are Hamptons. I very easily could be wrong though.

http://www.raymondteam.com/asp/PropertyList.aspx

I agree Hampton is a good prediction. That or Hilton Garden. Either would be okay for the area.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by Mr. Walch

There is a pre-application in for the proposed hotel with some preliminary drawings. If you are sad about losing the nice old fabric buildings on the site now, these will not make you feel any better. At first glance the hotel looks like it could be built anywhere. Such a bad trade.

WTF? Are those air-conditioning units sticking out of EVERY UNIT in the elevations? Ha! That thing won't pass design review, thats for damned sure!

Also, they apparently don't have an architect. Good luck with that!



DENSITY = GOOD
BAD DESIGN = BAD

[maccoinnich]

Agreed. If this passes Design Review, then we might as well save the taxpayer some money and just get rid of the Design Review system altogether. The existing buildings aren't so interesting that I would mourn their passing, but at a minimum, we should hope that a new building would be an improvement on what's already there. This.... isn't.

[zilfondel]

I think its interesting to note that the building kitty-corner to this one has a somewhat similar facade design and massing as this. I think the color palette makes a huge difference... green and white is like a bad PSU Vikings combo.

However, I don't think that this particular building would be a huge loss; there have been a lot of rehabs of historic buildings in the Pearl. I think that the rest of the 1/4 block older buildings within 2 blocks of this site will have a very high chance of also being knocked down for larger projects, however. Land prices are just too high - this site is valued at:

Property ID R140549: $620,530.00
Property ID R140550: $602,460.00

Huh. A lot cheaper than what I had expected. The land under the restaurant "Sushi Land" (2 blocks away) is valued at $1.4 million for about the same sq footage.

[RED_PDXer]

That hotel design is about as hideous as it could be. Might be OK in Gresham, but doesn't seem appropriate for this location. It looks like a standard model applied everywhere from Fort Worth Texas to Riverside, CA. I hope it stops dead in its tracks until the design improves.

[pdxstreetcar]

Good luck getting that through design review. This sounded promising a new 8 story hotel in the heart of the Pearl on an underutilized site. The exterior is bland and ugly especially air conditioning units, the ground floor needs to be a lot more active and open, and Everett/9th is treated as the back side with parking entry and pool on the corner (this should be the prime corner with entry). This thing looks cheap, will it be dryvit or EIFS?

Probably best to hire a local architecture firm who knows Portland, but most of all rearrange the first floor and come up with/spend some money on a better facade.