Park Avenue West | 501' 7" | 30 floors | Completed

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

The spire needs to be relevant. This one isn't. It's a flag pole. Put a — flag on it.

That is what I said to my wife when I saw it, might as well call it what it is, a flag pole.

[tworivers]

I certainly was expecting something much more substantial.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by Derek

Yet another stumpy building added to our stumpy skyline. #stumptown

I don't know if that's fair, Portland had three buildings over 500 feet long before Vancouver and they have the same population, although I agree, that for a city of 2.5 million people Portland doesn't have an impressive skyline. In downtown Seattle, Portland's tallest would be considered infill.

[innovativethinking]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

I don't know if that's fair, Portland had two buildings over 500 feet long before Vancouver and they have the same population, although I agree, that for a city of 2.5 million people Portland doesn't have an impressive skyline. In downtown Seattle, Portland's two tallest would be considered infill.

Haha they sure would be considered infill. Nobody denies our skyline is very underwhelming due to height limits and what not but at the bare minimum I wish it was like Vancouver BC's a forest of 30-35 story towers..

[downtownpdx]

I would love more slender tall towers in Stumptown, but while Vancouver is beautiful I find the forest of condos-on-podiums kinda monotonous. I'd prefer a more Manhattan style skyline with the huge height differences and richer mix of old and new.

[i2m]

This is clearly a very popular thread with tons of interest in who is the tallest, why not taller, does a flag pole count at building height etc.

I am more interested in a great buildings than the tallest ones. The City needs density and sometimes tall buildings are the answer to density. To that end, I'm happy to see the city allowing taller buildings downtown and in the Pearl.

This building will be a great addition to the city and I'm thrilled that it finally went forward. As some have said, the exterior of the building is pretty dated. It's well executed in most parts, costly, good quality construction although it does seem like it's overly fussy and articulated - not unlike the glass portions of the Hatfield US Courthouse. There are probably more custom aluminum decorative extrusions than are necessary.

I'm sure the building will be a huge success at the street level mending the void that has existed here for years.

For my taste, the top of the tower is an unattractive collision of random shapes and patterns. It has a clear 'top' although an ugly one in my mind. The clarity and elegance of the tower seems lost at the top.

I'm happy this project happened, it will be a huge success for the city and I doubt it will be an all-star in the skyline.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by i2m

For my taste, the top of the tower is an unattractive collision of random shapes and patterns. It has a clear 'top' although an ugly one in my mind. The clarity and elegance of the tower seems lost at the top.

I'm happy this project happened, it will be a huge success for the city and I doubt it will be an all-star in the skyline.

I completely agree, this building succeeds at the street level and the middle portion, but the top is extremely disjointed and needlessly clunky. I think the Fox Tower is the same way, great base and middle, but the top is a major disappointment. You can definitely tell they're designed by the same person.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by i2m

This is clearly a very popular thread with tons of interest in who is the tallest, why not taller, does a flag pole count at building height etc.

I am more interested in a great buildings than the tallest ones.

I agree completely, absolutely and enthusiastically. I do love height, and I don't believe a flagpole is a spire (COME ON!!!) but I'm more interested in great buildings that bring vitality to the streets and sidewalks than new tallests that make for prettier postcards. Skylines are fantastic from a distance, but I care much more about what's up close, where real people live, work and play. PAW hasn't come to life yet, but it sure looks like it'll do marvelous things for this part of downtown once it does. And it's a handsome tower too - not perfect, but handsome. I like it a lot.

Originally Posted by i2m

I'm sure the building will be a huge success at the street level mending the void that has existed here for years.

Absolutely. This is what I'm most excited about for PAW.

[davehogan]

Maybe it's a good thing that people are complaining that it doesn't look as tall as it should. That might help push height limits higher.

If a "tall" building doesn't feel like it's blocking views at 500 feet, maybe we could try 700 feet and see how that looks?

Oh, 700 wasn't that bad? Let's try 900.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by davehogan

Maybe it's a good thing that people are complaining that it doesn't look as tall as it should. That might help push height limits higher.

If a "tall" building doesn't feel like it's blocking views at 500 feet, maybe we could try 700 feet and see how that looks?

Oh, 700 wasn't that bad? Let's try 900.

I would be happy with at least one 600 ft mixed use building. Could be easily done now with retail,office, hotel and condo/ apts. 45 floors

Lets call Vanessa!!!

[ORNative]

PAW does not make a substantial impact when viewed from the east bank esplanade. But, it does make a significant impact on the skyline when viewed from the west hills, from Terwilliger and from the Lloyd district. It is a good addition.

Similarly, the 300' tower proposed for 710 Columbia will probably not even be visible in the waterfront skyline shots because it will be behind the Wells Fargo and KOIN Towers - - but it will have an impact when the skyline is viewed from the North, West and South.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by ORNative

PAW does not make a substantial impact when viewed from the east bank esplanade. But, it does make a significant impact on the skyline when viewed from the west hills, from Terwilliger and from the Lloyd district. It is a good addition.

Similarly, the 300' tower proposed for 710 Columbia will probably not even be visible in the waterfront skyline shots because it will be behind the Wells Fargo and KOIN Towers - - but it will have an impact when the skyline is viewed from the North, West and South.

After being in NYC in June this city feels really flat. I know that we can't build tons and tons of tall buildings like NY can, but a few taller ones won't make that huge of a difference.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by davehogan

After being in NYC in June this city feels really flat. I know that we can't build tons and tons of tall buildings like NY can, but a few taller ones won't make that huge of a difference.

I wouldn't mind seeing a new tallest, but I like the height we have been building here, it has been adding plenty of good density to the city overall.

[maccoinnich]

Looks like one of the retail spaces at Park Avenue West is leased.

http://www.cra-nw.com/image/flyers/Park%20Avenue%20West%20.pdf

[AdamNorthwest]

I think the building would've stood out better had it been built under the original design. Although the first design was only 16 feet taller (476 to roof), the angled roof would've extended two more floors into the building's main structure. It's kind of hard to describe since I am not a professional nor do I have a photo, but if you look earlier on in the forums, the roof of this PAW is from the second design, which had only 22 floors or so (so it was more proportionate to the overall structure's height).

[Tykendo]

Adam, there is a black & white rendering of what , I think, you are talking about, on page 10 of this discussion. You can see that most of the design is similar, except that the floor area of the top floors was expanded. You can also see that the original condos varied in height, thus more floors even though the final super structure height is almost the same. Can someone add some new photos from the hills over PSU. I love that angle of DT.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by Tykendo

Can someone add some new photos from the hills over PSU. I love that angle of DT.

Here's a couple of pics from above PSU/I-405 at elevation 480'....

[davehogan]

It fills out downtown nicely. I was just on Mt Tabor the other day volunteering at the Adult Soapbox Derby and it really filled in a gap of the skyline nicely.

I wish I had taken some pictures, but I was kind of busy at the time.

[Tykendo]

Awesome Max. Thank You.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by i2m

I'm happy this project happened, it will be a huge success for the city and I doubt it will be an all-star in the skyline.

I seem to be the only one that caught this slip of the keyboard.

Originally Posted by davehogan

Maybe it's a good thing that people are complaining that it doesn't look as tall as it should. That might help push height limits higher.

If a "tall" building doesn't feel like it's blocking views at 500 feet, maybe we could try 700 feet and see how that looks?

Oh, 700 wasn't that bad? Let's try 900.

This is the thing I don't get, people never complain about a tree blocking their view yet a tree can be removed with a simple chainsaw, yet a tree adds virtually nothing to the city, whereas buildings add employment, housing and economic activity. God forbid someone block their views by building one of those wretched things. I'm not saying we should get rid of all trees of course but countless times i've thought if only one or two trees could have been removed we would all have much better views.