The Sutton (Fremont Place) | 185'-0" | 17 Floors | Complete

[pdxsg34]

Very disappointed with this decision. Putting myself in the developers shoes, I would be furious at the design commission for how this project has transpired. The costs to develop a plan with TVA, the community complaints about height, design, view blockage (of a "view" that's no more than 5 years old), and the inclusionary housing rules going into affect, thus nixing these plans from resurfacing as is would make me, IMO, want to sue. With this project, coupled with the debacle of centennial mills, are we looking at these vacant waterfront lots for the next 5-10 years? What motivation does a developer have to put words into action after this Fremont Place project outcome?

I may be naive, but couldn't they have the opportunity to redesign by essentially pushing the lower building back, or repositioning the mini-park from the side to the greenway? It seems ludicrous they wouldn't give the developer/TVA another shot at design if greenway was truly the reason for this decision. Does the U-store self storage Pearl project and associated park have problems like this too?

I am rambling with questions, but as a casual observer of portland development over the past few years, this is quite disheartening to see the lack of consistency and clarity in the design commission's decisions. Sometimes controversial projects breeze on through while other pragmatic projects seem to find the hardest time. The average person and Portland citizen like me should be able to understand the basic guidelines of something like this, but its really unclear when you have decisions like this, where everyone passes it, then all of the sudden the door shuts. Our housing crisis is for real, and although this was for luxury apartments, i really worry about the speed and volume of future projects that we REALLY NEED.