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  #521  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2021, 7:16 PM
Natural Natural is offline
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When PP purchased the PO site to develop, the plan was was to engage scores of Gov. Agencies. Associations, Committees, Think Tanks, Watch Dog Groups and all come together and come up with a Master Plan that everyone can agree on and love. Then bring in Developers who check all the boxes and willing to to navigate the endless maze and largess of beaurocratic red tape. At this point it seems this project is all buttoned up. Then comes along Covid and Social unrest and now what is proposed is a homeless camp. Who saw this coming? Where does the project go from here?
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  #522  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2021, 8:19 PM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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When PP purchased the PO site to develop, the plan was was to engage scores of Gov. Agencies. Associations, Committees, Think Tanks, Watch Dog Groups and all come together and come up with a Master Plan that everyone can agree on and love. Then bring in Developers who check all the boxes and willing to to navigate the endless maze and largess of beaurocratic red tape. At this point it seems this project is all buttoned up. Then comes along Covid and Social unrest and now what is proposed is a homeless camp. Who saw this coming? Where does the project go from here?
Yea it’s crazy. Unfortunately it’s IMO and my opinion ONLY but I think the project goes nowhere for a very long time. If you check my earlier posts I always thought it was fishy they were taking this long to just even bulldoze the place
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  #523  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2021, 10:43 PM
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Yea it’s crazy. Unfortunately it’s IMO and my opinion ONLY but I think the project goes nowhere for a very long time. If you check my earlier posts I always thought it was fishy they were taking this long to just even bulldoze the place
You and others have a collective impatience and perhaps no institutional memory of how such big complicated public/private redevelopments happen. Do you remember when the power company (PPL I think) donated its land and closed power plant to OMSI and how long the new OMSI took to get built? And now the OMSI/Portland Opera/Oregon Rail Heritage Center lands are going through master planning that could proceed very slowly, depending on the market. What about the Schnitzer Steel donation of 10 acres to OHSU on the south waterfront? That land is still not fully developed nor is all of the land owned by Zidell next door. The grand plans earlier hatched by Zidell have been placed on hold. The point is, we should all be patient and less gloomy, because so much needs to come together to get projects off the ground. An "I told you so" taunt is tedious.
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  #524  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2021, 8:36 AM
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Yea it’s crazy. Unfortunately it’s IMO and my opinion ONLY but I think the project goes nowhere for a very long time. If you check my earlier posts I always thought it was fishy they were taking this long to just even bulldoze the place
Look at it this way, the old Safari strip club was proposed as affordable housing in 2017, today they just broke ground on it, and that was just for a simple apartment building. With the Broadway Corridor, this is more than just some buildings and park space, this will be a centerpiece to the northern part of downtown. So with that in mind, the whole process is going to take time, not including the time it took for the Post Office to decide to finally move to the airport and build a new building for that.

This project will happen, but don't expect it to happen quickly, something this massive for Portland is going to be a huge undertaking.
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  #525  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2021, 11:08 PM
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Not good, but as a temporary shelter for the winter months, it could be a good thing. ... Kind of like a Job Corp for the Homeless. If they refuse, they can leave the area, but malingering will not be allowed.
I agree 100% and triple word score on "malingering!"
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  #526  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2021, 7:27 PM
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Emails shed light on why Portland’s Broadway Corridor developer backed out



The Colorado-based firm that pulled out of its role leading the redevelopment of Portland’s former central post office chafed under the city’s close management of the project, emails show.

In an email outlining the reasons it wouldn’t pursue the project, Continuum Partners complained that the city’s economic development agency, Prosper Portland, was unwilling to give up control over the plan and timelines for putting down roads and pipes to support the development. And it wanted the city to offer fixed prices for the pieces of land it would develop, even if their market value climbed during the years-long buildout.

What that means for the future of the high-profile Broadway Corridor redevelopment remains unclear.

The city says it doesn’t anticipate the setback impacting the timeline of the project because it still has several years of demolition and infrastructure work ahead before developers can start building the apartment and office towers imagined in a master plan. But local real estate experts worry that the city could struggle to attract new developers willing to meet the terms of a sweeping “community benefits agreement” and other restrictions from the city. Rising building costs and the pandemic have added a new layer of uncertainty.
...continues at the Oregonian ($).
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  #527  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2021, 10:45 PM
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This doesn't surprise me and I can see why this deal ended. It sounds like the developer wanted the whole site for a good deal now and didn't want to risk having to pay more for sites later on in the development.

I think this is a project that Prosper Portland should be in charge of running. I really think their best bet would be to move forward with their masterplan work with the park blocks, and then work with multiple developers with developing each block rather than dealing with just one developer.
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  #528  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2021, 11:49 PM
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This doesn't surprise me and I can see why this deal ended. It sounds like the developer wanted the whole site for a good deal now and didn't want to risk having to pay more for sites later on in the development.

I think this is a project that Prosper Portland should be in charge of running. I really think their best bet would be to move forward with their masterplan work with the park blocks, and then work with multiple developers with developing each block rather than dealing with just one developer.
I agree. It sounds like Melvin Mark is still interested in developing something. And the new district could be more dynamic and interesting with different architects and different developers for each parcel.
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  #529  
Old Posted Oct 7, 2021, 12:11 AM
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I agree. It sounds like Melvin Mark is still interested in developing something. And the new district could be more dynamic and interesting with different architects and different developers for each parcel.
I agree it will be a more interesting neighborhood if it's developed one building at a time by different teams.

Marketing parcels independently will also test whether PP's math in putting the CBA together is sound. They are going to have to offer parcels at a market price and the more restrictions are placed on them in terms of labor agreements, rent restrictions, etc the lower that price will be. Historically public planning processes have tended to underestimate the impact of restrictions on the residual land value. But I sincerely hope they manage to buck the trend
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  #530  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2021, 5:25 AM
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I just realized there is a 600ft building going up in Bellevue. That kind of makes me want to see something taller than that go up in the Post Office site. That probably won't happen, but it would be nice to see.
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  #531  
Old Posted Oct 8, 2021, 7:17 AM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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I just realized there is a 600ft building going up in Bellevue. That kind of makes me want to see something taller than that go up in the Post Office site. That probably won't happen, but it would be nice to see.
Yup. It’s crazy to think Bellevue Washington pretty much a suburb city, probably has a better skyline than us. My cousin who lives in Seattle was driving a visitor up from SeaTac and they say to him "oh, wow, you live really close to the city!" when they see Bellevue looming in the horizon.

But Portlands walkability is way better than Bellevue I’m sure. But I wish Portland could do both..

Last edited by CorbinWarrick; Oct 8, 2021 at 7:28 AM.
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  #532  
Old Posted Oct 9, 2021, 8:58 PM
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Yup. It’s crazy to think Bellevue Washington pretty much a suburb city, probably has a better skyline than us. My cousin who lives in Seattle was driving a visitor up from SeaTac and they say to him "oh, wow, you live really close to the city!" when they see Bellevue looming in the horizon.

But Portlands walkability is way better than Bellevue I’m sure. But I wish Portland could do both..
Studying Portland's central city zoning map, I cannot find a block that permits, even with bonuses, a building taller than 460 feet. Can anyone identify where one can build taller? If not, then advocates for taller buildings are spinning their wheels until the zoning code is revised to allow taller buildings.
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  #533  
Old Posted Oct 9, 2021, 9:32 PM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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Studying Portland's central city zoning map, I cannot find a block that permits, even with bonuses, a building taller than 460 feet. Can anyone identify where one can build taller? If not, then advocates for taller buildings are spinning their wheels until the zoning code is revised to allow taller buildings.
That’s pretty sad for a city that needs housing but hates tall residential buildings
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  #534  
Old Posted Oct 9, 2021, 11:15 PM
subterranean subterranean is offline
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That is by design. The nimbys in the west hills have precious views.
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  #535  
Old Posted Oct 9, 2021, 11:30 PM
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
That’s pretty sad for a city that needs housing but hates tall residential buildings
Only the most expensive apartments and condos would be provided by towers taller than 460 feet. The housing that Portland needs should be not just "affordable" in the jargon of developers, but truly affordable, so that a couple working for the minimum wage and raising two kids can have decent housing that does not gobble up half of a family's monthly income. No, eliminating the current building height limit will not solve Portland's housing shortage.
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  #536  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2021, 6:27 AM
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Studying Portland's central city zoning map, I cannot find a block that permits, even with bonuses, a building taller than 460 feet. Can anyone identify where one can build taller? If not, then advocates for taller buildings are spinning their wheels until the zoning code is revised to allow taller buildings.
Okay, not to get anyone excited, but there is some blocks that would allow for higher than 460ft that are listed as Unlimited Height. These blocks are all north of Lovejoy. The problem is they are all in a 5:1FAR zone. So it would probably require a developer to do some serious work getting FAR from other sites to transfer to a specific site (if this is still a thing developers could do) to get a building to pencil out to be above 500ft.

Other than that, it would take an amendment from the city to go above the height and FAR limits, which is highly unlikely, so at this point, Portland has decided that it's tallest buildings are the ones that exist now and the tallest buildings we will see in Portland in this future will be 460ft or shorter.

Personally, I am fine with that height limit, though it would be nice to see more 300-400ft buildings going up.
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  #537  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2021, 9:07 AM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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Originally Posted by urbanlife View Post
Okay, not to get anyone excited, but there is some blocks that would allow for higher than 460ft that are listed as Unlimited Height. These blocks are all north of Lovejoy. The problem is they are all in a 5:1FAR zone. So it would probably require a developer to do some serious work getting FAR from other sites to transfer to a specific site (if this is still a thing developers could do) to get a building to pencil out to be above 500ft.

Other than that, it would take an amendment from the city to go above the height and FAR limits, which is highly unlikely, so at this point, Portland has decided that it's tallest buildings are the ones that exist now and the tallest buildings we will see in Portland in this future will be 460ft or shorter.

Personally, I am fine with that height limit, though it would be nice to see more 300-400ft buildings going up.
Check out Bellevue Washington’s skyline. A suburb city at that
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  #538  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2021, 5:32 PM
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
Check out Bellevue Washington’s skyline. A suburb city at that
I would suggest that all of you go to Google Streetview and drop a pin at various locations in Downtown Bellevue. "Walk" around Bellevue on different streets, taking in the views and environment created by that collection of high rises. Is that really a city we would want to emulate?
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  #539  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2021, 8:17 PM
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
Check out Bellevue Washington’s skyline.
I'll never understand people who care about postcard pretty skylines more than they care about quality of life in the city. I'll gladly take two 250 footers over one 500 footer because it means two city blocks get improved rather than one.
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  #540  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2021, 8:26 PM
58rhodes 58rhodes is offline
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Check out Bellevue Washington’s skyline. A suburb city at that
Bellevue is not a real city, is a corporate development with no diversity or personality.
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