Old Town/Chinatown News

[downtownpdx]

anyone have more info on this?

Boutique hotel planned in Old Town Chinatown

By: Lee Fehrenbacher in Real Estate and Development January 22, 2014 1:21 pm

A group of private partners is preparing to submit plans for design review for a project to redevelop a four-story, 12,000-square-foot building in Old Town Chinatown into a low-cost, boutique hotel.

Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2014/01/22...#ixzz2rLp2B3Qj

[NewUrbanist]

Wasn't the nearly abandoned building/ shell on NW Couch and Third in the planning stages for a Ace Hotel-like hotel? I thought Ankrom Moisan created a plan that included salvaging the exterior facades and rebuilding the interior spaces into a new chic hotel. I checked their webpage, and it appears to have been removed. Does anyone else remember this concept?

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

anyone have more info on this?

Boutique hotel planned in Old Town Chinatown

By: Lee Fehrenbacher in Real Estate and Development January 22, 2014 1:21 pm



Read more: http://djcoregon.com/news/2014/01/22...#ixzz2rLp2B3Qj

[pdxtraveler]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist

Wasn't the nearly abandoned building/ shell on NW Couch and Third in the planning stages for a Ace Hotel-like hotel? I thought Ankrom Moisan created a plan that included salvaging the exterior facades and rebuilding the interior spaces into a new chic hotel. I checked their webpage, and it appears to have been removed. Does anyone else remember this concept?

I think I know the plans you are talking about, they are on here some where! But here is something off the city development site for 3rd and Davis.
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bds/article/481955
I love this building, I just hope they repaint it, I hate the color it is now! Not sure if this is for a hotel, but it is requestings signage and a roof terrace. Looks hopeful!

[urbanlife]

Looks like Airbnb is making a big move with Portland, opening up a 160 person office in Old Town.


Airbnb confirms plans for Portland hub, plans to hire 160 this year

Airbnb, the San Francisco startup whose online listings turn homeowners’ extra space into vacation rentals, confirmed Friday that it plans to open a big Portland outpost this year in Old Town.

The fast-growing company said it will hire 160 employees in the coming months for a variety of positions focused on customer service and support work.

http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-fo...incart_m-rpt-2

[philopdx]

That's big news! The best thing to happen in Old Town in a long time.

[downtownpdx]

Yes very cool news for Old Town! Portland's officially their North American operational headquarters now.

[RED_PDXer]

Now we just need the City to actually legalize Airbnb rentals in town...

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by RED_PDXer

Now we just need the City to actually legalize Airbnb rentals in town...

No kidding, all they have to do is make it a rule that no one can have more than one hotel rental on their property, that would prevent people from taking a building full of studio apartments and renting them out as a hotel without having to pay a hotel tax.

Really the biggest issue is the how to tax this. I think the city just needs to except the fact that under a limited number of units, they will just have to let those tax dollars go and only go after those that try to run a short term rental business through Airbnb.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Really the biggest issue is the how to tax this. I think the city just needs to except the fact that under a limited number of units, they will just have to let those tax dollars go and only go after those that try to run a short term rental business through Airbnb.

I was digging through Airbnb rentals just to check them out. It appears some owners do collect a lodging tax.

I have contractors I send off across the country and often use VRBO (a vacation rental house website, similiar-ish to Airbnb) and the VRBO actually collects the applicable taxes. I don't see why Airbnb can't?

[RED_PDXer]

City planning staff have drafted a code amendment that would allow airbnb type rentals (called "short term rentals") through the annual code update process. The current draft would only allow short term rentals where the property owner lives on-site and only allow one to two rooms to be rented at any particular site. The owner will also need to notify adjacent property owners and apply for a permit from the city (about $200). The regulations seem reasonable and would allow collection of lodging taxes.

I think most people are supportive, but there's the usual gadfly's from Portland's wealthier residential suburbs who don't understand the concept and worry about it. In my opinion, a short-term rental subject to these regulations would be less obtrusive than your typical long-term renter next door, or worse yet, than a deadbeat property owner who refuses to maintain his/her home or yard.

[Sioux612]

A not so flattering article on Chinatown from Vice:

http://www.vice.com/read/portlands-i...ith-human-shit

[Derek]

While the Old Town area hasn't benefitted from the redevelopment that the rest of Portland has (and we all know it needs some help), I have never encountered human poo in my travels there.

[davehogan]

I had to deal with poop incident on TriMet a few weeks ago. Some junkie pooped as he got on the bus. The driver was really freaked out about it, and he switched to drop off only.

That was my only problem like that in 8 years in Portland. In San Diego I remember several fecal incidents. It seemed way more common there.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by davehogan

I had to deal with poop incident on TriMet a few weeks ago. Some junkie pooped as he got on the bus. The driver was really freaked out about it, and he switched to drop off only.

That was my only problem like that in 8 years in Portland. In San Diego I remember several fecal incidents. It seemed way more common there.

I still remember the time when I worked at a hotel downtown and a homeless man took a dump on the doorstep of the restaurant next door.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I still remember the time when I worked at a hotel downtown and a homeless man took a dump on the doorstep of the restaurant next door.

I still remember the time when I worked at a resort in Chandler, AZ and a homeless man died of heat exhaustion in our porte cochere.

It was unpleasant and heartbreaking. Bad things happen everywhere. Most don't get written up in news stories unless they can generate controversy.

[Sioux612]

Mayor Hales is offering subsidies to incentivize development in this gritty area of downtown. The Vice article was rather embarrassing but it had me thinking of what developer Weston pitched to the city back in 2007-2008:

Weston’s campaign to have the city change the building code to remove height limits for buildings with 8,000 square feet or less per floor. With the Central City Plan update coming from city planners, it’s not out of the question. I think it’s unlikely, but an idea worth discussing.

Randy's article calls the emergence of point towers "era-shifting".What do the rest of you think of Weston's proposal? I don't know about allowing unlimited height, but I certainly favor skinnier buildings. This could favor more quarter-block developments as well, which would be great to see. I'm really tired of big condos that take up entire blocks or even half-blocks.

-portlandarchitecture

Waiving fees is one thing but Hales ought to consider this as an incentive as well.

[pdxtex]

if i could wave my magic wandy id waive height limits for everything within the highway loop. im sick of stubby condos that all look like some kind of airport hotel. up is good as long as ground floor retail exists too. chinatown is the portland tenderloin though so it would be impossible to raze certain buildings without raising a stink from the social service agencies. lets start with that giant surface lot at 4th and couch though.

[MarkDaMan]

The Grove Hotel: Inside the 5 finalists vying for Portland Development Commission's blessing to buy vacant hotel
By Andrew Theen | atheen@oregonian.com
on April 15, 2014 at 2:18 PM, updated April 15, 2014 at 5:19 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...incart_m-rpt-1

The Grove Hotel is officially back in the city's cross hairs, and five developers are ready to move forward with projects to redevelop the long-vacant hotel.

And according to a public records request, unlikely previous development attempts, the developers largely aren't asking the Portland Development Commission to chip in on the project.

...

Here's a look at the five finalists (in no particular order).

1. The Icelandic Hostel option

The Concept: An Icelandic-inspired hostel with 188 beds, and Nordic restaurant/beer hall, multiple ground-floor retail options

The Backers: KEX (an Icelandic hostel backed by a former professional soccer player, a restauranteur and a developer who lost his fortune in Iceland's financial crisis), A&R Development (the Ace Hotel in Portland), ChefStable (the same restaurant group behind Lardo, Ox and Roe).

...

2. The Seattle Hostel option

The Concept: A hostel featuring Portland-based art, with ground-floor retail including a coffee shop, laundromat, bike rental, etc.

The Backers: Lee Kindell and Gibraltar Seattle Investments (known for City Hostel Seattle)

...

3. The hostel with an "authentic Portland experience"

The Concept: A hostel, based on Basecamp Hotels, a boutique in Lake Tahoe with four small ground-floor retail spaces, one full restaurant and a "speakeasy." Total 190 beds.

The Backers: Naito Development (a Portland company), and Eagle Point Hotel Partners (a New York-based hotel developer)

...

4. The "creative workspace" option

The Concept: Several ground-floor retail spaces, but upper floors will be leasable space for smaller businesses. Goal is to make the site a "creative office gateway" to Chinatown.

The Backers: Urban Development Partners NW, Beam Development, Works Partnership Architecture (all local)

...

5. The market-rate apartments option

The Concept: Ground-floor micro-retail stores (11 of them). Eighteen, 400-square-foot market rate apartments, two 550-square-foot apartments.

The Backers: Aaron Jones and Don Mutal (both Portland developers)

.....

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

The Grove Hotel: Inside the 5 finalists vying for Portland Development Commission's blessing to buy vacant hotel
By Andrew Theen | atheen@oregonian.com
on April 15, 2014 at 2:18 PM, updated April 15, 2014 at 5:19 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...incart_m-rpt-1

Oh good, it sounds like they will be keeping the Grove Hotel.

[2oh1]

Proposal #5 on that list makes me curious. I wonder what market rate rent would be. Portland needs more affordable housing, so the addition of some (ok, a few) 400 foot apartments would be a good thing, though the location is a challenge... but the rent would probably be pretty high.