James Beard Public Market | Proposed

[bvpcvm]

Assumed it wasn't, based on previous comment. Most any building along Morrison or Yamhill would do the job. It's small, but what about the Krebs building (where Nordstrom Rack used to be)? Or, down past Border's, on 2nd, I think, there's an office building with ground-floor retail that's been empty for years.

[crow]

how about ressurect the old Yamhill Market on SW 2nd?

[mcbaby]

the galleria would be perfect especially if the parking lot across the street was utilized. but alas, the main floor is already leased.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by crow

how about ressurect the old Yamhill Market on SW 2nd?

Too small, and broken up.... not a lot of contiguous ground floor space.

I still think the Morrison bridgehead is perfect. Who doesn't want to get rid of 5 blocks worth of surface parking in the middle of the city? On the waterfront? With 2 adjacent light rail stops?

[Delaney]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

I still think the Morrison bridgehead is perfect. Who doesn't want to get rid of 5 blocks worth of surface parking in the middle of the city? On the waterfront? With 2 adjacent light rail stops?

My concern is that SERA and Melvin Mark will create a bland environment with no soul. Without an existing historic building as a starting point, SERA usually tends to flail aesthetically - especially with a developer known for putting quantity before quality.

[mcbaby]

It would be cool if the Morrison location could employ some of the architectural touches of Portland's "cast iron" past. I recall reading that fifty years ago, Eric Ladd had preserved many cast iron edifices from buildings which had been torn down in the name of progress. Maybe some of the remaining facades could be recycled into newer buildings or structures if the Morrison location is chosen. Stop me if I'm wrong but I believe that replicas have also been created in old town near the Skidmore fountain.

[Okstate]

Info regarding the Morrison Bridgehead from DJC:

Developer sought for Morrison Bridgehead
POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 09:09 AM PT
BY: Nick Bjork
Tags: Ron Paul

Multnomah County and the Portland Development Commission are seeking developers for four blocks of the Morrison Bridgehead. (Photo courtesy of Multnomah County)

Multnomah County and the Portland Development Commission are seeking ideas for one of downtown’s key development sites.

The two agencies have put out a request for proposals asking developers to dream up the future of four county-owned city blocks at the foot of the Morrison Bridge in downtown. The four blocks - known as blocks 1, 2, 16 and 39 - make up 136,110 square feet of surface space surrounding the foot of the bridge....

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Okstate

Info regarding the Morrison Bridgehead from DJC:

Whatever happens here, I really hope some sort of triangle shaped buildings happens in Block 1....I have a love for triangle shaped buildings and that would be quite the iconic spot to put one in Portland.

I do hope that what ever gets built on these four blocks helps stimulate development on the surrounding parking lots. This portion of downtown really deserves to have some serious downtown building density.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Whatever happens here, I really hope some sort of triangle shaped buildings happens in Block 1....I have a love for triangle shaped buildings and that would be quite the iconic spot to put one in Portland.

ABSOLUTELY!!! I was staring at that photo and having the EXACT same thought. I'd love to see something truly iconic there. A triangle shaped building (I love them as well) with a giant sculpture like Portlandia (although obviously not Portlandia due to reasons we know too well) on the east point to serve as a welcome sign for drivers entering downtown.

The Public Market sign in Seattle is timeless. I'd love to see something equally timeless here. Something that, in time, would become a symbol of our city. The outline of Wells Fargo and KOIN Tower is so generic.

[Sioux612]

How about this?

[smendesPDX]

Why would we want a triangle shaped building?

[RoseCtyRoks]

Why not??

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by smendesPDX

Why would we want a triangle shaped building?

Because it is a triangle shaped lot?....seriously, is this actually being asked about a triangle shaped lot?

[smendesPDX]

Looking at the lot, I dont see a triangle... I was just curious.

[PacificNW]

Seriously? You don't see lot #1 as a triangle?

[crow]

connect 16 and 1 and you get a BIG TRIANGLE. seriously!

[PacificNW]

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by smendesPDX

Looking at the lot, I dont see a triangle... I was just curious.

I honestly thought you were kidding, the triangle everyone is referring to is created by the split from the Morrison St Bridge when it crosses into downtown. To be more accurate, it would be an acute triangle. And actually I forgot that 1st is where the MAX runs under the bridge, so realistically any building built on Lot 1 would more than likely bridge over the MAX tracks and connect to Lot 16, which would still be able to make a triangle or triangular shaped building.

This would definitely be one of those rare moments in Portland history that I would want to see this city go the extra mile and really push for something architecturally stand out, possibly even starchitect stand out, that would be exciting to see happen....though knowing Portland, probably never would unless we got lucky and had a smaller firm really try to push the limits with what could be done.

[RED_PDXer]

Lot 1 is a horrible location in terms of access. Rearranging the bring ramps will be incredibly expensive. Given all the other available sites downtown, I can't imagine it getting developed any time soon. Maybe 30 years from now we will see a building there.. perhaps in the shape of a rectangle, if we're lucky.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by RED_PDXer

Lot 1 is a horrible location in terms of access. Rearranging the bring ramps will be incredibly expensive. Given all the other available sites downtown, I can't imagine it getting developed any time soon. Maybe 30 years from now we will see a building there.. perhaps in the shape of a rectangle, if we're lucky.

Not really that much would need to be rearranged to build on Lot 1, anything that got built there would have to rely on the other blocks obviously, but having a building that is basically Lot 1 and Lot 16 combined would be easy to do and all it would require is passage for the trains under the building which would already be accounted for within the structure of the building and thus making those two lots into a single building, which isn't any more complicated than building a building in general.

Also if all four blocks were in play, as is being suggested, it would also be equally just as easy to connect Lot 2 and Lot 39 to Lot 1 via going under the two bridge ramps simply because they are both high enough to walk under currently and would be fairly easy to build passage under them to connect each section together.

It would make sense to have these four blocks function as one complex of some sort. It will definitely be interesting to see what comes of this, even though it is safe to say nothing will be built here for at least another 5-10 years if we are lucky.


As for the two bridge ramps that are in Lot 39 and Lot 2, those are already in the plans to be removed when future development for these lots looks like it will actually happen. I vaguely remember the city doing a study on the importance of these two ramps and found that it wouldn't hinder downtown traffic much to remove them, so all that would happen is simply demolishing the ramps when construction phases are in place for new buildings.