Block 216 Tower - Ritz Hotel and Condos | 459'-11 1/2" | 35 floors | Complete

[DBenson]

Rather than just attack the writing style of the op-ed piece critical of the Ritz-Carlton or trash talk the Oregonian for carrying it, I’d like to hear more substantive arguments. I appreciate claims passionately expressed, but would also like to read evidence and reasons supporting them.

I think it’s a mistake to simply dismiss out of hand all the points that Downes-Le Guin makes. Some of the important, overlapping questions that he raises are: What does the Ritz-Carlton mean? For whom do we make our city? What does a good Portland downtown look like? Surely, these are worthy of respectful debate.

And I cannot join what seems to be the uncritical criticism of the Oregonian. I wonder what journalistic standards those who trash the newspaper are comparing it to. The New York Times? The Washington Post? The Oregonian of old? Please explain in what specific ways it suffers by comparison. Are its investigative reports inaccurate or superficial? What stories does it under- or over-report? In what way(s) is its writing bad? Is there an objectionable bias to the opinions allowed expression in it? Are the opinions allowed a voice in The O unfairly narrow or extreme? I hear more condemnation than critique.

[FiveOverPun]

Originally Posted by DBenson

I think it’s a mistake to simply dismiss out of hand all the points that Downes-Le Guin makes. Some of the important, overlapping questions that he raises are: What does the Ritz-Carlton mean? For whom do we make our city? What does a good Portland downtown look like?

His answer to these questions, from the article:

What I’d like to see driving down Burnside might not look so different from the Ritz-Carlton: a large building, but one providing affordable housing and a stack of social services. The design would be less luxurious, but original and beautiful, so that residents would be happy to live there. The building’s downtown location, and support from the public and private sectors, would reinforce its symbolic value as an inspiring civic gesture.

His answer is a massive vanity project. A beautiful building of affordable homes? Homes that nobody who lives there can afford, the rest of the city subsidizing the lucky few who are selected to live in them? Instead of building for the wealthy, let's build for the lucky?

Unlike a lot of folks here, I'm not a builder, architect, planner, or involved in housing construction professionally in any way. I'm an amateur hobbyist who likes big buildings and cute little parks. But there's a problem here, a choice to make, and many refuse to make it. Density, affordability, and desirability are all goals, but it's nearly impossible to have all three. (It's not quite a "choose two" but close.)

In my mind, it's because there are too few dense, affordable locations for people to live. If we build enough - and likely this would be far in excess of Kotek's desired 36k units per year - perhaps that will change. But 400 affordable units on Burnside would still leave tens of thousands out of luck.

This, to me, is the great failing of this style of politics. It's about, to quote the original author, the "symbolic value" of a building. The Ritz-Carlton is a hole in the city, instead we need a symbolic gesture? No. The purpose of building housing is to have homes for people, all types of people, and that's what we need: homes, not symbols and gestures.

[Tykendo]

To me, Ritz-Carlton is a desire to reach out to be bigger and more prosperous. To have a vision for our city to achieve more. I think the key going forward for downtown to thrive is to retrofit little used office towers with affordable residential. Getting working class down there would be huge IMO. They'd use services, and entertainment options. Obviously it will take tax breaks to lure ownership to develop these buildings. But the sooner, the better. And i mean true affordability. IMO , You'd end up with one huge thriving downtown neighborhood from SW Waterfront to the Pearl.

[FiveOverPun]

Originally Posted by Tykendo

Getting working class down there would be huge IMO. They'd use services, and entertainment options. Obviously it will take tax breaks to lure ownership to develop these buildings.

Getting more foot traffic in downtown would be a great start.

I'd love to see a designated area intended for no/low-cover live music and bars around Burnside. If Nashville and Austin can do it, Portland surely can, right? This would be a nice addition to existing spots in the area like Dante's and Roseland et al.

There's empty buildings and parking lots, so there's definitely capacity. It's well-served by transit too.

Apart from opening a venue myself, though, I have no idea how to make something like this happen. (Not that I know how to open a venue either. ugh.) If anybody has thoughts/insight on this maybe PM me?

[2oh1]

The Ritz has an official opening date: August 15th

Block 216, developer Walt Bowen’s $600 million building in the heart of Portland’s troubled downtown, will stage its grand opening Aug. 15.

The 251-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which will be the building’s largest tenant and employ 350, will open for business that day. Aug. 15 is also the first day would-be buyers of the building’s 132 condos can close on their units.

...continues On The Oregonian.

[uncommon.name]

Portland Ritz-Carton tower lands law firm as first office tenant


It’s been a good couple months for Walt Bowen, developer of the Ritz-Carlton tower in downtown Portland.

The 35-story, $600 million tower, known as Block 216, has signed its first office tenant. And perhaps more importantly, Bowen’s companies got an additional 18 months to repay the $460 million construction loan.

The law firm Davis Wright Tremaine has signed a lease to occupy 19,100 square feet of office space in the new Block 216 building in downtown Portland, confirmed Bill Miner, partner in charge of the firm’s local office. Miner said the firm was attracted by the building’s “extraordinary amenities, green design and location” in downtown’s West End.

Read the rest on $Oregonlive...$ 4:43pm update - They added a paywall after I read and posted this

[MarkDaMan]

Stunning!

[urbanlife]

If this tower is the closest Portland will get to something like the F5 Tower in Seattle, I am okay with that. This building has turned out to be quite a beautiful tower.

[maccoinnich]

I hadn't seen it reported elsewhere that Block 216 has has a second tenant (who don't seem to be relocating from elsewhere in Portland?)

Law firm to become anchor tenant in Block 216 tower



Two businesses have signed leases for office space in the 35-story Block 216 mixed-use tower, BPM Real Estate Group announced on Thursday.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, a national law firm with a century-long presence in Portland, has signed on as the anchor tenant by agreeing to terms for slightly more than 19,100 square feet on the seventh floor. San Francisco-based private equity firm Banneker Partners has leased 4,545 square feet of space on the fourth floor.

Davis Wright Tremaine was advised by JLL’s Portland office and by Century Pacific in Seattle. Banneker Partners was represented by Kevin Joshi of Kidder Matthews. JLL is the leasing agent for the office space in Block 216.

The building offers office space on floors three through seven. Floors five and six can be configured as contiguous space for companies seeking up to 67,256 square feet. The fourth floor is a multi-tenant floor for smaller footprint needs.

...continues at the DJC.

[MarkDaMan]

[$] https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...and-hotel.html

Highly anticipated Ritz Carlton delays opening of downtown Portland hotel
Updated: Jul. 18, 2023, 1:19 p.m.|Published: Jul. 18, 2023, 11:39 a.m.
By Jeff Manning | The Oregonian/OregonLive
The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Portland has delayed its opening for two months.

The hotel website had been booking reservations for stays beginning in mid-August. The website now says the Ritz Carlton’s 250 rooms will not be available until Oct. 15.

Walt Bowen, the Portland developer leading the Ritz project, blamed the delay on the difficulty of obtaining certain construction materials.

“The postponement from the previously announced date was decided to ensure delivery of premium materials and finishes for an exceptional experience for guests,” Bowen said in a statement.

“We have been fortunate that the Block 216 project has seen very few delays over the last four years, but we are now experiencing some setbacks in the final stage of construction due to supply chain issues,” Bowen added. “We are working closely with Marriott to ensure that the final product is up to the highest standards before we open our doors to Portland.”

...(continues)

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

[$] https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...and-hotel.html



...(continues)

I don't have any information as to why this is, but when I was downtown last week there was still a lot of construction activity on the building. It was hard to see how they could wrap up by August

[uncommon.name]

What luxury looks like inside Ritz-Carlton Portland’s private homes

Updated: Jul. 24, 2023, 11:42 a.m.|Published: Jul. 22, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
By Janet Eastman | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Every time you gaze at the new downtown Ritz-Carlton Portland tower, it will look different. Modeled after Oregon’s shimmering sunstone crystals, the gemlike faceted glass exterior reflects light, changing from bright sky blue to dramatic curtains of black shadows.

Inside the 35-story building, set to open in October, are more custom features, designed to “surprise and delight,” said Terry Sprague of LUXE Forbes Global Properties. His agency is selling the 132 private homes in the glamor-driven tower, from a one-bedroom condo on the 23rd floor for $1,150,000 to a penthouse on the top floor with a finished asking price of $9 million...

Continue reading on Oregonlive...

[2oh1]

Does this look like a $2 Million dollar condo, or $2,000 a month apartment? You tell me. That's not just a picture of a condo in the Ritz. It's the MODEL! I find that pretty shocking. Certainly, the building has high end luxury to offer, but those bedrooms look surprisingly cheap.

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Does this look like a $2 Million dollar condo, or $2,000 a month apartment? You tell me. That's not just a picture of a condo in the Ritz. It's the MODEL! I find that pretty shocking. Certainly, the building has high end luxury to offer, but those bedrooms look surprisingly cheap.

The finishes look dated already - like they leaned in to every interiors trend from the last ten years. I know model units always feel a bit generic but would have been nice to see something that felt more like it responeded to Portland or PNW. I hope the hotel interiors are more interesting

[Leo]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Does this look like a $2 Million dollar condo, or $2,000 a month apartment? You tell me. That's not just a picture of a condo in the Ritz. It's the MODEL! I find that pretty shocking. Certainly, the building has high end luxury to offer, but those bedrooms look surprisingly cheap.

I think the marketing guys just aren't trying very hard; they're just leaning on the appeal of the brand. Even the digital renderings for the $9M penthouse look terrible - gaudy in style and executed with what looks like third-rate rendering software.

[maccoinnich]

SW 9th is now fully open to pedestrians.

[downtownpdx]

Are cars allowed on this block or ped only?

[maccoinnich]

As of today it was not open to cars. It is designed to allow cars, but I don't know if PBOT has made a decision on whether to open it to cars or not. In retrospect it would have been a good idea to add retractable bollards, so that vehicular traffic can enter when needed, but allowing it to be more pedestrian oriented otherwise.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

FWIW, when I recently walked by a couple weeks ago, when the fencing was still up and they were putting the finishing touches on, a small group of skaters passed by and commented how they couldn't wait to take over that street.

I really like the lighting scheme, though. Would really enjoy seeing more overhead pendant lighting like that.

[maccoinnich]

What We Know About the Ritz-Carlton Portland’s Enchanted Forest of a Lobby Bar



After months keeping things under wraps, the team at the incoming downtown Portland Ritz-Carlton has revealed its plans for the hotel’s lobby bar, opening later this fall. Meadowrue — named for the buttercup-esque Western Meadowrue — uses folk tales and enchanted forests as inspiration, serving chinook salmon rillettes and Old Fashioneds under a vertical ceiling garden and twinkling lights.

Meadowrue, decked out in dark greens and sapphire blues among “dark timber accents,” will be open for morning coffee and breakfast before transitioning into cocktail bar service in the evenings. Coava has developed an exclusive blend for the Ritz-Carlton, which will serve as the foundation for several coffee drinks; in terms of breakfast items, Meadowrue will similarly rely on Oregon-based products. For example, the bar and restaurant’s quiche will pair spring onions and toasted pine nuts with Rogue Creamery cheese, while an oat milk yogurt parfait will use both Oregon blueberries and toasted hazelnuts.

In the evenings, the kitchen will continue to lean on Oregonian ingredients, though the menu will be simpler: think house salmon rillette using smoked Chinook from Josephson’s Smokehouse in Astoria, or Olympia Provisions charcuterie. The cocktail menu is where Meadowrue appears to be flexing: For instance, the bar’s take on a margarita uses a private Meadowrue barrel of Codigo 1530 Rosa Tequila, as well as Grand Marnier, clarified orange juice, and lime treacle. The house Aviation riff incorporates a brioche-infused Amontillado sherry. The Old Fashioned is a particular stunner, with the bar touching each ingredient in some way — Meadowrue barrel-aged Buffalo Trace bourbon arrives with house-made bitters and coffee syrup made with Coava’s Urban Forest Blend roast. The same level of attention goes to nonalcoholic drinks, like the You Made Me Blush, with Lyre’s Pink London Spirit, cloudy apple juice, pomegranate syrup, and apple cider vinegar. The Ritz-Carlton team has yet to reveal Meadowrue’s food and beverage director or the bar manager.

...continues at Eater Portland.