Multnomah County Courthouse | 310' | 17 floors | Complete

[MarkDaMan]

Multnomah County set to take a long look at building a new courthouse
Dana Tims, The Oregonian
on February 26, 2013 at 5:12 PM, updated February 26, 2013 at 9:14 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i..._river_default

Multnomah County took an important, albeit symbolic step Tuesday in tabling the idea of renovating its aging downtown Portland courthouse in favor of exploring ways to build a new structure at a different location.

Following a slide-filled briefing, the Board of Commissioners unofficially endorsed a recommendation to let staff spend the coming year assessing how an entirely new courthouse project could come together.

In doing so, the commissioners essentially eliminated the renovation option, which has remained in the mix for decades as board after board wrestled with ways either to replace or refurbish a century-old courthouse that lacks seismic bracing and any semblance of modern mechanical and electrical systems.

“The biggest accomplishment to date is that we are moving forward,” said Commissioner Judy Shiprack, who along with colleague Deborah Kafoury, has led the effort. “I’m really excited.”

Shiprack’s comments came after a presentation from Partnerships British Columbia, a B.C.-based company that uses public-private partnerships to finance large-scale infrastructure projects.

The board made no decisions about whether that type of arrangement might work to rebuild a new Multnomah County Courthouse, but board members listened intently to a plan based on the idea that a private company would design, build, operate and maintain a new, 300,000-square-foot structure.

Using that model, the county would continue to own the building, while making payments to the private entity for a period of time — say, 30 years — to cover operating costs.

A huge advantage for the county is that the model would bring private-market investors into the mix. That’s especially important in this case because cash-strapped Multnomah County, already tapped out by the Sellwood Bridge rebuild project and other demands, has no money to offer up on its own...(continues)

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Multnomah County set to take a long look at building a new courthouse
Dana Tims, The Oregonian
on February 26, 2013 at 5:12 PM, updated February 26, 2013 at 9:14 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i..._river_default

I've never been in the 100 year old courthouse on SW 5th, but I'm disappointed the county would favor a new building over retrofitting the old. At the time, it was the largest building in Portland. It still carries more mass than most buildings downtown. At 5-6 stories tall and a full block development it would be a sad day if it ever goes away.

[tworivers]

I've never been in the 100 year old courthouse on SW 5th, but I'm disappointed the county would favor a new building over retrofitting the old. At the time, it was the largest building in Portland. It still carries more mass than most buildings downtown. At 5-6 stories tall and a full block development it would be a sad day if it ever goes away.

^^^ Maybe we could turn it into a 7-story parking garage.

[stan]

The current courthouse is a tragedy waiting to happen, so it's great that Multnomah County seems serious about getting a new courthouse built. A passing bus causes some of the courtrooms to noticeably shake, hate to think what a earthquake would do. Renovating the current building was looked at in a previous study, but would have been very expensive and taken longer than just building a new courthouse due to having to accommodate the current workers and service provided by the courthouse.

Hopefully next courthouse will be downtown pretty near the current location.

[mmeade]

Sadly, this building won't stop being a seismic problem when the courts find a new home. For this building to be safe, it will need an extensive seismic renovation. I sincerely hope that a public agency finds a way to fund the renovation and keep this Civic treasure part of the Central downtown core. Public funding is sometimes a necessary way to keep these expensive treasures active and a part of the city. Private funding is based on profit, which will be hard to come by with a seismic renovation this large.

[MarkDaMan]

Yet the county is sadly broke as a joke and most likely will not be able to fund such a major update, let alone build a new building. I don't think the new "Education Urban Renewal District" covers the courthouse, which is too bad, because it will take a public/private partnership (think Macy's/Nines/PDC) to bring this building back.

[MarkDaMan]

Jul 11, 2013, 10:41am PDT Updated: Jul 11, 2013, 11:09am PDT
$15M revives plans for a new Multnomah County Courthouse
Wendy Culverwell
Real Estate Daily editor- Portland Business Journal

The Oregon Legislature allocated $15 million to develop plans to replace Multnomah County’s aging, inadequate and in many ways dangerous courthouse.

Lawmakers committed general obligation bonds, injecting fresh energy and resources into a four-decade effort to replace a functionally obsolete building.

...

To date, it has been unable to secure either a site or the roughly $200 million it will cost to construct a modern new one.

Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury said the state’s money represents a major turning point.

“This is really the first time that we’ve been able to say that we’re moving forward,” she said.

Multnomah County expects to construct a new courthouse on a new site, either in downtown or the Central Eastside. It does not anticipate asking voters to approve a bond to fund construction, citing ongoing lack of support.

“The state coming to the table is the only way we’re going to get a courthouse built,” Kafoury said.

The Historic Preservation League of Oregon named the courthouse one of the state’s 10 most endangered places in May.

[bvpcvm]

God I hope they replace it. Every time (remarkably often) that I'm called for jury duty I wait in that building sweating with anxiety, waiting for the shaking to begin.

[tworivers]

Weren't they talking about rerouting the Hawthorne Bridge west-side ramps and using that block? With a tunnel under One Main?

I'd love to see them remove that hideous parking garage next to One Main... bury the parking and put a new architecturally striking courthouse there, please.

[urbanlife]

If they built a new courthouse, what could the old courthouse building be used for or would it be a building that would face the wrecking ball?

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Weren't they talking about rerouting the Hawthorne Bridge west-side ramps and using that block? With a tunnel under One Main?

I remember that too. It seemed like quite an ambitious plan.

Originally Posted by tworivers

I'd love to see them remove that hideous parking garage next to One Main... bury the parking and put a new architecturally striking courthouse there, please.

I can't imagine them tearing out ten levels of parking, though I sure wouldn't be sad to see that awful garage go.

I assume the idea of rerouting the Hawthorne ramp to turn that block into usable land for a courthouse is dead? ...such a shame. I loved the idea of it connected by a tunnel to the justice center (whose proper name I cannot recall for the life of me!)

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

If they built a new courthouse, what could the old courthouse building be used for or would it be a building that would face the wrecking ball?

It's a very handsome building. I would hope someone sees fit to buy it and do a facade retention, with modern office accommodation inside.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

It's a very handsome building. I would hope someone sees fit to buy it and do a facade retention, with modern office accommodation inside.

I could see something like that, hollowing out the middle to build an office tower...though that tends to be costly and the cheapest thing to do is knock it down so that there is a whole block to build on.

[2oh1]

While it does look handsome, it's also not welcoming in any way at street level. Granted, it's a courthouse, so that is somewhat to be expected, but for the sake of street level activity, I wouldn't be the least bit sad if this one gets knocked down. And can we take the Portland building with it? LOL! Sorry... that comment is off topic, I know, but those two blocks are pretty horrible for sidewalk activity.

[PacificNW]

What is expected for healthy "street activity" level within a government/financial district of a city in comparison to the retail core?

[twofiftyfive]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

While it does look handsome, it's also not welcoming in any way at street level. Granted, it's a courthouse, so that is somewhat to be expected, but for the sake of street level activity, I wouldn't be the least bit sad if this one gets knocked down. And can we take the Portland building with it? LOL! Sorry... that comment is off topic, I know, but those two blocks are pretty horrible for sidewalk activity.

What exactly do you mean by "street level activity"? Plenty of old buildings--City Hall, Solomon Courthouse, Pioneer Courthouse, the U Club, the A Club, every church in the city, lots of apartment buildings--don't have street front retail. Should we raze those as well?

[tworivers]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich:
It's a very handsome building. I would hope someone sees fit to buy it and do a facade retention, with modern office accommodation inside.

I'd love to see it radically repurposed but do you guys think that Portland really has the money or developer culture to pull something like that off? In my billionaire dreams I'd simply hand it off to Allied Works and see what they come up with. Of course, Grandma and Gramps over at the Historic Landmarks Commission would probably need new diapers if that happened.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by twofiftyfive

What exactly do you mean by "street level activity"? Plenty of old buildings--City Hall, Solomon Courthouse, Pioneer Courthouse, the U Club, the A Club, every church in the city, lots of apartment buildings--don't have street front retail. Should we raze those as well?

Of course not. I'm just saying that I wouldn't be sad to see this building go. It's not just a lack of retail. Not every building needs retail. Compare this to Pioneer Courthouse with its grass and wide sidewalks.

I wouldn't be sad at all to see this unwelcoming fortress go.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by tworivers

I'd love to see it radically repurposed but do you guys think that Portland really has the money or developer culture to pull something like that off?

This was exactly my thinking.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by tworivers

I'd love to see it radically repurposed but do you guys think that Portland really has the money or developer culture to pull something like that off? In my billionaire dreams I'd simply hand it off to Allied Works and see what they come up with. Of course, Grandma and Gramps over at the Historic Landmarks Commission would probably need new diapers if that happened.

Facade retention isn't very common in Portland, but elsewhere it's a very common process. For example in Glasgow, where I lived for two years, almost every 19th Century facade you see along this street has modern office accommodation behind it. This causes no small amount of unhappiness with preservationists, who are sad to see the original interiors disappear, but the likely alternative is the wholesale demolition of the building (see the parallels here?). Glasgow, for what it's worth, is a city that 30 years ago was thought about much the same way we think of Detroit today. Its economy has recovered to an incredible degree since then, but there is still a large amount of vacant land in the central city.