Old Town/Chinatown News

[cityscapes]

230 SW Ash turned out great. I didn't know if this should go Downtown or in the Old Town thread. Please move if necessary.

[cityscapes]

Block 8L.


Worldmark by Wyndham.

[maccoinnich]

Prosper Portland is planning to buy the surface parking lot north of the Lan Su Garden, from Northwest Natural:

Action Item: Authorizing Acquisition of a 0.9-Acre Property in the Downtown Waterfront Tax Increment Finance District from Northwest Natural Gas Company for $8,000,000, the Execution of a Term Sheet with Lan Su Chinese Garden Regarding Redevelopment of the Site, and a $4,000,000 Interfund Loan from Portland Parks and Recreation to Assist in the Acquisition

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[pdxsg34]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Prosper Portland is planning to buy the surface parking lot north of the Lan Su Garden, from Northwest Natural:



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http://pei-architects.com/the-creati...-luxury-hotel/

[winstonLT5]

Originally Posted by pdxsg34

http://pei-architects.com/the-creati...-luxury-hotel/

Umm... wow. That is an ambitious proposal to put it mildly, especially given the current economic climate. Could this be the game changer Chinatown has been hoping for decades?

Images PEI Architects http://pei-architects.com/the-creati...-luxury-hotel/

[Delaney]

Now I know we're in a recession.

[Tykendo]

Wow! What a fantastic proposal.

[maccoinnich]

From what I understand, the Lan Su Garden is interesting in developing an approximately 50,000 sq ft Cultural & Heritage Center, which would include a theater, cafe, gallery space, greenhouse and offices for the garden. That's the mid-rise structure shown on the southern half of the block.

The high rise structure on the north half would be done by / in collaboration with a private developer, and depending on market conditions. I find it hard to imagine that a high rise hotel is going to be viable any time soon, especially in that location.

With that said, if they can pull this off it should have a really positive impact on the neighborhood... especially if the Key Development / Shigeru Ban project on the block to the west also moves forward.

[RED_PDXer]

Prosper Portland is so good at getting pretty development renderings that are divorced from financial reality.

[ORNative]

Hmmm. Wonder what the Historic Landmarks Commission will think of that design . . .

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by ORNative

Hmmm. Wonder what the Historic Landmarks Commission will think of that design . . .

I doubt they'd care for it, but it doesn't matter... the project is outside of both the Skidmore / Old Town and the New Chinatown / Japantown historic districts.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

From what I understand, the Lan Su Garden is interesting in developing an approximately 50,000 sq ft Cultural & Heritage Center, which would include a theater, cafe, gallery space, greenhouse and offices for the garden. That's the mid-rise structure shown on the southern half of the block.

The high rise structure on the north half would be done by / in collaboration with a private developer, and depending on market conditions. I find it hard to imagine that a high rise hotel is going to be viable any time soon, especially in that location.

With that said, if they can pull this off it should have a really positive impact on the neighborhood... especially if the Key Development / Shigeru Ban project on the block to the west also moves forward.

Holy crap.....who do I need to rough up to make sure this project happens. This would be amazing to see going up in Portland and would definitely be a standout piece of architecture.

[uncommon.name]

Umm, yes please. That would be beautiful to see in that area.

[downtownpdx]

Does anyone know more about this, posted on June 25?

https://www.nextportland.com/

Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 8.30.17 AM by Ryan Miller, on Flickr

[maccoinnich]

There should be a Pre-App notice soon, which might have some more information.

[downtownpdx]

Would be a great infill spot. A high rise would be nice but at least another parking lot might be disappearing.

[urbanlife]

I forgot that was going to be a hotel, for some reason I was thinking it was gonna be another apartment building. That will definitely be a good infill location, and 5 stories will give a dense feel to that area. It will be sad to see those big trees come down, but I would rather cut down some sidewalk trees than save a surface parking lot.

[Rob Nob]

It was planned as apartments years ago but ran into difficulty with Urban Forestry. The large trees cross the property line by fractions of an inch, so were considered public "street trees" and were placed on a heritage tree list.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...jKeA35fhJv067Q

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by Rob Nob

It was planned as apartments years ago but ran into difficulty with Urban Forestry. The large trees cross the property line by fractions of an inch, so were considered public "street trees" and were placed on a heritage tree list.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...jKeA35fhJv067Q

This is insane. Unless the Buddha reached enlightenment under it, there's no reason a tree should prevent the redevelopment of a parking lot.

[maccoinnich]

The trees have been removed from the heritage tree list.