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  #61  
Old Posted Mar 9, 2008, 3:28 AM
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hey dougall, renderings on post 11
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  #62  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2008, 10:27 PM
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Heritage markers set for MLK Blvd.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Oregonian

A plan for long-promised additions along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is at last under way. The Portland Development Commission's Gateway and Heritage Markers Project will create a symbolic as well as physical entrance to a string of neighborhoods along the boulevard, including Eliot, Boise, King, Piedmont and Woodlawn.

On a recent Saturday morning, nearly 40 residents and professionals gathered at the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs building to discuss design concepts for the gateway, where Grand Avenue merges with MLK at Schuyler Street.

The heritage markers will be along MLK from the gateway to Northeast Rosa Parks Way. Each will contribute to a history of the neighborhoods and residents who, in addition to much of Portland's African American population, have included Scandinavians and other immigrant communities.

The project had languished among other revitalization efforts beginning with the Albina Community Plan in 1993. It now coincides with an "action plan" to jump-start renewal along MLK.

Designers from 2.ink Studio will work with the PDC to incorporate community feedback into a final design by late April.

Learn more at www.pdc.us/heritagemarkers or call PDC project manager Irene Bowers at 503-823-2419.

J. DAVID SANTEN JR.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/o...500.xml&coll=7
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  #63  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2008, 4:13 AM
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Portland hopes for dense TOD Hayden Island

Hayden Island plan calls for transit-oriented development
The latest plan for the neighborhood emphasizes public transportation and retail redevelopment
POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Thursday, April 10, 2008
BY TYLER GRAF

The release of the final Hayden Island development plan this week signifies the near completion of a years-long planning push within Portland’s northern-most, water-surrounded neighborhood.

Released by the Portland Planning Bureau, the plan is intended to address the neighborhood’s development issues, including future growth, access and connectivity to Portland and Vancouver, Wash.

Those who worked on the plan say it’s a blueprint for the future, created to work in conjunction with the Columbia River Crossing project and the extension of the MAX light-rail yellow line.

Hayden Island residents and city planning bureau officials recognized the need to move quickly on the plan, to formulate a mission, along with goals, that would underscore what residents would like to see in their neighborhood before the Columbia River Crossing bridge moved too far forward.

“There’s a thousand-pound gorilla in our living room called the Columbia River Crossing,” said Timme Herzel, a Hayden Island resident who worked on the plan.

As it currently stands, the plan calls for more transportation-oriented development, more housing, less street congestion and refined business development.

“In order to make Hayden Island more sustainable, we need to start providing more services to the island,” said Alice Ann Wetzel, a project manager with the city’s planning bureau.

For years, the city used the neighborhood’s traffic congestion, considered among the worst in the state, as an example of its transportation problems, according to Herzel. When the MAX light-rail yellow line was announced in the late 1990s, there was hope it would extend to Hayden Island and spur transit-oriented development. But it never materialized that way, leaving residents “flabbergasted” and feeling stranded on the island, Herzel said.

In recent years, however, the city has made plans to extend the light-rail yellow line farther north into Hayden Island, with the ultimate goal being an extension over the Columbia River Crossing into Vancouver.

For Hayden Island residents, this will mean that once the Jantzen Beach SuperCenter is demolished, it will be replaced with an urban grid streetscape and retail outlets. The new light rail station for the extended portion of the yellow line is anticipated to occupy the eastern-most edge of the former property.

The light-rail line is intended to bring business and residential development to the area.

Additionally, the construction of an another arterial bridge connecting western Hayden Island to Marine Drive is also on the boards, but its construction will be contingent on the area’s future development, as outlined in the planning bureau’s plan.

Residents and the bureau came together to form a “consensus-based” committee to make sure that happened, Herzel says. Since his involvement began in planning the future of Hayden Island, Herzel has served on two citizen-led committees of about 40 people each.

“Ultimately, what we’d like to see is more flexibility out here, so if we could create transit-oriented neighborhoods (and retail business), that would be ideal,” Herzel said.

The Hayden Island plan states that the current population on the island, less than 3,000, would not support significant business or retail growth. To increase the neighborhood’s population, more housing is needed. Jantzen Dynamic, which owns Jantzen Beach SuperCenter, has expressed its recommendation for zoning changes, making the potential for housing development more likely.

The proposed final plan will be presented to the Portland Planning Commission during the summer before being forwarded to City Council for adoption.
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDeta...borhood-emphas
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  #64  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2008, 4:15 AM
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We should just turn it into a duty-free zone. Could make a killing on those I-5 bridge tolls...

Or we could charge 'em by weight with all the stuff they buy!
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  #65  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2008, 4:17 AM
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what does duty free mean? Heard that last on Seinfeld...
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  #66  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2008, 5:38 AM
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no taxes. like in the airports and border stores.
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  #67  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2008, 3:05 PM
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Groundbreaking for Shaver Green building on 5/16/2008

JOIN IN A COMMUNITY CELEBRATION AND GROUNDBREAKING FOR
THE SHAVER GREEN BUILDING
Friday May 16, 2008 at 12:30 p.m.,
4011 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR
The Shaver Green Building is one of the few green residential developments
in the U.S. designed especially for families earning at or below 60
percent of median income and with an additional 10 units of permanent
supportive housing.
Shaver Green will offer an array of energy-saving, recycled and sustainable
products and features.
This unique building will attain status as either LEED gold or platinum
when it is completed in summer 2009. Join us in celebrating this
remarkable step into the future.
FINANCING PARTNERS IN THIS PROJECT ARE:
Armstrong Stafford LLC
Key Community Development Corporation
Portland Development Commission
State of Oregon Housing & Community Services
U.S. Bank Commercial Real Estate Division
ARCHITECT
DECA Architecture, Inc.
For more information, call 503-849-4285.
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  #68  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 6:58 AM
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Mississippi & Failing construction update

Mississippi & Failing Construction update
1960x408

NOTE: I took these photos on Thurs evening 01May08
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  #69  
Old Posted May 6, 2008, 7:02 AM
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So... Are they actually tearing down the Shopping Center?
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  #70  
Old Posted May 6, 2008, 5:23 PM
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it would be nice to see Hayden Island turned into a transit urban center. Right now, the island is too much of a waste.
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  #71  
Old Posted May 7, 2008, 2:02 AM
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'tis the plan to pretty much level Jantzen Beach, and then build something that will probably resemble Cascade Station (with WalMart instead of IKEA?). I think the city still has that building moratorium on the island though.
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Old Posted May 21, 2008, 7:23 PM
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Two projects start green trend on North Mississippi Avenue
Local developers partner to create greenest small business district in nation
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Wednesday, May 21, 2008
BY LIBBY TUCKER

Two large mixed-use buildings could help put Portland’s Mississippi Avenue on the map as a national model for sustainable small business districts.

The Mississippi Avenue Lofts condominiums and Trammell Crow Residential’s 188-unit apartment complex, under construction on Mississippi Avenue within three blocks of each other, are both striving to be green building “firsts.”

The projects will also bring some of the first upscale condos and rental units to the area, which has become a magnet for young, creative professionals.

Upstart developers Peter Wilcox, David Yoho and Bill Jackson are hoping their Lofts will be the first low-rise condominium project in the nation to achieve a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Portland’s Pearl District last month claimed the first high-rise platinum condo tower, The Casey.

Unlike typical residential buildings, the Lofts’ 32 live-work condos will contain energy-sharing units that allow air to circulate throughout, cutting energy use and costs. The building will also hold a host of other green features, including solar PV panels, energy-efficient appliances and natural finishes. And the Lofts are built to last with 350,000 pounds of post-consumer steel rebar embedded in 3 million pounds of concrete.

Trammell Crow Residential is also pursuing its second green building project with the $25 million, mixed-use apartment complex at North Beech Street and Mississippi Avenue. The developer is striving for a LEED gold rating.

“The neighborhood has changed a lot,” Tom DiChiara, a managing director for Trammell Crow, said. “There’s a lot of young entrepreneurs and a lot of focus on sustainability.”

The five-block area between North Fremont and Skidmore Streets on Mississippi Avenue is already at the front of the city’s green movement. Anchored on the south end by the ReBuilding Center, which offers used building materials, the district is chock full of locally-owned boutiques and cafes interlaced with access to bus service and the Interstate-MAX light-rail line.

Together, the developers hope to convince other builders, new business owners and homeowners in the neighborhood to follow suit in taking Mississippi Avenue to a new level of sustainability. In cooperation with the neighborhood association and the Portland Office of Sustainable Development, the builders hope to set a goal of reaching LEED certification on every new project on the street.

“This is all about setting a precedent,” said Wilcox, an architect and former member of the Sustainable Development Commission. “We want to build the greenest business district in the country.”

Mississippi Avenue Lofts is scheduled for completion in September. Trammell Crow will wrap up construction on its yet-to-be-named apartment complex in June 2009.
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDeta...-create-greene
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  #73  
Old Posted May 22, 2008, 4:25 AM
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This might have been posted in the infill thread. If so, sorry.



Trendy Street Highlights Bigger Portland Trends

Erin Hoover Barnett
The Sunday Oregonian
April 20, 2008

From the window of her Blue Gardenia cafe on Portland's North Mississippi Avenue, Linn Goldsby can see what developers say --and Goldsby hopes --is the future for this transforming corridor.

A massive crane looms over a blockwide construction site at Failing Street. Workers are assembling a 188-unit apartment and retail complex that will rise six stories at its highest point. The Trammell Crow project is the street's tallest and largest yet and an example of the density to come.

Just 10 years ago, North Mississippi was a neglected byway targeted by the city for renewal. Now it's a hub of restaurants, boutiques, recording studios and, soon, condos, apartments and work space.

The street showcases major trends shaping Portland: the growing popularity of urban living; displacement of the poor; the drive toward density along key arteries; and green living and building.

Michele Reeves, a Windermere Cronin & Caplan Realty Group broker active on Mississippi, describes the street as "a little bit magical."

It's remarkably close in --the U.S. Bancorp tower looms to the south like a temple --yet it's tucked away, offering an air of discovery. It's short and concentrated with charming storefronts, so it filled out quickly. And property values fell so low during decades of disinvestment that young people and entrepreneurs could readily buy in.

Mississippi has, Reeves says, "this unique geography to it that as you get more bodies on the street is going to lend it to outpacing some of the other residential commercial districts in viability."

Goldsby needs those "bodies on the street." She and her mother, Marcie Goldsby, launched Blue Gardenia Bakery & Coffee Roasters in 2005 in a converted warehouse. On weekends, customers line up for from-scratch cinnamon rolls, muffins and cookies and fresh coffee. But the weekday turnout is thinner.

"A lot of people on the street have mixed feelings about development," Goldsby says, "but it's hard to thrive without it."

Downturn is felt

More development is coming. Brian Wannamaker, who jump-started the street's transformation in 2001 when he started renovating and leasing buildings to hipster hangouts such as Gravy and Crow Bar, says, "I think all we've done so far is flirt with the development."

The recent downturn in the housing market put several projects on hold, including Kurisu International's plans for condos and a therapeutic garden north of Shaver Street. But Trammell Crow's 188 apartments and 9,000 square feet of retail and the Mississippi Avenue Lofts, with 32 condos and retail space just south of Skidmore Street, are under construction.

And brothers Bryan and Colin McLean expect to break ground this spring on NuMiss. The three-story building across from the Mississippi Lofts site will have ground-floor retail and two floors of office space.

Steve Hagan, the brothers' Windermere broker, says as young creatives age, "they may not want their home to serve as their office or studio space. If we can provide a really cool alternative, priced right, it gives them a nice address, and they can bring clients and customers there."

In addition, developer Ben Kaiser plans a mixed-use building at North Cook and Borthwick behind Grand Central Baking. It will include ground-floor retail with four floors above containing 88 live/work spaces with shared bathrooms.

If the housing market rebounds, developer Jim Winkler says he plans an "iconic" mixed-use apartment project rising six or seven stories on the southwest corner of Mississippi and Fremont Street.

"I'm thrilled with what's happened on Mississippi," says Winkler, who remade North Portland's Bess Kaiser Hospital into Adidas Village in 2002. "Look at the creativity. Look at the energy. It's one of those places young creative people want to live and work."

All the projects boast green practices from reusing rainwater to energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. And offering housing close to work is all about minimizing carbon emissions.

The pricetag

But it comes at a price. The Mississippi Avenue Lofts, for example, start at $289,900 for a one-bedroom and $399,900 for a two-bedroom.

The Portland Development Commission is responding to affordability concerns with such projects as Killingsworth Station, with Winkler as the developer. The project for North Interstate Avenue at Killingsworth Street, which is still being planned, features 54 mostly one-bedroom condos. The PDC will subsidize 21 units, making them affordable to people earning 80 percent of the median income, or about $38,000 a year for a single person. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

With market forces encouraging plenty of development, the city is considering shifting public money from developer incentives --such as low-interest loans to improve storefronts --to preserving affordability.

Steve Dotterer, the city's principal planner, says urban neighborhoods are transforming much quicker than they did in the 1970s and '80s. "Does it mean we do less investment ourselves?" he asks. "Does it mean we do more protection?"

Residents are involved, too. The Boise Neighborhood Association, which encompasses the Mississippi business district, is convening residents, businesses, nonprofits and developers to discuss affordable-housing options. Ideas include converting garages into homes and asking developers to dedicate affordable units.

"Why not think big?" says Paige Coleman, the association's chairwoman. "You never know where it will take you."

Erin Hoover Barnett: 503-294-5011; ehbarnett@news.oregonian.com
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  #74  
Old Posted May 22, 2008, 4:31 AM
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Another project on the street u/c:

From the Sentinel

Chateau Mississippi
3930 N Mississippi Ave.
10,500 sq. ft. retail

Having cleared the city permitting process, Edgewater, LLC has started digging on a two-story renovated retail space on North Mississippi Avenue and North Failing Street.

The Chateau Mississippi will be built on the bones of an existing warehouse, which Edgewater President Brian Dreisse had been using as storage for his home furnishings and accessories business. The construction will use the building’s existing east and north wall, half of the south wall, interior beams and posts, and the roof structure — but the roof itself, which leaks, will be replaced.

The most significant structural change is to the west façade, which will move 25 feet closer to Mississippi Avenue. A 2,100-square-foot permeable-stone-paved plaza will fill the remaining space between the front of the building and the sidewalk.

“We wanted to make it very much a people place,” Dreisse said. He said he pushed for the plaza, which will boast antique lampposts and a circular stone bench, even though the city likes buildings as close to the sidewalk as possible.

The building’s façade will be stone or brick at the bottom, with a stucco finish above that. Glass-paned garage doors topped by wrought-iron balconies will face Mississippi Avenue. Inside, a mezzanine level on the western side will cover about a third of the area, with the rest of the space open all the way to the roof.
“We’ve built the building to be able to handle all kinds of tenants, anywhere from a small retail store up to a larger restaurant,” Dreisse said. No tenants are committed yet, but there’s room for up to five, depending on how much space each needs.

Dreisse also owns two adjacent warehouses, which he will continue to use as storage for now. He said he might consider renovating those if this project, which he hopes to complete by September, leases successfully and there’s demand for more space. “But it
also depends on what is happening with my business,” he added.
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  #75  
Old Posted May 25, 2008, 8:23 PM
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Mississippi Lofts construction photo update

Remember to not confuse the Loft project just south of N Skidmore & N Mississippi ave with the large condo project bordered by N Failing & N Missisippi ave

Google maps just south of N Skidmore st and N Mississippi ave
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...167323315,,0,5
Web site
http://www.mississippiavenuelofts.com/



NOTE: I took the photos that comprise this image on Saturday 24May08.
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  #76  
Old Posted Jun 3, 2008, 5:52 PM
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From WW:

Belly up to the old Terroir

June 2nd 2008 12:28pm
Deeda Schroeder

Terroir turnover: Husband-and-wife partners Linda and Cameron Addy are planning a mid-July opening for their new restaurant Belly , to be housed in the old Terroir space at 3500 NE Martin Luther King Blvd. The two have dozens of years of experience between them—Cameron was most recently executive chef at Papa Haydn West and Linda was general manager at Salty's on the Columbia—and are working on a new American menu utilizing the bounty of the area.

As Concordia residents, the Addys are hoping for an unpretentious feel (thus the whimsical name Belly), with equal appeal to families, couples looking for a night out and just good ol' neighborhood eats. Seating 70, the space won't change too much, Linda Addy says, just benefit from a bit of warmth from some cosmetic changes, and they'll be keeping that fabulous wood-fired oven for pizzas and more. Joining them will be Marianne Ogura, current wine buyer for QFC Sellwod and Caprial's bistro employee.
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  #77  
Old Posted Jun 11, 2008, 7:15 PM
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Gentrification a concern along MLK Jr. Boulevard
As businesses leave, debate arises as to whether blame lies with rising commercial rents

POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Wednesday, June 11, 2008
BY TYLER GRAF

As the Portland Development Commission moves to refine its long-term redevelopment plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, stakeholders who have met with the commission have said they’re concerned about gentrification and rising commercial rents in the area.

The PDC board is expected to update its development plan for the boulevard today. As part of the refinement, the commission intends to keep the development momentum rolling because the Convention Center Urban Renewal Area, where the boulevard is located, expires in 2013.

But the stakeholders who have met with the PDC and represent minority interests are cautious in their optimism for urban renewal along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Two decades ago, the area was known for its empty lots and urban blight, said Marcus Mundy, the director of the Portland chapter of the Urban League.

In the last decade, it’s been a different story, Mundy said. There have been positive changes along the boulevard, but not all of them have benefited longtime business owners or residents. The urban renewal efforts, for example, have increased rents for longtime residents of the area, according to Mundy.

Joice Taylor of the North Northeast Business Association, shares Mundy’s concerns and has recommended PDC work to develop buildings with a three-tiered rental rate, similar to Walnut Park. She has also suggested that PDC work with established large corporations, such as adidas, to provide subsidies and resources for small businesses.

“What we need to have are more resources,” Taylor said.

The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods Land Use Committee has also met with the PDC and raised the same concerns about increases to commercial rents.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Action Plan itself doesn’t address commercial rents. It is instead a broadly defined set of redevelopment goals for the corridor.

The updated plan, with its six goals and 35 “action items,” calls for further investment and loan activity along the boulevard.

As part of the plan, the PDC will continue providing resources to Vanport Square and will be setting aside nearly $2 million in the 2008-2009 budget for the Miracles Club’s new development.

The PDC has already spent $3 million on street improvements and $9 million in property acquisitions for development or redevelopment.

Sara King, who oversees the Convention Center Urban Renewal Area for the PDC, said the refined action plan will remain an important factor for the area because of the 2013 expiration date for the URA. The updated plan calls for greater implementation of urban renewal and economic growth efforts through 2013.

Mundy still has his concerns.

“A lot of the businesses that have kept this area vital and viable have not had many opportunities lately, and they are getting squeezed out by the rising commercial rents,” Mundy said.

The development commission remains skeptical that businesses have been forced out due to higher rents. King said there’s no proof that any particular business has been driven out of the area because of higher rents.

Taylor said that’s because business owners are not required to state their reasons for moving from an area.

Commercial rents rise as new buildings develop. But the PDC’s role in keeping rents low for existing businesses amid new construction is hampered by the agency’s inability to use tax increment financing on rent subsidies. That money can be used only on construction and redevelopment costs.

Instead, the PDC will leverage loans for businesses along the boulevard.

“We are starting to look at ways to bring more resources to the urban renewal area,” King said, adding that the PDC will address the topic over the summer.
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  #78  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2008, 9:34 PM
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hey what's going in with Mississippi developments? Anyone over that way for some photo updates? Don't make me come over there...
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  #79  
Old Posted Jun 29, 2008, 7:19 AM
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Is it any wonder that such an ugly "renovation" is having trouble attracting renters? There was a picture with this article that named the architect, but now I can't find it. That guy should have his license revoked.

The original structure was really cool and was begging for creative re-use. Instead we get this suburban-office-park bullsh*t.

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard development project is delayed
Portland's urban renewal agency delays a loan payment on the Heritage Building to halt foreclosure
Thursday, June 26, 2008
RYAN FRANK
The Oregonian Staff

Portland's drive to remedy years of neglect along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard hit another bump Wednesday.

The Portland Development Commission, the city's urban renewal agency, had to further delay a developer's loan repayment to halt a possible foreclosure on a key MLK project.

The Heritage Building's developers couldn't find enough tenants to satisfy their first lender, so the PDC acted to clear the way for a new bank loan. Nearby, another PDC-subsidized building, King's Crossing, also has been slow to attract tenants.

The fact that retail and office tenants haven't jumped into the new buildings raises questions about whether the PDC and developers have missed the market.

Between Broadway and Rosa Parks Way, MLK has struggled for decades with crime, plywood-covered windows and grassy lots. The problems have been most acute between Fremont and Alberta streets, where the boulevard has never recovered from damage done during 1960s-era race riots.

In recent years, the PDC's strategy has focused on commercial "nodes." The theory is the city would use low-interest loans and grants to renovate key blocks, then watch private investors follow.

The city has had some recent successes.

The Vanport Square project near Killingsworth Street has attracted 14 buyers for 16 office spaces. Henry V Events filled an empty building with green offices. Nike opened a factory store on the boulevard's south end.

The Heritage Building and King's Crossing, though, showed what types of office spaces are more difficult to rent.

Most of the MLK demand comes from smaller renters, such as day care centers, gyms, nonprofit groups and restaurants, said Estee Segal, a PDC senior project coordinator. The city and brokers say MLK's most popular office size is about 1,000 square feet.

But the Heritage Building and King's Crossing built larger spaces. Both projects finished last year but are only about half leased.

The Heritage Building's shortage of tenants landed it in default.

The developers were required to attract enough tenants and rent to cover their mortgage payment as of Dec. 31, but they didn't make it. That led the Albina Community Bank to put its $1.9 million loan in default. Its action prompted the PDC to declare city loans totaling $2.45 million in default.

Albina Bank has scheduled a July 22 foreclosure sale. The developers, led by Eric Wentland, hope to get a new $2.1 million loan from Bank of the West to avoid foreclosure and pay off Albina.

The developers still must sign up more tenants to qualify for the new loan. "We have every reason to believe this will be fixed in the next 90 to 180 days," Wentland said.

Even with their struggles, the Heritage Building and King's Crossing have helped change MLK, said Michele Reeves, a Windermere commercial real estate broker who's worked on the boulevard and briefly worked on the Heritage Building.

"If you look at those couple of blocks compared to five years ago, it looks like a whole different area," she said.

But it's common, Reeves said, for pioneering developers with speculative buildings to struggle until the private market sees the potential and is willing to pay higher rents.

Ryan Frank: 503-221-8519; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com; blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch
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  #80  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2008, 4:34 PM
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Anyone want to bet that Mr. Diss has the biggest collection of pornography on this side of the Mississippi? Sad to see Walsh cave in to a group whose spokesperson is against masturbation, but understandable too -- no one would want to be hounded by these repressive zombies.

I'm glad the project is moving forward nonetheless.

Builder of Planned Parenthood project in Portland pulls out

Walsh Construction didn't want to deal with aggressive anti-abortion protesters
Monday, June 30, 2008
MARK LARABEE
The Oregonian Staff

The construction company that was set to build a Planned Parenthood clinic in Northeast Portland has pulled out of the project because of pressure from anti-abortion protesters.

Even so, the developer, Beech Street Partners, has assembled a team of builders and will act as its own general contractor, saving money on the $12 million, 40,000-square-foot building, a company representative said.

Walsh Construction Co. owner Bob Walsh said that when he was approached two years ago to build the project, it was described only as a medical clinic and retail space at the northwest corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Beech Street.

When Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette signed on as the anchor tenant, Walsh said, he called builders in other cities who had dealt with aggressive anti-abortion activists. He was told that protesters had gone as far as staking out contractors' homes.

"It's disruptive and very threatening," he said. "I just didn't want to put my family through that."

Walsh said he made no moral judgment when he recently decided to back out.

Others involved in the project said abortion foes have put considerable pressure on them by sending e-mails and letters, making phone calls and protesting in front of their offices since the Portland Development Commission approved the $900,000 sale of the city-owned property in April 2007.

James Adamson, one of the associates in Beech Street, said that, however uncomfortable, he respects that protesters have the right to voice their opinion. "And we also have fair protection under the law," he said. "It's basically a big exercise of free speech."

The building's designer, Kip Richardson of Ankrom Moisan Architects, said he's stayed with the project despite the protests because Adamson is a long-term client who's developing an area where the city has had trouble attracting investment.

"He's really trying to do the right thing and improve that neighborhood," Richardson said.

The land sale is set to close Aug. 13. Construction is scheduled for October, with the building completion set for July 2009.

Planned Parenthood will use the space for both medical clinics and its regional headquarters and will bring an estimated 140 jobs to the neighborhood.

The nonprofit provides sexual and reproductive health care to women, men and teens. According to its annual report, 38 percent of patients seek contraception, 29 percent need treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infections, and 3 percent seek abortions.

Bill Diss, one of the organizers of the local protest, said the effort is designed to remind the businesses involved in the project whom they're working for. He called Planned Parenthood a "killing center" that targets young girls, teaching them about sex and masturbation, which he called "the gateway drug to lust."

"They're up in North Portland targeting young black girls to get them into a life of sex," said Diss, a science teacher at Portland's Benson High.

Racial politics became an issue in the debate last year when the PDC was deciding whether to sell the land. Some community members said they were offended that the city would allow an abortion clinic on a street named after civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Planned Parenthood officials have argued they already operate a clinic in Northeast Portland, so the new building would allow them to simply continue their work while consolidating administrative operations.

Charles Wilhoite, the Portland Development Commission's only African American member and one of four to approve the sale of the land, said Planned Parenthood provides much needed reproductive education to the African American community.

"There is an objectionable part of it from the abortion aspect, but from my perspective I see too many kids having kids," Wilhoite said. "Education is the answer. Abstinence programs, from what I'm reading, aren't working. Things are getting worse."

Mark Larabee: 503-294-7664; marklarabee@news.oregonian.com
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