Clackamas County (Milwaukie, Oregon City, Lake O, Happy Valley, etc.)

[dubu]

wish there was a before and after when they started making that area nice. they got rid of that bank and made a nice park on the lake. there was only a couple small shops in that area when i was a kid. then that big parking garage with a couple shops and a grocery store that they tore down to put those buildings above^ there instead. they made that millennium park also.

now they just got to fix up the other side of the river and build a bridge. id move back there maybe, i like it over here but not much gets built here like in portland. theres like 3 million people there or something so i see why they are building more there.

[urbanlife]

This is what I always imagined downtown Lake O to look like, happy this building finally got built. Hopefully this will lead the way to more buildings in their downtown that is like this.

[maccoinnich]

Photos: Lining up a life of luxury



A grand opening was held last week to celebrate completion of The Windward – a Lake Oswego mixed-use project. PHK Development’s creation features three buildings with a combined 200 luxury apartments over 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Lease Crutcher Lewis served as the general contractor on the project, which encompasses the 2.5-acre Wizer Block site in downtown Lake Oswego. The three buildings all contain four stories of luxury apartments over ground-floor commercial space and two below-grade parking garages, one each for residential and commercial tenants. The structures are all constructed of post-tensioned concrete and are steel-stud-framed.

The development features two public walkways, one connecting First and Second avenues and the other extending south to Evergreen Road. Residential amenities include a clubhouse with a kitchen and lounge space, an outdoor patio with a putting green, a bocce court and barbecue grills, a fitness space with a sauna and a spa, and a rooftop conservatory with patios, a catering kitchen, dining table and fireplace.

...continues at the DJC (no paywall).

[MarkDaMan]

https://pamplinmedia.com/lor/48-news...in-downtown-lo

Council vote paves way for new hotel in downtown LO
Sam Stites Thursday, March 21, 2019
Council voted 5-1 to approve the new direction of the North Anchor project, which will bring a 121-room boutique hotel to B Avenue


Make way for a 121-room boutique hotel at First Street and B Avenue.

The conceptual drawings for the North Anchor project led by local developer Vanessa Sturgeon of Sturgeon Development Partners were approved by the Lake Oswego City Council acting as the Lake Oswego Redevelopment Agency Tuesday after Sturgeon and architect Bob Thompson of TVA Architects updated the Council on the materials, treatments and design language used in the drawings.

The Council's approval at this juncture marks a huge step forward in a process that has stumbled along for the past three years. The project's shape has morphed through the course of the process; originally, the developers called for a part hotel, part age-restricted apartment building with underground parking. The project now includes four floors of a high-end hotel with a restaurant and meeting rooms on the main level, including an above ground parking structure wrapped with retail on the far west end across First Street adjacent to the main building.

"The City has been pretty incredible in terms of allowing us the flexibility to make this project work because we really want to make sure we're able to build it with the highest quality materials," Sturgeon told The Review. "Bob (Thompson) is a world-famous architect, he's Nike's main architect and has done towers all over the world. I feel like his designs are a gift to any city they're in. Lake Oswego is where I'm from, so I'm excited to be able to drive by this project every day, and I can't wait to see it go up."

According to Thompson, careful thought and attention was given to making sure this project fit within Lake Oswego's style and village character. Thompson said he wanted the project to feel simple, yet elegant in order to fit in with its surroundings, while sticking out at the same time.

"It's a big project, so our approach was to break it into multiple buildings. We're dealing with a scale we would consider to be pertinent to the type of architecture character of downtown Lake Oswego," Thompson said. "Rather than do one building that would almost be kind of monolithic in its character, we're really trying to bring a lot of those village components to the architecture and language of the project."

...(continues)

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

https://pamplinmedia.com/lor/48-news...in-downtown-lo



...(continues)

Awesome news for Lake O, finally starting to move in the right direction for their downtown.

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.opb.org/news/article/wil...rwalk-project/

Willamette Falls Trust Receives $7 Million Donation For Riverwalk Project
by Meerah Powell Follow OPB April 11, 2019 9 a.m. | Updated: April 11, 2019 10:22 a.m.

Willamette Falls Trust announced Thursday $7 million in donations toward the Willamette Falls Riverwalk — a project that will develop former papermill sites to provide public access to the iconic Oregon City waterfall.

The funding came from two sources: Connie Ballmer of Ballmer Group donated $5 million and the Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust donated $2 million.

“[The donation] is really catalytic in what it can and will do for the Riverwalk project and as such Oregon City, the Portland metro area and the state of Oregon,” said Andrew Mason, the executive director of Willamette Falls Trust, the philanthropic and community engagement partner of the Riverwalk project.

The Riverwalk project is set to break ground in late spring of 2020. It will repurpose one of the former mill buildings into an overlook structure where people can view the falls and the Willamette River. It will also restore “habitat and gathering spaces as well as historic and cultural interpretation of the site,” according to a news release.

One of the donors, Ballmer — whose husband is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer — worked at an old mill west of the falls, the Crown Zellerbach mill, as a college student.

...(continues)

[DCRes]

Hi everyone, my business is looking to make some multi-family investments in the greater Portland area (nothing huge that would get this forum excited, just acquiring some older properties between 50-100 units and renovating the units). I am a fairly regular contributor on many of the Utah pages and I've learned that nobody has a better sense for what is going on development wise locally than member of Skyscraper Forum.

Regarding Clackamas County, what would you say are the most up and coming (or will be) areas? From what I’ve seen, Milwaukie seems to be a cool area. Are things growing to the south much? Just trying to figure out if there are particular areas where you could see growth really taking off and if there are particular areas you would avoid.

Any local insight would be much appreciated. If you had money to invest in a particular neighborhood, where would it be?

[cityscapes]

Wilsonville - Villebois


Three story condos nearing completion, and the 4 story building is being rebuilt after the fire that occurred in 2019.




Some missing middle housing.

[maccoinnich]

North Anchor developer selects new hotel operating partner

Urban Development + Partners provides summary on background of project for new councilors.



After the former hotel operating partner backed out of the North Anchor development project in downtown Lake Oswego late last year, Urban Development + Partners announced a new hotel partner this week.

The Lake Oswego City Council, acting as the Lake Oswego Redevelopment Agency, received an update from UDP — the developers in the North Anchor project — about the schedule of the project and hotel operating partner during the Feb. 18 City Council meeting.

The project is expected to bring a mixed-use complex to the property on the stretch of B Avenue between State Street and the alley between First and Second streets.

The city's efforts to develop the property date all the way back to 2004, when the North Anchor block was listed as the centerpiece of the city's East End Redevelopment Plan. The city began acquiring parcels at the site in 2010, and the first request for proposals (RFP) went out in 2015. About a year after a prior proposal for the site fell through, the city reached a memorandum of understanding with UDP last June.

...continues at the Lake Oswego Review.

[HillsboroTech]

Really excited with the development of downtown Lake Oswego. It's really enjoyable to walk around its bringing lots of new shops and restaurants. Happy to see more projects like this!

[cityscapes]

There's quite a bit of construction going on in Lake Oswego lately, I will try and get more pictures as I pass through it on my commute. Aside from residential or office projects, they are doing significant streetscape work on Boone's Ferry Road and it looks very good for a suburban area, next time you're in the area I recommend taking a detour through that area.

New City Hall:


A small portion of a very large new residential development at Kruse Way and Boone's Ferry Road:

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

Wilsonville - Villebois


Three story condos nearing completion, and the 4 story building is being rebuilt after the fire that occurred in 2019.

I was wondering how I missed this post and then I looked at the date it was posted and was like, oh yeah, that is when I was really sick with what I am pretty sure was covid. What a hell of a year that was.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

There's quite a bit of construction going on in Lake Oswego lately, I will try and get more pictures as I pass through it on my commute. Aside from residential or office projects, they are doing significant streetscape work on Boone's Ferry Road and it looks very good for a suburban area, next time you're in the area I recommend taking a detour through that area.

New City Hall:


A small portion of a very large new residential development at Kruse Way and Boone's Ferry Road:

It's nice to finally see some serious developments going on in Lake O, especially in their downtown. I am really liking the new city hall and really surprised about the design. I hope we see more architecture like this as its downtown becomes more urban hopefully.

With the road work going on along Boone's Ferry Rd, I always joke with my wife that it would have been a great street to run a streetcar line down from the LO downtown. Not that that would ever happen there, but it would be fun to have a Lake O Trolley.

[urbanlife]

Okay, I am trying to figure this out but I recently noticed what looks like a wood frame apartment building going up next to the Clackamas Town Center transit stop, but haven't heard anything about this. I have always thought the eastern side of the Town Center was an ideal site to redevelop into mixed use, mixed income buildings.

[maccoinnich]

Drawings for the Lake Oswego North Anchor project.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Drawings for the Lake Oswego North Anchor project.

It's good to see LakeO finally building more urban style buildings in its downtown. I always imagined Downtown LO being more like Portland's "SoHo."

[maccoinnich]

Doesn't look like the restaurants at Mercato Grove are doing well. I haven't been, but the it looks like the restaurants are pretty hidden from the street with only a tiny sign advertising their presence.

Two Lake Oswego restaurants to close this fall



Two businesses are closing at a high-profile Lake Oswego dining cluster that opened in the summer of 2021.

Lac St. Jack, the sibling restaurant of acclaimed Portland bistro St. Jack, and Fills doughnut shop are closing in the coming weeks. Both businesses cited a lack of traffic in their decisions.

Lac St. Jack will close Oct. 29, and Fills' last day will be Nov. 23.

Both were part of the Mercato Grove development at 4055 Mercantile Drive in Lake Oswego, a mix of luxury housing and retail that includes outposts of popular Portland restaurants associated with the ChefStable group. The familiar food brands include Oven and Shaker, Grassa, Lardo and Tasty.

"Both businesses are proud of the work they did to bring a fresh offering to Lake Oswego, and build connections in the community," according to an announcement from ChefStable. "Each had success in many forms: delicious food, fun events, good branding and community outreach. The simple reality is that neither could get the traffic and sales needed to make it work financially at Mercato Grove."

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

[colossalorder]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Doesn't look like the restaurants at Mercato Grove are doing well. I haven't been, but the it looks like the restaurants are pretty hidden from the street with only a tiny sign advertising their presence.




...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

I've been there. In addition to the lack of visibility, access and parking are challenge. The layout is odd, hard to see the restaurants even on the interior. The space overall is tight and the apartments on top give it a claustrophobic feel. They should have centered on a more open pedestrian space rather a bunch of parking spots. I think if you are going out for a big splurgy dinner, you want something more special than what just feels like another suburban strip mall. I bet they would have done better in downtown Lake Oswego which has some charm and energy.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by colossalorder

I've been there. In addition to the lack of visibility, access and parking are challenge. The layout is odd, hard to see the restaurants even on the interior. The space overall is tight and the apartments on top give it a claustrophobic feel. They should have centered on a more open pedestrian space rather a bunch of parking spots. I think if you are going out for a big splurgy dinner, you want something more special than what just feels like another suburban strip mall. I bet they would have done better in downtown Lake Oswego which has some charm and energy.

I was in Lake O for an errand a few weekends ago and thought about having lunch there, but then passed by it without realizing and then didn't have a convenient place to turn around and head back so I kept going.

[Rob Nob]

Originally Posted by colossalorder

They should have centered on a more open pedestrian space rather a bunch of parking spots.

THIS!
I haven't been there since it finished, but I anticipated the south facing court being a pedestrian plaza. And why not? There are all these garage entrances that easily head off cars needing to go into the tiny surface lot, and all these restaurants that would do great with sidewalk seating.
If they really needed the extra 40 surface spaces on the east, why not tuck under the CVS from Mercantile Drive???