Old Town Chinatown Block 25 | 19 Floors | xx' | Proposed

[maccoinnich]

Key Development (who were behind Yard) have been selected by Prosper Portland as the developer for Old Town Block 25. This is the surface parking lot at NW 4th & Flanders that's currently leased to NW Natural. They're proposing a 19-story building, including 466 units and four or five stories of cultural space.

The height limit on the site is 200'. The Central City Plan 2035 was appealed by Restore Oregon and a bunch of other bodies, who argued it should be lower. LUBA recently ruled that the city's findings were inadequate to support the choice to zone Chinatown for 200', but did not rule on the merits of the height itself.

Interestingly the ruling states that "maximum height limits... apply as of right", which has not been the view of the Historic Landmarks Commission. From page 13 of the LUBA ruling:

Because CC 2035 adopts base and bonus maximum height limits that apply as of right to all new development across the District, the question of whether those base and bonus maximum heights "preserv[e] and complement historic resources," and thus comply with PCP Policy 4.48, is a question that the city council must answer. It may not be deferred to discretionary historic resources review of individual development proposals for compliance with the PCC criteria and the Guidelines.

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Interestingly the ruling states that "maximum height limits... apply as of right"

Wow. That's a game changer.

[maccoinnich]

A Key development for Old Town Chinatown



Key Development has entered into exclusive negotiations with Prosper Portland to construct a two-building project on Block 25 in Old Town Chinatown.

Key has engaged Japanese firms to provide the project a culturally specific aesthetic. Shigeru Ban Architects and Earthscape, a landscape design studio, will design the project, along with Portland’s GBD Architects. Key Development reached out to the Japanese firms in response to the cultural goals shaped by Prosper Portland’s advisory committee.

The development team seeks to honor the area’s historic Japantown. Much of the neighborhood north of downtown was once home to residents of Japanese ancestry and businesses serving them. That changed in 1942, when Japanese-Americans were forcibly relocated to isolated camps during World War II.

...continues at the DJC (temporarily unlocked).

[urbanlife]

The article mentions about possible development at 4th and Burnside as well.

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Key Development (who were behind Yard) have been selected by Prosper Portland as the developer for Old Town Block 25. This is the surface parking lot at NW 4th & Flanders that's currently leased to NW Natural. They're proposing a 19-story building, including 466 units and four or five stories of cultural space.

The height limit on the site is 200'. The Central City Plan 2035 was appealed by Restore Oregon and a bunch of other bodies, who argued it should be lower. LUBA recently ruled that the city's findings were inadequate to support the choice to zone Chinatown for 200', but did not rule on the merits of the height itself.

Interestingly the ruling states that "maximum height limits... apply as of right", which has not been the view of the Historic Landmarks Commission. From page 13 of the LUBA ruling:

Can anyone clear up what this means? Does this mean that height limits will be lowered and cap new projects into stumps? I’m frustrated if thats the case. We shouldn’t even have height restrictions in this part of town!

Who can I bother about this as a concerned citizen who wants the city to allow tall buildings downtown?

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by NOPO

Can anyone clear up what this means? Does this mean that height limits will be lowered and cap new projects into stumps?

It's complicated, but reading through the LUBA decision it sounds like the ruling was not against the 200' height limit per se, but against the City's methodology in getting there. The City argued that they didn't have to consider the impact of height limits on the historic context of the neighborhood because buildings in that area must be reviewed by the historic resources commission, who would in turn consider the appropriateness of building height on a per project basis. However, LUBA found that under state law the historic resources commission does not have broad authority to reduce height limits below what is allowed by the zoning code and therefore the City must take the historic context of the neighborhood into account in deciding what the height limits should be. After considering the historic context of the neighborhood, the City is still free to decide that 200' is the appropriate height limit. LUBA generally gives cities the benefit of the doubt in these decisions so it's unlikely that the reconsidered height limits would be overturned even if they remain at 200'.

In general this LUBA decision is actually a win for taller buildings, since historic commission has tended to push for projects that are significantly shorter than what zoning allows.

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

It's complicated, but reading through the LUBA decision it sounds like the ruling was not against the 200' height limit per se, but against the City's methodology in getting there. The City argued that they didn't have to consider the impact of height limits on the historic context of the neighborhood because buildings in that area must be reviewed by the historic resources commission, who would in turn consider the appropriateness of building height on a per project basis. However, LUBA found that under state law the historic resources commission does not have broad authority to reduce height limits below what is allowed by the zoning code and therefore the City must take the historic context of the neighborhood into account in deciding what the height limits should be. After considering the historic context of the neighborhood, the City is still free to decide that 200' is the appropriate height limit. LUBA generally gives cities the benefit of the doubt in these decisions so it's unlikely that the reconsidered height limits would be overturned even if they remain at 200'.

In general this LUBA decision is actually a win for taller buildings, since historic commission has tended to push for projects that are significantly shorter than what zoning allows.

Thanks for the informative response. I hope we can keep building to the heights zoning allows downtown. Or even increase heights. Our city is far too stumpy.

[maccoinnich]

My understanding is that the city is going to let this play out at the appeals court level before taking any action to adopt revise findings and/or change the height limits. So nothing to for a concerned citizen to do at this point, other than wait and see what happens.

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

My understanding is that the city is going to let this play out at the appeals court level before taking any action to adopt revise findings and/or change the height limits. So nothing to for a concerned citizen to do at this point, other than wait and see what happens.

I’ll keep my eyes open here for updates on what I can do. Thank you.

[maccoinnich]

The old Blanchet House is set to be demolished, pending City Council approval (it's a contributing resource in the New Chinatown/Japantown historic district.

I'd heard speculation that the proposed demo is tied to Block 25, but didn't want to repeat that without evidence. However, the Historic Landmarks Commission said as much in their State of the City Preservation Report:

While not a City-owned property, the old Blanchet House of Hospitality, a contributing resource in the New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District was once available to the city to purchase for $1 - an option the City did not act upon. Located at the edge of the historic district, this building is now proposed for demolition for the purpose of landbanking the property. It is anticipated that the City intends to purchase the vacant property to absorb it into the Block 25 redevelopment proposal, spearheaded by Prosper Portland.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

The old Blanchet House is set to be demolished, pending City Council approval (it's a contributing resource in the New Chinatown/Japantown historic district.

I'd heard speculation that the proposed demo is tied to Block 25, but didn't want to repeat that without evidence. However, the Historic Landmarks Commission said as much in their State of the City Preservation Report:

I've no idea if this project is still moving forward—but the demolition of Blanchet House is. A Staff Report recommends Denial, but it will be up to City Council to decide. Interestingly, one of the supporting documents is the RFP response for Block 25 [9 MB], which shows what they were considering a couple years ago.

[2oh1]

Unless we're talking about a different building, "The old Blanchet House" is less than 10 years old.

[maccoinnich]

That's the new Blanchet House. The old Blanchet House is the building at 340 NW Glisan.

[2oh1]

Ahhh! That makes so much more sense.