Major changes are on the horizon for the north end of Portland’s NW district. Freight company Con-way owns nine square blocks between NW 19th and 22nd, Pettygrove and Upshur, which right now are a collection of warehouses and parking lots. But not for long! Con-way is working with developers and investors to convert the area into a medium-density, commercial and residential eco-haven (their plan uses the word “green” 51 times) and “an active and vital pedestrian environment” replete with pocket parks and a grocery store.
Con-way worked with GBD Architects to come up with a conceptual plan (pdf) this August that meets Con-ways needs (parking for 600-800 employees) and lays out a massive project for just over 1,200 residential units, two public parks, and 150,000 square feet of retail space on the nine blocks to be built over 15 years. Though its developing the master plan, Con-way aims to sell the property piecemeal to individual developers and investors and it’s unclear what the final design for the area will look like.
All of this planning comes in the midst of the city’s debate over the contentious new parking plan for NW Portland, the details of which city council is hashing out this week. If Con-way’s conceptual plan actually comes to fruition, by about 2030 the neighborhood will be radically transformed from an edge-of-the-city industrial area to something like a new Pearl District. The whole of NW Portland west of the freeway has 9,400 residents, so entirely built-out, this development would increase the population of the area by more than 10 percent.
Concerns from the public during the current review process included the lack of detail regarding how the over-burdened shared sewer system would meet post-development demands, how the master plan meets area sustainability goals for storm water, the pollution from the high freight truck traffic, not enough parking, and that a proposed public square would attract homeless residents.
DIDN’T THEY NAME A SW PORTLAND RESTAURANT AFTER YOU?
YAY MORE PARKING ARGUMENTS
Also, yay for this development.
Damnit! You know who I blame for this…Randy Leonard. No, uh, wait…Earl Blumenauer. No, maybe it’s all Neil Goldschmidt’s fault. No, it’s all the creative class hipsters fault.
Ah hell… This is such a one-note act. It’s just hard to keep this shit going sometimes…
This is an affront to our way of life and this aggression will not stand!
Drunk n’ Write: Cara Amico has a great little bar inside, which I bet you already know.
Didn’t Conway want the streetcar to be extended to the new Conwayopolis?
I like how the last paragraph of the article is the most consequential one.
NEVERMIND THAT SHIT! NEW DEVELOPEMENT FUCKYEAH PORTLAND!!@!! GREEN
@fidelity right?
If only we could add jobs like we add housing there might be a reason for 1,200 more people to move here.
We somehow have ended up to celebrating development for its own sake. Greenie planning establishment and our “alternative” news weekly have somehow ended up being the best friends a rapacious real estate developer could have. Strange state of affairs.
Con-Way owns the property fair and square. For better or worse they can undertake a brave new monstrosity such as this if they so choose.
That said, my own fondness of the NW Industrial Area died not long after Drugstore Cowboy anyway. I really ain’t gonna lose any sleep over it.
Hey, those blocks have been empty for a long time – I’d love to see them turned into a neighborhood. And Portland’s supposed to have the lowest vacancy rate in the nation, so I think there’s definitely demand for more close-in apartments.
I have some rental apartments in SE…I wonder if this development would lower my rents? That’s a lot of new spaces. Good for the city, bad for me?
Maybe we should just not have any public squares or parks. Not only would it take care of the homeless “residents” problem being attracted to them, but it would take care of the “Occupy” problem, too.
” and through it all, I did it ConWay……..”
@Turdwell, “Con-Way owns the property fair and square.”
And by “owns” you mean that they will still have to get public approval from the City leaders and PDC. Hence, this preparatory news article is like a thumb of lube before the real tussling begins.
I will begin the public debate thusly: OMFG WHERE IS THE LIGHT RAIL?! TRAITORS!