I was a little bummed when Red Cap—the queer bar across the street from the Ace/Clyde Common—went out of business, and I didn’t blink an eye when Aura slipped permanently into my well of unconsciousness. Now that both are gone, it’s been officially revealed (-ish) what will be taking its place: Union Way is set […]
Build Out
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Unsurprising: Kerns Neighbors Might Fight a New Apartment Building
Alex Despain Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals might want to ready itself for more action courtesy of a now-defunct Portland parking policy. The Kerns Neighborhood Association appears to be seriously considering a formal fight against the proposed construction of a building at NE Couch and 20th. That building will contain four floors and 50 […]
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The Much-Maligned Parking-Free Era Ends Today
Dirk VanderHart Speculation developers might overwhelm the city with a flurry of apartment-free parking proposals in the run-up to Portland’s new parking minimums did not come to pass. Today marks the end of Portland’s progressive parking policy for large developments—something many decry as a step back for the city. As of noon, when the Bureau […]
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Hales on Columbia River Crossing: “I Want it to Stop Lurking.”
Brett Superstar During his short tenure atop City Hall, Mayor Charlie Hales has made it a point to keep out of the squabbling over the Columbia River Crossing—a marked change from his predecessor. Turns out Hales, unlike many others, is relatively dispassionate about what would be the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history. He […]
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County Poised to Buy Land Near Sellwood Bridge, then Give it Back
To all the costly facets of the new Sellwood Bridge, add paying rent. Or, as Multnomah County legalese terms it: a “settlement of condemnation litigation associated with the Sellwood Bridge Project.”[PDF] The County Board of Commissioners tomorrow will vote on a proposed settlement with the owner of several parcels of land at the bridge’s east […]
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Beaumont-Wilshire Residents Take Fight Against Apartments to LUBA
While fresh plans for a 50-unit, parking free apartment building in Kerns are just being revealed, Beaumont-Wilshire residents are attempting to derail an almost-identical project. Bolstered by a partially-successful initiative in the Richmond neighborhood, the group Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth earlier this month signaled it will appeal the city’s permitting of a four-story, 50-unit […]
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New Parking-Free Apartment Building Proposed in Kerns
The stalled development at SE Division and 37th has been the centerpiece of a debate over apartment parking. The era of the parking-free apartment building isn’t dead yet. Taking advantage of doomed zoning policy before its May demise, Beaverton developer Dennis Sackhoff last week applied to build a 50-unit apartment building at NE Couch and […]
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Nike Passes on South Waterfront, Will Stay in Washington County
Portland’s great white hope for caffeinating its listless South Waterfront district—a shiny new Nike campus, with lofty promises of some 6,000 new jobs—has evaporated. Nike announced this afternoon that it will expand in Washington County, where it already lives, on land it already owns. By spurning Portland, which would have offered a 29-acre site for […]
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St. Francis Park Caught up in Portland’s Building Boom
The trees and paths of St. Francis Park are about to give way to Portland’s inexorable push toward density. If all goes as planned, the unassuming private-public space that’s sat on SE Stark Street between 11th and 12th Avenues for more than three decades may soon play host to nearly 150 apartments with ground floor […]
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Signs of Life in the Enormous (but Shrunken) Lloyd “Superblock” Project
Not much has been said lately about the Lloyd District’s upcoming “superblock,” the mammoth mixed-use development announced by former Mayor Sam Adams in his 2012 State of the City address. But there are fresh signs the project’s moving forward. Portland’s Bureau of Development Services yesterday posted a public notice [PDF] of the development on its […]
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City Council Finally Passes Parking Minimums. No One Seems to Care.
The chambers of Portland’s city council were sleepy today, as commissioners formally enacted the most-controversial legislation it’s grappled with in recent months. In an expected 3-1 vote (Commissioner Steve Novick was absent), council established parking minimums for new apartment or condo buildings of 31 units or more. In doing so, the city rolled back decades […]
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Council Will Talk Apartment Parking this Afternoon. Temper Your Expectations.
Dirk VanderHart The 37th Street Apartments, stalled since February When city council considers whether to require parking at Portland apartment developments later today, expect emotion from both sides of the fractious debate. Expect testimony from dozens of speakers, and expect policies to move forward that would hamper future projects with no on-site parking. Don’t expect […]