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By Lee Perlman
The Mid-county Memo
Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of a variety of stories from veteran Mid-County beat reporter Lee Perlman.
In the compendium of news items he touches upon city planners’ redesign of 102nd Avenue, and Ted Gilbert’s designs for a four-story development to be built on it. To the north, City Council approves big box retail for CascadeStation next to PDX, and Columbia Knoll, a housing project now under way on Sandy Boulevard, offers rental packages. Finally, Multnomah County sets the day for the disposition of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office building property.
As a feature of the Mid-county Memo, we will on occasion offer such a compendium of current news items from the same reporter.
102nd Avenue plans advance
A pair of open houses drew about 50 people each at last month’s public review of plans for the redesign of 102nd Avenue between Northeast Weidler and Southeast Washington streets.
Plans for the street call for it to have four lanes of traffic, two bicycle lanes and no on-street parking. There will be a center left turn lane, interrupted at intervals by planted islands. Project Manager Dan Layden says there will be a strong effort to ensure that these will not interfere with access to any business.
Many of the questions concerned the plan’s call for 15-foot wide sidewalks, and for landscaping behind them. Layden said that under no circumstances would existing buildings be taken to provide the extra width, and that the landscaping requirements would apply only after redevelopment of the affected property.
Gilbert development announced
Last month developer Ted Gilbert announced preliminary plans for the redevelopment of the Gateway Apartments property on Northeast 102nd Avenue north of Glisan Street. The four-story building will contain 114,000 square feet of Class A office space, which Gilbert says is new for Gateway. It will also include 297 parking spaces and 28,000 square feet of ground floor retail. Gilbert says no retail tenants have signed a lease, but that he did have letters of intent from “a pretty exciting mix” of businesses that may include a restaurant. “I wanted to go even higher, but it will serve as a transition,” he said. “It has to stand on its own, but it will be part of a new community.”
CascadeStation big box approved
The Portland City Council last month approved an amended plan for the 120-acre CascadeStation Development on the TriMet MAX light rail red line east of Portland International Airport. The new plan includes provision for three large retail buildings, the largest 205,000 square feet.
The previous plan deliberately placed a 60,000 square foot limit on such structures to prohibit big box retail. The developers, the Trammel Crow and Bechtel corporations, say an attractor such as an outlet of the Swedish Ikea chain is needed to lure retail to the site. The site, intended to be developed after the opening of the red line in 2001, has remained vacant.
The new plans increase the total retail component of the project and reduce the amount of office and hotel space. New regulations call for design review for the backs of the buildings facing surface parking lots, where 90 percent of visitors will enter. The original concept was of an “urban village,” facing a central median and accessed by rail.
Columbia Knoll offers rental packages
As the Columbia Knoll development moves forward on the former Shriner’s Hospital property on Northeast Sandy Boulevard at 82nd Avenue, management has new information on rental rates.
At The Heights, a three-story senior complex to be located at the top of the hill, now being framed, the following will be available: one-bedroom units from $1,160 to $1,485 a month, or two bedrooms from $1,366 to $1,645. The price includes all utilities, three meals a day in a communal dining room, housekeeping and linen services, daily activities, a movie theater and library of videos, and transportation to health care facilities. According to Marketing Director Ginny McCarthy, there may also be some non-service units available at cheaper rates.
The Terrace, a series of multi-family structures being built around the 10-acre property, rents are $316 to $607 for one bedroom; $383 to $765 for two bedrooms; and $956 for three bedrooms. All units have washer-dryers and access to two playgrounds and a two-story community and recreation center.
Rents for both The Heights and The Terrace are on a sliding scale based on income.
For more information call 503-203-1094.
Sheriff’s building disposition day set
On Thursday, March 17 the Multnomah County Commission will decide the disposition of the Hansen Building property, at its regular at 10:30 a.m. meeting at 501 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. The Hansen Building, better known as the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, is at 12240 N.E. Glisan St.
The commission will vote to sell the property, and decide how to sell it. Usually the county sells property deemed surplus to the highest bidder. Occasionally the county sets stipulations that surplus property is sold according to community desires and objectives, rather than simply the highest bidder.
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