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| Columbia Knoll hosts tours LEE PERLMAN THE MID-COUNTY MEMO Editor’s note: The following is a compendium of news items from veteran beat reporter Lee Perlman about the Parkrose and Gateway neighborhoods of Mid-Multnomah County. In December’s compendium, Perlman reports on approval of the 102nd Avenue redesign plan, and the opening of Columbia Knoll on the former Shriner’s Hospital property. Perlman also tells about the impending retirement of a popular and effective city planner, and the tax abatements recently given to a 42-unit development at Northeast 100th Avenue and Glisan Street. Perlman also reports on the Gateway urban renewal report card and an update on the completion of the new Banfield Pet Hospital corporate headquarters. Council approves 102nd plan With a final bit of jousting over the wisdom of a ginkgo tree monoculture, the Portland City Council last month unanimously approved the 102nd Avenue Redesign Plan. The plan for the street between Northeast Weidler and Southeast Washington streets calls for maintaining four lanes of traffic, plus a center turn lane refuge alternating with pedestrian center islands in strategic places. It will eliminate most on-street parking while adding bicycle lanes. It will add 170 new street trees, plus benches and other street furniture, and would widen sidewalks as part of the future redevelopment of adjacent property. The redesign plan will add public art, especially at Northeast Halsey Street. There will be stainless steel pedestrian arches spanning the entrances to crosswalks. A block north of Halsey, at the “jug handle,” there will be a ground sculpture made from recycled concrete, and a group of plastic sticks designed to bend in the wind. Finally, along part of the avenue there will be a series of planted stormwater catch basins. Portland Department of Transportation Project Manager Dan Layden said this would be the first time such features have been used on an arterial street. Layden told Council the Gateway Plan called for many of these improvements to 102nd Avenue, which he called “the key to the transportation system of Gateway.” Right now, he said, 102nd is “a five-lane street with very little greenery, lots of utility poles and very narrow sidewalks. We want to make it a place for bicycles and pedestrians, but still allows auto traffic to function.” Three members of the Opportunity Gateway Program Advisory Committee, Bob Earnest, Beth Baltz and Linda Robinson, testified for the plan. Earnest told Council, “For seven years we’ve heard comments about the need for an improved street.” Noting that he lives on an adjacent street he said, “This truly is in my backyard.” Baltz said, “The exciting thing about this was the public participation.” She praised the stormwater facilities, saying, “I just have to avoid falling backward into the containers.” She added, “Gateway is like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon that’s just begun to quiver.” Robinson likewise praised the stormwater facilities and the landscaping, but brought up an ongoing argument she had been having with Layden. She noted that although there will be four species of new trees, 130 of them will be ginkgo trees. Layden feels this will help give the street an identity. They disagree as to whether the Urban Forestry Commission did or did not consider this a healthy practice. It was little noted in an atmosphere of triumph. Commissioner Randy Leonard said, “I’m very pleased to support this.” Commissioner Dan Saltzman called the project “a really exciting plan.” Commissioner Sam Adams noted that with $6.7 million in hand - $4.2 million of it from a recent federal transportation bill - there is money to actually implement the plan. “Gateway deserves it,” he said. Columbia Knoll hosts tours Columbia Knoll, the 335-unit mixed-age housing project on the old Shriner’s Hospital property on Northeast Sandy Boulevard at 82nd Avenue, is nearing completion. The Heights, the 208-unit senior residence at the top of the property, will be complete by Jan. 10. Three of the eight multi-family structures that comprise The Terrace affordable family housing complex are complete and occupied, and the rest should be finished by Feb. 1. Shelter Resources of Washington, the owners of the property, are holding open houses for The Heights from 4 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday this month. On Dec. 14 there will be a special holiday open house from 4 to 7 p.m. with musical entertainment and refreshments as well as the tour. And what will the tour show? Rents range from $1,165 to $1,665 a month, depending on the type of unit selected, with the building’s “service package.” Of The Terrace’s units, 72 are two bedrooms, the rest one bedroom. The two-bedroom units include two bathrooms as well. All have full refrigerators; all have at least a two-burner stove, while some have complete kitchens. Each has a small entryway with small shelves. According to Shelter Resources’ Mark Miller, residents may use these shelves for decorations, and possibly pictures of grandchildren. No smoking will be allowed in the building. “Aside from moral judgments, it would irritate a lot of people, and it would be a safety hazard,” Shelter Resources’ Norman King says. Small pets will be permitted. All units having the service package will have access to all the building’s common amenities. These include: • Daily linen service. • Small lounges on every other floor. • Common dining room where residents can eat up to three meals a day. • Common lounge with a stone fireplace. • Computer room. • A movie theater with a 110-inch screen, a library of films and seating for 15. • Beauty salon; Shelter Resources will contract with an independent professional to operate this service. • Transportation via car or 16-seat van to any desired location. Lower rates are possible without the service package, which would exclude linen service, meals and transportation, but Shelter Resources is not encouraging this option. The building is constructed in an E-shape facing south. It will have two outdoor courtyards that will include raised flowerbeds. At the back of the property Miller points out Shelter Resources took special care to preserve several mature deciduous trees. At The Terrace, low-income units, renting at prices as low as $325 a month, are already sold out and there is a waiting list. Units are still available for people earning up to 50 percent of area median income at $594 to $825 a month. >>continued |
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