 |
||||||||
 |
MEMO BLOG | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memos | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
| Gateway Urban renewal five years later (continued) Perhaps the tour’s proudest moment was a stop at the Park Vista Apartments at 10918 S.E. Stark St. Completed in 2001, the complex has 59 apartments, including some that have as many as four bedrooms, with rent geared to people earning 30 to 50 percent of median income. The property surrounds a central courtyard containing play equipment, and every building has at least one unit that looks down on the courtyard. It is within four blocks of Mill Park School. The play equipment was being well used as the tour arrived. “We made a special effort to round up all the cute kids,” Warner quipped. Typically, PDC commission member Sal Kadri, a single-minded proponent of home ownership, asked if the units were rented. When told that they were, he asked, “Is there any way to change that?” In passing the massive Russellville Commons housing development, which now contains a total of more than 400 family and senior units, Warner conceded that it had received some “adverse comment” from the community. Perhaps the tour’s best example of artful presentation was Warner’s description of the Children’s Receiving Center, providing temporary housing for children removed from their homes in emergencies or under court order. Warner said that during the development of the facility at 10225 E. Burnside St., Commissioner Dan Saltzman had requested $1 million of Gateway urban renewal funds for its completion, “and in return we received a piece of property.” Unsaid was that Saltzman made something stronger than a request, that it was originally for $2.2 million during the district’s critical first year, and that the change was achieved through some tough bargaining by then-Opportunity Gateway Chair Dick Cooley. All this for a facility that, for all its worthiness and the needed functions it provides, would occupy a prime development location, yet contribute nothing to the district’s business development goals or tax increment funding. Cooley, who accompanied the tour, smiled grimly and said, “You’ll notice I didn’t say anything.” In contrast, Warner noted that after the former Woodland Park Hospital closed, several staff physicians with the help of PDC were able to reconstitute the building as Physicians Hospital. Today it employs 200 people. In passing Northeast 102nd Avenue, Warner said, “The community felt that this was sort of a drag. It’s very difficult to cross and not very attractive.” A major upgrade is planned, aided by a “substantial amount of federal funds,” Warner said. Unfortunately, a sharp increase in the world price of concrete and other building materials has left the project, once considered fully funded, $3 million short. Nonetheless, construction will begin in the spring, Warner said. In answer to a question, PDC’s Sara King said the zoning along most of 102nd Avenue is CX, the city’s most intense commercial development zone. “It’s a bit of a challenge,” she said. “We’re nowhere near ready to take advantage of it.” There were some startled questions as the tour bus passed the Woodland Park neighborhood and its single-family homes. Staff called the area “an anomaly.” The visit to the Gateway Transit Center, now largely a construction zone, prompted some interesting discussion. Asked if the new structured parking will be free, as the transit center’s surface parking has been, King said, “Well, TriMet’s talking about charging for it. When that happens, some people park on the street rather than pay, and that makes the neighbors cranky.” One of the last stops was the Prunedale area west of 102nd Avenue between Glisan and Stark streets. King said that the zoning for the area is for high-density housing and mixed use, “and neither reflects what’s on the ground here. It’s the most blighted part of Gateway. It doesn’t fit in with (Metro’s) 2040 Plan.” PDC is currently preparing to study this area. Warner noted that although the district officially began in 2001, community members have been working on it since 1997. “I’m astonished at the commitment of the PAC members,” she said. |
 |
 |
 |
MEMO Advertising | MEMO Archives | MEMO Web Neighbors | MEMO Staff | Home