Nimbys get your petitions ready…
This just in from the Boise Neighborhood Association: Randy Rappaport, developer and initial owner of a huge block of real estate on N. Mississippi, sold the property to Trammell Crow, one of Portland’s largest developers. Trammel Crow will be presenting to the neighborhood at the Oct. meeting, so it should be a good one. When Randy presented to the neighborhood a few months back, everyone was already in a tizzy about Mississippi Lofts. He approached it differently and stated facts - “This property will be developed. It will be mixed use. It will be dense. That’s the facts.” What’s funny is that no one really got in his face and threw up petitions and appeals and such.
With Trammel Crow being called out by some out there for its dealings with urban redevelopment and the PDC, I wonder what kind of issues will arise in the next few months with this new project. Text of email after the jump.
On a side note, while N. Mississippi may be changing, it’s not changing as fast as the development going on up and down N. Williams and N. Vancouver. Just an FYI Nimbys.
This months lineup includes a big presentation from developers Trammel Crow. Trammel Crow recently bought the Richards Homewear building/block across the street from the Mississippi Commons commercial plaza and next to the Albina Youth Opportunity School (AYOS) on Mississippi Street.. From what i’ve heard so far it looks like a combination of 3-4 story buildings on Failing and Albina and then a 6 story building in the center fronting on Mississippi. The new buildings will bring in 150 new condo’s that will be for sale and a mix of retail spaces. I haven’t talked with these folks but I imagine they are interested in running their plans by neighbors and then getting some feedback about it. So if you have any opinions about this type of development please come on down and make your voices heard. You can check out the Trammel Crow website: www.trammellcrow.com.
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I’m confused, and I’ll admit I’m a bit uneducated in some of the development issues.
The folks who love Portland for it’s urban growth boundary and lack of sprawl aren’t the same folks who rally against dense development, are they?
Please tell me no…
A-ha!
Young grasshopper. Excellent observation….
:)
i saw a little model of the planned development at the neighborhood business owner’s meeting. it looked like a bunch of white boxes. i cant comment on its merits.
the 6 story part of the plan might be hard to sell to the neighborhood BUT the site has really loose zoning. i think 67 foot height restriction and its outside the historic district. so there will be less leverage for those that oppose it.
also the building on the current site is a serious eyesore and deadspot on the strip.
Interesting. I thought all of N. Mississippi from Fremont to Skidmore was part of the Historic District. Learn something new everyday. Your comment about design is one that is concerning. A developer with the clout and deep pockets like Trammel Crow could push through almost anything and the neighborhood wouldn’t even see the blip on the radar. I’m surprised they are even offering the sit down with the BNA.
yea, i was suprised that it wasn’t part of the historic district as well. i believe that the district is more of a patchwork along the strip… take the new rebuilding center annex for example. great building. hardly historic.
the albina side of the project is where i think Trammel Crow is predicting the most friction. at least at the meeting they said they were “open to ideas” about that side of the property. to me that means, “we think this is going to cause a problem” more than “we are open to ideas”.
the current plan is to put a 10 or so foot public(ish) offset into the lot as a bridge from the residential scale of albina to the project. a small greenspace(ish) with benches and trees and so on.
early stages… so don’t count on anything.
either way, my personal opinion is that the neighborhood (where i both live and work) really could use something other than that blue monstrosity. it will be very difficult to build something WORSE than the current chain link/barbed wire frontage.
but obviously, the neighborhood should get fully involved to maximize the benefits from the neighborhood.
OH another interesting aspect of the project. they are thinking of offering RENTAL UNITS. since they predict a soft condo market by the time of completion.
to me that means, “if you sign a rental agreement, make sure you do a long lease, cause as soon as the market turns condo friendly again, your ass is grass”.
Aaron,It’s a complex issue, there is a big difference between affordable density, and high price density ?. Everything that is being built is high price dense housing. Forcing those that do not have the income out to the cheaper areas on the edge of town, which will of course burst the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).