Evolving Pearl casts wider net
Urban jewel gleams and glitters, and there's more to come
By ETHAN DANIEL LINDSEY
Issue date: Fri, Jul 30, 2004

Standing in Jamison Square, the unofficial hub of Northwest Portland's Pearl District, you can see at least four projects going up in all directions. And that area, around Northwest 11th Avenue and Kearney Street, is not the only fast-growing region of the Pearl District.

In other words, the Pearl District beat goes on.

In a few short years, a neighborhood that was once an industrial ghost town has transitioned into a thriving mix of upscale condos, high-end galleries and trendy restaurants. And now, if Portland developers get their way, the abandoned rail yards and warehouses north of Northwest Lovejoy Street, at the far northwest side of the neighborhood "” as well as underdeveloped buildings scattered throughout the area "” soon will be redeveloped as the newest apartment and condominium complexes.

Ask any developer in the city, and he or she will tell you that the Pearl District is still primed for growth and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Still, looking five to 10 years ahead, questions do arise, notably what's going to happen to the U.S. post office at the northeast edge of the neighborhood and to the Centennial Mills parcel on the Willamette River.

Portland's main post office at Northwest Broadway and Hoyt Street is under consideration as the site of a proposed major league baseball stadium, should the city go forward in its efforts to draw big-league baseball.

Critics of the stadium proposal say the site instead should be used for a community center, day-care facility, library or school; as open space; or just be opened for commercial or residential development.

"The answer to where the next major growth will be depends entirely on what happens near the post office," said Homer Williams, one of the original developers of the Pearl and the founder of Hoyt Street Properties. "The post office is a catalyst for things that can leap across Broadway, and maybe connect to Old Town and the waterfront."

Closer to the waterfront, between the Fremont and Broadway bridges, the Portland Development Commission owns the land where the historic Centennial Mills sits.

"The PDC is down in Chinatown and on the water," Williams said. "But there is still plenty of growth in the Pearl to be had, whether it's on the outskirts or not."

The mill, a facility of about 10 buildings that functioned from 1909 to 2000, was bought by the PDC to turn into open space. Now the commission is deciding whether to stay true to that mission or to build a cultural, business or housing center.

Also, waterfront-area developers are working to build a pedestrian walkway that connects the Pearl to the river next to Union Station and over Northwest Naito Parkway.

Streetcar makes connection

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat and founder of the U.S. Capitol's bicycle caucus, sees a healthy future for the Pearl District as well "” but in a different way. He is one of the reasons for the symbiotic relationship Pearl residents have with the Portland Streetcar, as he continues to find federal dollars to build mass transit options in the city.

"We're not done yet. There's a strong likelihood that we will see a streetcar come across the Broadway Bridge. There is a line that will be extended down to the South Waterfront," Blumenauer said from his Capitol Hill office. "But the streetcar isn't going to change the look of the Pearl "” it's going to induce development because it will make the Pearl work better and help connect it to the rest of the city."

Acceptance of the Pearl's look and feel is almost universal. Most developers say the Pearl has reached some sort of maturation point, and the real change is going to be in density and functionality.

"Real new growth is down in the Brewery Blocks. Between the Wieden & Kennedy block, and the two office towers, you suddenly have workers around, instead of just residential," Williams said. "That's really elevated the Pearl to a new area as far as being alive "” and I expect that to continue as we move forward."

Art DeMuro is less heavily invested in the Pearl than some of the other big-name Portland builders, but he did remake the 160,000-square-foot refrigerator building at Northwest Everett Street and 13th Avenue that eventually was turned into the headquarters for Wieden & Kennedy advertising agency.

Pearl plays out elsewhere

DeMuro echoed the sentiment of Blumenauer when he said the rest of the city will develop some of the features of the Pearl. As an example, a luxury apartment building in the Lloyd District at the corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Multnomah Street reminds many of the modern,urban high-rises in the Pearl District. The six-story building's developers, Trammell Crow Residential Services and C.E. John, told reporters when it opened that the look was intentional: They were trying to jump the look across the Willamette River. "In a way, the density and success of the Pearl is a further inducement for people," DeMuro said. "Certainly, the pace of pre-sales and leasing gives no indication to me that things are slowing down to a less-than-healthy pace."

That growth will unquestionably be focused north of Northwest Lovejoy Street where the vast majority of undeveloped Pearl land sits.

As evidence of that, Patricia Gardner, vice president of land use for the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, said two new mixed-use buildings from developer Al Solheim are in front of the city for design reviews "” and, according to Gardner, "when they get to that point, it's pretty much a done deal."

Solheim is hoping a Safeway grocery store will go on the ground floor of one of the structures, between Northwest 12th and 14th avenues and Marshall and Northrup streets. Safeway says there is no deal in place.

Also, the PDC gave an $8 million loan to help developers bring affordable-housing units into the block across the street from the Bridgeport Condominiums at Northwest 12th Avenue and Northrup Street. The Oregon Housing and Community Services Department floated a $17 million tax-exempt bond along with $1 million in tax credits toward the project.

Called the Block 14 project while it's being built, the 210-unit complex will contain 198 apartments priced for rent at about half the city's average median income "” meaning studios will start at $440 per month.

Ed McNamara of Praxis Partners is spearheading the project, leading a joint venture of Turtle Island Development and Williams and Dame Development.

Slowdown: yes or no?

Solheim's two buildings and the Block 14 units are the only projects on the books right now for the upcoming year, which Gardner said was understandable. "We're just coming off of a huge year, and basically the coffers are getting refilled," she said, explaining the relative calm of near-term future investment. "The developers have to finish what they started right now, and you can almost look at it like being on a two-year schedule."

But Bruce Allen, senior development manager with the PDC, disagrees. "Last time I counted there were nine cranes out there," Allen said. "It will remain active because we're going to see a lot of developing in that newer territory up north."

Pat Prendergast, who owns and will develop a large portion of that land, said he thinks the idea of what constitutes the region will change in coming years, as massive building restarts.

Prendergast said that right now, when someone mentions "the Pearl," he or she is thinking of the Brewery Blocks, Jamison Square and the area in between. "But in reality, Lovejoy will become the new dominant street of the neighborhood," Prendergast said. "The neighborhood will soon be structured around it. That's because the majority of the undeveloped land is north of it, and it will be highly developable."

DeMuro, president of Venerable Properties, said the city's new glamour district has yet to lose its cachet. "I think that the Pearl District is far from being maxed out," he said. "Asking how long the Pearl can sustain its growth is like asking how long white ties are going to be around."

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