Man there goes the garage I always park in... boo!

PDXPaul, It sounds like the garage is still going to be there, although, hopefully much nicer and without skyhigh parking rates. I hope all of the politics get figured out to be able to see it actually come to fruition. Let's also hope the rendering is classy. This tower, along with PAW, will really help to increase the density downtown and fill in the skyline. I still dream about having one or two 600+ footers downtown...Maybe NIKE could build a world HDQ tower! LOL! We will happily take another 460 footer though...

I'm still hoping the broadway tower comes to fruition. I also wonder if this project, should it pan out, could pave the way for more smart parks to be converted???

Honestly, for me, The Broadway tower is the most exciting building proposal I have ever seen for Portland. Absolutley stunning. Does anyone have ANY update on it?

^^^ I don't think we'll see much progress on the Broadway Tower until Moyer's other project (Park Avenue West) and related remodels around PB5 are further along, especially since he's funding these projects out of his own pocket. My understanding, though, is that the design of the Broadway Tower has changed from the earlier renderings, but how much and to what extent I don't know. And there's also the failed experiment of the Ladd Tower right next door to the Broadway Tower block that will delay further luxury condo development along the park.

I'm still keeping an optimistic view of the situation and wouldn't be surprised if we see construction start on an amazing design in three years.

⬆ "failed experiment"? That's a little extreme...and negative considering the Ladd Tower is still being built.

With really low rental vacancies and an increasing demand for luxury apartments, developers can finance these projects as apartments and "condo" them out when the market improves. This is what's happened at the Ladd, I've heard the Louisa will one day be condos, and based on the rumour mill, it's looking increasingly likely the Wyatt will have a similar fate. There's an apartment shortage in Portland. I wouldn't call the Ladd Tower a failure, nor would I rule out the possibility for more development on Broadway. The only thing that's changed is the use.

The Ladd Tower has failed as a condo tower in this market. That being said, I am still happy that it is being built and will provide more eyes on the street/park through use as apartments. And that is not to say that in 5-10 years the Ladd will convert to condos. But the Broadway Tower will never be built with smaller units and 8 foot ceilings as the Ladd Tower was forced to do. The Broadway was conceived as superpremium and I doubt would be amenable to apartment conversions. Until the condo market turns around, I don't think the Broadway will be built.

okay, I don't say this often, but... 600 feet!

Hell yeah! :skyscraper: :skyscraper: Something that the NIMBYs in Northwest Portland can see from every vantage point in town.

LOL! Maybe it will block their view of the Koin tower for which they aggresively protested in the 80's for blocking the view of Mt. Hood from Hwy 26. HA!

Attn PDX NIMBY's, if you want permanent views of the mountain....get out of the CITY and move to Sandy! Even there trees will grow and block your views in time. You wouldn't dare cut down a tree, would you? Everything changes in time. Our skyline is no exception. Let's all embrace change. Keep Portland on a human scale, convienent, and lively. But also plan for density. Build UP in appropriate areas rather than OUT even further. A 600-700 footer or two would not make downtown a cold, dark, canyon and could really look nice if properly designed. I don't believe PDX should build supertall though...it just wouldn't feel right the way the town currently is. Maybe long after we are switched to the Amero and the country is dismantled. Who knows what will happen then?

Did I hear something about the city council or the PDC considering raising some height restrictions sometime soon?

We could fit a supertall in the Lloyd. But that's probably the only place where one would fit, but even then there are limits to compatibility.

This would be the tallest building in Portland, correct?

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ects/bwtwr.jpg

not unless it's over 40 stories - the two bank towers would have it beaten easily. this is one of those projects that i think is little more than someone's back-of-the-napkin drawing for now. not saying it won't ever happen, but i think it's pretty far off. esp. given the current condo market and the fact that moyer probably has his hands full with park avenue west for now.

Does anyone other than me think that PAW looks an awful lot like the earlier 'Broadway Tower' renderings?

Who knows what's up with Moyer's Broadway site after all the brouhaha over the Ladd Tower and the height over the park issues.

does anyone have any inside info on this one? What is John planning?

interesting...

I don't know, it seems to me that if the existing awful garage stays around as the podium, that thing is going to be pretty hideous, both aesthetically and in its interface with the street-level pedestrian realm. I'm kind of shocked that the preference isn't to knock down the existing monstrosity and start over from scratch, to be honest. Is it really that much cheaper to build a skyscraper on top of the existing garage than to build an entirely new garage/tower structure?

^^^ It looks like one of the goals of the project is to preserve the parking spaces and revenue for the City and to minimize this loss during construction -- this kind of ties their hands to keeping the existing structure:

http://www.pdc.us/pdf/about/commissi...%20Yamhill.pdf

So what's next?

"If a development agreement is reached, the project will include a major renovation of the existing parking structure including seismic upgrades, remodeled elevator and stairwells and major changes to the retail areas. Due to these changes to the existing public building, an exemption to competitive bidding requirements in ORS 279C.330 and City Code Title 5 Section 5.34.800 will be necessary prior to entering into a development agreement. OMF and PDC believe that the alternative contracting method of negotiating directly with Carroll Investments, Inc. presents the best opportunity to establish an acceptable redevelopment proposal for the benefit of the City. OMF and PDC will present required information to the City Council within the next 60 days in support of the public benefits of this alternative contracting method so that the City Council, as the Local Contract Review Board, may determine whether to exempt this project from the competitive bidding requirements of ORS Chapter 279C."