Downtown Portland News - Page 256

Socinus · #**5101** Posted **Jan 9, 2024, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Delighted to see that the ground floor of one of my favorite buildings in the city will become an events space.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.

I am glad that someone else likes this building, which I was beginning to think only I had a perverse love of. Could be pretty cool place for events, especially in conjunction with the revamped park.

sopdx · #**5102** Posted **Jan 9, 2024, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socinus

I am glad that someone else likes this building, which I was beginning to think only I had a perverse love of. Could be pretty cool place for events, especially in conjunction with the revamped park.

This is one of my favorite buildings as well. I think it is very handsome. The lighting at night is beautiful as well.

eric cantona · #**5103** Posted **Jan 10, 2024, 12:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Socinus

I am glad that someone else likes this building, which I was beginning to think only I had a perverse love of. Could be pretty cool place for events, especially in conjunction with the revamped park.

This is my favorite building in Portland but the park side is the least inviting of the block, sadly.

maccoinnich · #**5104** Posted **Jan 10, 2024, 1:21 AM**

Yeah, it's unfortunate that the park was created after the Bank of California building; that elevation was never designed to face a park, and it shows.

I understand the 'temporary' buildout for Darcelle XV Plaza (former O'Bryant Square) is being designed with the ability to hold events in mind, that might not be big enough for Pioneer Courthouse Square. There definitely could be some synergy with the event space.

urbanlife · #**5105** Posted **Jan 10, 2024, 6:49 PM**

Chiming in, the Bank of California is also one of my favorite buildings in Portland as well.

maccoinnich · #**5106** Posted **Jan 10, 2024, 7:14 PM**

The Yard Milkshake Bar opens in downtown Portland’s Pioneer Place [KGW]

FiveOverPun · #**5107** Posted **Jan 10, 2024, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

The Yard Milkshake Bar opens in downtown Portland’s Pioneer Place [KGW]

Wait... is this... "my milkshake brings all the boys to The Yard?"

wow.

2oh1 · #**5108** Posted **Jan 11, 2024, 5:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FiveOverPun

Wait... is this... "my milkshake brings all the boys to The Yard?"

wow.

Interestingly, there was a Yard Ale House across the street, but it closed during the pandemic.

I didn't understand the location the Yard Ale House chose for their Portland pub. It had no street entrance. In fact, it had no street presence. You could walk right by it and never know.

maccoinnich · #**5109** Posted **Jan 11, 2024, 6:12 PM**

Via What Spot Now, Hana Sushi and Izakaya is opening at SW 6th and Washington in the space formerly home to Sushi Sakura. That's a prominent corner, so it will be nice to see it active again.

The closures get more attention, but the trend is definitely more openings than closures. It's just happening a whole lot slower than I'd have liked to have seen.

PhillyPDX · #**5110** Posted **Jan 21, 2024, 3:47 PM**

Paywall (easy ways around it…). Summary: downtown has improved but recovery is slowing. What now?

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...outputType=amp

DMH · #**5111** Posted **Jan 22, 2024, 12:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Paywall (easy ways around it…). Summary: downtown has improved but recovery is slowing. What now?

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...outputType=amp

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I and many others on this site have been advocating for office to housing conversions, new housing, retail services for residents, and enhanced cultural attractions for a while now, in order to reinvigorate Downtown Portland.

subterranean · #**5112** Posted **Jan 22, 2024, 1:35 AM**

Lower taxes. Remove minimum affordable unit requirements in new market rate developments. Hire more cops.

PhillyPDX · #**5113** Posted **Jan 22, 2024, 2:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMH

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I and many others on this site have been advocating for office to housing conversions, new housing, retail services for residents, and enhanced cultural attractions for a while now, in order to reinvigorate Downtown Portland.

The article specifically states conversion downtown would likely only be up to 5% of the total space. Would still be thousands of people, but would not be enough to turn around downtown in itself.

DMH · #**5114** Posted **Jan 22, 2024, 4:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

The article specifically states conversion downtown would likely only be up to 5% of the total space. Would still be thousands of people, but would not be enough to turn around downtown in itself.

Conversions of office buildings to residential may be a small proportion of the solution, but new housing on the many parking lots in Downtown Portland should be encouraged. We have already discussed the great potential of the Goodman family's many parking lots around Downtown. While the Goodmans probably wanted to build more office buildings, let's hope that they are now planning housing.

urbanlife · #**5115** Posted **Jan 22, 2024, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMH

Conversions of office buildings to residential may be a small proportion of the solution, but new housing on the many parking lots in Downtown Portland should be encouraged. We have already discussed the great potential of the Goodman family's many parking lots around Downtown. While the Goodmans probably wanted to build more office buildings, let's hope that they are now planning housing.

I would love to see a residential tower boom in downtown similar to what we saw in North Pearl.

FiveOverPun · #**5116** Posted **Jan 23, 2024, 12:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I would love to see a residential tower boom in downtown similar to what we saw in North Pearl.

Never forget what they took from us.

AdamNorthwest · #**5117** Posted **Jan 23, 2024, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I would love to see a residential tower boom in downtown similar to what we saw in North Pearl.

I'd love to see this too but the market doesn't support it. Lenders and investors aren't interested in the Central City at the moment, even though conditions are improving.

I'm not sure we'll ever see a boom in this part of Downtown/Old Town like we did in the North Pearl because there isn't a well-established, thriving mixed-use neighborhood here to build off of (like the Pearl had south of Lovejoy before the 2010's). At a minimum, the east part of Downtown needs a full-sized grocery store, but not even the South Waterfront can seem to get one...

urbanlife · #**5118** Posted **Jan 23, 2024, 7:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FiveOverPun

Never forget what they took from us.

To be fair, that was never a real plan, just a ploy to raise the height limit for that site to make it more valuable. The owner of that site owns another parking lot nearby where a building this size can definitely be built there but isn't because there was no intention to build.

urbanlife · #**5119** Posted **Jan 23, 2024, 7:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamNorthwest

I'd love to see this too but the market doesn't support it. Lenders and investors aren't interested in the Central City at the moment, even though conditions are improving.

I'm not sure we'll ever see a boom in this part of Downtown/Old Town like we did in the North Pearl because there isn't a well-established, thriving mixed-use neighborhood here to build off of (like the Pearl had south of Lovejoy before the 2010's). At a minimum, the east part of Downtown needs a full-sized grocery store, but not even the South Waterfront can seem to get one...

I actually wasn't referring to the Old Town area or the part of downtown that borders it. That whole area will always be the last part to see any improvements. It was like that before the pandemic and will be like that for probably ever.

I was more referring to the rest of downtown in the 405 loop. A lot of the area west of Broadway would be ideal for large residential developments and something I could see the market supporting.

As for grocery stores, I think delivery has made that less of an issue than it used to be. Also, downtown already has access to a Safeway and Whole Foods in downtown.

2oh1 · #**5120** Posted **Jan 31, 2024, 1:04 AM**

This is a step in the right direction. That being said, we need long term solutions, not short term. Still, as a downtowner, I'll take what I can get.

Quote:

Gov. Tina Kotek, local leaders declare 90-day fentanyl state of emergency for downtown Portland

Gov. Tina Kotek, along with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, on Tuesday declared a fentanyl state of emergency for downtown Portland as drug use, dealing and overdose deaths continue to ravage the heart of Oregon’s largest city.

The tri-government order seeks to synchronize city, state and county responses to the public health and safety crisis through an incident command structure akin to those used during emergency events such as the coronavirus pandemic or severe weather incidents.

...continues (I think?) at OregonLive.com