The Portland Development Commission's board of directors has accepted and approved the recommendation of developer LAB Holding for the Centennial Mills project. It was a unanimous vote and represents the final step in the process of selecting a development team following a recommendation by the Centennial Mills Evaluation Committee and Executive Director Warner.
“The Centennial Mills site is a key catalytic redevelopment project for both Portland’s waterfront and the North Downtown area,” said PDC Chairman Mark Rosenbaum. “We are in good hands with LAB Holding and the Board feels confident the company will deliver an extraordinary project for those who work, live and enjoy downtown."
The PDC board received a lot of criticism for going against the recommendation of its evaluation committee on the still-moribound Burnside Bridgehead. You could say they learned from their mistake, but a more accurate answer is probably that they trusted LAB's finances more than the recommended Beam Construction for the Bridgehead job.
Regardless of this decision by the board, a future issue should arguably still be the makeup of that board. The members seem to come much more from financial and business backgrounds than anything related to design. In the long run, whether LAB was the right choice here or not, that's got to change.
With the board's approval, the next step is for PDC and LAB to negotiate a formal Disposition and Development agreement. But the disposition of the economy will surely also figure into when this new Centennial Mills site will really get built.
And for goodness sake, it's past time for LAB and its CEO, Shaheen Sadeghi, to start working not just with PDC, but also to form a real relationship with Hoyt Street Properties, the developer who has built pretty much everything directly across Naito Parkway from the Mills. There's a great deal to figure out about how this isolated site will interconnect with the Pearl, not to mention the as-yet unbuilt northernmost portions of the Pearl near the Fremont Bridge.
Meanwhile, to borrow from 'The Price Is Right' announcer Rod Roddy, Shaheen Sadeghi, come on down!
The fields park, directly across Naito Pkwy, will have a pedestrian bridge from the park to Centennial Mills. Construction of the park has been delayed while the developer for Centennial Mills was selected and the actual location of the bridge is determined. The bridge is part of the Centennial Mills project, not the park. That will be one key way to connect the Mill to the Neighborhood.
Hoyt had aligned itself with the proposal from Cordish Company, since it contained housing. While the two should talk I'm not sure how much influence Hoyt should have over the project. Hoyt's focus is on condos and retail. I think its more important to have good public input from the community to influence Centennial Mills. Hoyt needs to figure out how to build more affordable condos in the north Pearl. I don't think continuing to build only high end will serve the neighborhood or community well. A school, community center and other family services would be nice too.
For the record, I live in the Pearl in a HSP condo.
Posted by: shooter | March 31, 2008 at 12:09 AM
Your comment about the site being "isolated" hits the nail on the head. How is a scheme that envsions a "bustling retail center" really going to happen given the fact the site has poor access, no visibilty, and is cut off by Naito Prkwy and the railroad tracks. Yes the future park and pedestrian bridge will help, but does anyone really think that hordes of people are going to make the trek up there every day to support retail? The LAB scheme seems to have very little critical mass to really pull this off. Just think Riverplace for a comparable situation...the retail there starved for years until the rest of the district built up over time with more housing(which won't happen with Cent Mills). I like the scheme from a design point of view, but question that it will actually make financial sense and get built. I wouldn't hold your breath on this one.
Posted by: reality check | March 31, 2008 at 09:51 AM
I don't think the Mills will be able to solve every issue with the area, no matter how well engineered, all by itself. The City of Portland is aware and the "North Pearl District Plan" gives an interesting view on what is being considered to prevent the isolation.
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=185595
Posted by: chris | March 31, 2008 at 11:43 AM
I like the LAB proposal from a design standpoint - saving the existing buildings, incorporating the new Cheryl Barton pedestrian bridge. I agree with the comment above about whether this will actually work. The site is extremely isolated and no pedestrian bridge will really change that...especially one that's 2-500 ft long.
This feels much like Riverplace although more challenging.
Posted by: pdx2m2 | March 31, 2008 at 02:40 PM
it could be like riverplace, or it could be like granville island. all depends on how good the stuff is that they put there.
Posted by: ben | March 31, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Is Cheryl Barton going to design that bridge? I hadn't heard that.
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