This is an excerpt from the Sierra Club report, “Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects Fall 2005 Sprawl Report.” It is reprinted from sierraclub.org with permission of the Sierra Club. The report can be found on the Sierra Club’s Web site at www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/report05.
Portland, Oregon
The Pearl District has historically been an industrial area of Portland, Oregon. Today, through redevelopment efforts, this district has been converted into a thriving mixed-use neighborhood with a variety of housing units, shops, and businesses. Many of the buildings are renovated warehouses and factories that long went abandoned until two decades ago. During the 1980s, the Pearl District slowly became a popular destination for artists who were attracted to the abundance of loft space and affordable rent, and proximity to downtown. By the 1990s, private investors were expressing interest in the older warehouses, and soon restaurants and other entertainment venues were moving into the area.
In urban planning circles, Portland has emerged as a model city, at the forefront of creating a vibrant, quality urban environment, and the Pearl District only bolsters its reputation. Jill Fuglister, Executive Director of the Coalition for a Livable Future describes the area: “The Pearl District is a great example of how we can create a marketable, compact, green neighborhood in an already developed area, preserving greenfields and preventing sprawl in other parts of the metro region. Going forward, we will need to make sure that middle and lower income families will always have a place in the Pearl District.”(1)
Attractive Housing Options
Currently there is a mix of more than 1,700 condominiums, townhouses, and apartments built since redevelopment efforts began in the area in the 1990s and over 1,500 new housing units planned for the district in the coming years.2 Importantly, the developments include a mix of incomes, with public investment from the Portland Development Council contributing to a stock of affordable housing units. Over six multi-story apartment buildings, with over 800 affordable units, have been constructed to maintain affordability in the District as well as to balance out the rapid redevelopment underway with a focus on market rate housing.(3)
For now, the demographics of the Pearl District are mostly adults and young couples, however, slowly families are settling into the area, with a few area schools nearby. There is housing designated for seniors, too, contributing to a more diverse neighborhood. For example, REACH Community Development, a local affordable housing provider recently completed building Station Place, a “green” tower of 176 one and two bedroom apartment units for 55-plus individuals, all with incomes at or 30, 50, or 80 percent below median income.(4)
Creating a Pedestrian Environment
The first major redevelopment project within the Pearl District began in 1997 when Hoyt Street Properties bought a former 34-acre rail yard, encompassing 30 blocks.(5) Hoyt Street Developers collaborated with the Portland Development Commission to relocate a highway ramp that would have divided the neighborhood. Relocation of the ramp also helped to encourage transportation options other than cars in the area, making it a more walkable neighborhood. The rail yard has been transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood with nine different apartment and condominium buildings, some with retail space on the ground level.
Multiple transportation options exist for individuals traveling to or within the Pearl District. TriMet, the regional transit authority, offers free fares to ride light rail or bus within a designated downtown boundary, called “fareless square.” This applies to public transportation within some areas of the Pearl District, since part of it overlaps with the downtown zone. In addition, the City of Portland runs a modern streetcar line through the fareless square component of the Pearl District. The District is also extremely conducive to pedestrians, and free walking maps of the neighborhood are available at most shops within the area.
The Pearl District is also home to parks. Jamison Square Park is popular for both residents and those who live elsewhere. Tanner Springs Park celebrated its grand opening in August 2005, and blends the industrial character of the area with natural features. Designed with community input, the park has a wall made of railroad steel, cobblestone paths, and will have a stream running through it. Two additional parks are planned for construction in the Pearl District. Recreational space along the Willamette River is easily accessible from the District as well, with a bridge connecting the Pearl District to the other side of the river in the planning phase.
Saving History, Saving Energy
In 2000, another large-scale redevelopment project in the Pearl District began on the site of a former five-block brewery, called the Brewery Blocks. Gerding/Edlen Development Company bought the historic brew houses, which are being converted into approximately 1.7 million square feet of retail and office space, and new residential buildings that are under construction nearby. Homeownership opportunities in the Brewery Blocks range from approximately $200,000 to over $1 million. Both the historic and new buildings are incorporating environmentally friendly techniques that will provide long-term savings as well as conserve energy. For instance, during the construction phase of The Pearl District Brewery Blocks, a recycling program diverted 96 percent of construction waste from going to landfills.(6) The latest green energy technology, including windows, lighting, insulation, and solar power are projected to save between 20 and 30 percent of energy costs per year. It is projected that after three years, the extra expenses to buy the “green” materials will be offset by the savings in energy.
Other historic buildings have been rehabilitated in the Pearl District using green building technology. The Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center, which is an office building located in the Pearl District, is a gold-level certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building.7 Its ecoroof will reduce storm water runoff by filtering and absorbing rainwater, and also reduce the urban heat island effect.
Notes:
1. Chapman, Scott. E-mail to Eric Olson, October 6, 2005
2. Portland Tribune’s “Definitive Guide to the Pearl District.” Avaliable online:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/pearl/index.html
3. Portland Development Commission Newsroom—7/16/04: “There’s More Affordable Housing
in the Pearl than ‘Meets the Eye.’”
http://www.pdc.us/pdf/newsroom/story-ideas/affordable-pearl-housing_7-16-04.pdf
4. Portland Development Commission Press Release: “Station Place starts Construction; Project
Brings Senior Housing, Parking and Retail to River District.”
www.pdc.us/new/releases/archive/20030619station.asp?
5. Hoyt Street Properties History. www.hoytstreetproperties.com/pearl_history.html
6. Portland, Oregon’s Office of Sustainable Development.
http://www.green-rated.org/cs_detail.asp?id=9&vu=4&md=commercial
7. Cascadia Region Green Building Council, “Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center fact sheet.”
https://www.usgbc.org/chapters/cascadia/vollum.pdf
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