These days everywhere you look it seems like there’s a hole in the ground and a crane in the sky. I get asked a lot what all of this construction is, and more importantly..who’s going to fill it! Over the past few years we’ve seen construction ramp from multi-family (apartments), to commercial office, and now on to hotels. Multi-family has really lead the charge in Portland for the past few years, but commercial office has taken off recently.
For commercial office space, Park Avenue West was the only real major new development in town prior to 2016 (the new Class-A tower that sits downtown just behind Nordstroms). Right now, there’s almost 1.5 million square feet of office currently under construction. That’s a lot! And here’s the interesting part, over half of that space already leased. That means a majority of the commercial space that hasn’t been built yet is already spoken for.
The latest piece to the construction puzzle that’s currently booming are hotels. From the new boutique Grove Hotel on SW 5th and Burnside, to Marriott's project on SW 3rd, to BPM’s project on SW Columbia, to the 16 floor Porter hotel on SW 2nd and Jefferson...they seem to be popping up all at once! While us that live here don’t realize how tough it is to rent a hotel in town, Portland’s been notorious as one of the hardest places to book a room and this new development is welcomed by many.
While there has been an enormous amount of apartment construction, new condo developments have been minimal. The Cosmopolitan was a true sign post to prove demand. The new tower on NW 10th and Northrup is now 96% sold, including the penthouses that went for upward of $4 million. The developer, Hoyt Street Properties, now has approval on Block 20 which is just north of The Cosmopolitan which will have 155 units ranging from 1 to 3 bedrooms (700 sf to 3,200 sf) on top of the ground floor retail/mixed use space. The design of a recessed tower allows for a massive community landscaped terrace on top of floor 4 and 5. Block 20 was designed by local architecture firm Bora and construction is planned to break ground in the 1st quarter of 2017. Check out a few of the renderings that have been released below - this look like a perfect fit in the Pearl and well needed!
Aerial rendering of Block 20 from Bora architects showing roof top decks.
Block 20 rendering from Bora Architects with view from The Fields Park.