Paul Allen has been trying to buy that land for years and add it to the Rose Quarter District, but the owner of those mills (who I believe is actually the father of actress Julia Louis Dreyfuss) refuses to sell. My guess is the city would love to facilitate a development there, but their hands are completely tied.
If it's they Dreyfus Companies, then they'll redevelop it themselves. I sold them a building back in 1995. They paid top dollar ($33.8MM), but they redeveloped it, released it and turned a profit. That's a sharp outfit.
To my knowledge, there hasn't been any progress on those negotiations in years. But the last I'd heard, the Dreyfus Companies had zero intention of selling or redeveloping that land. I got the sense that they turn a tidy profit with its current use. And with the real estate market what it is now, they'd probably be better off continuing to make a profit with their operations there and then reevaluating their options in a few years when the CRE market rebounds.
The construction they are doing on that road absolutely cracks me up. I was down to visit my parents (who live in Hillsboro) this past weekend and after working on the stretch from 185th to Glencoe Rd literally all summer, all that I can tell that has been done is re-paving. I was expecting the stupid empty, grass median to be filled in and a lane in each direction added. However, at least at this point, I was wrong. The road system in the Portland-Metro area is so incredibly frustrating to me. The government seems to ignore the horrendous traffic problem by not even attempting to fix the problem areas. The speed limits on freeways are laughable, as is how almost immediately crossing the OR/WA border, I-5 is reduced to two lanes in each direction. I miss the city dearly, but I am so grateful I don't have to deal with that mess daily.
I hear you, but trust me when I say that simply continuing to add lanes to freeways has a quickly diminishing value. More roads and lanes usually increases the amount of cars on the road. I think the regional governments are trying to walk a fine line between building up to necessary capacity without discouraging the use of mass transit. I agree certain freeways need widening to lessen gridlock (Sunset Hwy. west of the Cornell Road exit, I-5 North of the I-405 interchange), but planners should be careful when recommending too many expansions. I'd honestly like to see some sort of a tolling system where users are charged for use of express lanes or entire freeways are tolled to (a) pay for maintenance or future expansion and (b) discourage overusage. The Portland area could really use a strong west side bypass freeway that mirrors I-205, going from roughly the Tualatin area at least up to the Sunset Highway. But the amount of homes and businesses that would have to be displaced to make that happen would be astronomical with the build-up that's happened on that side of town.
Nope. I'm not sure what that high rise is for but I do know the new Courthouse will go directly in front of the new First and Main building. Btw, I was thinking of what would make Portland look better: Finding a (humane) way to get rid of the street kids.
I'm still excited for the other green building going up a few blocks south (PSU) And the Weave For the next decade the only projects that will go up, IMO, will be office buildings like these. I doubt we'll see another high-rise condo tower anytime soon.
If they want to beautify Portland, they should take down that hideous statue of Vera Katz on the Springwater trail.
wasn't one of the buildings recently voted one of the 10 ugliest in the US? I think the one with Portlandia?
