Portland’s Pearl District In Line to Get High-Rise Gem

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

Portland, Ore.—A 21-story, 250-unit multifamily community for Portland’s downtown Pearl District is being planned by Wood Partners and Hoyt Street Properties, which have agreed to pursue development of the $80 million project. Once approved by the city, land closing and construction could start as early as the fall of 2013.

Portland-based Hoyt Street Properties, which since 1997 has developed more than 50 percent of the Pearl District, created the approved master plan for the neighborhood. This project is slated for the west side of the soon-to-be-finished Fields Park. The three-acre park will serve as both a “front yard” for the residential units, and a place for residents to take part in recreational activities.

Boora Architects will design the development, and a third-party general contractor will be used. Wood Partners has a thorough understanding of the general contractor and subcontractor market, in part due to current work on two other West Coast high-rise projects, one in Los Angeles and the other in Seattle.

This isn’t the only project on the park being planned by Hoyt Street. Also slated for a 2013 groundbreaking is a 165-unit high-rise condominium building on the other side of the park, which is currently in the design stages. Together, the two new developments will bring a new sense of energy, as well as new employment and housing, to the area.

The high-rise project represents the first time Hoyt Street has teamed with another development partner. This partnership between Hoyt Street and Wood Partners is an excellent strategic match, says Tiffany Sweitzer, Hoyt Street president and partner.

“The combination of our local experience and Wood Partners’ track record of building more than 40,000 luxury units—many of them in high-rise communities—across the country would allow us to offer Portland a truly unique product that blends into the northern end of The Pearl,” she says.

Wood Partners has had a strong interest in bringing its capabilities in the development of high-density and mixed-use communities to the Portland market, adds Frank Middleton, the company’s western regional director.

“We look forward to partnering with Hoyt Street Properties, which has a long history and a strong reputation here,” he says. “They will provide an intimate understanding of the neighborhood, as well as Portland’s permit-approval process.”

The Pearl District is an enclave widely acclaimed as being among the world’s most successful urban revitalization projects.

One of its most dramatic successes has been the transformation of a 34-acre parcel of abandoned rail yards and “brownfields” into Hoyt Yards, comprised of 14 mixed-use and condominium buildings, as well as restaurants, retail spaces, galleries and parks. Hoyt Yards recently became the fifth neighborhood plan in the United States to capture LEED for Neighborhood Development Platinum, the highest rating available.