May 25, 2007

New PUBLIC parking Garage to open at riverplace

The Strand at RiverPlace nearing completion

The Strand development, located on former PDC property at RiverPlace, is nearing completion and on Friday afternoon, May 25 will open 100 new public parking spaces in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The parking garage, located at 1852 SW River Drive, will serve those visiting Waterfront Park, RiverPlace businesses and area residences as well as visitors to The Strand and its new riverfront restaurant slated to open later this year.

“We are very pleased to be a partner in bringing this new public parking to the downtown waterfront at RiverPlace,” said PDC Executive Director, Bruce Warner. “PDC responded to neighborhood concerns about parking costs and limited availability by requiring the developer to include a visitor parking garage and we believe this development serves a needed role.”

The Strand is a $120 million mixed-use development that will enhance the RiverPlace community as well as support continued public investment in infrastructure, housing and job creation in the nearby North Macadam Urban Renewal Area. The project features three glass residential towers designed to provide uninterrupted views of the Willamette River, the mountains, and downtown Portland. Two of the towers have been completed and the final tower will be finished this summer. The new development is one block from the Portland Streetcar RiverPlace station.

The project is being developed by RiverPlace Partners, LLC, a partnership led by Onder Development Co. and Williams & Dame Development, Inc. The developers purchased the property from PDC for $3.6 million in 2004.

PDC identified the RiverPlace Parking Garage Associates (RPGA); a community non-profit composed of RiverPlace commercial and residential property owners, to acquire the garage. RPGA purchased the garage with a $6.5 million loan from PDC in February 2007, and selected StarPark to manage day-to-day operations.

“Our partnership with PDC has been win-win from the very beginning,” said Jack Onder of Onder Development.  “We started planning for this project seven years ago when we envisioned a vibrant RiverPlace neighborhood with beautiful waterfront living, excellent restaurants, thriving retailers and ample parking.”

In addition to the public parking spaces, the development includes a separate 300-space parking garage for residents of The Strand. The private residential parking is the first in Portland to utilize mechanical parking systems, or lifts, that stack one car on top of another—parking two cars in the space of one.

The Strand development also features the construction of a 7,600 sq. ft. restaurant fronting the Willamette Greenway trail and offering expansive views of the Willamette River. The 100-seat waterfront restaurant, to be called Lucier, is located just north of The Strand’s trio of condo towers. The stand-alone glass and steel building is scheduled to open in November, and will feature a European-Continental menu.

The development marks the completion of a decade-long effort by PDC, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), to clean up and redevelop one of the most challenging brownfield sites in the Central City. RiverPlace Partners LLC partnered with PDC to fulfill DEQ requirements for site cleanup during construction of The Strand’s foundation. In April 2007, DEQ granted the site a “No Further Action” designation, meaning the site no longer poses risks to human health or the environment.

As The Strand development nears completion, Onder and team are poised to develop its next-door neighbor, the PDC property known as Parcel 8, at the intersection of SW River Drive and SW River Parkway. Onder Development and Williams & Dame Development were selected to develop the site by the PDC Board on May 23, 2007. That project is slated to include approximately 189 residential condominiums and ground-level retail. Construction could begin as early as summer 2008. 

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