South Park Blocks
10th & Yamhill Garage Redevelopment

Project Overview

The 10th & Yamhill Garage is owned by the City’s Office of Management and Finance (OMF) and is located at SW 9th and 10th Avenues and SW Yamhill and Morrison Streets within the South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Area.The 10th & Yamhill Garage is adjacent to the Midtown Blocks, also called the Park Avenue District.

The 10th & Yamhill Garage project is a partnership effort between OMF, the Portland Development Commission (PDC), and the development team of Carroll Investments Inc. Project goals are to improve the existing structure as well as to introduce new development above. More specifically, the goals are to:

• Improve street-level retail facades and corners
• Strengthen existing and promote new retailers for a more vibrant street level activity
• Introduce new residential development to enhance diverse street level activity
• Preserve and provide parking support to downtown businesses and retailers
• Establish a better link between the downtown retail and office activity to theWest End of Downtown and Pearl District
• Maximize new taxes generated and leverage private financial resources
• Preserve City Smart Park revenue, minimize revenue loss during construction, and secure new revenue from the purchase or lease of developable air rights

On August 8, 2007, the Portland City Council approved by Ordinance No. 181203 an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between PDC and OMF that authorizes PDC to lead redevelopment negotiations on behalf of the City with Carroll Investments for redevelopment of the Garage.

OMF and PDC staff have a revised public participation plan for the project and, as part of working with Carroll Investments to refine the design and development program, will hold an open house in early 2008 for the public to provide feedback on the project. Feedback from the public will be conveyed to the PDC Board and the City Council who will consider these comments during their review of the project and eventual consideration of a Disposition and Development Agreement between OMF, PDC, and the developer.

Background

Together with the 2001 Midtown Blocks Report of the Advisory Council of Experts and the 2002 Downtown Retail Strategy, the Park Avenue Vision identifies the 10th & Yamhill Garage as a short-term development opportunity. In addition, many adjacent property owners and retailers have encouraged an upgrade to the Garage as one of their top priorities for the district.

From 2004 to 2005, OMF and PDC explored the feasibility of remodeling the Garage’s ground-floor retail to implement the Vision’s recommendations and to address community concerns. As part of these efforts, in summer 2004, PDC contracted with Boora Architects to provide a conceptual study for Garage parking structure improvements. Together with stakeholders and other City staff, Boora Architects completed two redesign feasibility studies, including the December 2004 10th & Yamhill Parking Garage Study and a subsequent redesign in October 2005. The studies’ goals were to improve the retail and pedestrian environment as well as the elevators, stairs, and retail corners and to leverage private investment on adjacent properties.

In 2006, OMF was approached by the private sector with the concept of a full redevelopment of the Garage site, to include ground-floor retail and Garage improvements as well as additional housing or commercial development above the Garage. It was determined that full redevelopment of the Garage fulfills both the goals of attracting and retaining quality retail tenants for the Garage in addition to introducing new housing as called for in approved plans and policies.

In March 2006, OMF in partnership with PDC issued a two phase Request for Qualifications (RFQ)/Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit interest in and select a developer for full redevelopment of the Garage. OMF received four proposals in response to the Request for Qualifications: from Carroll Investments, Gerding Edlen Development, Parr Financial Oregon, and Weston Investments. Of the four proposing RFQ teams, two decided to submit to the more detailed RFP phase: Carroll Investments and Parr Financial Oregon. Both RFP responses called for transfer of ownership of the Garage to the private developer which was not consistent with the requirements of the RFP. As a result, both proposals were deemed to be non-responsive by the City and the proposal process was ended in March 2007.

Subsequent to canceling the RFP, OMF undertook due diligence with developers who had expressed an interest in redevelopment of the Garage in order to determine whether any were willing to move forward with a proposal which allowed the City to continue to own the parking elements. Carroll Investments expressed a positive response to such an arrangement. In addition, the RFP response submitted by Carroll Investments best met key project goals by proposing to add multiple floors of office and residential uses to the Garage, which would result in much greater private investment and better leverage any public resources earmarked for the project.

Following this due diligence, in fall 2007, the City Council authorized PDC staff to take the lead on behalf of OMF in negotiating exclusively with Carroll Investments for redevelopment of the Garage. PDC and OMF staff are actively working with Carroll Investments to refine the redevelopment program, design, and financial analysis and to implement various outreach efforts, including convening a Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Staff anticipates hosting a public open house in spring 2008 for the public to be able to review the refined program and design. The current project schedule aims to have a Disposition and Development Agreement ready for PDC Board and the City Council’s review for approval in late summer 2008.

Publications

• Garage Redevelopment Public Participation Plan
• Downtown Retail Strategy, 2002
• Park Avenue Urban Design Vision, 2004
• South Park Blocks Conceptual Design Alternatives for the 10th & Yamhill Garage, 2005-2006

Background Materials

• 10th & Yamhill Parking Garage Studies — Dec 2004 report and Nov 2005 Revised Design; includes renderings, elevations and floor plans (40 pages, 13,227 kb)
• Central City Plan, Bureau of Planning, 1988

• View a complete list of PDC Publications.

Project Schedule

PDC Project Team

• Lisa Abuaf, Project Coordinator
  e-mail, 503-823-7380
  
• Joleen Jensen-Classen, Public Participation Coordinator
  e-mail, 503-823-3352

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