Today is the first day you can formally pitch your ideas for how the city should repurpose Memorial Coliseum over at the city Rose Quarter redevelopment website. This is a slightly more legitimate process than our Blogtown poll last month that revealed the public's surprisingly strong support for turning the icon of modern architecture into a year-round farmer's market or giant shark tank.

Whatever happens to the Memorial Coliseum, the Trailblazers development group Portland Arena Management (PAM) get to decide the direction for the rest of the Rose Quarter. Today PAM launched a website pitching their vision for a redeveloped Rose Quarter: Imagine Jumptown. The website features a scrolling header filled with photos of things whose sum is surely meant to create an image of "authentic Portland"—a latte, a wind turbine, a row of frosty beers, a Nike swoosh—interspersed with text describing the benefits of the redesign.

As I've written about recently here and here, the city is planning to redevelop the Rose Quarter into the 24-hour entertainment district like the one that existed 60 years ago, before the city's urban renewal plan razed the neighborhood to build Memorial Coliseum. The PAM redevelopment of the district, which would rely on both public and private funds to bring a mix of national and local stores to the Quarter along with dense housing, will be in partnership with Cordish development, a high-powered development company that PAM trusts but I'm wary of due to its strong-arming of public officials in other cities and its alleged racism.

Both PAM and the city reiterate that they're looking for good ideas for how to make over the Rose Quarter, so give them a shout out either via the city's website or on Twitter with #rqidea.

As expected, the Metro meeting on the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) last Thursday was packed to the gills with people who wanted to talk about the plan for how Portland and its suburbs can accommodate millions of new residents without sprawling. Over 70 people signed up to talk and there honestly wasn't a seat left in the Metro council chambers, until audience members starting wandering off as public testimony progressed into its second hour. I had to cut out, too, for the Washington High meeting, but here's an interesting (if not entirely surprising) stat from Metro's lengthy evaluation of the region's projected growth.

And we'll need places to put all those people, whether they're employed or not. Metro estimates at least 405,400 new housing units need to be built in our area over the next 40 years.

Metro's chief operating officer recommended not expanding the UGB, which means the vast majority of those new houses and apartments will need to be built within the existing urban areas. That means higher density across Portland and its closer-in suburbs. A couple neighbors last night addressed issues that arise with density, but none so eloquently as historic preservationist Cathy Galbraith. Last year, Galbraith helped host a series of public meetings around town that addressed development issues (pdf of results here).

"The single biggest issue raised was concern over inappropriate new development in historic neighborhoods," said Galbraith. "We need to avoid the damage of mammoth so-called 'infill projects' that are threatening to overwhelm our neighborhoods." She added, "We need to get a handle on design of new buildings so we don't get things that look like the Star Wars mothership has landed in your neighborhood." IRONICALLY Galbraith was standing in the building that most resembles a Star Wars ship out of all of Portland's numerous hideous buildings:

• Metro HQ

And what would an urban growth meeting be without some testimony of at least one A+ whacko? A true gem came in hour two of testimony, when a man launched far past the two-minute testimony buzzer into a rant that began with describing streetcars as "hobbyrail playthings!", reaching a climax with a demand the region stop building bike lanes because cyclists are "irresponsible freeloading deadbeats who act like spoiled little children!" and, finally, concluding that promoting density is socialism.

I heard from a credible source that later in the night a woman yodeled on the public testimony stand. Yodeled to save a farm. Good day to you.

For the first time in 30 years, Metro last month chose recommended to not expand the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), finally standing up to pressure to push further outward the area where developers can build new homes around Portland. The UGB is important stuff, it's not just land use nerds wonking off. Check out this example from the video below:

One farmer, Fred Netter, complains that his land just outside the UGB is worth only $6,000 an acre while his neighbor's land, just inside the UGB, is worth $100,000 an acre. "That’s what 30 some years of land use planning is doing. Whoever drew that land, that’s like playing God," says Netter. "People should be able to sell their assets for whatever they can get for them."

And another line from farmers who want to subdivide their land into houses to pay for their retirement: "We need to build the houses. Why let the land sit here because some cityfolk want to come see open spaces?"

Tomorrow night is the chance to actually meet those God-like men and women who set the UGB... and give 'em a piece of your cityfolk mind. Metro is hosting a big public hearing on the Urban Growth Boundary tomorrow afternoon at their headquarters (4 pm, 600 NE Grand Ave).

This little video from Metro is an okay quickie primer on the issue, if you're thinking of stopping by the hearing... though I did find myself cracking up at video's the smug overtones. The gist of the film is: PORTLAND IS THE BEST GODDAMN PLACE IN THE WORLD! How can we keep it that way, please?

The city's citizen Rose Quarter redevelopment team essentially needs to turn the clock back 60 years on the area around lower NE Broadway. The Rose Quarter redevelopment stakeholder group this month launched a year-long process looking at ways to turn the Quarter into a vibrant, high-density, mixed-use 24-hour entertainment district. But what stood out at last night’s stakeholder meeting is that before the city’s muckity urban renewal process got involved decades ago, the now-isolated area was a vibrant, high-density, mixed-use 24 hour entertainment district.

• Via Leftbank
• Screw "Rose Quarter Eco-District" - we're calling the area "Pleasure Spot of the West."

One member of the stakeholder group noted that the area’s history shows that perhaps small development—clubs, independent stores, organic neighborhoods—works better to enliven an area than single large development projects, like a Major League Soccer stadium.

More on the meeting—including an interesting defense of Memorial Coliseum and Mayor Adams making an actually funny joke—below the cut.

Not that Michael Jordan. This Michael Jordan:

• Just as exciting, right?

Michael Jordan is the chief operating officer over at Metro and just released the agency's big report (pdf) detailing its recommendations for the future of Portland's urban growth. Jordan's plan? Not to expand the urban growth boundary, the border that limits Portland's outward development.

The decision is something of a surprise because Metro has chosen to add 28,000 acres to the Urban Growth Boundary over the last 30 years, opening the door for new housing or industrial lands to push out into former farms.

In my opinion, this is a smart recommendation from Metro. In the report, Jordan's team cites a couple startling stats that prove the need to keep Portland compact:

There are 15,000 acres of vacant land zoned for new development within the current urban growth boundary.

95 percent of development in the last decade has been within the 1979 border of the urban growth boundary

83 percent of PDX residents believe that land use regulations are "an essential tool to protect the region’s quality of life. "

In a nationwide study, compact communities were shown to reduce average driving by as much as 33 percent.

The controversial $1.12 million tax abatement for the Albert Apartments project got four thumbs up from city council this morning, as all the commissioners except Amanda Fritz decided that the 72-unit project's benefits are worth public investment.

The design and character of the building planned for the former House of Sound lot on N. Williams raised neighbors' ire. Most recently, neighborhood resident Tracy Olson emailed council questioning whether the project even fell within the "transit oriented development" zone that stretches out for a quarter mile from MLK Avenue.

Commissioner Fish's office did a computerized mapping of the area and found the new project is 200 feet within the border of the special development zone but the fact that the project just meets the city's thin criteria for transit oriented development was an issue of big debate for the council. After a long, ponderous oration Fish voted in favor of the tax break, saying it would be unfair to change the rules on the developer in the ninth inning. "This is the trade off we made to protect the areas outside of the city, we're putting density where it benefits the city most," said Fish, adding that the project would help a town with "very few cranes in the air and high unemployment, especially in the construction industry."

Commissioner Fritz, though, voted against the tax abatement, saying that the city's list of criteria for development tax breaks is so out of date that the rules are no longer creating the desired results. For someone who's a stickler about following the letter of the law, this was a rare move for Fritz. "Where will the children in this development play? The only outdoor space is a parking lot," she said. "I don't think it qualifies as a transit oriented development."

Portland had 971 units receiving transit oriented tax abatements last year, adding up to $1,376,988 in forgone revenue to the city and school districts, according to Portland's annual report (pdf). The Albert Apartments are now able to skip paying $1.12 million in taxes over the next ten years.

Condos and cupcake bistros aren't the only victims of the economic downtown. As the Waterfront Urban Renewal Area's budget has shrunk, so have plans for the Uwajimaya downtown.

The massive, fantastic Asian grocery chain was hoping to turn the parking lot at the corner of NW 4th and Couch into a new food outlet plus 140-unit mixed income apartment complex. The Portland Development Commission jumped at the chance to offer $10 million in funding for the project, seeing it as not just a way to enliven one of Old Town's many life-sucking surface parking lots but as a way to put something Chinese back in Chinatown, too.

But now $2 million of that $10 million in funding has fallen through and the PDC is scrambling to find a way to fill the gap so Uwajimaya's backers can sign a lease by the end of the year. The Daily Journal of Commerce reports that the PDC has a unique scheme: sell properties it has had trouble developing (including the Police Block at SW 3rd and Oak Street) to get enough money to buy the current parking lot that will hopefully be home to Uwajimaya. Peter Englander, manager of the Waterfront URA tells the Daily Journal that the PDC rarely sells or swaps property to pay for new projects, “but we need to find alternatives so we can meet the budget.”

So this could be a great idea and, hey, I love fresh octopus and spring rolls as much as the next girl, but "creative financing" plans always set off some alarm bells. It seems troubling that the PDC would pull out of a project it had trouble developing downtown to invest in a new project that's already having trouble developing downtown.

• via flickr
• Dragons! Cheap Grocery Stores! Both Are Currently Imaginary in Old Town!

The new 51-unit Hawthorne apartment complex "The 20" has 29 parking spaces packed into an area that could usually only fit 10, thanks to a high tech robotic car-stacking system. Check out the O's video:

The steel puzzle parking machine is made in Detroit, which is great, but the manufacturer applauds it as sustainable, which is questionable. Less area gobbled up by car parking means more area for high density housing along Hawthorne... but is there really such a thing as a "sustainable" parking spot? (well maybe these ones.)

A line from the handout the Blazers passed out at City Council yesterday to describe their vision of "Jumptown" just caught my eye. This is their general redevelopment idea for all of the Rose Quarter, including Memorial Coliseum:

The plans to redevelop the Rose Quarter and Memorial Coliseum into a 24-hour entertainment district moved forward this afternoon, as Mayor Adams and the Council signed off on a set of non-binding guidelines that lay out the process of choosing a Rose Quarter redevelopment proposal. The guidelines (pdf) and today's meeting revealed two important things: 1) The Blazers might not be the group chosen to redevelop Memorial Coliseum. 2) Regardless, the Blazers are now calling the whole area Jumptown.

That's an improvement, I guess, from their old Rose Quarter redevelopment slogan "Water is Magic!". But isn't it a little awkward, I asked Blazer's president Larry Miller, to name the Rose Quarter urban renewal project after the vibrant 1940s African-American neighborhood that was in that location... until an urban renewal project ripped it apart?

No, no, no, said Miller. "We think this continues to pay homage to something that used to be there," says Phillips. The Blazers are still working with horrific Hard Rock Cafe-loving developers Cordish on plans for Jumptown, but promise that the project will be locally-driven, utilizing local architects. "This is not being driven by an outside corporation like Cordish. This is being driven by Portland and Portlanders," says Miller. They are planning to put together a public citizen advisory board (similar to the citizen stakeholder group Adams' office is coordinating) before making any final design decisions but Miller says that the Blazers' plan will "absolutely not" turn Memorial Coliseum into a mall-like hub of restaurants and chain stores. Instead, he imagines a use more in line with the Coliseum's history as a venue—they've already met with the guy who's pushing a velodrome on the site.

But it's not for sure that the Blazers will get the chance to redevelop Memorial Coliseum themselves. Here's the city's flow chart on the process will work. Look, it's simple:

• AAAAAA!!!!!!

The process from here on out is explained below the cut.

The Portland Sentinel picks up the news that the builder of several row houses around town is planning to build a nine house subdivision at the vacant lot on NE 26th and Alberta. Via the Concordia Neighborhood Association:

Guy Bryant of GPB Construction and Development has informed us that he will be building nine row houses, some facing Alberta, the others, NE 26th, all with garages in back or off the alley.

The area is zoned for either commercial or residential construction, and this subdivision will be solely residential with no storefronts on the streets.

I asked Bryant for some drawings of the planned development, but he said it was too early to put any designs out publicly. He doesn't plan to break ground this year on the project, but will present some designs to the neighborhood association at their next meeting (September 3rd, 7PM, at the Kennedy School) if you want to get a peak at what's coming. Bryant's other work around town looks like pretty straight-forward, contemporary homes. High-quality construction, but bland designs in my opinion:

• via Google Earth
• Bryant's Hawthorne Row

• GPB Construction
• Piedmont Row in NW

Despite the economy, several new housing-construction projects are moving forward in underutilized lots along the formerly-blighted street now lauded for its plentiful felt-hat stores. Just ten blocks west, "Alberta Central" is taking over an abandoned church.

Alberta's artists are going to have less vacant space to play with in coming years. But for now, the future home of the Alberta Row is home to a Last Thursday art installation:

• Appendix Space

Want to keep this:

From happening to this?

The city is now taking applications for a new Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee, a 20-person group chaired by Mayor Adams that will "develop criteria for evaluating ideas and proposals for the renovation or adaptive reuse of the Coliseum."

If you want to spend this fall arguing in long meetings about planning and sustainability, apply here!

In the wake of last week's packed public meeting about the Rose Quarter redevelopment, Brian Libby and architect Stuart Emmons are planning a rally to oppose demolition of the "midcentury modern gem."

Memorial Coliseum is getting far more attention now than it has over the past two decades, when the structure slowly deteriorated from neglect. Not only has Portland Architecture run 10 posts about the transparent building in the last seven days, but the Oregonian ran two editorials about the Coliseum this weekend, one anti-demolition and one pro-demolition . The National Trust for Historic Preservation got involved, urging Portland to save the building and this Wednesday the City Council will vote whether or not to plop the new Beaver's stadium atop the current Coliseum site.

Imagine: Portland constructing a AAA baseball stadium that doesn't piss off hordes of architects by demolishing (sorry, "recycling") Memorial Coliseum.

At Tuesday's packed public meeting about the Rose Quarter Mayor Adams said the city had studied alternate sites for a baseball stadium during the past two decades of redevelopment planning for the district. But a couple architects and planners who feel Adams rushed the decision to site the Beaver's new stadium on the Memorial Coliseum site have drawn up sketches of where else the stadium could go. City Council votes on the stadium siting April 22nd.

Designer Rick Potestio actually showed up at Tuesday's meeting with sketches of what the 9,000 seat stadium could be like in the Lloyd Cinema Parking Lot. Before the meeting officially started, a small group of people gathered around Potestio, checking out the plan on his laptop. Potestio says the strength of placing the stadium in the Lloyd District is it could be connected to the Rose Quarter and downtown with transit links and be a popular anchor on the east side of the redevelopment area.

Then, Portland Architecture plugged the idea of a stadium at OMSI. A website just sprang up this week promoting that plan, which backers say would revitalize the underused lots around the SE industrial area and be right off the new bridge planned over the river.

Expensive new stadiums aren't just a Portland issue — New York City opened $2 billion worth of new stadiums this week. More on their experience below the cut.

But this time, "moving cautiously" — it will be a year before we even see a "framework plan" for the project from the PDC and Beam Development. On Wednesday, the PDC began asking consultants to pitch ideas for how to reuse the area's historic Convention Plaza building.

The announcement comes just two weeks after City Council approved the $22 million Burnside/Couch couplet plan, which aims to help redevelop East Burnside by turning E Burnside and Couch into one way streets. Three years ago, the debate over Burnside redevelopment spiraled around whether Home Depot could plop a store there. This fall, Beam Development said the plan's anchor project might be a 2,000 person music venue.