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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — With development plans that were just approved by the Portland Design Commission, the Pearl District could have more access to the Willamette River.
On Thursday, the seven-member commission unanimously approved a proposal to transform the Centennial Mills site on 1362 NW Naito Pkwy into three mixed-use buildings that would be at least five stories high. The property, which is owned by Lindquist Development Co. and would be designed by SERA Architects, would hold 272 residential units. It would also include some retail space and offer river access through public plazas and trails.
There have been several discussions about the future of the building that was first constructed in 1910. KOIN 6 previously reported that the City of Portland purchased it for $7.7 million in 2000 with hopes of redevelopment, and a majority of the building was demolished in 2016.
But there has been minimal movement on plans to revitalize the vacant site — until now.
“The proposed three-building, mixed-use development provides a strong response to the site’s unique waterfront location along the Willamette River and the surrounding Pearl District context, creates active and welcoming publicly-oriented pedestrian areas, and evokes the industrial waterfront heritage of the historic Centennial Mills site,” Portland Permitting & Development’s Grace Jeffreys wrote in a memo on Oct. 9.
The design commission previously discussed the development project on Sept. 18. Although the commissioners supported the proposal overall, Portland City Planner Tim Heron said they sought additional information on the public’s access to the river.
Kurt Schultz, who presented on behalf of Sera Architects on Thursday, told commissioners that stairs and other accessible paths have been added to the proposal since last month’s hearing. Schultz also noted that the design team met with the Human Access Project and Pearl District Neighborhood Association while preparing their plan.
Tacee Webb, who said she was testifying on behalf of around a dozen opponents of the proposal, expressed concerns that the developer was receiving “preferential treatment” and that the redevelopment plans were “being fast-tracked.”
While Commissioner Joe Swank noted that the group was introduced to this project in 2023, the commission agreed with other testimony that suggested planners should consider the proposal’s impact on Indigenous communities — particularly in the Tanner Creek area.
Sociology professor Randall Blazak said he learned about the site’s significance to Indigenous communities while writing a cultural impact statement for another local project.
“This was a meeting ground, this was a trading ground,” Blazak said of the area. “Three hundred years ago, tribes came from all over the Pacific Northwest… Over the years, Tanner Creek has been buried under the city so there’s a real significance of that spot historically.”
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Jashayla Pettigrew
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