Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from April 2005

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from April 2005

New Oregon building codes adopted today.
April 1, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The State Building Codes Division today adopted four new statewide building codes relating to elevators, electrical, plumbing and residential construction. The new codes will affect contractors statewide on...

Panda Express plans five more Portland-area stores.
April 1, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Fresh off opening its 700th restaurant, its first stand-alone eatery in Portland's downtown core, Panda Express is moving ahead with plans to open five more stores in the Portland metropolitan area. The Chinese...

Memorial service honors founder of Portland-based B.J. Cummings Co.
April 1, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Friends, relatives and colleagues of Bruce Cummings, who was the founder and President of B.J. Cummings Co. before he passed away earlier this month, gathered yesterday afternoon at the Hinson Memorial Baptist...

Benton County barn in Oregon to be renovated into interpretive center for school districts.
April 4, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Even some of its defenders acknowledge that if torn down, it wouldn't be missed. Nevertheless, a 1930s Benton County barn is getting a new lease on life. Although it sits on 586 acres of pristine forest land, the...

Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program recommends funding for Portland's Sellwood Bridge.
April 4, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough A project to either replace or rehabilitate Portland's Sellwood Bridge could soon be under way as Metro recently recommended allocating $2 million toward the project. The funds, which were recommended by Metro's...

Washington State University students develop solar home for competition.
April 4, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A group of Washington State University students are building a demonstration home that, when finished, they believe will be powered entirely by solar energy. The group of engineering and architecture students...

Landscape architects organization looks at future of Portland's Burnside Street.
April 5, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Landscape architects gathered in downtown Portland late last week to gaze into a crystal ball to see how Burnside Street will look, function and connect to the rest of the city in the future. The gathering was...

Buena Vista Custom Homes breaks ground, opens subdivision in Portland.
April 5, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Buena Vista Custom Homes has announced that it recently broke ground on a new subdivision in Beaverton to be called Angela Gardens and celebrated the grand opening of The Sellwood Townhomes project in Southeast...

Report by Metro, Portland's regional government agency, suggests ways to improve processes.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Facing a future of tighter budgets and higher costs of doing business, the elected auditor of the regional government agency Metro has released a special report suggesting ways that executives of the government...

Pacific University approves construction of a Hillsboro campus extension.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith After concluding that there's too little room to expand their Forest Grove campus, the Pacific University Board of Trustees recently gave unanimous approval to construct a Hillsboro campus extension to house the...

Low-income housing conference in Portland answers tax-credit questions.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Professionals interested in developing or investing in low-income housing will meet for an affordable housing conference from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 18 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Sponsored by...

Fratt honored for service to maritime industry by Portland Shipping Club.
April 6, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough John Fratt, who retired from his role as the director of government relations from the Port of Vancouver USA last year, was recently named as the 2005 recipient of the Old Salt Award for outstanding service to the...

Improvement grant to benefit Lents Neighborhood.
April 7, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Efforts to revive Southeast Portland's Lents Neighborhood took a step forward this week when the Oregon Transportation Commission awarded a $1-million grant for major street improvements on Southeast 92nd Avenue...

Oregon State University honors engineering alumni.
April 7, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The College of Engineering at Oregon State University recently honored 31 of its most distinguished alumni during the university's seventh annual Oregon Stater Awards, which celebrated a wide range of engineers and...

Washington State professor recognized by American Institute of Architects.
April 7, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A Washington State University professor is the American Institute of Architects' 2005 Housing Committee Award recipient. Paul Hirzel, a faculty member with the university's School of Architecture and Construction...

Qwest Telephone Co. runs cables beneath Oregon's Deschutes River.
April 8, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl With its days of running phone lines over the Deschutes River numbered, Qwest Telephone Co. is going under. Phone lines owned by Bend's largest telecommunications company have for almost 30 years spanned the...

Highway work zone safety emphasized by Oregon Dept. of Transportation and State Police.
April 8, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough From reckless drivers to speeders and even drunk drivers, Oregon state troopers have seen it all while policing highway construction zones throughout the state. "It is amazing some of the violations that we come...

Multnomah Bar Association chooses professionalism award recipient.
April 8, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Walter H. Grebe, chairman emeritus of Portland's Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt, will receive the Multnomah Bar Association's highest honor, the MBA Professionalism Award, during the group's annual meeting on May 18....

Beam Development endorsed for Portland's Burnside Bridgehead project.
April 8, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Beam Development, which emerged last year as the community favorite to overhaul five blocks on Portland's Central East Side, was endorsed Wednesday by a Burnside Bridgehead evaluation committee. The seven-member...

Industrial vacancy rates in Portland continue at promising rate.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The days of near-capacity industrial tenancies may have fizzled with the tech bubble, but a new trend in industrial vacancies shows the best improvement since the bubble burst. Vacancies among industrial...

Business Education Series begins next week in Portland.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A joint venture of the Portland chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the Society of Marketing Professional Services could level the playing field for small engineering and design firms competing with...

Seminar reviews Oregon's building code impact on owners, managers.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith More than seven months after Oregon replaced the Uniform Building Code with the 2003 International Building Code, questions remain about how the changes affect building owners and managers. Hank MacDonald, head...

Portland's Women's Council of Realtors to combine fashions with networking.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The mention of a fashion show typically conjures thoughts of flying off to Milan and rubbing elbows with superstars, but to some, their first notion is networking. This rings true for the Women's Council of Realtors,...

Portland-based Prudential Northwest Properties gives top honors to regional broker.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Bert Waugh Jr., president and chief executive officer of Prudential Northwest Properties, was named 2004 Broker of the Year by the Prudential Real Estate Network. It is Prudential's highest honor a broker can receive,...

Portland's New Columbia redevelopment director to retire.
April 11, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith As the first residents of the New Columbia redevelopment project start moving in, a key player in its development is moving on. Tuck Wilson, project director for the Housing Authority of Portland's ongoing New...

Oregon State University students working to develop Mars voyage technology.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough About 3,200 miles from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where the Space Shuttle Discovery now sits on the launch pad after more than two years of safety modifications and vehicle upgrades,...

Clark County to review latest growth management plan.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Board of Clark County Commissioners will hold a series of study sessions to examine whether the county's Growth Management Plan meets the need for homes and jobs over the next 20 years. Commissioners will also...

Unico Properties Inc. purchases the Lincoln Building in Portland.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Unico Properties Inc., owner of the U.S. Bancorp Tower, has purchased the Lincoln Building at 421 S.W. Oak St. in Portland. The total sale price was $11.25 million The real estate investment and operating company,...

Advertising firm moves into Vancouvercenter's North Office Tower.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Rocketshop, an advertising agency specializing in consumer electronics and business products and services, has moved into a 5,957-square-foot space in downtown Vancouver, Wash. The agency is leasing the space on...

Clackamas County prepares for bridge construction.
April 12, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Clackamas County has announced it is preparing to replace a total of eight bridges over the next three years as part of the Oregon Transportation Investment Act III Bridge Delivery program. This year the county...

Connecticut tech firm relocates to Portland.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Compiere, a Connecticut open-source software company, is moving out west after being accepted by the tenant committee for the Portland Business Accelerator at Portland State University. The decision to relocate to...

Construction projects highlight Port of Portland's budget.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough With about $162 million in capital expenditures included its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Port of Portland appears poised to undertake one of its busiest construction seasons in recent years....

Portland State University's School of Urban Studies named for founder Nohad Toulan.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Portland State University's School of Urban Studies and Planning has been renamed in honor of Nohad Toulan, the founder and emeritus dean of PSU's College of Urban and Public Affairs. Toulan retired as dean...

Central Oregon home tour accepting applications.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A Bend nonprofit organization that advocates sustainability has opened the application process for the sixth annual Central Oregon Building Green and Solar Home Tour. The organization, 3EStrategies, holds the...

Oregon court sentences unlicensed contractor to 60 days in jail.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Sione Moala was recently convicted in a Multnomah County court on eight counts of working without a construction contractor's license. Moala was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail and three years...

Workers Memorial Day honors U.S. workers who die or are injured on the job.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough In conjunction with Workers Memorial Day, which takes place later this month, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division has announced that it is urging all Oregonians to honor those workers who have died,...

Lloyd District office building in Portland sells for $49M.
April 13, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The building at 1201 Lloyd Blvd. came under the ownership of Government Properties Trust, which acquired the 11-story office complex for $49 million. The site houses 224,000 square feet of office space and 2,453...

Portland firm big in Japan, hopes for work at home.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Brian White and Michael Weenick, the Portland architects whose surnames inspire the "W" in the name of their firm, aren't hard up for work. At least not overseas. Since starting their Portland firm in the late...

Port of Portland signs long-term lease for Hyundai auto imports.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The Port of Portland solidified its status as one of the largest auto-handling ports on the West Coast Wednesday morning by signing a long-term lease with Auto Warehousing Co., the auto processing provider for the...

Seattle-based GeoEngineers acquires Missouri firm.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Seattle-based GeoEngineers has announced that the firm has opened an office in Springfield, Mo., by acquiring Advantage Professional Services Inc., a firm specializing in Horizontal Directional Drilling technology....

Public has one last chance to review Springwater Community Plan.
April 14, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Gresham community will have one last chance to gather information and discuss the 20-year Springwater Community Plan during a Saturday review of the draft. The Springwater Community comprises approximately...

Favorite for Bridgehead project, Portland-based Beam Construction looks ahead.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Having been recommended by a Portland Development Commission-appointed advisory committee to guide redevelopment of five blocks on Portland's Central Eastside, formerly unknown Beam Construction & Management finds...

Portland city commissioner proposes raising small business owner compensation.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams has drafted an ordinance to allow tax breaks for small business owners, proposing a raise in allowable owner's compensation deduction to the City's Business License Fee from...

Portland Saturday Market's future discussed at PDC meeting.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Applause and cheers echoed throughout the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's auditorium Wednesday afternoon after each of about six different members of the public expressed their sentiments regarding the...

Portland-based Beall Corp. to celebrate 100 years.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough After 99 years in the trailer manufacturing industry, Portland-based Beall Corp. is less than a month away from celebrating the company's 100-year anniversary, which will officially take place in May. The...

Civil rights lawyer to receive U of Oregon public service award.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Lawrence A. Aschenbrenner will receive the University of Oregon Alumni Association's 2005 Frohnmayer Award for Public Service during a reception today. He was chosen for defending Americans' civil rights throughout...

Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger names president.
April 15, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Kathleen Dent, a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, was elected president of Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger. She has been a member of OLAH's Board of Directors since 2003. Since its inception in 1997, OLAH, a...

Portland architectural firms compete to design city's Fire Station No. 1.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Portland architectural firms comprise the three finalists in the city's first large-building design competition in a "generation." As recently as last year, the city's Office of Sustainable Development...

President of Courtesy Vending of Portland named 2005 Oregon Small Business Person of the Year.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith For Paresh Patel, a vending machine is more than just a snack dispenser; it's a paycheck, it's a college education and it's his future as a business leader in Portland. Patel, president of Courtesy Vending of...

Energy Trust of Oregon changes structure of its commercial incentive program.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Energy Trust of Oregon Inc. has altered the structure of its commercial sector incentive program for solar photovoltaic systems, reducing the per-watt payout but increasing the maximum incentive. Under its...

Oregon Department of Transportation's DMV relinquishes mobile home titling responsibility.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Beginning May 1, mobile home owners will no longer have to register their living spaces with the Oregon Department of Transportation's DMV. Responsibility for maintaining ownership and citation information will...

Port of Portland wins state award for wetlands project.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The State Land Board on Tuesday presented its annual Wetland Project Award to the Port of Portland for the port's 60-acre Vanport Wetlands, a mitigation site in Northwest Portland. For the Vanport Wetlands...

Colliers International launches Real Estate Management Services division.
April 18, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Colliers International will foray into property management with its new Real Estate Management Services division, starting today. The property management team includes general manager Sue Iggulden, who has 18...

Portland Development Commission committee to seek new executive director.
April 19, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Portland Development Commission has made its search for a new executive director a group effort by forming a search committee to pare down a list of candidates for consideration. A group of 11 citizens and...

Portland's regional government agency, Metro, to launch Nature in Neighborhoods initiative.
April 19, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough In a move that Michael J. Jordan, chief operating officer of Metro, says signals a shift away from planning and toward more implementation, the regional government agency last week announced plans to launch a...

Portland's Rivergate Industrial District to house new logistics center.
April 19, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Port of Portland Commission approved plans to develop a 440,000-square-foot distribution and logistics building at the Rivergate Industrial District. Capstone Partners LLC and Washington Capital Management...

Public comments sought on economic development in the Portland-Vancouver region.
April 19, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Association of Regional Economic Partners will sponsor a public meeting to discuss efforts to create a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the Portland-Vancouver region, from 5:30 to 7:30 April 20 at...

Program helps to improve the services of Portland's Bureau of Development Services.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Approaching two years after its creation, the Bureau of Development Services' Major Projects Group appears to have made a difference in how the city and various stakeholders communicate when it comes to getting a...

Portland law firms vie to raise money for Multnomah County Courthouse's free daycare facility.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Often, the people hardest hit by family court proceedings are those who are too young to understand what's happening. In many cases, children who arrive at a courthouse are exposed to distressing court proceedings,...

Portland chamber ensemble plans 'Frozen Music' architectural tour.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The Portland chamber ensemble Third Angle is selling tickets through Thursday for its May 1 presentation of "Frozen Music," an architectural tour of downtown Portland that doubles as a concert. At three downtown...

Oregon Tradeswomen fair urges women to enter construction workforce.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith With roughly one-third of today's construction workers set to retire within the next decade, it's expected more women will enter the largely male-dominated field. As it stands, women make up only 3 percent of today's...

Mahlum Architects helps extend life of Seattle school.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Nearly a century after opening, the landmark structure that houses The Northwest School, a co-educational, independent school in Seattle, is about to undergo a multi-phase renovation designed to extend the life of...

Equity Office Properties to build a new facility at Kruse Woods in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Equity Office Properties Trust will build a 107,490-square-foot Class A office building in Lake Oswego's Kruse Woods Corporate Park. Kruse Oaks II will be at 5400 S.W. Meadows Road on a 4.89-acre lot. "The...

Oregon-Columbia chapter of Nat. Electrical Contractors Assn. awards Max Landon with life award.
April 20, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The Oregon-Columbia chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association recently bestowed its annual Bob P. Burns Life Award upon former chapter governor Max Landon. Landon was presented with the...

Governor talks transportation in Portland.
April 21, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough Standing at a podium in front of about 200 people on Tuesday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski addressed the joint annual meeting of the Portland Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar and the Oregon Institute of Traffic...

Portland hands out BEST awards to sustainable businesses.
April 21, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Eleven metropolitan Portland projects were lauded yesterday for their implementations of sustainable practices at the 13th annual BEST Awards breakfast at the Oregon Convention Center. Portland's Office of...

Beaverton company lands contract to aid 'ladar' efforts.
April 21, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A Beaverton developer of high-performance electro-optical imaging systems has landed a U.S. Air Force contract to help develop an array and camera for "ladar," or near-infrared laser detecting and ranging. The...

City of Portland hires law firm to negotiate Portland General Electric buyout.
April 22, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith In its next strategic step toward buying Portland General Electric from Enron, the city of Portland has recruited Miami-based law firm Greenberg Traurig to represent the city. "I don't want there to be any doubt...

Oregon utilities near top of nationwide green-power rankings.
April 22, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Oregon's two largest energy providers rate highly on an annual ranking of renewable power suppliers nationwide, as do two of the state's smaller providers. Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, owner of...

American Institute of Chemical Engineers conference kicks off at Oregon State today.
April 22, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The Oregon State University Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers will host the organization's 2005 regional conference today and Saturday on the OSU campus, featuring a unique race car...

Five-building industrial business park breaks ground in Milwaukie.
April 22, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith A five-building industrial business park at the Milwaukie/North Clackamas Enterprise Zone will begin development next Wednesday. Located at 5811-5851 S.E. International Way in Milwaukie, International Way Business...

Oregon releases Renewable Energy Action Plan.
April 22, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The Oregon Department of Energy last week released its Renewable Energy Action Plan, a 29-page analysis and critique of the state's commitment to solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric and other renewable...

E-permitting pilot program for Portland Metropolitan area nearing completion.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The process of attaining a permit in the tri-county Portland Metropolitan area should be a lot less burdensome next month when the Oregon Building Codes Division's electronic permitting pilot program is expected to...

Portland's Norris, Beggs & Simpson Real Estate gets new name, direction.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The commercial real estate company formerly known as Norris, Beggs & Simpson has a new name, and it's planning some changes in business practices to go with its new moniker. Twenty-three years after joining NAI...

Event in Oregon allows teens to solve a real-world real estate dilemma.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Although many high school students had a hard time finding the Mohawk Gallery Building last Thursday, chances are that from now on they'll do a double-take whenever they pass by. The teens - participants in Take...

Portland-based Giffin Bolte Jurgens wins VISTA Award.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough At the recently held national conference of the American Society of Healthcare Engineering in Nashville, Tenn., the 2005 Annual VISTA Award was given to Portland-based Giffin Bolte Jurgens Architects and its project...

Institute leader to discuss environmental, economic strategies in Bend.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The founder and president of a Washington, D.C., sustainability think tank will discuss environmental and economic strategies April 30 in Bend. Neil Seldman, who in 1974 co-founded the Institute for Local Self...

SpaceShipOne designer to speak at University of Oregon.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl Burt Rutan, an aerospace engineer and the designer of SpaceShipOne, will present the 2005 Koehn Colloquium lecture for the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts today in Eugene. The talk,...

Relocated residents set to return to New Columbia in Portland.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Residents of the former Columbia Villa neighborhood are gearing up to move into the New Columbia project as early as May 9. Although the project is still 18 months from completion, about 60 percent of the families...

Realty group in Portland donates $60,000 in Q1.
April 25, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith Windermere Cronin and Caplan Realty Group's Windermere Foundation donated nearly $60,000 during the first quarter of 2005 to local charities that assist homeless and at-risk youth. Windermere's donations during...

Concrete projects honored at annual awards event sponsored by Oregon industry groups.
April 26, 2005... Byline: Cody McCullough The world of concrete took center stage last week at the Oregon Convention Center as a wide variety of building industry players gathered to pay tribute to 57 projects at the 25th annual Excellence in Concrete...

Portland Development Commission launches speakers bureau program.
April 26, 2005... Byline: Kennedy Smith In an effort to increase its relationship with local businesses, communities and service organizations, the Portland Development Commission has launched a speakers bureau program. Starting May 20, groups can book...

Construction of two potential high-rises rivaling Portland's Benson and Eliot towers are planned.
April 27, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl A five-story office building will be the next project to join the construction fray on Portland's West End, and more developments, including two potential high-rises that could rival the Benson and Eliot towers, are...

Dan Saltzman to propose LEED gold for city of Portland's buildings.
April 27, 2005... Byline: Justin Stranzl The city of Portland is primed to join Scottsdale, Ariz., as the only cities in the country requiring LEED "gold" certification for newly constructed public facilities. So says the city's Office of Sustainable...