Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from April 2006

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from April 2006

Many woman- or minority-owned contracting firms work on publicly funded projects to get a start.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Edward Romayor stands tall on the second floor of the upscale condominiums his company is helping to construct in Southeast Portland's Richmond neighborhood. Its lofted ceilings represent a large contract - about...

Oregon Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects' events celebrate Lawrence Halprin.
April 3, 2006... Byline: DJC Staff The work of noted landscape architect Lawrence Halprin will be celebrated in two April 6 events sponsored by the Oregon Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Halprin-designed Ira Keller Fountain...

Open for Education: Newest addition to the Portland State University campus.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan To a casual observer, the tall, light-filled lobby of the newest addition to the Portland State University campus is but an attention-grabbing architectural feature. But for students, the five-story space is also an...

Multnomah County pressured to acquire land downtown for new courthouse.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith Multnomah County is feeling pressure from the Multnomah Bar Association and other interested parties that say the county must acquire land downtown for a new courthouse by year's end or lose the chance to do so all...

Oregon revokes license of plumbing contractor.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Justin Stranzl The Building Codes Division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services last week revoked the Oregon license of a Battleground, Wash., contractor - the second Washington plumbing contractor to have its...

Demand for tickets to Portland's Street of Eames modern home tour tops supply.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan A 45-day sellout may be slow for U2 or the Rolling Stones. But for a tour of mid-century modern and contemporary Portland homes, it's more of a shock. And the vanished tix may be an indicator of city dwellers' renewed...

Conversation with real-estate manager who is leading a multimillion dollar urban redevelopment plan.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith Last year, the Burnside Bridgehead project, a multimillion dollar, multi-block urban renewal development plan set forth by the Portland Development Commission, became the poster project for the agency's shortcomings....

Aussie returns home with ideas for transportation projects in her hometown of Adelaide, Australia.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker After a three month professional exchange at TriMet, Australian Fij Miller is returning home this week with fresh ideas for how to improve public outreach on transportation projects in her hometown of Adelaide. ...

Benson Tower in Portland under increasing scrutiny from organizations.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker The Benson Tower has come under increasing scrutiny since Vancouver, B.C.-based general contractor ITC began construction on the luxury condominiums early in 2005. The building, going up at Southwest 11th Avenue...

Cushman & Wakefield's Puget Sound manager takes on Pacific Northwest.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith The new head of Cushman & Wakefield's Pacific Northwest region is bringing a hint of Seattle to Portland. John Miller has been appointed senior managing director of the Northwest region for the global commercial...

Collaboration leads to LEED gold for Evergreen State College in Olympia.
April 10, 2006... Byline: DJC Staff The first major academic building added to the Evergreen State College campus in more than 20 years also became the first Washington institute of higher learning to earn a LEED gold rating. Evergreen's Seminar II...

Fueling a trend.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Enterprise Rent-A-Car is now offering biodiesel rentals in Portland, a move that may help boost demand for the alternative fuel. The company recently unveiled a pilot program to introduce five biodiesel vehicles...

Bio-beetle expands at a snail's pace.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Bio-beetle got its start three years ago, renting a single Volkswagen Beetle filled with biodiesel to tourists on Maui. Then, early this year, the small car rental company expanded to a fleet of 12 diesel vehicles...

Enterprise Rent-A-Car offers biodiesel rentals in Portland.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Enterprise Rent-A-Car is now offering biodiesel rentals in Portland, a move that may help boost demand for the alternative fuel. The company recently unveiled a pilot program to introduce five biodiesel vehicles...

The Bio-beetle automobile expands at a snail's pace.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Bio-beetle got its start three years ago, renting a single Volkswagen Beetle filled with biodiesel to tourists on Maui. Then, early this year, the small car rental company expanded to a fleet of 12 diesel vehicles...

Father-and-son team hopes their bridge design will be popular with governments as well as fish.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Wild coho salmon have already endorsed a Sandy company's innovative bridge design. The father-and-son team behind the environmentally friendly structures hopes human approval will follow as well. Pacific Bridge and...

Portland Development Commission seeks developers for MLK/N. Portland Blvd. site.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Portland Development Commission is seeking developers for Piedmont Place, Phase II, a vacant, 34,000-square-foot site at the southwest corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and North Portland...

Smart growth defined.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith

Portland Construction Briefs: April 14, 2006.
April 14, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce PGE to acquire Sherman County wind farm Portland General Electric said this week it agreed to acquire development rights for Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, a 25,000-acre wind project in Sherman County....

HYV, IGD are worth the risk.
April 14, 2006... Byline: Malcolm Berko Dear Mr. Berko: My wife and I have a modest portfolio of stocks that has been good to us over the past 20 years. It pays us about 6.6 percent, or just about $12,500 on $188,000. We just got an early payoff of...

Upcoming Events in Portland: April 14, 2006.(Calendar)
April 14, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce FRIDAY, APRIL 14 Mt. Hood Community College is holding Friday Lunch with Entrepreneurs April 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Mt. Hood campus in Gresham. For more information, call...

Portland Pacesetters Briefs: April 14, 2006.
April 14, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce DESIGN Waterleaf Architecture, a Portland firm, has hired Brad Simmons and Anthony Moreschi, welcoming two former employees back to its ranks. Simmons has 24 years of architectural experience...

Portland Real Estate Transactions: April 14, 2006.
April 14, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce OREGON LEASE // Office * Storyquilts.com has leased 2,644 square feet at 9340 S.W. Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Suite 300, in Beaverton, from Washington Springs LLC. Lindsay Carlson, John...

Portland's Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area projects in limbo.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area is home to some of the most talked about projects in the city. Development of the Burnside Bridgehead is moving forward, and the Burnside-Couch couplet transportation project is...

Urban renewal in limbo.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith

No shortage of construction work on Oregon Coast.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker A hot real estate market along the Oregon coast continues to boost construction employment in coastal counties. Increasing demand for new housing has led to an 11 percent increase in the number of construction jobs...

15 Portland-area professionals vie for Commerce magazine's Rainmaker Awards.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Stephanie Basaylga Mention the word "rainmaking" in a business-related conversation and you're likely to receive a range of responses - from those who think the concept is limited to drumming up clients for law firms to the people...

Architectural design, behind the scenes.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Arrol Gellner Thanks to the old stereotype of the architect hunched over a drafting board, T-square in hand, many people still think that an architect's main purpose is to draw "blueprints" -nowadays more properly called "working...

Portland Construction Briefs: April 17, 2006.
April 17, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Otak to plan Oregon City parcel Otak Inc. will develop a concept plan for Oregon City's 415-acre Beavercreek Road area, which will eventually be adopted as part of the city's comprehensive plan. The concept...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 17, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce MONDAY, APRIL 17 City of Portland is holding South Waterfront Urban Design and Development Project Advisory Group April 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. Building in Portland. For more...

Portland office of Interface Engineering hires Kevin Duell and Kenneth Spencer.
April 17, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce The Portland office of Interface Engineering, a mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm, has hired Kevin Duell and Kenneth Spencer. Duell has more than 12 years of mechanical design...

Portland Real Estate Transactions: April 17, 2006.
April 17, 2006... Byline: The Daily Journal of Commerce OREGON LEASE // Industrial * Columbia Contract Glazing has leased 5,000 square feet at Commerce Park Milwaukie, 13503 S.E. Johnson Road, in Milwaukie, from NL Properties. Steven Klein, Kevin...

Earthquakes: Oregon has the potential to see big one.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Trembler, wiggler, shock and shake - whatever the seismic event is called, it's still an earthquake at epicenter. And Oregon has the potential to see a big one. Over the past 20 years, geologists have been expanding...

Sherwood metals finisher bought by Wisconsin firm.
April 18, 2006... Byline: Justin Stranzl A Midwestern metal finishing company expanded into the Northwest last week with its purchase of a Sherwood operation. Green Bay, Wis.-based Pioneer Metal Finishing, which operates facilities in Wisconsin,...

Portland's Metro Council report warns of regional economic consequences of oil crisis.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Increasing demand for oil and a limited supply will contribute to unstable and increasingly more expensive oil prices with grave consequences to the region's economic livelihood, according to a new report by the...

Portland's Northwest College of Construction trains workers in the building trades.
April 19, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker School is officially in session at the Northwest College of Construction. Industry associations gathered Monday afternoon at the college's new, 25,000-square-foot building at 8111 N.E. Holman St. in Portland to...

Oregon State University's engineering school gets grant for renovation.
April 19, 2006... Byline: DJC Staff Oregon State University's civil and construction engineering program last week was awarded an $850,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation that will be applied toward the renovation of the school's historic...

Portland home to West Coast launch of magazine recycling effort.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Pile up all the magazines and catalogs consumed in Portland and the tower would hit the stratosphere. But subtract the number of slick paper publications that Portlanders don't recycle and the stack would get...

Read and recycle.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan

Fidelity National Title moving from one Kruse Way building to another.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith Fidelity National Title, a real estate service and insurance company, will be the first tenant to move into the Kruse Oaks II development in Lake Oswego, currently under construction. The company will relocate from...

Pendleton contractor hit with cease-and-desist from state.
April 20, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Pendleton contractor Ronald Harral has been issued a cease-and-desist order for allegedly working without a license and violating safety standards. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services' Building...

A conversation with Jason Tell, Oregon Department of Transportation manager for Portland region.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker Visiting Jason Tell, the Oregon Department of Transportation's new Region 1 manager for metropolitan Portland, in his corner office this week was deja vu all over again. Last November, the DJC interviewed Tell's...

Six Portland projects awarded Green Investment Fund grants.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Six building projects, ranging in scope from a 14-unit town home project at the restored headwaters of Tryon Creek to a near-net-zero-energy floating home, were awarded a total of $425,000 as part of the Green...

For VTM Inc. president work, life are one and the same.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith For Rich Baek, there's no such thing as separating work life from personal life. "You know how people call it work/life balance," he said. "We simply call it life balance. Work/life implies one versus the other,...

Portland's BEST sustainable businesses recognized.
April 21, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Ten local businesses that make sustainability an integral part of their operations were recognized Thursday morning with BEST awards from the city of Portland. A crowd of more than 400 gathered at the Oregon...

Portland State University students win Pacific Northwest Real Estate Challenge.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Elliott Bay Lofts, a 15-story, 285-unit high-rise condominium building, sits on Alaska Way between Seneca and Spring streets in the heart of Seattle. It's a $137 million project along the Emerald City's...

Beginning today, Portland's infill design gets 'Smart'.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Starting today, owners of Portland's so-called "skinny" lots have three ready-made, design-friendly sets of house plans to choose from. The designs, available through the city's Bureau of Development Services, are...

Oregon Food Bank presented with a can-do attitude.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan Where casual grocery shoppers see peas, beets and corn, the designers and engineers competing in Canstruction see shades of chartruse, magenta and daffodil. The event, an annual canned-food drive and design/build...

Can-do attitude.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan

Portland contractors turn trail blazers on greenway project.
April 25, 2006... Byline: Dan Carter Since last summer, a new, 6,000-foot greenway and Sweek Pond trail along the Tualatin River have been taking shape, and project partners say the work is already paying dividends. "I've already gotten a number of...

Wanted: Skilled construction labor on the coast.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Libby Tucker A hot real estate market on Oregon's coast has boosted employment while creating a labor shortage in the coastal building industry that has left contractors there struggling to meet demand. "Labor is just a...

Seattle-based Zillow.com hopes to be people's research tool of choice for housing information.
April 26, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith It's no secret that the Internet has replaced libraries, phone books and encyclopedias as the No. 1 research tool in the world. Amy Bohutinsky, director of communications for Seattle-based Zillow.com, hopes Zillow...

Gray Purcell takes top Association of Builders and Contractors award for Belmont Lofts.
April 26, 2006... Byline: DJC Staff A Lake Oswego general contractor has won a 2006 Eagle Award from the national Association of Builders and Contractors, the top award the national contractor group bestows on construction projects. Gray Purcell Inc....

Are planning commissions impartial?
April 27, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith Every two weeks, nine citizens come together in Room 2500A at 1900 S.W. 4th Ave in downtown Portland. One is a retired newspaper editor, one is a neighborhood volunteer, one is an architect. There's also a...

Are planning commissions impartial?
April 27, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith

New approach to runoff brings Portland a national award.
April 27, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan A stormwater management project the city of Portland says is the first of its kind has been selected to receive an award of honor in the American Society of Landscape Architects' 2006 Professional Awards program. ...

An interview with Paul Mayer: Developer, Waterfront Pearl condominium towers.
April 28, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith "All the flight attendants know me personally," jokes Paul Mayer, developer of the Pearl District's newest addition, the Waterfront Pearl condominium towers. "Travel is a bit of a grind, but I've been doing it for a...

A conversation with Paul Mayer: Natural evolution.(Interview)
April 28, 2006... Byline: Kennedy Smith

Improved reference tool aims for improved Americans with Disabilities Act access.
April 28, 2006... Byline: Alison Ryan From the width of a doorway to the height of a sink tap, regulations put in place by the Americans with Disabilities Act impact how well visitors to public buildings interact with the built environment. And a new...