Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from February 2008

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from February 2008

Ten years later, Portland's downtown gets a new $6 million park.
February 1, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Donning a bright orange hard hat and reflective safety vest, Portland Mayor Tom Potter on Thursday climbed aboard a backhoe at downtown's newest park. With a thumbs-up, he dumped the first load of gravel at the site,...

Portland's Vanport Square inverts phasing.
February 1, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Long in development, the first phase of the three-phase Vanport Square project on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard has opened. But concerns about current economic conditions have forced developers and the Portland...

Q&A with Kent Yu, Oregon engineer.
February 1, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Kent Yu has made a career of knowing how the built environment will react to shaking earth. The Degenkolb Engineers' associate principal has worked alongside researchers at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute,...

BOMA Portland announces building challenge.
February 1, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Portland chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association is looking for the most energy-efficient office building in Portland. The 2008 Office Energy Showdown will compare the energy efficiency of local...

Realty Trust Group is top Oregon performer for 2007.
February 1, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff A Portland firm is at the top of a list of 2007 best-performing real estate offices in Oregon, according to a report released by Trendgraphix. Realty Trust Group was the top-performing office in the state for 2007,...

Home builder starts new Ridgefield project.
February 1, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff New Tradition Homes is building 86 houses in a new Ridgefield, Wash. subdivision. Homes in the Columbia Hills community near Interstate 5 will range in size from 1,677 square feet to 2,833 square feet, with prices...

Commentary: Checking references in the MySpace era.
February 1, 2008... Byline: Rich Meneghello Problem: Today's young adult job seekers are part of the first generation to have grown up on the Internet. Many, if not most, have established personal pages on sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Xanga and LinkedIn....

Sustainable industries in Oregon claim success, despite lack of data.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Gallons of fuel sold, pounds of canola crushed and number of stations built - these are all ways the Oregon biofuels industry could count its progress. But the companies within the sector keep their data so close...

Oregon's green-Mecca reputation pulls outsiders in.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Although Portland isn't as big as Chicago, New York or San Francisco, it's got big ambitions when it comes to attracting businesses to its sustainable clusters. And the choice was easy, those businesses say, due to...

Green building product showcase.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein For builders, going green can be a small step, like installing recycled paper countertops in an office, or a large step, like constructing an office building with beams made from recycled milk jugs. These five...

Results, real knowledge put meaning in green, say Portland marketing pros.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Green cars. Green power. Green hotels. Green law firms. Although the idea of green marketing isn't fresh - the American Marketing Association was educating on ecological marketing in the 1970s - the number of goods and...

Oregon Business Plan is good start, but needs local focus.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Justin Stranzl The Oregon Business Plan is, at root, a branding of Oregon business. And the Oregon Business Summit's commitment to green means sustainable is essentially Oregon business' new tagline. So how good is the state at...

Sustainable building resource guide for Oregon.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report 3E Strategies A Bend-based organization that coordinates sustainable outreach programs across Central Oregon, including a local green home tour, lectures, networking functions and an e-mail newsletter, the...

Portland's EcoShuttle has a van and a plan.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Switching on the radio between 7 and 9 a.m. is never a positive endeavor. Car accidents, backups and ominous air quality warnings are as common to a Portlander's commute as a travel mug of coffee. But...

New center to help small Portland businesses get sustainable.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan A new offshoot of the Office of Sustainable Development will put green business practices into the hands of smaller Portland companies - for free. The BEST Business Center, which launched Thursday, is meant as an...

After years of moving, a Portland school and its students find a permanent home.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Moving constantly from group housing, motels, friends' places and even the family car, homeless youths aren't accustomed to a constant shelter. But with the construction of a permanent location for the...

Development momentum continues to mount along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Portland.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Development momentum continues to mount along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, as another mixed-use project continues to shore up funds for its multi-phase project. The proposed $6.5 million project intends to...

AGC: Nonresidential building data suggest healthy economy.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Nonresidential construction spending is likely to increase through 2008, a building industry economist said Friday, expressing a sentiment that runs counter to that suggested by recently published federal data. ...

Gramor completes $19M purchase of former Boise Cascade site in Vancouver.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Gramor Development announced Wednesday that it has completed a $19 million purchase of the former Boise Cascade site along the waterfront in downtown Vancouver. Gramor began negotiating to purchase the...

Portland-based Neil Kelly Co. buys Bend kitchen and bath business.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Neil Kelly Co. has purchased a kitchen and bath business in Bend. The Portland company recently acquired the Kitchen & Bath Concepts' business and its building at 190 N.E. Irving Ave. The local showroom...

Oregon State University students win Seattle tax competition.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Four accounting students from Oregon State University's College of Business won first prize in the 2008 Bernston Porter/University of Washington Master of Professional Accounting Tax Competition in Seattle. ...

Benson Industries in Portland promotes Beaulieu.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Benson Industries has promoted John R. Beaulieu to vice president. Beaulieu will focus on business development. He holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a focus on construction management...

Loun appointed to Oregon Travel Information Council.
February 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The Oregon Travel Information Council has announced that Tom Loun has been appointed to a four-year term on the council to represent the sign industry. Loun is the general manager of Traffic Safety Supply...

ACE Academy in Portland opens doors to educators.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein This fall, in addition to reading Catcher and the Rye and solving algebra equations, 250 high school juniors will learn the ins and outs of the building industry. The Academy for Architecture, Construction...

Camas-Washougal port considers zoning changes to industrial park.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf First, the Port of Camas-Washougal sought economic stimulus from its RiverWalk waterfront redevelopment - a planned mixed-use community of housing, hotels, retail and restaurants. Now, the port wants advice from the...

University of Oregon rolls out green power law class.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker The University of Oregon is now among the first universities in the nation to offer a course in renewable energy law. The course is one of several offered by the university's new sustainable business certificate...

City of Portland moves forward with family-friendly planning.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan The city of Portland last week formally honored winners of the Courtyard Housing Design Competition, an international effort to create smart solutions for family-friendly housing on infill lots. And the accolades...

Architectural drawing program coming to Washington State University's Pullman campus.
February 5, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Illustrator Mike Lin will hold an architectural drawing workshop at Washington State University's Pullman campus. The workshop will be offered Feb. 15 and 16 in the Ensminger Pavilion on the WSU Pullman campus from 9...

Vancouver port closes deal on former Boise site.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Last week, the Port of Vancouver, Boise Cascade and BSNF Railway Co. closed a three-way deal that will convey nearly four acres of property to the port for its rail right of way and help a mixed-use development get off...

Commentary: Trades build better construction industry.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Tim Gauthier and Barry Moreland Recent commentary in The Daily Journal of Commerce suggested the building industry is broken. Certainly, the industry must continue to evolve and improve if it's to adapt to an ever-changing business...

American Academy of Appellate Lawyers elects Portland attorney.
February 5, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers has elected Thomas W. Sondag as a member. Sondag is a shareholder with Lane Powell, chairman of its appellate practice group and a member of the firm's board of directors. He...

Nathan Good Architect in Portland hires Jesse.
February 5, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Nathan Good Architect has hired Lydia Jesse as an architect. Jesse has nine years of professional experience. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Architecture.

Portland attorney awarded Lifetime Achievement award.
February 5, 2008... Byline: Dean Phillips The World Arts Foundation has awarded David Bartz Jr. a Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in the community. Bartz is a president of the law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and a shareholder in the...

Realtor with Windermere/Baldwin in Portland awarded Graduate Realtors Institute designation.
February 5, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Windermere/Baldwin Properties Inc. has announced that Jim Frey has been awarded the Graduate Realtors Institute designation.

Rubber meets the road at Columbia-Lombard connector near Portland International Airport.
February 6, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Like a two-lane blacktop tourniquet, Northeast Columbia Boulevard to Lombard Street impeded the smooth flow of traffic near Portland International Airport. With freight and everyday commuters stuck at choke points, the...

McKinstry Co. designs a deliberate 'mess' for new Portland office.
February 6, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker With its glass curtain wall, day-lighting system, solar photovoltaic panels, and other sustainable features McKinstry Co.'s new Oregon offices will be a departure from the concrete tilt-up buildings that are standard...

Exhibit cuts through cross section of Portland work.
February 6, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Spectacular mansions stretching out in seclusion. Urban lofts stacked in squares. Dramatic rooflines lines tucked against a backdrop of Oregon trees. The latest exhibit at the AIA Center for Architecture nods to the...

Portland Parks & Recreation extends proposal deadline for visitors center redevelopment.
February 6, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Portland Parks & Recreation has extended the deadline for proposals for the redevelopment of the former Portland Visitors Information Center. Proposals for the John Yeon-designed space, originally due Jan. 28, are...

TVA Architects' Robert Thompson leads University of Oregon lecture.
February 6, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Robert Thompson of TVA Architects will lecture tonight at 6 p.m. at the University of Oregon's Portland Center, 722 S.W. Second Ave. The lecture will focus on TVA's recent commissions, among them the new UO...

Pepsi unveils solar electric system in Eugene, Oregon.
February 6, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. has installed a new solar electric system at its Eugene plant that the company says is the second largest system of that type in the Pacific Northwest. The 250-kilowatt system is...

Portland chapter of Building Owners and Manager Assn. competition focus on a sustainable future.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Who's got the most energy-efficient office building in Portland? The Portland chapter of the Building Owners and Manager Association hopes to find an answer to that question through its second annual Office Energy...

Safety comes first for any North Portland's St. Johns neighborhood improvements.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Trucks and people. North Portland's St. Johns neighborhood is busy with both, and an underway transportation improvement project is designed to make city streets a place where the two can coexist safely. The current...

University of Oregon grad students re-imagine Old Town-Chinatown.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein With the opening tonight of an exhibition of work from the University of Oregon Department of Architecture at Project O Gallery, UO professor and MulvannyG2 designer Suenn Ho hopes to ignite public interest in...

Portland State University's Shattuck Hall under renovation.
February 7, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Seismic upgrades are in full swing at Portland State University's Shattuck Hall. The building, originally an elementary school constructed by Portland Public Schools in 1914, is being worked on by Howard S....

Portland firm takes home design award.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff A Portland firm took home two awards from the Cheng Companies at the World of Concrete Exhibition in Las Vegas on Jan. 23, 2008. Coulee Concrete Designs took home an award for Best 3D Application for its counter...

Hillsboro-based Parr Lumber helps Ronald McDonald House.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Ronald McDonald House Charities has received $26,590 in donations from Parr Lumber and its customers. The company has been selling Parr Lumber knit stocking hats and coffee tumblers to customers at its stores with 100...

Clackamas group receives Forest Service award.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Clackamas Stewardship Partners have received the Two Chiefs' Partnership Award from the chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Services and the chief of the U.S. Forest Service. The award recognizes citizens...

Portland-based Fletcher Farr Ayotte promotes staff.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Fletcher Farr Ayotte has promoted Erica Ceder, Richard Grace, Brenda Katz, Hai Luc, Tim Mitchell and Mary Smith to associate. Ceder has been with FFA for four years. She was recently job captain on the White Stag...

Lane Powell in Portland hires Vogt.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Lane Powell has hired Carolyn M. Vogt as a shareholder in its corporate finance and securities practice group. Vogt previously worked at Nacco Materials Handling Group Inc. as vice president, general counsel and...

MacKay & Sposito Inc. in Wilsonville appoints Schauer to board.
February 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff MacKay & Sposito Inc. has appointed Al Schauer to the board of trustees for the Salmon Creek Hospital Foundation. Schauer is president and CEO at MacKay & Sposito.

Riding high on Portland's office real estate scene.
February 8, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Jennifer Medak had sworn off real estate by the early 1990s. She'd grown up in the industry, amid realty signs emblazoned with her family's namesake business Medak Realty, which her grandfather had founded. She'd...

Oregon takes modern look at historic properties.
February 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Since 1973, Oregon's special assessment program has enticed historic property owners with a pretty simple trade-off: An owner invests in rehabilitation of a property and opens its doors to the public once a year. In...

Watershed awards shine light on slough projects in Oregon.
February 8, 2008... Byline: Stephanie Basalyga More than 90,000 people are employed in the area known as the Columbia Slough Watershed. Based on the full house at the Acadian Ballroom on Northeast Alberta Street last week, more than few of those folks showed...

Shorenstein Properties breaks ground in Lake Oswego.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Shorenstein Properties has broken ground on Kruse Oaks III, a five-story office building at 5500 Meadows Road in Lake Oswego. The 110,000-square-foot building will have a two-level parking structure and is...

Oregon Dept. of Transportation accuses fraud in case of Salem contractor.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report A Salem contractor has been accused of trying to defraud the state of more than $1.1 million. Ross Bros. & Co. was hired to build a bridge across an Eastern Oregon Railroad by the Oregon Department of...

Portland Business Alliance focuses on booming manufacturing.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The Portland Business Alliance's February forum will focus on the manufacturing industry. According to the PBA, there has been a 100 percent growth in Oregon's manufacturing from 2001 to 2006, with...

T.Y. Lin International hires staff for its Northwest district.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report T.Y. Lin International has hired Eric Destival as a senior traffic engineer and Alice Brown as its Northwest district marketing manager. In addition, it has announced that Justin Acacio has received an Oregon...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Portland promotes Anderson.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has promoted Witt Anderson to programs director for its Northwest division headquarters in Portland. Anderson will direct a $3 billion annual program of water resource projects,...

Portland-based Windermere/Cronin & Caplan Realty Group Inc. hires Chevalier.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Windermere/Cronin & Caplan Realty Group Inc. has hired JP Chevalier as a principal broker. Chevalier was recently a principal broker/owner with Pacific Landmark Realty Group. He is an International Committee...

East Portland Chamber of Commerce elects members.
February 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The East Portland Chamber of Commerce has elected Richard Sorem, Pam Olson, Norm Rice and Jill Critchfield as officers. In addition it has elected Casey Ryan and Nancy Zuffrea as board members. Sorem, of...

Portland dumps money into trucks.
February 11, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker The city of Portland's Fleet Services Division this year will spend up to $1.5 million on new dump trucks. And City Council last week agreed to spend as much as $7.5 million over five years on 5-cubic-yard trucks in an...

City of Portland assesses financial risk of streetcar expansion.
February 11, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Plans to expand Portland's streetcar to the city's eastside, connecting Northwest Lovejoy Street to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via the Broadway Bridge, continues to take cautious strides forward. The...

University of Oregon economist: Recession remains likely for state.
February 11, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Oregon economic conditions remained soft in December, according to a recent report by the University of Oregon. The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators rose 0.2 percent in December, with the...

Renovation of Chinatown hotel in Portland finishes up.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Walsh Construction Co. recently completed a $5.5 million renovation and expansion of the 100-year-old Estate Hotel. The Old Town-Chinatown landmark was renovated by its owner, Central City Concern, to be used...

Law firm to be lead tenant at The Lovejoy office building in Portland's Pearl District.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Unico Properties LLC has announced that Ater Wynne has signed on to become the lead tenant at Unico Properties' The Lovejoy, a mixed-use office building under construction in the Pearl District. Ater Wynne...

Oregon's Congressman Earl Blumenauer named honorary AIA member.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The American Institute of Architects has named Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) an honorary member of the organization. Blumenauer is one of seven people to receive the honorary title, which recognizes...

WRG Design promotes staff in its Portland office.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report WRG Design has promoted Jon Reimann to vice president and managing principal of Portland operations and Ben Williams to managing principal in charge. In addition, it has relocated Jeff Curran, former vice president...

Windermere/Baldwin Properties Inc. hires new staff at its Hillsboro office.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Windermere/Baldwin Properties Inc. has hired Mary Jane DeWold, Trina Espiasse, Michele Fritzler, Brenda Kern, Tina Melum, Lisa Miller and Cindy Scott as brokers at its Hillsboro office.

Windermere/Crest Realty hires new staff at its Camas office.
February 11, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Windermere/Crest Realty has hired Kristy Childers, Wendy Haynes, Molly Hess and Candy Humphrey as sales associates in its Camas office.

Commentary: Young 'Clouseau' appears on the scene.
February 11, 2008... Byline: William Rutherford The year started on a sour note. January will go down in the books as one of the worst starts to a year on record. For the month, the S&P dropped 6.1 percent, with the NASDAQ down 9.9 percent. The market ended...

Three companies compete for Centennial Mills project in Portland.
February 12, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf With the three proposals for the long-in-development Centennial Mills project in the hands of the Portland Development Commission, the once-hazy picture of what the former flour-processing site might become has sharpened...

For small firm in Portland, work comes through a personal introduction.
February 12, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Two years ago Rebecca Oates was a part-time teacher helping her husband, Alan, land commercial work with their home painting business. Now the couple holds contracts with some of Portland's largest builders and Rebecca...

Density demands different design for North Portland.
February 12, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan In-the-works zoning changes could bulk up building along the North Interstate Avenue light rail corridor. The shifts could mean bigger projects, more people - and different design responses for the largely single-family...

Daily Journal of Commerce's TopProjects 2008 finalists named.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff A total of 104 projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington have earned spots on the finalist list for the Daily Journal of Commerce's TopProjects 2008 competition. This has been a very popular program, said Daily...

Portland-based Murase Associates selected for Orlando center.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Portland-based Murase Associates has been chosen as landscape architect for a new performing arts center in Orlando, Fla. The Orlando Performing Arts Center will be located on two city blocks in downtown Orlando and...

Walsh completes Vancouver senior living facility.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC staff Walsh Construction Co. has completed construction of a $40.8 million senior housing project in Vancouver, Wash. The Quarry Senior Living is a 250,000-square-foot, four-story, 183-unit independent living, assisted...

Portland Parks & Rec plans lecture series.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Beginning March 13, Portland Parks & Recreation will hold Great Parks, Great Cities, a series of discussions by experts in urban planning, economic development and sustainability on the role parks play in making cities...

Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects in Portland hires new staff.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects has hired Lynda Leask and Michael Wilson as specifications writers; Matt Ellenwood and Mackenzie Pratt as architectural interns; Steven Morse as a drafter; and Veronica Sanchez,...

Assn. of Environmnetal and Engineering Geologists elects Oregon geologist.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists has made Dorian Kuper its president. Kuper is a consulting engineering geologist with Kuper Consulting of Tualatin. Her specialty is aggregate mine...

DeSantis Landscapes in Salem hires Leiser, Szkodyn.
February 12, 2008... Byline: DJC staff DeSantis Landscapes has hired Walker Leiser and Myroslav Szkodyn in the company's sustainable maintenance division. Leiser will work as maintenance division manager. He previously worked in riparian zone restoration...

Portland Office of Transportation strolls past design team on Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge.
February 13, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker After hiring KPFF Consulting Engineers and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects to design three concepts for the Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge, city transportation planners have decided to walk on by the team. ...

South Waterfront Developers fill gap in Portland's public funding for the arts.
February 13, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein From sold out shows at the Schnitzer to Pearl District galleries full of revelers on first Thursdays, Portlanders love the arts. But nurturing and encouraging the city's creative community costs money. And...

How tall is too tall for Portland's Old Town?
February 13, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan As development surges in Old Town, city commissions are taking a look at how modern buildings fit within Portland's only National Historic Landmark district - and whether or not taller may be better for some sites...

Vice president of Vancouver, Wash.-based DeWitt Construction dies.
February 13, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Guy Banks, vice president and construction manager of DeWitt Construction has died after a short illness. He was 64 years old. Banks was the first non-union salaried employee hired by the Vancouver, Wash.-based...