Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from June 2009

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from June 2009

Tsunami-resistant buildings in Oregon?
June 5, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett If a tsunami hits the Oregon Coast, there may not be enough time for everyone to reach higher ground. Researchers at Oregon State University suggest that people in coastal towns would have between 10 and 20 minutes...

Legislature's proposed budget plan in Oregon includes tax increases.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci Oregon business groups have signed onto an open letter to the state Legislature opposing taxes in the proposed budget plan. The letter, written by Associated Oregon Industries, claims that the proposed budget will...

Construction project in Portland's Overlook neighborhood has a community focus.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett Daybreak Cohousing, a new Portland project designed to encourage residents to live sustainably in a small community, will host a public tour from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday at 2525 N. Killingsworth St., between North...

Legislature in Oregon gives TriMet a green light.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf In the past 18 months, TriMet increased transit fees while setting in motion a plan to cut back on bus and rail service. Now the agency wants more leeway in increasing how much it charges employers for payroll taxes. ...

Thirty-eight years after he started, sign maker continues 'temporary' work for Multnomah County.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Dan Carter Almost immediately after he got married, Jim Peebles got a tip about a much needed job. I was talking to a friend at my wedding reception who told me about this temporary job with Multnomah County making street and...

Commentary: Don't risk letting employees get burned.
June 5, 2009... Byline: Rich Meneghello Employees across Oregon are emerging from a long and dark winter, gazing upward at the sky at that unusual phenomenon - sunny weather. As we head into the summer months in the Pacific Northwest, those employers that...

Interior designer joins mixed-use community in Bend.
June 5, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff A mixed-use community on the west side of Bend has become home to a full-service interior architecture and design firm. Kirsti Wolfe Designs has opened its new design studio at Northwest Crossing's Neighborhood...

Terminal for last Columbia ferry will receive upgrade.
June 5, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff A recent award from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will fund a replacement terminal for the Columbia River ferry, according to a report by The Columbian. The Wahkiakum ferry is currently the only ferry running...

Application process open for fellowship for Oregon architects.
June 5, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon Community Foundation is now seeking proposals from architects for its Van Evera Bailey Fellowship. The fellowship is meant to encourage the professional development of mid-career architects and to encourage...

Effort under way to improve Oregon City business development.
June 8, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf Aaron Breniman sees plenty of promise in downtown Oregon City. The Verdict, a bar Breniman co-owns with Ryan Smith, opened three weeks ago as city officials seek to attract more businesses and rehabilitative efforts to...

Oregon Coast contractor is stimulus success story.(Company overview)
June 8, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci An Oregon construction contractor brought some good news to a national forum on Friday. Don Laskey, owner of Laskey-Clifton Corp. of Reedsport, said stimulus projects have allowed him to keep workers employed and...

State tax increase proposal advances in Oregon.
June 8, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci Lawmakers last week moved closer to scrapping Oregon's $10 corporate minimum tax. A proposal to replace that tax with a tiered system starting at $150 cleared the House Revenue Committee and headed to the joint Ways...

Eastern Oregon co-op considers new facility.
June 8, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci The Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, which serves consumers in eastern Oregon, is looking at building a new facility in La Grande. The cooperative would combine its operations center and business office if it...

Cogan Owens Cogan promotes three staff members in Portland.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Cogan Owens Cogan has promoted Ellie Fiore to senior planner, Daniel Christensen to associate, and Alisha Dishaw to administrative and public engagement assistant. Fiore holds a master's degree in urban and community...

Dina Alexander returns to Ball Janik in Portland.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Ball Janik LLP has announced that Dina Alexander has returned to the law firm as a partner. Alexander joined Ball Janik in 2002. Then, in 2008, she became vice president of development and general counsel for Williams...

The Nines project team members will speak at event in Portland.
June 8, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett The June 18 NAIOP Oregon Chapter breakfast will be include a presentation by project team leaders from this year's Daily Journal of Commerce Top Projects. The event begins with registration and networking at 7:15...

City of Portland's Bureau of Development Services offering temporary discount on property liens.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The city of Portland's Bureau of Development Services has announced a new program to help property owners with liens on their properties due to code enforcement violations. The Lien Amnesty Program will allow property...

Port of Portland planning budget for 2009-10 fiscal year.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The Port of Portland on Wednesday will meet to discuss its budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.The port's operating revenues and operating expenditures are budgeted at $239.7 million and $173.8 million, respectively, for...

City Club group to discuss '80 Portland Comprehensive Plan.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The City Club of Portland's Agora group on Tuesday will present a talk on the 1980 Portland Comprehensive Plan. The talk is part of the City Club's Civic 101 outreach program, which will examine the role of land use...

Corvallis council OKs Zimmer Gunsul Frasca design.
June 8, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The proposed Linus Pauling Science Center at Oregon State University has received approval from Corvallis City Council. The building was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects. In May, the city's Historic...

Commentary: History is but a lantern to our stern.
June 8, 2009... Byline: William Rutherford If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us! ...

First phase of Gresham sports park opens to the public.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The city of Gresham on June 20 will celebrate the completion of the first phase of the Gradin Community Sports Park. Located at 2303 S.E. Palmquist Road, the new 32.3-acre park includes two fenced and irrigated soccer...

State of Oregon approves removal of PacifiCorp-owned dam.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff A dam along the White Salmon River in the Columbia River Gorge could be removed in order to restore 32 miles of upstream river and tributary habit for salmon and steelhead, according to a report by The Columbian. A...

'Technicality' leaves ACE charter school in Portland in a hole.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci The unique east-Portland charter school for architecture, construction and engineering students is short on money after failing to file required paperwork with the state. The ACE Academy, which serves four Multnomah...

High demand for fire protection engineering in Oregon.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett When Dee Lockwood started in the fire protection engineering business in the 1960s, fire suppression systems were a lot simpler. When I first started doing this, there were probably five or six styles of sprinklers,...

Lake Oswego firm submits lowest bid for military construction project in St. Helens.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci A year or two ago, a few contractors would have taken notice of a $2.5 million armory remodel project, Oregon Military Department officials said. Then the recession hit. When the call went out for contractors to...

New solar highway proposed for West Linn rest area.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced last week that the state is looking into building a solar highway project near West Linn. The first solar highway project in the U.S. was recently installed at the Interstate 5/Interstate...

Commentary: Legislature in Oregon rapidly nearing session's end.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Tom Henderson Here's what has happened to state Senate bills the DJC has been tracking. Stay tuned for the fate of House bills.Senate Bill 79 What it is: Energy efficiency rating system What it does: The bill directs the...

Interstate 405 paving project in Portland is set to begin in July.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon Department of Transportation will hold an open house on June 25 regarding a project to pave Interstate 405 from the Marquam Bridge, mile post 0.38, to the Fremont Bridge, mile post 2.59, in Portland. ...

Pearl District retail building in Portland may get solar panels.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff A retail building in the Pearl District could soon have a solar array installed on its roof. Bryan Shull has submitted a proposal to install 60 photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftop of the Meddle Building, located...

Low bids open door for more projects in Washington state.
June 9, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Washington state will be able to perform more highway projects with federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds thanks to lower construction bids made by contractors. As of June 1, the Washington State...

Commentary: Don't use tunnel vision to balance budget.
June 9, 2009... Byline: John Killin It has been said that when you maintain one point of view for too long you can develop tunnel vision. You begin to slowly lose your peripheral vision and see things only from a very narrow perspective. People with...

Commentary: Firms that focus on people can succeed at sales.
June 9, 2009... Byline: Leo MacLeod Raymond Torto, global chief economist at CB Richard Ellis, recently predicted that while 2009 will be a tough year nationally, Portland's vacancy rate will bottom out in 2012. If we are to believe him, the worst is yet...

Push made for district energy in North Pearl.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett With the economy in the doldrums, John Sorenson believes now is the perfect time to push hard for a district energy system in the North Pearl District. I think this is an opportunity that we may miss, just because...

Retail development slump in Portland may last into 2010.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf Portland's dark retail development scene will likely be darker by year's end, market reports warn. But at least on one developer sees a bright spot emerging on the horizon. Standing apart from the market malaise is...

Revit Rumble puts Portland architects to the test.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett In a recession this nasty, out-of-work architects need all the help they can get. A competition on Friday at American Institute of Architects-Portland's Center for Architecture could improve their chances of finding...

Portland City Council approves grants for 16 watershed projects.
June 11, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Sixteen projects designed to improve the health of Portland watersheds will receive $95,000 in grants. Portland City Council approved the list of projects on Wednesday. The Community Watershed Stewardship Program...

Commentary: A Portland real estate dilemma.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett On a rainy day in early May, I stood on the porch of a southwest Portland home that I wanted to buy. The place was perfect: seemingly the most beat-up turn-of-the century home on the block - a home only a mother...

Commentary: Senate bill creates questionable exception.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Edward Sullivan and Carrie Richter With Senate Bill 691, the Oregon Forest Industries Council, representing the largest forest products manufacturing-related firms in the state, has come to collect for its part of the Measure 49...

Dedication is today for University of Oregon's College of Education project.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein The first new construction project for the University of Oregon's College of Education in nearly 30 years will be dedicated in a ceremony at 4 p.m. today. A combined renovation and new construction project...

Lebanon justice center and library set to open next month.
June 11, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The city of Lebanon will soon have access to its new public library and justice center. The new building, designed by Fletcher Farr Ayotte, is still being constructed by Howard S. Wright Constructors. However, Lebanon...

Public input sought on project to reconstruct Salem streets.
June 11, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Street reconstruction related to the Salem streets and bridges bond measure will be the topic of discussion at an open house on Tuesday. Project engineers will present information on changes to striping on Northeast...

Construction coming along on Northeast Portland hotel.
June 11, 2009... Byline: Dan Carter Work on a new hotel in outer Northeast Portland is progressing. The five-story Candlewood Suites near the Portland International Airport will have 100 rooms when finished in mid-summer. Wright Hotel Development, a...

Portland International Airport green project includes black water recycling.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci Starting next spring, travelers will arrive at Portland International Airport and step out into the lobby of a 10-story parking garage and office building. There, they'll be greeted with a lush, vibrant ecosystem...

Portland Streetcar Loop Project deal struck.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf The Portland Streetcar Loop Project continues to forge ahead, as City Council this week unanimously approved a contract with Stacy and Witbeck Construction for utility and water line work. This first phase of the project...

More condos selling in Portland's South Waterfront District.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett Atwater Place in Portland's South Waterfront neighborhood opened about a year ago, just as the economy was turning south and fewer people were buying condominiums. The 214-unit, upscale waterfront condo tower fell...

City of Portland unveils online solar resource.
June 12, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett The city of Portland has completed the Oregon Clean Energy Map - an online map that highlights solar installations in the greater Portland area. The map allows residents and business owners to estimate the solar...

Portland-based Neil Kelly Company's Karen Richmond earns Green Professional certification.
June 12, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The Neil Kelly Company has announced that designer consultant Karen Richmond has earned accreditation from the National Association of Home Builders as a Certified Green Professional. The designation recognizes...

Meneghello promoted to managing partner in Portland office of Fisher & Phillips.
June 12, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Fisher & Phillips LLP has announced that Rich Meneghello has begun his term as managing partner in the firm's Portland office. He will replace Clarence Belnavis, who was managing partner for the past two years and will...

Chairman of Portland office of CH2M Hill to receive OSU award.
June 12, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Ralph R. Peterson, chairman of CH2M HILL Companies Ltd., will receive the Oregon State University Distinguished Service Award at the university's 140th commencement ceremony on Saturday. Under the leadership of Peterson,...

Corvallis' Majestic Theatre seismic upgrade project bid date announce.
June 12, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff In 1913 the Majestic was a combination theatre and moving picture house that could seat 800 people. Leather-upholstered chairs, elegant decorations, tinting of old rose and gold and Louis XV frescoes created the...

PACE Engineers Inc. moves offices to Lake Oswego.
June 12, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff PACE Engineers Inc. has relocated its office to the Kruse Woods Corporate Park in Lake Oswego. The firm was previously located in Oregon City for 30 years. Managed by David Poulson PE, the new office is located at 5000...

Appraisers are not yet educated in benefits of sustainability, experts say.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf If you want to compute the extra value that the LEED gold 200 Market Place building possesses because of its myriad sustainable features by comparing it to the similarly sized, but uncertified, Umpqua Bank Plaza . .... .

Independence develops its own city hall.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci Mike Danko thought he'd be finding a developer to build a new city hall for the city of Independence. Instead, he became the developer. Danko is both the community development director and the public works...

House passes metal theft bill in Oregon.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Tom Henderson Senate Bill 570, which cracks down on metal theft and changes the way metal dealers do business, unanimously passed the state House on Thursday and is on its way to the Senate, where it is already co-sponsored by all...

Tenants in renovated building on Portland's east side share passion for sustainability.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein A building is only as good as the people that inhabit it, or at least that's the philosophy behind the Leftbank Project, a sustainable renovation project on Portland's east side that is attracting green-driven...

Apartment building rising in Portland's South Waterfront development.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Dan Carter Carpenter Randy Spaur with Marion Construction Company nails some forms together at the Matisse apartment project in Portland's South Waterfront District. The two-building, six-story project will be mixed-use structures...

City of Portland continues to fight global warming.
June 15, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett Mayor Sam Adams will help lead a discussion this evening about ways that businesses can help the city achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The city is sponsoring a series of global...

Norris & Stevens in Portland hires Link as senior broker.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Norris & Stevens has hired Duane Link as a senior broker in office sales and leasing. Link previously spent eight years with Canterbury Commercial Real Estate, where he managed sales, leasing and tenant and landlord...

Pape Group in Eugene hires Heagy as territory manager.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The Pape Group Inc. has hired Mike Heagy as territory manager of Pape Kenworth, its trucking division. Heagy is responsible for business development in Lincoln, Benton, Linn and northern Lane counties and will work...

Fortis Construction in Portland hires Mitchell as project engineer.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Fortis Construction Inc. has hired Caleb Mitchell as a project engineer. In addition, MEP coordinator Ed Barajas has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation, bringing Fortis' total number of...

Portland-based Ball Janik names Umscheid partner.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Ball Janik LLP has named Lisa M. Umscheid partner. Umscheid joined Ball Janik in 2006 and has represented private and public sector clients in employment matters and employment litigation since 1992. Prior to joining...

Portland-based Ball Janik receives awards.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Ball Janik LLP has been named one of the 100 best green companies to work for in Oregon by Oregon Business Magazine. The law firm also received the RecycleWorks award from the city of Portland's Bureau of Planning and...

RFP: CM/GC Services for Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network Project.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff The state of Oregon, acting by and through the Department of Administrative Services State Procurement Office, on behalf of the Oregon State Police, Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network Section, has issued a Request...

Eyth passes Oregon Bar exam.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff Davis Wright Tremaine has announced that senior associate Marcus Eyth has passed the Oregon State Bar exam and is now licensed to practice in Oregon. Eyth earlier this year joined DWT earlier from Washington, D.C. He...

BergerABAM in Portland hires Fisher as project manager.
June 15, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff BergerABAM has hired Sally Fisher as a project manager and environmental scientist. Fisher has experience in environmental planning and permitting for in-water and transportation projects; environmental site...

General contractor needed for Scappoose High School project.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Scappoose High School is getting a new 400-seat auditorium, and the school district has issued a request for proposals from general contractors to construct the project, along with various remodels to the...

Sutherlin company joins Oregon OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci An Oregon designer and manufacturer of sewage treatment systems has joined Oregon OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program, called SHARP. Orenco Systems is based in Sutherlin, near Roseburg. The...

BREAKING NEWS: Senate committee considers cuts to Business Energy Tax Credit in Oregon.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci Oregon isn't the windiest state. It has become a top producer of wind power, renewable energy businesspeople say, because of tax breaks the state gives businesses. "Horizon moved here in 2000-2001 not because...

Students in Portland training program gain skills and experience in construction trades.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci While the promise of pocket money often lures high-school students into jobs, the jobs offer little more. A Portland program, however, is helping teenagers who are still in school gain skills and experience for...

Big plan for small Portland project.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett For the June Key Delta House, architect Mark Nye faced more than a few significant hurdles.But one thing that he's not worried about is being the world's first architect to meet the Living Building Challenge. The...

Medical marijuana bill in Oregon dies in committee.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci The sponsor of a bill to allow Oregon employers to ban medical marijuana from the workplace said on Monday he'll keep pressing the issue, after the bill died in committee, failing by one vote. Every session I come...

The Dalles contractor gets bridge job in Tualatin.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci A general contractor based in The Dalles will build a pedestrian bridge over Hedges Creek in Tualatin. Civil Construction Co. was the lowest bidder on the $155,000 project for the city of Tualatin. The bridge...

Clackamas housing authority seeking designers, planners.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein The Housing Authority of Clackamas County is in the process of choosing one of its public housing complexes for a redevelopment project, and has issued a request for qualifications from planning and design firms...

Port of Vancouver preparing to remove historic structure.
June 16, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein The Port of Vancouver has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Federal Highway Administration, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and...

Portland City Council is set to vote on whether to expand urban renewal area.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Tyler Graf A group that serves as a self-appointed watchdog for the way the city uses urban renewal money says Portland needs to spread the wealth. The city wants to expand the downtown River District urban renewal area by 40...

Portland Mayor: Adams: Lents is last option for Beavers ballpark.
June 17, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett If a Triple-A baseball park for the Portland Beavers is to be built anywhere in the city, it will have to go in Lents Park, Mayor Sam Adams says. Adams said he is steadfastly against reconsidering razing the...

Legislators in Oregon reject scaled-back Metolian proposal.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Sam Bennett Developers of a proposed Central Oregon eco-resort said Wednesday that state legislators have repeatedly rejected their offers to dramatically scale back the project. Hassin Squires, a lobbyist working on behalf of...

Incentives would take hit from Oregon House bill.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Justin Carinci A bill that passed an Oregon Senate committee Wednesday could send wind power companies running for the state border. Oregon has offered the nation's best tax credits for wind power projects, said Sen. Ginny...

Green World Trade Center project in Portland is trendy.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein It started as a repair job, but the sustainable-landscape renovation at Portland's World Trade Center has become trendy as owners of older buildings compete against newer, greener counterparts for tenants. ...

Three of four Salem fire stations are built.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Dalke Construction is nearly finished with a project to replace two fire stations and build two new ones in Salem. The project included replacement of Salem's fire stations 5 and 7 with new buildings, and the...

Road work set to begin on 17th Street in Salem.
June 18, 2009... Byline: DJC Staff A $1.5 million bond approved by Salem voters last year will be put to work this month as the city begins work on a pavement rehabilitation project along Northeast 17th Street. The city of Salem Streets and Bridges...

Oregon House will reconsider land-use bill.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Tom Henderson Oregon House members voted Wednesday to reconsider House Bill 3296 after they voted it down 24 hours earlier. The bill would impose strict new environmental protections for the Metolius River basin. It was...

Commentary: Climate plan update: LEEDing the way.
June 18, 2009... Byline: Matt Slavin The city of Portland and Multnomah County this month are starting a series of public workshops on a 2009 update of their draft Climate Action Plan. The aim is to cement in place steps to reduce locally generated carbon...