Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from May 2007

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from May 2007

Volunteers from Rebuilding Together Washington Count assist needy homeowners.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter Hyun Kim from the Korean Bethel Presbyterian Church puts a coat of fresh paint on the exterior of Judith Amrein's home in Hillsboro. Kim was one of more than 400 volunteers Saturday that picked up paintbrushes, hammers,...

Cities seek guidelines for fighting Metro in Portland.
May 1, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith After stalling in the last legislative session, a bill that would clear up some land-use rules for cities under Metro's authority last week sailed unanimously through the Oregon Senate. Senate Bill 722 lays the ground...

Street of Eames home tour in Portland nets $85K for homeless kids.
May 1, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The 2007 Street of Eames modern home tour raised more than $85,000 for an after-school program for homeless students at Chapman Elementary School in Portland. Money was raised through ticket sales, sponsorships, and...

Wind not an issue to Portland's South Waterfront buildings.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan The Willamette River isn't Lake Michigan - and South Waterfront isn't Chicago's wind-whipping lakefront. But builders are still watching the wind factor as the growing district takes shape. In some cities, watching the...

City of Portland goes dumpster diving to thwart trash.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman on Tuesday unveiled a plan to recycle 75 percent of all commercial and residential trash by 2015 and 100 percent of paper used by businesses. Ninety percent of trash generated by...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 2, 2007.
May 2, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter The pediatrics department on the fifth floor of the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University is undergoing a remodel while the unit sees patients. The department is getting remodeled offices, exam rooms...

Developer lines up $69M for condos in Portland's Pearl District.
May 2, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Portland and San Diego offices of real estate financing group Holliday Fenoglio Fowler have arranged joint-venture equity for the 937, a 16-story condominium tower to be built at 937 N.W. Glisan St. HFF worked with...

National factory sector expands while home sales slip.
May 2, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff U.S. manufacturing last month expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year, while pending home sales in March fell to their lowest in four years, according to reports Tuesday that gave mixed signals on the economy. The...

Commentary: Mini city JA BizTown a huge success.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Craig Honeyman The future may belong to the young, but it is incumbent upon us in the older generations to prepare them for it. Although there is no substitute for good parenting and a quality school system, there are adjunct...

Real estate firms report better than expected quarters.
May 3, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Shares of real estate services companies Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. soared Wednesday after the companies reported better-then-expected quarterly results, reflecting strong worldwide demand for...

City Council, Portland Development Council in bout over agency's budget.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith By May 15, Portland voters will have mailed their ballots, deciding on a number of measures that would redefine City Council. The main event is Measure 26-91, which would change the city's form of government to a...

Creative space solution keeps design firm in downtown Portland.
May 3, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan Creative thinking is what design firm Avenue A | Razorfish trades in - and keeping its offices downtown meant getting creative in redesigning a previously cubicle-heavy space. "We wanted to infuse the creativity we...

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca's Brian C. McCarter named American Society of Landscape Architects fellow.
May 3, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Brian C. McCarter of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca has been selected a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects' Council of Fellows, the society's highest honor. McCarter, a 30-year practitioner of landscape...

Portland intern architect takes Peterson Prize.
May 3, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Portland intern architect Derek Metson has been awarded a Charles E. Peterson Prize, a student research award from the Historic American Building Survey of the National Park Service. The work of Metson, who's been at...

Commentary: Happy Admin Professional's Day, now please don't sue.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Rich Meneghello Problem: Let's face it. You probably think you did a good job just for remembering last week to buy flowers or a gift certificate for Administrative Professional's Day. (It was on Wednesday, April 25, and if you...

Portland Business Alliance hands out 10 growth awards.
May 4, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Oregon Iron Works, Miles Fiberglass & Composites and Tri-Star Search and Staffing won top honors in this year's Top Ten Growth Awards presented by the Portland Business Alliance. The awards were created more than 20...

Urban naturalist Mike Houck an American Society of Landscape Architects honorary member.
May 4, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The American Society of Landscape Architects on Tuesday selected Mike Houck, executive director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute at Portland State, as an honorary member. Houck, former urban naturalist at the Audubon...

Organization opposed to Portland ballot measure unveils Web site.(Website overview)
May 4, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff No on 26-92, an organization opposed to a Portland ballot measure that would give City Hall control of the Portland Development Commission's budget, has launched a Web site. The address is www.voteno2692.org. Doug...

Miller Hull partner to talk regionalism Tuesday at Portland Art Museum.
May 4, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Architect David Miller will discuss Pacific Northwest regionalism during a Thursday lecture at the Portland Art Museum. Miller, a founding partner of Seattle's Miller Hull Partnership, is the 2007 Pietro Belluschi...

Q&A with Sallie Schullinger-Krause, global warming program director for Oregon Environmental Council.
May 4, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker The Oregon House Energy and the Environment Committee on Monday considered three climate change bills that many environmental advocates had doubted would be heard this legislative session. The bills - which would set...

Lenders in U.S. flee from subprime loans.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith Across the country, mortgage lenders are experiencing fallout from what was only a few months ago the hottest lending practice in the nation. Subprime lending - offering untraditional, high-interest or adjustable-rate...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 7, 2007.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan Arbuckle Costic Architects Inc. Arbuckle Costic of Salem has been selected to design the expansion to Oregon State University's Goss Stadium. The expansion comes in the wake of the Beavers' 2006 College World Series...

Lloyd office proposal in Portland needs more activity.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan The MAX station at the Rose Quarter isn't Portland's finest. Tucked under an I-5 overpass, the waiting area's a gloomy spot - even when it's populated with riders. "If there were MAX transit after the apocalypse,"...

Sail far away from offshore banking.
May 7, 2007... Byline: Malcolm Berko Dear Mr. Berko: There's a bank called Millennium Bank I discovered on the Internet that is offering certificates of deposit for seven years that guarantee 9 percent. It's a subsidiary of a big Swiss bank in Zurich,...

University of Oregon scraps Safdie lecture slated for Wednesday.
May 7, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Architect and urban designer Moshe Safdie's lecture scheduled for Wednesday at the University of Oregon has been cancelled. Safdie's talk, "The Architecture of Memory," was to have been the final lecture in the School of...

Denver lauds Portland-based-ZGF work on city's EPA headquarters.
May 7, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Zimmer Gunsul Frasca and Opus Northwest's work on the design and development of the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 headquarters in Denver has been honored by the Downtown Denver Partnership. The new...

Housing Authority of Portland tackles small-scale New Columbia.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith Iris Court - located just north of Alberta Street between North Commercial and Vancouver avenues - is a 60-year-old, run-down housing project in Portland's Humboldt neighborhood. The Housing Authority of Portland...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 9, 2007.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter Another former Coffee People location is being renovated into a Starbucks shop. The coffee shop at the corner of Northeast Weidler Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is getting a thorough interior and exterior...

Portland mall revamps in response to lifestyle centers.
May 9, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan As "lifestyle" centers such as Bridgeport Village and the Streets of Tanasbourne become the new standard for shopping, owners of traditional malls are rethinking their spaces - and a transformation from outmoded to...

Oregon governor's green push begins at home, but it doesn't lead the nation.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan The Oregon governor's mansion is pretty environmentally friendly - but another state's mansion will soon out-green it. Gov. Ted Kulongoski's put his weight behind legislation for state renewable energy standards and...

Commentary: Betting the state: The politics of Measure 37 endure.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Ed Sullivan There might be some results from the efforts of the 2007 Legislature to deal with Measure 37, even if there isn't much the Legislature itself is able to do about the measure directly. Measure 37 was approved by the...

Water-saving garden at Clackamas Community College plans June 2 celebration.
May 10, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Water Efficient Demonstration Garden at Clackamas Community College will celebrate its second anniversary June 2 with a gardening event. The event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., will feature information...

Portland's interstate light rail on group agenda.
May 10, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Interstate Light Rail Corridor Zoning Project will be the topic of discussion at the project's community advisory group meeting at 7 p.m. June 14 at Killingsworth Station, 5420 N. Interstate Ave. It will be the fourth...

Portland finds $2M more for budget.
May 10, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Office of Management and Finance has identified an extra $2 million for its fiscal year 2007-2008 budget. The money comes from higher-than-expected business license taxes, reported after April 15, according to a...

Eugene homeowner says builders' clout could kill consumer protections.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker After nearly losing his 3,000-square-foot custom home near Eugene because of what he alleged was faulty construction work nine years ago, Jim Varco has been on a crusade to protect homeowners from a similar fate....

Oregon students poke into potential careers at youth expo.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan Alexx Hopkins drills screws into a bare skull. As classmate Kyli Harbaugh and registered nurse Laura Mood of Oregon Health & Science University look on, the Loowit High School student stabilizes facial fractures with...

Report: Port of Portland traffic driving industrial absorption.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith Increased trade at the Port of Portland will continue to support tenant and investor demand for area industrial sites, according to a new report by national commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. With total...

Commentary: On Family Leave Act retailiation claims, state, federal courts disagree.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Elizabeth A. Semler In Sept. 2004, the Oregon Court of Appeals held in Yeager v. Providence Health Sys that a claim for retaliation could be brought based on the Oregon Family Leave Act. Subsequently, a number of district court...

Portland Business Alliance delegation returns from D.C. lobbying trip.
May 11, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Transportation investments, technology and work force development were the themes as a Portland Business Alliance delegation visited Washington, D.C., last week. Thirty-one business representatives and political leaders...

Portland-based Lane PR adds 5 to client base.
May 11, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Lane PR, a national public relations firm headquartered in Portland, has added five new clients: Wines from Spain, a promotional division of the Trade Commission of Spain; Cayuse, a Beaverton provider of grant management...

Galleria owner in Portland tells tenants to get out.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith The eviction notice for almost every tenant on the second and third floors of the Galleria came April 30 from Judy Van Alstyne, a property manager at Bill Naito Co. It started out friendly enough, talking about the...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 14, 2007.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Alison ryan Zimmer Gunsul Frasca ZGF has designed a new terminal building and control tower at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport in North Bend. The two-story, 27,000-square-foot commercial airline terminal, which will stand on a...

Commentary: Mister Bull, meet Mister Bear.
May 14, 2007... Byline: William Rutherford Last month we asked the question, "Is this the year the consumer stops spending?" This is an important question because the consumer makes up about 70 percent of the economy. The remaining 30 percent is...

Lake Oswego-based Gray Purcell's Thuman Street Lofts nabs top honors at ABC excellence awards.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter In the closest vote in the 13-year history of the Associated Builders & Contractors Excellence in Construction Awards, Gray Purcell Inc.'s Thurman Street Loft Condominium project won the Eagle Award. A mere four votes...

Tualatin wants public input for visioning project.
May 14, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The city of Tualatin is seeking public input for its Tualatin Tomorrow community visioning project. The draft vision and action plan for Tualatin's future will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Tualatin High School...

Portland's Bureau of Planning to host meetings.
May 14, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Portland's Bureau of Planning will play host to two meetings regarding planning along the Willamette River from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Thursday at City Hall, 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave., Room 4A. The first...

Urban Land Institute of Ore. and Southwest Wash. seeks noms for top land uses.
May 14, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Urban Land Institute of Oregon and Southwest Washington is seeking nominations for its first Recognizing Excellence Awards, honoring people, places and programs that exemplify leadership in responsible land use and...

A look at some of the stories featured in the 1985 through 1998 issues of the DJC.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Theresa McKinlay This month we take a look at the news from May 1985 and 1988, when the Oregon Senate approved a legislative compromise between contractors and subcontractors governing the filing of construction liens. May 2,...

Seeking road fix, Portland metro regionconsiders gas tax hike.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker If the Oregon Legislature won't step up with a solution to pay for Portland roads and transit, the regional government Metro will - by asking metro-area voters to foot the bill, regional transportation officials say....

More mixed-use sprouts on Southeast Belmont in Portland.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith Pearl District developer Williams & Dame is hopping the Willamette River to construct its first eastside project along Belmont Street in Portland. It's one of at least two condominium projects in the works along...

Portland seeks 3 to fill planning board vacancies.
May 15, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Mayor Tom Potter and Planning Director Gil Kelley are seeking citizens to fill three vacancies on the Portland Planning Commission. Commissioners serve four-year terms and may be reappointed. Commissioners' duties involve...

Commentary: Contractors capitalize on DOD budget.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Scott Remington Government contractors continue to benefit from an ever-expanding federal government market for services and goods, according to a survey released in March. Of businesses surveyed, 53 percent said they'd experienced...

Portland regional government purchases 97 acres in Tualatin River basin.
May 16, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Regional government Metro has purchased two areas in the Tualatin River basin - 44 acres of wet prairie and floodplain along Southwest Hillsboro Highway in Schools and 53 acres, including nearly a mile of stream frontage,...

Oregon-Columbia chapter of Associated General Contractors plans Old Timers reunion for May 25.
May 16, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon-Columbia chapter of Associated General Contractors will hold its 10th annual Old Timers reunion luncheon May 25. The event will bring together construction industry professionals who were members of the AGC...

Burger King site in Portland sells for $2.2M.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith It's been an eyesore along West Burnside Street for more than three years now. It's been a hangout for transients on the way to or from some of the social programs in Old Town/Chinatown. It's boarded up and riffled...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 16, 2007.
May 16, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter In the 1920s, Fitzgibbons Glass occupied a new building at the corner of Northwest 19th Avenue and Vaughn Street. After being owned by several companies, most recently Jasco Supply, The 30,000-square-foot structure is...

Portland-based Collins Cos. to build $35M mill in Boardman.
May 16, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Tuesday the Portland-based Collins Cos. will begin construction of a new $35 million sawmill to process Forest Stewardship Council-certified lumber from a 17,000-acre tree farm in the Boardman...

History lessons flow from rare pipe's discovery in Washington.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter The total renovation of Washington State School for the Blind's Walter Dry Building has been a challenge because of the building's historic status. And it's fascinated its renovators because it's led to the discovery of...

Voters give city greater oversight of Portland Development Council budget.
May 17, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Portlanders on Tuesday rejected Tom Potter's proposal of a "strong-mayor" form of government but gave City Council oversight of the Portland Development Commission's budget. Voters rejected the strong-mayor measure by a...

City of Beaverton may ax parking mandate.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker With its city center virtually an empty parking lot, according to an April parking solutions study, the city of Beaverton is considering an end to its requirement that developers include parking spaces in their plans...

Portland City Council OKs budget, dips into contingency fund.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith City Council on Wednesday approved the latest iteration of Portland's fiscal year 2007-2008 budget, dipping into its $2 million contingency fund in the process. All of Portland's commissioners voted to approve the...

Portland bike advocate wants former McCall's cafe as commuter hub.
May 17, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker Sweaty bike commuters may soon have a place to clean up downtown before work. A startup company, Bike Republic, has plans to turn the former McCall's Waterfront Cafe at Tom McCall Waterfront Park into a full-service...

Portland City Council considers system development fee hike.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker Portland City Council will soon consider increasing the amount of money the city charges developers of new projects. The city is updating its 10-year plan for the transportation system development charge, a one-time...

Commentary: Prevailing wage law sometimes lacks borders.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Robert A. Rabbat The laws governing the payment of prevailing wages on public works projects present a tangled web of nuanced definitions that can require specialized expertise to decipher. In recognition, the Oregon Bureau of...

Onder Development-Williams & Dame likely pick to develop Portland's RiverPlace site.
May 18, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Portland Development Commission will recommend to its board of commissioners that Onder Development Co. and Williams & Dame Development Inc. redevelop RiverPlace Parcel 8 at Southwest River Parkway and River Drive....

Oregon House passes clean diesel bill.
May 18, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon House on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill to provide incentives to retrofit or replace diesel engines in school buses, trucks, construction equipment and farm vehicles. House Bill 2172B would make available...

First N.W. medical school in 60 years breaks ground.
May 18, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences on Wednesday began construction on the first new medical school to be built in the Pacific Northwest in 60 years. The 48,000-square-foot building, scheduled for completion...

Village builders converge with green mainstream in Portland.
May 18, 2007... Byline: Alison Ryan Reminders of Village Building Convergences past are woven into Portland's urban fabric: swirls painted across the city's intersections, cob benches tucked into neighborhoods, gardens where only concrete existed....

Portand builder takes remodeler group's award.
May 21, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Cooper Designbuilders Inc., a Portland home builder and remodeler, has received the Oregon Remodeling Association's Outstanding Remodeling Achievement award for residential exteriors. The company won for its work on a...

For Moyer's Park Avenue tower in Portland, height no object.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith It looks like developer Tom Moyer won't have any trouble getting the height he wants for his high-rise, Park Avenue West, planned for Park Block 4 downtown, judging from comments made by the Portland Design Commission...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 21, 2007.
May 21, 2007... Byline: Alison ryan Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects Ankrom Moisan is designing Circa, a mixed-use gateway building in the up-and-coming Koreatown district of Los Angeles, just minutes away from the downtown core on Wilshire Boulevard....

Oregon House education measure would be a boon to Ore. Building Congress.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker Opportunities for a strong legislative fix to a pending construction labor shortage are fading. Once-ambitious bills aimed at increasing worker training have all but disappeared as the 2007 legislative session winds...

Portland Development Commission may extend lives of eastside, Park Blocks URAs.
May 22, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Portland Development Commission Executive Director Bruce Warner on Wednesday will ask the PDC board of commissioners to approve a $600,000 study to determine whether some urban renewal areas' lives should be extended....

Commentary: Leaders hold people's lives, not just company's, in their hands.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Randy Tuminello The need for leadership is fundamental, but even more important is the need for effective leadership. Just by the mere virtue of their position and influence, leaders hold within their power the ability to build up...

Commentary: LLC sometimes beats joint venture option.
May 22, 2007... Byline: Peter Watts and John Hickey The limited liability company is a relatively new business structure - Wyoming was the first U.S. state to recognize it, in 1977 - but today all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia recognize the...

Oregon House OKs restrictions on condo conversions.
May 23, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon House has passed a measure to add protections for tenants displaced by a condo conversion. House Bill 3186-A, which now moves to the Senate, would require a 120-day displacement notice for tenants forced to...

Portland seeks habitat experts for Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.
May 23, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff The city of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services on Tuesday released a request for consultants to work on habitat restoration at the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, a 140-acre flood plain wetland on the east bank of the...

Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services expands e-permitting site, adds 3 cities.
May 23, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff Salem, Yamhill and Newburg on June 1 will launch online construction permitting services. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services e-permitting pilot program allows contractors to apply and pay for building...

Portland Construction Briefs: May 23, 2007.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Dan Carter Grand Central Baking Co. will soon open in another location, this one in the Guild's Lake area of Northwest Portland. In mid-June, the bakery and restaurant will be open in a former 12,000-square-foot machine shop on...

Oregon City struggles with growth, identity.
May 23, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith It's a half-an-hour drive south through Milwaukie, Clackamas and Gladstone to reach Oregon City, by most accounts a small town. Its quaint downtown has a lazy-Sunday feel, with the occasional passer-by waving to his...

Bull Run dam removal poses engineering challenges.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Libby Tucker Contractors for Portland General Electric this summer will begin the largest dam removal in the Pacific Northwest in 40 years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday approved the permits necessary to begin...

Portland Development Commission to figure out urban renewal areas' debt vs. expiration dates.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Kennedy Smith The Portland Development Commission's board of directors approved a resolution on Wednesday to look at the city's existing urban renewal areas and determine which ones, if any, need more money or more time. There are...

Commentary: Oregon House looks to help fill empty homeowners assn. boards.
May 24, 2007... Byline: Gene Grant and Coni Rathbone Have you ever given a party to which no one showed, even though you sent invitations to the right addresses and with plenty of time? You probably felt hurt because nobody thought the party was worth...

Former G.D. Dennis & Sons Construction partner dies.
May 24, 2007... Byline: DJC Staff A partner in the former G.D. Dennis & Sons Construction Co. died May 10 in Portland. William Dale Dennis, who joined two brothers to lead G.D. Dennis & Sons upon returning from a tour in World War II, died at St. Jude...