By Nancy English
Two projects, both still in various phases on the drawing board, could remake the blocks of West Bayside between Preble Street and Pearl, Lancaster and Cumberland, now mostly parking lots, into a dense urban neighborhood.
Between now and whenever these buildings rise up, the Planning Board, city staff, and neighbors will push to improve exteriors, make interiors standard across all units, fix sidewalks, add green space, require tree plantings in “silva cells”- or subsurface structural soil that allows broad root development – and more.
“While these developments still need to … demonstrate compliance with existing regulations that support broader citywide objectives, creating substantial housing opportunities in and near our downtown is fundamental to sustainable development patterns and a vital step toward meeting our housing needs,” said Kevin Kraft, Director of the Portland Planning and Urban Development Department.
89 Elm Street
The design of 89 Elm Street, an enormous 201-unit building that borders the block between Lancaster and Oxford Streets along Elm, has borne the brunt of Portland Planning Board and public criticism so far. It first came before the Planning Board in 2023. It was one of seven new buildings in Phase 1a of the West Bayside Master Development Plan covering almost nine acres of West Bayside. The design included 804 units total and 28,200 square feet of commercial space to be built over ten years. The building at 89 Elm received major site plan approval on October 24th, 2023.
Less Appealing Design of Affordable Units
Units will be affordable to people earning 60% of the area median income, but these units will be segregated into only one of the seven buildings proposed. The Planning Board required that the affordable unit building at 89 Elm not be demarcated by less appealing design.
Public comment contained criticism of the architecture. At the July 25th, 2023 workshop, the Planning Board asked that the design be modified to “break up the large massing” along the Elm Street side. The applicant, 89 Elm Street, LLC, argued successfully against a mid-block gap, adding brick siding at ground level to make the building more attractive from the street.
According to Jessica James of Longfellow Communications, who represents Reveler Development, construction activities are already underway for 89 Elm Street. Site preparation is underway now with more significant activity beginning early next year. The project has an estimated 2027 delivery.
197 Oxford Street
A second development of three buildings to be built in three phases, called by the address of the first one, 197 Oxford Street, is more controversial. Reveler Development proposes to sell the Phase 1 building to Avesta once it is built. The City Planning Department memo from Eric Freeman, attached to the November 12th, 2024 Planning Board Agenda item states, “To satisfy the IZ off-site requirements at 197 Oxford Street, Reveler will need to demonstrate how their proposed partnership with Avesta complies with the definition of owner.”
It also puts its affordable units into one structure and adds a Housing First facility on the first floor. Its location is at the site of the former Oxford Street Homeless Shelter, closed in December 2023, when the new Portland Homeless Services Center opened on Riverside Street.
Concerns about location
Objections were raised to this location of a Housing First facility, serving formerly homeless tenants, based on its close proximity to Elena’s Way, an ultra-low barrier shelter run by Preble Street, and to adjacent streets that are the site of multiple Portland Police service calls for crimes, violence, drug use, and more. Preble Street, a nonprofit that runs Elena’s Way, would run the new site.
“Placing people struggling to get their lives together in the middle of a neighborhood full of the poison they want to get away from is wrong,” said Jess Falero, an advocate for the homeless who ran for an at-large seat on the Portland City Council in 2024 and finished second. “People cannot heal in the same place that made them sick.”
Public comment from Laura Underkuffler and David Nowlin attached to the November agenda described the architectural design of 197 Oxford Street as “stark and institutional,” and praised the market rate buildings’ exteriors, proposed for Phases 2 and 3, as “highly attractive, architecturally detailed, and welcoming buildings,” in vivid contrast.
At its July 2024 workshop the Planning Board asked Reveler and its development partner Avesta to “make a more cohesive development site.” At its November 2024 workshop, the developer agreed to reconstruct the sidewalk on Cedar Street. The November staff memo also required the developer to be responsible for street improvements on Cedar Street.
According to spokeswoman James, as of December 17th, there have been no changes to this project.
Impact of ReCode
The integration of inclusionary zoning units, or payment of a fee-in-lieu, is now required in all new residential building applications following the approval by the city council of ReCode, the new land use code, on November 4th, 2024. These projects, submitted before the zoning change, may be built as allowed under the earlier zoning code.
Further Planning Board review of 197 Oxford Street will be scheduled in the upcoming winter months.
Nancy English is a political newcomer and a former paralegal for the City of Portland.
