Evolving Pearl casts wider net

Urban jewel gleams and glitters, and there’s more to come

By Ethan Daniel Lindsey

The Portland Tribune, Jul 30, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Standing in Jamison Square, the unofficial hub of Northwest Portland’s Pearl District, you can see at least four projects going up in all directions. And that area, around Northwest 11th Avenue and Kearney Street, is not the only fast-growing region of the Pearl District.

In other words, the Pearl District beat goes on.

In a few short years, a neighborhood that was once an industrial ghost town has transitioned into a thriving mix of upscale condos, high-end galleries and trendy restaurants.

And now, if Portland developers get their way, the abandoned rail yards and warehouses north of Northwest Lovejoy Street, at the far northwest side of the neighborhood Ñ as well as underdeveloped buildings scattered throughout the area Ñ soon will be redeveloped as the newest apartment and condominium complexes.

Ask any developer in the city, and he or she will tell you that the Pearl District is still primed for growth and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Still, looking five to 10 years ahead, questions do arise, notably what’s going to happen to the U.S. post office at the northeast edge of the neighborhood and to the Centennial Mills parcel on the Willamette River.

Portland’s main post office at Northwest Broadway and Hoyt Street is under consideration as the site of a proposed major league baseball stadium, should the city go forward in its efforts to draw big-league baseball.

Critics of the stadium proposal say the site instead should be used for a community center, day-care facility, library or school; as open space; or just be opened for commercial or residential development.

“The answer to where the next major growth will be depends entirely on what happens near the post office,” said Homer Williams, one of the original developers of the Pearl and the founder of Hoyt Street Properties. “The post office is a catalyst for things that can leap across Broadway, and maybe connect to Old Town and the waterfront.”

Closer to the waterfront, between the Fremont and Broadway bridges, the Portland Development Commission owns the land where the historic Centennial Mills sits.

“The PDC is down in Chinatown and on the water,” Williams said. “But there is still plenty of growth in the Pearl to be had, whether it’s on the outskirts or not.”

The mill, a facility of about 10 buildings that functioned from 1909 to 2000, was bought by the PDC to turn into open space. Now the commission is deciding whether to stay true to that mission or to build a cultural, business or housing center.

Also, waterfront-area developers are working to build a pedestrian walkway that connects the Pearl to the river next to Union Station and over Northwest Naito Parkway.

Streetcar makes connection

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat and founder of the U.S. Capitol’s bicycle caucus, sees a healthy future for the Pearl District as well Ñ but in a different way. He is one of the reasons for the symbiotic relationship Pearl residents have with the Portland Streetcar, as he continues to find federal dollars to build mass transit options in the city.

“We’re not done yet. There’s a strong likelihood that we will see a streetcar come across the Broadway Bridge. There is a line that will be extended down to the South Waterfront,” Blumenauer said from his Capitol Hill office.

“But the streetcar isn’t going to change the look of the Pearl Ñ it’s going to induce development because it will make the Pearl work better and help connect it to the rest of the city.”

Acceptance of the Pearl’s look and feel is almost universal. Most developers say the Pearl has reached some sort of maturation point, and the real change is going to be in density and functionality.

“Real new growth is down in the Brewery Blocks. Between the Wieden & Kennedy block, and the two office towers, you suddenly have workers around, instead of just residential,” Williams said. “That’s really elevated the Pearl to a new area as far as being alive Ñ and I expect that to continue as we move forward.”

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