Why the Pearl District Works: Part II Continuity

The Pearl District is grounded in history.  In 1982 a five-step process was established to meet Goal 5 of the statewide planning act, which required Oregon cities to identify and protect historic places.  The next year the Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) assessed the building stock in the Northwest Triangle District.  Entitled, “The Last Place in Downtown,” the AIA report is a founding document of the Pearl District.

The area was unplanned and devoid of civic identity. It had no school or neighborhood association, but there was a bounty of historic warehouses being leased or sold. A small artistic community had gained a foothold, and the transitioning district was ideally situated for incubator business. It could become “a definitive and distinctive district,” the AIA reported, provided city officials acted to preserve 90 buildings found worthy of preservation.  The architects proposed creating a historic preservation district that encompassed the quadrant between Lovejoy and Burnside, and between I-405 and 9th and 10 Avenues. The remainder of the Northwest Triangle was envisioned to be an office park.

In 1983 office parks were part of the lexicon of suburban development, but the idea fell away once investing in urbanism gained relevance. The historic preservation district concept, however, gained traction. In 1987, the city council established the NW 13th Avenue Historic District.  Al Soldheim, the major property owner, played a crucial role in protecting the six blocks that had 20 multi-storied, architect-designed warehouses, the largest collection of such buildings in the city. The district’s mix of loading docks, roof top water towers, metal awnings, and remnants of old Belgian block street pavers also lent a unique character to the pedestrian friendly environs.

In 1988, the seven-story Blumauer-Frank Drug Company Building (the district’s tallest) was converted into apartments.  The first significant investment in residential living in the Pearl District, the retrofitted reinforced concrete structure constructed in 1925 offered a new prototype.  Tax abatements and tax credits for preserving historic buildings made the project viable, and other developers followed suit.  In 1996, two 1910 brick warehouses were converted into the historic district's first condominiums, the Chown Pella. Open loft spaces with exposed brick and heavy timbers were created to provide what developer John Carroll called, “industrial strength living in the Pearl.” The water tower adorning the building became a visual landmark and syntax in the architectural vocabulary that influenced future projects after the city adopted the River District Special Design Guidelines in 1996. 

Painting of Chown Pella featured in Center of Architecture Exhibit

Historic preservation keyed the Pearl District’s development. Eleven buildings outside of the 13th Avenue District were listed on the National Historic Register. In 1997, the first of the two buildings that comprised the 1908 North Depot Warehouse was turned into town homes.  After the second building was converted in 2000, the historic block on NW 11th Avenue marked a new measure of urban living in Portland. Loading docks set above the sidewalk were the defining features of the two-story buildings. Converted into porches with small gardens and planted terraces, residents enjoyed their pleasant ambiance. This synergistic intersection of history, private property, and public space helped activate the derelict block, which now has the most valuable real estate (per square foot) in the Pearl District.

The development of the Brewery Blocks in 2001 turned the Pearl District into a destination. The preservation of the Weinhard Brewhouse and the Armory Building set the foundation for a historically grounded transition between the central city and the NW 13th Avenue Historic District. In addition to providing housing for 1000 residents, the project spurred significant investment in retail and commercial development. The five-block area also introduced the benefits of sustainability by salvaging and recycling 94 percent of construction material, reducing energy demand by 40 percent in residential units and 25 percent in office space, and constructing eight LEED certified buildings, including the first Gold certified condominium tower in the nation.

The Pearl District is now home to over 7,000 residents. The NW 13th Avenue Historic District remains the centerpiece, and it still lures developers. A seven-story office building is set to arise on its last vacant parcel. The property owner’s desire to “create a building that looks as if it has always been there” drew inspiration from the Chown Pella and the Confectionary Lofts, another early 20th century brick warehouse conversion. An architect’s rendering depicts a building with a proportionate height and mass and material that fits seamlessly with its surroundings. Special emphasis was placed on the 13th Avenue frontage. An extensive metal canopy and detailing on the doors and windows will ensure the ground floor respects the human scale of a street heavily trafficked by pedestrians and enlivened by the remnants of history. 

The Pearl District lies at the epicenter of Portland’s building boom. Development pressures have raised concerns that it is losing its character.  Only a third of the 90 historic structures the AIA identified in 1983 are protected.  The Pearl District Neighborhood Association supports densification, but it worries that 35 buildings of historical significance lack any protection. The fear is that “the Pearl District will become a place without any grounding in history and without the story its own creation.  It will be a place without soul.”

The Neighborhood Association’s Planning Committee has charged a task force to create a tool to protect historic structures. A refined code to deliver transfer of development rights must be procured, but this reform could be at odds with the regulations proposed in the new Central City Comprehensive Plan.  At the same time, neighborhood associations are legally sanctioned to assist city agencies in planning efforts. 

Resolving the tension between preservation and development is essential. It will require tempering rights and responsibilities, but this is the expectation of a free people residing in a republic. This cornerstone of civilization was laid over 2,000 years ago when Pericles claimed, “ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters.”

David August's keen eye and knowledge of the Pearl District was instrumental to this piece.  I strongly recommend one of his architectural tours.  Afterwards, you will see the neighborhood with a more discerning eye.