Compare this 4-story complex to the 5-story complex planned for the Wizer block, though in the Wizer plan, the 5th story will be set back somewhat into the roof design. This complex sits in a commercial zone unrelated to single-family housing and is close to the freeway and the Tualatin Transit Station, none of the conditions that make a dense apartment in downtown Lake Oswego suitable. Drive by and see it for yourself to get an idea of what this kind of mass looks like up close and personal! Compare the renderings with the actual construction. This is the "new urbanism", or "Smart Growth", as planned for the suburbs. Are we liking it yet? Do you want to move here? Who will be living in these apartments if not you?
POSTED: Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Daily Journal of Commerce
Mill Creek is planning to breathe new life into theBridgeport Apartments, a two building, four-story, 367-unit project in Tualatin near Bridgeport Village. The massive 631,000-square-foot development (including 22,000 square feet of retail space) will feature a “wrap-around” design, which centers on a concrete parking structure with wood-framed housing wrapping around it.
The idea, Rodriguez said, is to create a high-density product in what is traditionally a low-density market.
Rodriguez said that while the standard garden-style apartment design tops out at about 30 units per acre, the wrap-around design can reach densities between 55 and 60 units per acre. With suburban rents recovering from $1.10 per square foot a year and a half ago to between $1.30 and $1.40 today, Rodriguez said now was the time to get moving on the market-rate project.
“It’s a great option for people who want to have somewhat the lifestyle of the downtown area but want to be closer to jobs in the suburbs,” he said. “The idea is to make it feel like a resort. It’s going to have a pool and this sort of club house that is going to be very Cascadian in design with a big fire place and very tall ceilings.”
“There are not a lot of places that you can live in this kind of quality and scale and be able to walk to all the services,” he said. “You can walk to shopping, walk to theater, walk to restaurants, and I think that’s very exciting for the suburbs … We feel it’s a great bridge to kind of a new urbanism in that area.”
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| Original rendering of project prior to construction. Does this look as large as the actual construction below? |
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| From Boones Ferry Rd. at main entry - 4-story apartments at left, office/club house in center, parking garage in rear. |
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| Orange 4-story apartment shown with man in yellow jacket and hard hat for scale. |
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| Lower, 3-story mixed-use buildings on Boones Ferry Rd. |
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| Close-up of 4-story apartments in center courtyard |
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ReplyDeleteThis was spam about the restaurant. I guess that's what you get if you put in a national brand name. I'll try not to make that mistake again!
ReplyDeleteGreat Work Diane!!! Can you get this into the LO Review?
ReplyDeleteAnd, who is Diane?
DeleteCould we please stop calling Wizer a 5 story complex? Most of it except for the corner of Evergreen and Second is 4 stories. The fifth story at that corner is caused strictly by the slope of the land with the lower level used as it is now for parking. Let's all try to get the facts straight on the project and not use emotional terms.
ReplyDeleteLesson to be learned, beware of artistic renderings!
ReplyDelete