Kessi's vision for downtown

The last part of the title of this opinion piece in today's Lake Oswego Review, A Shared Vision, is wishful thinking at best, and political spin at worst.  Kessi is from Portland.  No doubt he and Gene Wizer share the same vision for their development downtown, as do the investors in Evergreen Group LLC, and probably some of the people who crafted the Revised EERD, though some do not.  And what about the residents of Lake Oswego?  The opposition to the hulky, densely populated and badly situated development is huge.  Will a better design make it more palatable?  Yes, but did Kessi's group have the vision to go far enough?

East End Redevelopment District: A Shared Vision
Lake Oswego Review,  June 5, 2014   |   By Patrick Kessi

Patrick H. Kessi is principal of Evergreen Group LLC.

The vision behind the East End Redevelopment District was to use high-quality design to attract people and businesses back to downtown Lake Oswego. The landmark Lake View Village was the beginning of a bold, public-private investment. It built on traditional architectural values to shape special downtown spaces and create significant public value. This kind of redevelopment encourages other innovative development on adjacent blocks, resulting in a more vibrant Lake Oswego Village.

The vision of attracting people and businesses back to downtown has been done.  High-quality design is in the eye of the beholder, and where the design goes.  A great many people did not approve of Kessi's first design for the Wizer Block location (or probably anywhere in Lake Oswego).

I admired the foresight and tenacity in the creation of Lake View Village — it was a tough project to introduce to the community. Today, there’s no doubt that it was a vital strategic step in the right direction, attracting people who want to work, shop, play and invest in downtown.

 The "tough project" was made easier by the developer's willingness to accommodate neighbors' design suggestions and solve potential problems.  It only makes sense that what pleases the locals will please newcomers too since what they are buying is the atmosphere that makes the city an attractive place to live.  Let's not spoil it with unsuitable development that capitalizes on the place and degrades it at the same time.

I am drawn by the vision of a destination downtown Lake Oswego. My team and I are working closely with the community to take the next step in designing and building another high-value project known as the “Wizer Block,” or Block 137.

A destination downtown?   I know a boutique hotel on the Wizer Block was in the EERD Plan, but when did we become a tourist destination?  I sure hope the city doesn't make the same mistake Metro has in helping fund a new hotel!  We (the public) have funded so many businesses already!  

I have not seen the new Wizer Block designs yet and do not know anyone who has.  Comments and questions below (in red) are ones that should be answered by the project designs that have been resubmitted to the planning department for a building permit.  A DRC public hearing will be scheduled in a few weeks for review of the project.  

This newly redesigned Block 137 project includes the best suggestions of city staff, neighborhood residents and business and community leaders, including:

n Scaling down the project into several distinct facades and segments, reducing the mass and maximizing the village design characteristics;

Did the developers split the project into more than 3 buildings as the DRC suggested?  Or did they just play with surface detail and setbacks?

n Removing the fifth story — no building is taller than four stories (as permitted by city code);

No giveaway here.  The code limits buildings to four stories, so a fifth story was impossible from the beginning.  Perhaps this was just a bargaining chip anyway.  It is telling that Kessi writes that four stories are permitted as if this is a settled case.  The wording in the code is "may" not "shall" have four stories.  The issue of the fourth story as a permitted use may become a court case. 

n Reducing the density and number of residential living units;

By cutting out the doomed fifth story, the number of units was automatically reduced.  Besides the actual number of units ( this affects numbers of cars, people and pets), the massing or bulk of the buildings was a huge issue.  Has the FAR (floor area ratio) been reduced for the remainder of the buildings?  

n Increasing the amount of commercial spaces; and

Does the revised design increase the number of spaces, or the actual square footage of commercial space?   Kessi's wording suggests the former.  

n More adherence to the distinctive historic traditions of Lake Oswego-style architecture.

It is interesting that people now refer to the "Lake Oswego Style" - a design style that was made-up just for Lake Oswego's downtown area - as "distinctive historic traditions."  I do not fault any developer for mistaking this thematic, imposed style as historic or traditional.  It is written the 2004 EERD Plan as the style for the district, and probably draws on Sundeleaf's 1920s-era architecture, even though more homes and buildings were built in the 1950s and '60s than all previous decades.  Lake Oswego has a farming history too which lasted up until the Kruse farm was vacated just a few years ago.  

Stay tuned.  We're in for a bumpy ride.  

And please, can everybody stop using the word "vibrant"?   The word has lost its original meaning and sounds cartoonish now.