Looking up A Ave.

A peek at A Ave. and 1st Street?

The original East End Redevelopment Plan designated Block 137 as commercial.  Including Block 138 (Lake View Village) and their corresponding blocks across A Ave., this 4-block area was to be the city's shopping core - the lead up to the park - public spaces -- NOT residential.  

Along with residential development comes all the facts of life of daily living of the occupants.  This was NOT supposed to be the view of Lake Oswego's downtown.  It is like having to walk through someone's bedroom to get to their living room - full of personal stuff you just don't want to deal with while you are having a good time.  

Euclidian Zoning works - and when you try to get away from discrete zones for multifamily, the mix of housing and commercial has to be handled so the housing does not dominate the commercial on the street.  This isn't the Pearl - it isn't even SE Division or the Alphabet District.    

Perhaps a preview of what A Ave. and 1st St. will  like if the Wizer Block is built.  A full block of 4-story buildings is quite impressive or imposing - you pick.  The photos here are of the still-in-progress Bridgeport Village Apartments.  About 1/3 of the complex is finished and rented.  

The rents are from $1.82 to $2.00 per square foot (not including the liv/work space).  

In the photo at left, in the corner of the building you might be able to see a dish antenna.  Before anyone can say they wouldn't be allowed in LO, think again.  The law says tenants have a right to select their own TV, phone and cable services. 

Apartments do have rules about what tenants can put on their decks or patios, but some rights still prevail - tenants must have the ability to enjoy their rented space, and enforcement will always be hit and miss - worse as the number of units goes up.  

In the photos below you can see some of the stuff people put on their decks to make the places their homes.  My guess is that most Lake Oswego homes have these items already, and renters want them too.  

There is a photo of the secure ground-level parking garage as seen from the back side.  On the Wizer Block, there is no "back" side, and some of the parking will be above ground because of the slope.  What will that wall look like?    

Things typically found on decks and patios:  Folding camp chairs, BBQs, hanging things like wind chimes, Tibetan prayer flags,  pots of plants, sculpture things, children's toys, things covered in tarps (especially in winter), plants of all kinds, rugs, wall plaques, bikes, wreathes, candles and table decor, towels on the chairs, etc.  Whatever you have at your house will be on display here too.  

 

Question:  I see individual HVAC units in the exterior walls here.  Will the Wizer Block have a similar arrangement with mechanicals for each unit showing?