august 18. 2000 »
Just out 21
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owner of the Crystal Ballroom; Dan Zilka, i increase in the Burnside Triangle.
owner of the gay Panorama complex; and
Mawson says increased rents require
McCormick & Schmick’s, which owns Jake’s increased foot traffic—hut that won’t happen
Famous Crawfish— were not interested in get­ without new development. Higher rents, he
ting involved. Property owners and small-busi­ says, likely will result in pushing out small retail­
ness owners haven’t participated either, he says.
ers— like neighhorhixxl bars.
“1 don’t know that there is anything to worry
“Central residential” zoning dix;s
about right now,” says John Henley, an employ­ allow for some commercial use but
ee at the neighborhood’s Great Northwest generally puts restrictions on develop­
B<xikstore.
ers that keep them from investing,
He loves the community in the Burnside Tri­ Mawson explains.
angle. “We’ve got the best thing going in town.”
Betsy Ames, project manager and
Henley recognizes, however, that businesses liaison for Mayor Vera Katz to the plan­
that do not own their property might succumb ning bureau, says the Burnside Triangle
to increasing leases. His employer owns the has viable businesses. Some are reno­
building, he says. Although he realizes buildings vated inside but not outside, she says.
in the Burnside Triangle are in need of renova­
Ames thinks part of the motivation
tion, he is not sure whether it will help or hin­ in keeping the area zoned residential is
der the quality of the neighborhood.
to prevent the displacement of existing
Not everyone considers high-end restau­ businesses. She says the pressure to
rants, expensive boutiques and tree-lined streets develop the area already is strong; a
with benches as improvements to an otherwise zoning change to commercial use
colorful neighhorhixxl. But those who do want
would place too much emphasis on
change to the Burnside Triangle have little ! development.
chance at success without first changing the
Others think residential zones
zoning map, Mawson says.
should be changed in some areas of the West
End but not in the Burnside Triangle. In fact,
this proposal is likely to go before the Portland
T he Z one
City Council for approval.
The thinking is that commercial zoning will
awson and his colleagues want the city to make the property so attractive to investors that
i I change the zoning of the Burnside Trian­ single-occupancy rixmis in the neighborhood
would drop. A development
plan that results in fewer
housing units could violate
state requirements, officials
say.
And although the neigh­
borhood hasn’t changed
much in 30 years, or attracted
new housing, city planners
think the Brewery Blocks and
the popularity of the Pearl
District will bring needed
investment without a change
to the zoning map. They
think the proposal has
enough new incentives to
attract developers to the area
who will work within the res­
idential zoning codes.
A decrease in affordable
housing concerns Martha
McLennan, a housing project
manager for the city. She says
although many of the pri-.
vately owned single-occupan­
cy rooms in the Burnside Tri­
angle—some at the Kent and
Joyce hotels—are not in gixxl
condition, it would he a loss
to those who need affordable
housing if they were redevel­
oped without options.
McLennan reports that
these hotels do not have U.S.
Housing and Urban Develop­
ment Department contracts
gle from “central residential” to “central com­ but that they play a vital role in Portland’s
mercial.” This will provide more incentive for affordable housing mix. As property values
increase in the area, federal programs might be
investment in the area, they say.
If a change isn’t made, Mawson says, private necessary to help out, she says. "Part of what
affordable housing will continue to gentrify, and public financing does is to compensate for the
retailers will be driven out because of increasing market.”
Mawson says many see residential density as
rents. “Doing nothing is an option,” he says,
a
key
issue in the area. This is why the city and
“hut not an attractive one.”
Mawson thinks leaving the zoning alone will others want to keep the residential zoning
intact.
prevent investors from putting money into the
"Some people were calling it Pearl envy,”
neighborhood, just as it has for the past 30 years.
He says that people seeking entertainment will Mawson laughs. He wonders how investors will
turn to the Pearl District, which has new busi­ get what they want and need to put in housing
nesses, and that land values just steadily will south of Burnside when the zoning isn’t in their
I
favor.
In the end, it
looks as though
proponents of zon­
ing change will not
get their way. The
Tentative Proposal
for the West End,
unveiled in late
July, calls for leav­
ing the Burnside
Triangle
intact
with the exception
of
two
small
changes
along
Burnside from resi­
dential to employ­
ment.
Graham Clark of the Office of Planning and
Development Review at the Bureau of Planning
says the proposed change to an employment
zone allows for a diverse mixture of uses includ­
ing housing, industrial and commercial. The
changes along Burnside at the west end of the
triangle were proposed, he says, to match the
zoning on the north side of Burnside, where the
Brewery Blocks will stand.
Interestingly, one of the proposed zoning
changes is at the Club Port­
land site.
T he U nknown
r f he Portland Area Busi-
.1 ness Association, a gay
networking group, is kxiking
into the future of Stark
Street, although it is uncer­
tain what its role will be. The
group wonders whether city
officials are aware the area is
a focal point for night life in
the gay community. It also
wonders what would happen
if the core group of gay-fre­
quented bars, nightclubs and
other businesses vanished.
Board member Brian Wil­
son says PABA is trying to
gather information to determine whether any­
one wants to start a dialogue about the future of
Stark Street. But at least half of the association’s
members probably aren’t interested, he says.
PABA wonders if the situation might give
rise to a conversation— maybe even a plan—
regarding a more clever, long-range vision for
the community.
A gay neighbor-
hixxl? Perhaps a
Portland version
of N ew York
City’s Chelsea?
“Whether or
not it’s even vi­
able, it’s an inter­
esting question,”
says Wilson, a commercial real estate develop­
er. He says keeping the Burnside Triangle zoned
residential will make the area less attractive to
developers. Despite that, he predicts the rents
will increase significantly within the first few
years of the nearby Brewery Blocks’ completion.
Wilson expects the lease rate in the area to
rise from about $12 to as high as $24 a square
fix>t within the next few years. Rates in the Pearl
District are between $16 and $18 a square foot.
Ron Mitchell, general
manager of the Fish Grotto/
Brig/Panorama complex, ex­
pects the Brewery Blocks
will bring change to the
neighborhood and likely
will make rents go up. But
increased rent is not an issue
for this popular dancing and
drinking destination be­
cause the business owns its
own property. “ It won’t
affect us at this point,”
Mitchell says.
Most of the other estab­
lishments along
Stark
Street are leasing their
space. Mitchell says several
of the smaller bars are doing
financially well.
He recognizes that busi­
nesses with leases could be
at risk in the coming years,
but he thinks bars might do even better as the
neighborhood develops. Typically when leases
are raised, Mitchell says, it is because of
increased foot traffic or the overall traffic in the
area that potentially would increase business.
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