May 30, 2008

Portland condo tower: super luxury, super green

Gerding Edlen Development Co. is one of the Northwest's cutting edge green developers. With its latest project, Casey Condominiums in Portland, the firm has taken on a new challenge: eco-luxury.

Eco-luxury means the building is super green and super luxurious. Mark Edlen, managing principal at Gerding Edlen, said the company's projects range from affordable housing to hospitals but in every one, the goal is to be sustainable without compromising function or comfort.

The 16-story, 143,000-square-foot Casey has 61 units designed for families, many with two bedrooms and some with rooms that could be converted if needed. Total project cost was $60 million and unit prices range from $450,000 to $3.5 million.

The Casey has two retail spaces on the ground floor, one filled by Caffe Umbria. It is located in the prime Pearl District, on the corner of Northwest 12th and Everett, and is three blocks away from Gerding Edlen's office in the Brewery Blocks.

Project team

Developer: Gerding Edlen Architect: GBD Architects LEED consultant: Brightworks Building energy modeler: Brian Thornton Contractor: Hoffman Construction Co. Structural engineer: kpff Consulting Engineers Others: Glumac International, Hunter Davisson, Bergelectric, Peninsula Plumbing, Otak Inc., Benya/James Graham & Associates, RDH Building Sciences Inc.

The project team calls it the world's first LEED platinum multifamily high rise. Edlen said one of the greenest things about the building is its small footprint: 10,000 square feet. The building cantilevers out nine feet on one side for more space.

GBD Architects was the architect. Hoffman Construction was the general contractor.

The goal from the beginning was LEED platinum. Catherine Navarro-Silva, project manager with GBD Architects, said the team had to look carefully at every element. “At the beginning we found it wasn't going to be one big thing that made us go to LEED platinum, it was really a combination of all these pieces and partnerships.”

Every decision the team made — from design to finishes — was based on both sustainability and a luxurious feel. Joe Nydahl, a project manager with Gerding Edlen, said the team wanted everything in the units to be a selling point.

“We wanted everything perfect. On another project you might compromise to make stuff work,” he said. “On this project we wanted absolutely nothing to apologize for.”

Nydahl said it is easy to find high-end products like plumbing fixtures or refrigerators, and it is easy to find green products. “But to find products that have both of these qualities was a challenge early on.”

Each unit has finishes of the highest caliber. In some cases, Nydahl said that meant changing a product that had already been installed if it didn't look right.

The roof is covered with both plants and photovoltaic panels. Catherine Navarro-Silva, project manager with GBD Architects, said the panels produce 23 kilowatts of energy, enough to power the common area lighting. The roof filters stormwater runoff, decreases ultraviolet and radiant heat, and helps provide oxygen through its plants.

Heat recovery ventilators capture waste heat from bathrooms and kitchens and use it to preheat hot water so all hot water in the building is free, Edlen said. He said this technique is new in a high rise. The building is designed to use 52 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than a conventional building of its type.

Edlen said the biggest engineering challenge was building a five-level garage on such a small footprint. The team had to drive piles and build the garage at the same time the building was being constructed above. “In essence we had a mining operation (for the dirt).”

The Casey also has a lot of art. The team worked with Bullseye Glass, a Portland-based company whose Bullseye Connection Gallery is next door to the Casey, to integrate art into the architecture.

A one-foot-wide textured art glass spire runs from the second floor to the roof. There is glass art in every elevator lobby and on the ground floor. Nydahl said the artistic components make the building unique. “It looks unlike anything else in Portland, if not the Northwest.”

Edlen called the project Gerding Edlen's crown jewel. But it has already moved on to the next challenge. In sustainable projects, Edlen said it's important to always be progressing.

For example, he said LEED gold is the company's standard for projects, but within a year he predicts LEED platinum will be “an absolute yawner.” The team is already working on some “net zero” projects, that is buildings that produce all the energy they need. Gerding Edlen also plans to develop buildings that produce more energy than they need and consume more trash than they produce.

But Edlen stressed that sustainability won't overcome bad features. “You've got to have great real estate, great location, great design and great execution and, oh by the way, it's sustainable.”

At least three Gerding Edlen staff members, including Mark Edlen, will be living in the building.

Gerding Edlen is also pursuing eco-luxury with its Bellevue Towers project in Bellevue. That project is planned to be LEED gold.

 

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Katie Zemtseff can be reached by email or by phone at (206) 622-8272.