November 17, 2014

Game-changing complex in Portland: 1,200 bikes, 657 apartments and NORM

PORTLAND — The Hassalo on Eighth development in Portland's Lloyd District is starting to resemble the neighborhood its developers hope it will anchor someday.

Two mid-rise buildings are topped out, and a third high-rise is about three stories shy of its planned 21 stories. Workers have also laid the first asphalt on what will be the restored Northeast Hassalo Street.

The $192 million, 657-apartment development won't open to tenants until September 2015, but the developers, American Assets Trust, are already turning their attention to the second phase on a large site to the south.

Early plans call for 1,030 apartments in four new buildings, but American Assets Trust chief executive John Chamberlain said his firm has been approached by senior housing companies about including an assisted-living building. The company has also had discussions with other firms about a build-to-suit office development for one block on the four-block site.

In the meantime, back at the Hassalo development, executives showed off some of the site's key features on a recent tour. Here are some that could mean big changes to the neighborhood:

The ‘bike hub'

Hassalo on Eighth will have nearly 1,200 bicycle parking stalls — collectively the largest bike storage facility in North America, the developers claim.

Included in that number is a “bike hub” that will offer bike repair and free valet bike parking to anyone who works in the Lloyd District.

The parking will be free, but developers hope to generate revenue from the bike hub by charging for other services, like showers, towels and lockers.

“We recognize the need, and the marketability, of having bicycle access to that extreme,” said Wade Lange, vice president and regional manager for American Assets Trust in Portland.

A grocery store

American Assets Trust says it's trying to lure a grocery store to the ground floor of its northeast building.

“We're talking to a lot of them,” Lange said. “We have a few favorites.”

Although the Lloyd District is still light on residents who might be potential shoppers, Lange said the workday crowd is attractive to grocers, too. More than 9,000 people work in buildings adjacent to the Hassalo site.

‘NORM'

The development will be home to an on-site wastewater treatment system, the largest in an urban setting in the country.

The development's Natural Organic Recycling Machine (or NORM) will collect wastewater from the three new apartment buildings and treat them through a system made to mimic the water-treating systems of wetlands.

The water will be re-used on site for non-potable uses like toilets, landscaping and cooling systems. The existing Lloyd 700 office building will be retrofitted to use the treated water, but its wastewater won't be collected. Without showers or dishwashing to dilute it, office building wastewater is — to put it politely — too rich in nitrogen.

The system is expected to divert 60,000 gallons of wastewater from the sewer system every day. (The city is giving the developer a break on development fees for new infrastructure as a result.)