Tom Moyer to build 35-story downtown office tower

[egrguy]

Tom Moyer to build 35-story downtown office tower

Tower a sign of renaissance?

Wow, this is impressive. With the 2nd link at Oregon live they have a small rendering. Based on my initial look-see it looks pretty decent. Maybe someone can find a better rendering to post, or I can try searching for more. At 35 stories and a $150M pricetag, this building will certainly alter the Portland skyline. I can't wait to hear more on this. Plus, from what I know, Tom Moyer is a pretty good developer at getting things done.

[Inkdaub]

My co-worker told me about this building tonight before I left work. Sounds good to me. The block in question is on the MAX line and is across the street from a soon to be new park/square. It's going to be a pretty 'uptown' sort of area when it's all said and done.

Some sad things...always...in all this progress.

This area has already lost a landmark in the Guild Theater.

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COPYRIGHT 2006 The Oregonian

Byline: Fred Leeson

Jun. 17--The last single-screen movie theater in downtown Portland may have reached the end of its run after nearly 80 years.

The Northwest Film Center has stopped showing films at the Guild Theater at 829 S.W. Ninth Ave. The nonprofit film center had been leasing the theater for $1 a year since 1998 from Tom Moyer, a former large theater chain owner who is now a major downtown property developer.

"The fate of the whole block is up in the air, and a happy chapter for us has come to an inevitable end," said Bill Foster, director of the film center, which is a component of the Portland Art Museum.

The film center, which sponsors several film series each year, will present most of its shows in the Whitsell Auditorium of the Portland Art Museum.

A key factor in deciding to close the Guild was the start of construction on a surface parking lot that faces the theater. Moyer is building a large underground parking garage and has donated the surface of the block to the city for creation of a new downtown park block.

A call to Moyer's development company, TMT Development, was not returned. Moyer, who developed the Fox Tower and the 1000 Broadway office tower after selling his theater chain, seldom talks publicly about his plans.

"Now the neighborhood is coming alive with the park that is Tom's gift to the city, and it doesn't make sense any longer to operate that building as a single-screen theater," Foster said. He said it was downtown's last single-screen theater.

The Guild was built in 1927, according to Multnomah County property records. It was smaller than other prominent but long-gone downtown theaters such as the Fox, Broadway and Music Box that were located within a few blocks of each other. Another larger, fancier theater from the same era was remodeled in the 1980s into the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Shawn Levy of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

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Another local favorite, the Virginia Cafe, will be reduced to rubble when the current block is cleared for this new building. That's how it happens, though.

[woodlawnpdx]

Yes, the Park Avenue West is another exciting proposal for downtown Portland. Despite the loss of some historic structures and businesses, this will contribute nicely to the increasingly vibrant West End area of downtwon. Include another Moyer proposal, the 35 story Broadway Tower mixed use development which will contrast nicely with Portland's typical boxy high rises. Also the 30 story Manhatten tower just across I-405 not far from the Park Avenue West proposal and the new 30 story residential tower proposed just South of the new OHSU Health and Wellness building and you have a lot of activity continue to happen in Central Portland. Driving a lot of the office development in the downtown area is a 6% vacancy rate with no new major office spaces scheduled to open in the next 24 months. One of my concerns is that a majority of the proposals Portland is seeing fall into the 20 to 35 story range. Strict height limits to protect views and reduce shadows are valuable tools, however I don't want to see an abundance of relatively similar size buildings create a bland skyline. The city should look ahead and possibly provide some leeway for taller developments that continue to enrich the architecture of the city. This would truly make an impact on the skyline of Portland. Overall however, these are some exciting and positive developments for Portland in the last few weeks.

[Inkdaub]

No doubt about it.