South Waterfront Condos Benefit From Public Spending
Latest Round Of Public Investment Proves That South Waterfront Is “Too Big Too Fail”
As construction for Portland’s South Waterfront began back in 2005, the district was heralded as the next Pearl District. Then came the credit crunch and buyers largely disappeared. Home values at high end condominium projects such as The Atwater or The Meriwether Condos plummeted and it was almost unanimously concluded that the district would end up as a ghost town. A closer look at the present conditions, however, shows that the “ghost town hypothesis” is actually the most unlikely of all scenarios. Granted, the South Waterfront indeed has a ways to go in terms of becoming a truly vibrant neighborhood on par with the Pearl District or NW 23rd, but it remains one of the few downtown areas that has continued to attract both private and public funding. In an age where funding has dried up for pretty much everything, the South Waterfront District has been on the receiving end, benefiting from new infrastructure projects (park, walkways, streetcar etc.) in every year since the recession begun.
Doesn’t sound like the makings of a ghost town to me, more like “too big to fail”. An there’s more in the pipeline: construction has begun on the Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge, there are plans to improve the freeway on and off ramps, and now this:
New Life Sciences Building Planned For South Waterfront District
Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University are moving ahead with the construction of a new life sciences building in Portland’s South Waterfront District. According to the PDC, funding for the $160 million project is in place; about $110 million will come from state bonds, with the balance coming from a private donation ($40 million) and TriMet ($10 million) to align the project with a new MAX light-rail line.
The plan calls for approximately 235,000 square feet. Most of the space in the seven-story structure will be used for educational and research purposes. The building will occupy a site owned by OHSU slightly north of the proposed light-rail bridge and slightly south of the Ross Island Bridge on-ramp. About half of the building will be used as educational space by medical, life sciences, engineering and pharmacy students. The building also will have ground-floor retail space and a couple of floors of research space for staff and students.
Original Site Plan For The Northern Section Of The South Waterfront District
Demand For South Waterfront Condos Is Quietly Picking Up
Gradually an increasing number of residential property buyers with a long-term outlook are beginning to capitalize on the real estate economics at work in the district i.e. ongoing improvements and public spending are raising the value of the land, and creating a set of amenities and infrastructure that attracts private business – in turn generating demand for office and retail space…and ultimately housing.
Already the pace of sales at The Atwater Condos has noticeably picked up. The building is now more than 70% occupied, up more than 35% from a year ago. Neighboring John Ross Condos sold out late last year. Over the past six months these two buildings have consistently been among the top five producers in terms of sales volume per month. Several of these buyers are likely applying the lessons they learned from “too big to fail” episodes in other industries; when it comes to buying with a margin of safety you can’t beat a deal backed by Uncle Sam (Adams*).
*Sam Adams: Mayor of Portland, 2008- current
