Developers Get Two More Years to Break Ground

PORTLAND-Like every other planned office development in town, the $43-million One Waterfront Place is stuck in virtual reality–looking good as a digital rendering but still unable to attract the necessary prelease commitments to move forward thanks to a prolonged economic recession.

As such, the city’s urban renewal agency this week revised again its disposition and development agreement with Jim Winkler and Bob Naito for the 12-story, 256,000-sf office building and 700-slip parking garage on Naito Parkway, north of the Broadway Bridge.

The city authorized the original DDA in August 2000. By the time the project received design review approval from the city, however, it was July 2001 and the economy was tanking, so the deadline to secure financing and begin construction was pushed back to December 17, 2002. With that deadline now fast approaching and the economy having only worsened, the Portland Development Commission was inclined this week to give the developers, dba 1201 LLC, another 24 months to get the project underway.