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PORTLAND, OR-The Portland Development Commission is lengthening the public process related to the redevelopment of a multi-block area at the east end of Burnside Bridge. Originally scheduled to choose a developer next week, the urban renewal agency's board of directors has decided not to pick a developer for the project until the end of April in order to accommodate more public hearings on the matter.The Burnside Bridgehead property covers a five-block area between Northeast Second Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Burnside and Northeast Everett streets. If fully built out, the property could hold 450 housing units, 170,000 sf of retail, 150,000 sf of office and 1,200 parking spaces. The developer teams include Gerding/Edlen, the locally based company behind the Brewery Blocks development in the Pearl District; Opus, the Minneapolis-based developer of Bridgeport Village in Tualatin; and locally based Beam Development, which recently renovated the Eastbank Commerce Center building. Originally, Gerding/Edlen and Opus each had big-box home improvement retailers as the project anchors in their proposals and the PDC was to select a developer Feb. 9 (To see the previous article, click here).

. When strong neighborhood opposition surfaced to the idea of big-box retailer in the center of the city, a decision was pushed back to Feb. 23 and both developers publicly stated that a big-box retailer was not required for their participation.The further postponement to late April will allow the three development teams competing for the redevelopment rights to massage their proposals in response to the substantial public comment that came at a Jan. 22 public hearing, and time for PDC staff and the appointed selection committee to review any changes.Most public comment to this point has been in favor of filling the development with locally owned businesses. Some specific suggestions have included the creations of a regional center for either artists or sustainable building designers, or a Portland version of Seattle's Pike Place Market.The developers have until Feb. 18 to submit revised proposals or additional information to the agency. The next public hearing on the project will be held on Feb. 9. Additional public forums also are planned for March 23 and April 13.