From the Daily Journal of Commerce: Hoyt Street Properties’ newest condominium tower, the 176-unit Encore, may be its last – at least for a while.Set to open in November, the 15-story curved tower will be doing so in the midst of a slumping condominium market.“Given the way the market is, we haven’t had a lot of sales up to this point,” said Tiffany Sweitzer, president of Hoyt Street Properties.Among projects placed on the back burner is a Hoyt Street-owned lot known as Block 17, across f... Read Full Story

This is a really good over view of the tough times in the restaurant industry. The recent closing of D.F. and its sister Taqueria Nueve were a surprise to everyone. Its much easier to get into your favorite restaurant without a reservation, and with costs rising people are choosing to stay home. Yet new restaurants are still opening but maybe not at the pace of a couple years ago. The old Bernadette Breu location on NW Everett is being built out into a new restaurant, Bella Gioia. Times ... Read Full Story

From the Portland Tribune:For fans of Portland theater, personnel changes at a repertory company a continent away might not seem all that meaningful. What’s significant is that the prestigious American Repertory Theater of Cambridge, Mass., did not hire Chris Coleman of Portland Center Stage as its new artistic director last month. On May 16, the theater Web site inNovember.com reported that ART had hired New York-based theater veteran Diane Paulus to fill the position. Coleman had emerged, t... Read Full Story

From The Oregonian:"We wouldn't be interested in working on proscenium stages right now," Rachel Tess says. "The way we're interested in communicating as choreographers is predicated on intimacy." It's not as if Tess and her partner, Stephan Laks, can't command the larger spaces of a proscenium presentation -- as anyone knows who caught their riveting guest performance in Josie Moseley's White Bird/PSU Dance Series show in January. But with Rumpus Room... Read Full Story

In an editorial the Portland Tribune expresses its concern about extending the life of urban renewal districts and calls for URA's that are "successful" to come to an end.I still believe that Urban Renewal is good and I don't believe that the River District URA is "complete". There are still 20 acres in the North Pearl that are undeveloped and not likely to be developed without the support of the URA. Old Town/Chinatown is seeing businesses come into the district... Read Full Story

Pedalpalooza kicked off with a police-escorted bike parade this evening. The group gathered at Jamison. There was a great crowd of bikers, plus the fountain is on again (hurray) and the farmers market was hopping.Speaking of the farmers market, the kid contingent of bikers at Jamison seemed to be relying heavily on strawberries as they waited, and waited, using all their patience, for the ride to begin.Families showed up with all sorts of gear, including decorated bikes, coaster bikes, and bi... Read Full Story

If you were wondering what all the sirens were this afternoon, there was a construction accident at the Encore. A worker drilled into a 480 volt power line causing an electrical explosion. The explosion traveled back into the basement of the building causing a small fire and a lot of smoke. The fire was quickly controlled.One worker had what were described as serious burns but was conscious and sitting up when paramedics arrived. His condition is unknown. A second worker suffered from smo... Read Full Story

Be sure to drop in and say hello...Parallel1122 NW MarshallPortland, OR 97209 Read Full Story

So the Portland Planning Commission is proposing to eliminate height restrictions in the north Pearl. The trade off is that the buildings get skinnier as they go up. The goal is to have a more varied skyline, which is a good goal. Different materials used on the exterior would add to that goal. One must of course keep in mind that nothing is happening until the market turns and construction begins again.I would also like to see more businesses, and not just retail, populate the North Pear... Read Full Story

Had a great conversation with the Portland Parks and Rec Site Director at MLC this afternoon. Sylvia Linington said that there's space in the summer classes that are scheduled for MLC (that's the Metropolitan Learning Center up on 2oth and Glisan) and that they'd love to fill the classes with kids from the neighborhood.Looks like there are opportunities for music education for kids ages 10 - 18. It's also worth noting that this is a SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) program... Read Full Story