Group working to connect investors to Portland neighborhood infill projects

A group under the working name Guerilla Development Capital is hosting a meeting this week to stoke interest in a new kind of investment platform that would connect individuals who have money to invest in real estate with community-minded developers looking to build innovative infill projects.

Tom Osdoba, a consultant who was recently named vice president of green initiatives with affordable housing company Columbia, Md.-based Enterprise Community Partners, is leading the effort.

"We've been working on this for over a year," Osdoba said.

Guerilla has half-dozen neighborhood-oriented developers lined up who are looking to raise money for community-scale projects that mix housing with retail and other uses. Now the group aims to find investors to connect with those developers.

"There should be a platform for investors interested in community development," said Osdoba, who is the former director of the Center for Sustainable Business Practices at the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon.

The idea for the effort began when MBA students Osdoba was working with at UO collaborated on a project with Mercy Corps NW which became a neighborhood real estate investment trust focused on the Lents neighborhood and launched earlier this year.

The idea crystallized further when Osdoba heard the story of the Eco Flats project, a bike-friendly, mixed-use apartment building on North Williams.

The developers behind that project, Jean-Pierre Veillet and Doug Shapiro, told Osdoba, "It took us two years to get our financing in place. It took us 30 days to lease the building."

Read More on Sustainable Business Oregon:
Article by Christina Williams
http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/12/group-working-to-connect-investors-to.html?page=all

Stash Tea opens first tea bar

Forty years in, Stash is working to restore the focus on loose-leaf and other specialty teas. And last weekend it opened its first retail space in Portland — a North Mississippi Avenue store and tea bar that offers 250 loose-leaf teas and 65 by-the-ounce flavors.

Working with Siteworks Design-Build, Stash removed water-damaged flooring in a portion of the store and replaced it with Subway tiling. They scraped the paint away from the rest of the floor and refinished the wood.

Stash also reoriented the store to open up sight lines. Though it sells more than 300 kinds of tea, several brewing methods and dozens of accessories, the store has a minimalistic look. The tea bar has only seven seats. The result is a space that looks larger than it did a few months ago. Customers continue to ask if Stash expanded the store, but the square footage is the same.

Full Story on Oregon Live:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/11/stash_tea_opens_first_tea_bar.html

ecoFLATS: Energy Trust of Oregon

Path to Net Zero
Watch Jean-Pierre showcase the ecoFLATS featured on Energy Trust of Oregon's "Path to Net Zero:
Incentives for net-zero commercial projects."

Net zero is the future of the building industry. That’s why Energy Trust offers enhanced incentives for building owners who set net-zero or net-zero-ready goals.

http://energytrust.org/library/case-studies/video/Path-to-Net-Zero-Featurette.aspx

ecoFLATS Case Study

A closer look at Jean-Pierre's ecoFLATS presented as a featured case study created by the Energy Trust of Oregon.  http://energytrust.org/library/case-studies/video/ecoFLATS.aspx

Jean-Pierre Veillet elected in PNCA Board of Governors

Whoooohooooo!!! Congrats Jean-Pierre!!! All of us at Siteworks have eagerly anticipated for this moment to happen for you, and we're so happy & excited for your future as one of the Board of Governors at PNCA.
OW OW OW

CHEERS!


http://www.pnca.edu/

NPR: Think Out Loud w/ guest Jean-Pierre Veillet

Jean-Pierre, is a guest on NPR's 'Think Out Loud' radio talk show today!

We are so proud and excited to hear our Creative Director having a discussion about 'Apartments with No Parking.' Please tune in today and listen.

If you miss it, we will be sure provide a link to a podcast soon...
Apartments with No Parking

AIR DATE: Tuesday, September 18th 2012

More and more developers are putting up apartment buildings in Portland with no room for cars to park. There will be plenty of room for bikes, however. Developers and city planners say the lack of car parking will encourage residents to be car-free. But people who live in the neighborhoods where these buildings are going up are concerned that street parking will become even more challenging.
Do you live in a neighborhood where a new apartment building is being built? Are you concerned about how that will affect parking near where you live? Are you looking for a place to live? Does an apartment building without car parking appeal to you?
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/apartments-no-parking/

ARTIST LOFTS

"Artist Lofts function in unexpected places when a mixed use buildings original retail Dreams are no longer viable."

Siteworks transformed the ground level retail of the Enso Artist Lofts with good design and efficient construction processes.  This was accomplished by retaining existing entrances and store front creating a common gallery, and access to light and air by lowering the entry to a structural floor.  Siteworks maximized high cielings, and by introducing our industrial design and fabrication capabilities were efficiently partition the interiors of units. 

Siteworks not only provided creative solutions to an un-leasable commercial space.  Siteworks' team of Project Managers, Super Superintendents, Architects, and Designers delivered the project complete ahead of anticipated schedule.  

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Visit Enso's website: http://www.ensoapartments.com/

PNCA

PNCA's Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design from PNCA - Pacific Northwest College on Vimeo.

PNCA’s new home will become a bustling new hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the transformational power of art and design. The 134,000 square foot building will enable the College to shed expensive leased spaces and to grow the student body to 1,000 by 2018. PNCA’s Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design will serve as the gateway to the transformation of the North Park Blocks, which also encompasses PNCA’s partner, the Museum of Contemporary Craft and ArtHouse, a spectacular new residence hall opening in 2013.

The Campaign for PNCA's Vision of the North Park Blocks

http://pnca.edu/about/giving/c/campaign