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The renderings for a proposed 17-story apartment and office building near the east end of the Burnside Bridge were put up on the Next Portland site July 31.
The building, named 5 MLK, is expected to be 200-feet tall and will be built on the site of the century-old building housing Fishels Furniture, which announced in April that it would be closing after 95 years in business.
According to a 1988 survey by the Hawthorne Boulevard Business Association, the existing building was built in 1900. The survey describes it as, "a highly important visual element anchoring the northern periphery of the industrial district."
For decades, each person crossing the Burnside Bridge had been greeted with the iconic serif F of Fishels store—but since this spring, the windows have been covered with gigantic signs proclaiming the store's "Entire and Complete Stock on Sale."
Historic Shleifer Furniture, open for 80 years, also closed this year after its building was purchased by developer Brad Malsin. A hotel is planned.
The minimalist-modern "5 MLK" will follow the current Portland template for mixed-use high rises—100,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail on the bottom floor, a nearly 5,000 square-foot bike lounge and 220 residential units, plus a series of landscaped terraces.
There will be 160 parking spots.
The building will be built by developer Portland developer Gerding Edlen, whose properties include Wieden + Kennedy, Whole Foods in the Pearl and the South Waterfront Central District.
The plans for 5 MLK are still in the early stages, and are awaiting input and approval from Portland's design commission.
Willamette Week