Zidell Yards

http://chatterbox.typepad.com/portlandarchitecture/2012/09/the-zidell-yards-discussing-a-new-portland-neighborhood.html

Looks like the Zidell Yards project I spent the last couple of posts on is going to be designed by ZGF Architects. Congratulations guys! I'm told by Rebar that ZGF will be handling the permanent infrastructure  design and that Rebar is still going to be handling the temporary container based architecture which will start in the spring. 

Progress

Rebar, a San Francisco based design firm has been asked by Zidell Maritime to develop an interim use program for thirty acres of waterfront property here in Portland, Oregon. They have asked me to take on the job of project manager. Of course it's impractical to try and develop a site this size all at once so we needed a starting point. Zidell has asked us to design and build a food cart pod next to the lower landing of the OHSU aerial tram. The address is 3201 SW Moody Ave. The site is a little less than one acre and currently is graded with rock behind a five foot eco-block retaining wall along Moody Ave. It has a large electrical service panel on an H frame on the n/w corner and is fenced with chain link. I've seen the initial design plans and an waiting for the construction documents to come down from Rebar.

I've asked two people to join me in managing this project. Matthew McCune is a licensed architect and general contractor with a background in design/build construction. Tim Miller will be handling legal affairs and accounting. Tim's value and experience is simply stated on his business card as "bringing structure to creative people".

This food cart pod will be set up to serve a population of about fifty thousand people. The South Waterfront neighborhood currently consists of several high rise residential and office towers and is connected by aerial tram to Oregon Health and Science University. The area is under served by the local food service industry and is expected to be enthusiastically welcomed by both populations. In order to serve a population of this size we are installing a forty foot high-cube container that will provide additional refrigerated space to the individual carts which are normally supplied by off-site commissary kitchens. The container will also carry large scale graphics to advertise it's presence to the neighborhood.     

Something Big

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Blaine Merker of REBAR in San Francisco. REBAR has made a name for themselves with progressive city planners as the go-to design team if you want to rehabilitate vacant urban landscape in order to create vibrancy and usefulness. Their projects in both New York and San Francisco feature converted cargo container architecture to highlight that the current use is transitory and acts as a place holder for some future, more permanent use. I've been working with a group to implement these containers in a new, flexible and creative way for retail uses in addition to building residential structures. I'm feeling particularly well equipped to help REBAR in this new Portland project. 

Rebar has been working with a client here in Portland that has a little bit of maritime waterfront next to downtown, about thirty acres! The client, Zidell Maritime, gave REBAR the challenge of reconnecting the people of Portland with the Willamette River waterfront. For years there as been almost no river access and the Willamette's water quality reputation kept it from being an ideal location for a swim. That reputation is more than a little dated. The City of Portland recently completed work on a giant infrastructure project that diverts city waste from the river. After spending more than twenty million dollars of their own money to clean and clear the brownfield status of their shipyard site the Zidell family wants to present Portland, Oregon with a new public space, that includes a beach.

Blaine and his partner Mike flew up to Portland last week to meet with the people from Zidell. The next day I hosted a lunch to introduce the guys from REBAR to a group of artists, makers and builders that I'd assembled to hear about REBAR's vision for the site and how we can bring that vision to life. It was truly impressive. They'll be back in a few weeks to take us for a site walk through and to present how they want to define the space. So far the specifics discussed are a metal arts fabrication facility, artist in residence structures, a beer garden and a public sauna. We've been encouraged to come up with additional on-going programing and to develop ways to raise awareness of the site.

Google Maps to; 3121 SW Moody Ave Portland, Oregon 97239. The site is all the undeveloped waterfront land between the Ross Island Bridge and the Marquam Bridge.

Photos, at long last...........

Follow this link to my wife's Flicker site for photos of the interior of the Portland container house.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54864068@N03/sets/72157629487028758/

How This Blog Works

The early posts were created so that people with frequently asked questions could get answers right away. Since then I covered the projects that I've been working on. Lately I haven't had much to add to the conversation. Go to the oldest posts first, they've got a lot of detail. Honestly I'm writing this because I feel guilty about not updating this blog more frequently.

Permits and other factors

I've been getting a lot of email recently. People really do read my posts. I'm not surprised that people are talking about building again and I'm happy that they are taking a look at alternatives like cargo containers. Every body that writes to me already sees the value, sustainability and low cost as being what people need right now. There are a lot of questions about how to approach the building department. As you've read in previous posts it's not the technical part that's difficult getting a permit, it's the cost. It seems like costly system development fees and long drawn out design reviews put a lot of people off. There is a way around that.

In most neighborhoods in cities built early in the last century there are houses which didn't get regular maintenance. Even before the current fore-closer mess houses sat vacant. If there not tuned up periodically nature takes them back. Sills rot and roofs leak causing all sort of damage. Usually their small and it didn't make sense to redevelop back in the boom. If you want to build a container house this is the thing you want to buy. The way the rules work in most municipalities if you save part of one wall of an existing structure than your doing an extensive remodel, you are not doing not doing new construction. The water pipes to the meter are still there and the sewer is already hooked up. This saves vast amounts of money on permits. Picking the right place could save you the cost of a small container home. Fee's in Portland, Oregon for new raw land construction run about $34,000. I built my last house here for about $32.000.

Hall Mark

This month when I picked up the rent check from the people that live in my container house I realized that I'd reached break even on my project. They pay $850.00 (usd) a month and I have been cashing a check for that amount every month for the last three years. My total cost to build that house was $30,000 and change. From here on out, excluding whatever maintenance costs may come up, I will be making money.

Aside from the other benefits of building green housing, container built residential construction makes money, fast. Amortizing the total cost of an investment over a three year period is very fast. Where else are you going to double your investment capital in three years? And that house isn't going anywhere. I'll continue to cash rent checks every month from that property for years to come. Building green has been the best investment I have ever made.

And this has happened during the worst recession in history. Sure I live in an area that has good rental rates but the truth of the matter is that because of low project cost I have been able to set my rents in the low end of the available housing market. This guaranties that I will always have renters lining up to live in the home I've built.

I challenge you to look around the rental market in the area that you live in and see if you can't make a little money for your family too.