230 Ash received Historic Landmark’s Commission Approval on June 12^th. The project is located in downtown Portland’s Skidmore / Oldtown Historic District and represents the first new building for Downtown Development Group in their proposed Ankeny Blocks Development – 11 buildings with the potential to reshape a 30-block area in downtown. 

The property for 230 Ash is a half block along Southwest Ash Street between Southwest Second and Third Avenues. The new building will fit well amid the vibrant scene on Second Avenue, across the street from Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub and 1-year-old Pine Street Market. The red brick building is six stories with 133 apartments with a rooftop deck overlooking the Willamette River, underground parking and ground floor space designed for restaurants.

“Designing a building for a nationally recognized historic district like Skidmore/Old Town was interesting”, according to GBD Principal Agustin Enriquez V.  “The hope for this project is that it will usher in the next chapter for Old Town with a density of residential use that doesn’t yet exist much. Understanding the historic context, the design effort was tuned to finding a solution that is visually compatible with the existing buildings, but doesn’t trivialize the reality that it is being built in contemporary times.”

Note: Excerpts of this post are referenced from DJC Oregon’s recent article, linked above.