Park Avenue West Tower Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Park Avenue West Tower
Park Avenue West Tower eastern face
General information
Status	Complete
Type	retail, office, apartments
Location	750 SW 9th Ave, Portland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates	45°31′10″N 122°40′52″W / 45.519368°N 122.681067°W / 45.519368; -122.681067
Completed	2016
Opening	2016
Owner	TMT Development
Height
Antenna spire	502 feet (153 m)
Roof	460 feet (140 m)
Technical details
Floor count	30
Floor area	474,000 sq ft (44,000 m²)
Lifts/elevators	10
Design and construction
Architect	TVA Architects
Developer	TMT Development
Main contractor	Hoffman Construction

The Park Avenue West Tower is a very tall building, called a high-rise, located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. This 30-floor tower has different parts. It includes offices for businesses, shops on the ground floor, and apartments where people live.

It is the fourth tallest building in Portland. Only the Wells Fargo Center, KOIN Center, and the US Bancorp Tower are taller. The company TMT Development built it, and TVA Architects designed it.

This building is taller than what city rules usually allow. However, a special agreement was made with the city. This agreement involved using workers from unions. Whether this part of the deal was fully kept is still being discussed.

Building History and Design
Construction Delays and Restart
City Rules and Worker Agreements
Images for kids
See also

Building History and Design

The western face of the tower from Director Park

The Park Avenue West Tower was first planned to be finished in 2010. TMT Development was also the company working on it then. The original plan was for the tower to have 33 floors. It would have shops, offices, and 85 homes.

Later, the idea for homes was removed from the plans. The building was also going to have a six-floor underground parking garage. This garage would have 325 parking spots.

The developers added four more floors to the building's height. This happened because they agreed to add a large area for bikes. This area included showers, bike parking, and lockers for bike commuters. These bike facilities were built under Director Park.

Construction Delays and Restart

Building work on the tower suddenly stopped in April 2009. Even though construction stopped, the developer hoped to restart the project. They planned to make the building shorter by removing the top ten floors. These floors were meant to be condominiums.

About half of the building's space was already rented out. Stoel Rives was going to be the main tenant, taking 11 floors. A NikeTown store was also planned.

The construction site sat unfinished for over four years. People in Portland called it "Moyer's Ruins" because it looked like an abandoned place.

In December 2011, TMT Development announced that work would begin again. Construction finally restarted in October 2013 after new designs were made. The building was expected to be finished in early 2016.

The new plans included 30 floors. Fifteen of these floors would have 202 apartments. The building reached its full height of 502 feet (153 m) in February 2015. The tower officially opened in February 2016. At that time, 92% of its spaces were rented. Soon after it opened, MetLife provided $130 million to help pay for the building.

City Rules and Worker Agreements

The Park Avenue West Tower has 30 stories. This is taller than what city rules usually allow for buildings in that area. In 2014, city officials and the developer made a deal. The city allowed the taller building. In return, the developer agreed to use union workers for cleaning and security.

However, these union jobs did not happen as agreed. In March 2019, a labor union called SEIU Local 49 protested. They hung a banner from the 11th floor of the building. They did this by renting an apartment there for two days.

In August 2018, a local newspaper, The Oregonian, reported something else. More than 20 of the 202 apartments in the tower were being used for short-term rentals. This means they were rented out for short periods, like hotel rooms, without the right permits. In June 2019, SEIU Local 49 filed a lawsuit. They wanted the union jobs to be created as promised.