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Construction of the Lloyd Blocks is under way, and it's going to be a whirlwind.
"It's going to go fast," said Kyle Andersen, a principal at GBD Architects and the project's architect of record. "We're going three levels down before we come back up and then there will be three cranes in the air."
On Sept. 17, American Assets Trust - a San Diego-based real estate investment trust - will hold a formal ground-breaking ceremony for its massive mixed-use development planned for the Lloyd District superblock between Northeast Multnomah and Holladay streets, and Seventh and Ninth avenues. By that time, construction will be four weeks into a project slated to finish in summer 2015.
Many people hope that the project, announced by former Portland mayor Sam Adams in spring 2012, will catalyze development in an area lagging behind expectations. Meanwhile, some observers question whether the market will support a $192 million (American Assets Trust's total estimated investment) venture.
Robert Barton, executive vice president and chief financial officer for American Assets Trust, is confident it will. In an email, he said company officials foresee a major transformation in the Lloyd District that will turn it into a vibrant work, live and play environment.
Barton said that before American Assets Trust settled on its Lloyd Blocks project, it sought to acquire multifamily properties throughout the Portland market - including in the Pearl District. Record low vacancies and demographic trends attracted the company's attention, but most of the properties it found were selling at cap rates below 5 percent - not high enough to boost shareholder value.
Then the company found the Lloyd District, and a fully entitled site on...