(Rendering courtesy Metro)
Beaverton is looking to get a slice of Portland’s walkable-bikeable apartment boom.
Tomorrow morning, developers and city officials will break ground at the vacant lot at Southwest First Street and Angel Avenue in Beaverton’s streetcar-era Old Town neighborhood, officially kicking off construction of The Signal.
The four-story building will be about two blocks from Beaverton High School, half a mile from the Beaverton Transit Center and 2.5 miles from Nike headquarters.
Apartments will include studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms and nine larger live-work units on the ground floor, with an average size of 750 square feet. They’re currently expected to rent for about $1,050 to just under $2,000 a month.
“We’re close to transit. We’re easily bikeable to Nike and other employers in the region… there’s a lot of life over there that we hope will keep growing.”
— Kali Bader, Rembold Companies
One or more of the 65 on-site car parking stalls will be optionally available for an additional fee.
And in news that would be fairly routine for a newly built Portland building but is a first for its western neighbor, The Signal will include extensive bike parking, an on-site bike repair stand and a bike wash.
“I definitely feel like Beaverton’s been a little bit of a sleepy sister to Portland, and even to Hillsboro in a way,” said Kali Bader, vice president of developer Rembold Companies. Bader said she lives just outside Beaverton city limits and her children attend Beaverton schools. “it has proximity to Portland and proximity to Lake Oswego and Hillsboro makes it a really great location in the region. … We just think it’s a somewhat overlooked city and it shouldn’t be.”
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The $20 million project is happening on a city-owned site and is getting a $350,000 subsidy from Metro’s transit-oriented development program. (Other than that, it’s privately funded.) The City of Beaverton, looking to jump-start development of the precious few gridded streets in its city center, put word around in 2013 that it was looking for a developer for a project like this.
“We really like the site because it’s kind of uniquely urban but in a suburban setting,” Bader said. “We’re close to transit. We’re easily bikeable to Nike and other employers in the region. … Especially with Old Town area being so walkable and the library and the park and the farmers market, there’s a lot of life over there that we hope will keep growing.”
Hillsboro, Beaverton and the rest of Washington County are facing another phase in their perennial debate over whether the area should expand its urban growth boundary or find ways to fit more density in their existing urban areas.
Bader said she takes no position on those questions, but thinks “Both cities are doing a decent job of attracting that type of development. It is hard to make the zoning work with these infill projects. … Obviously not all the land there is zoned to do high-rise housing.”
That said, there are plans in the works for an arts, culture, hotel, housing and retail development nearby. Rembold is a partner in that project too, along with Portland-based infill specialist Gerding Edlen.
“I’m pretty confident there will be additional development in the Old Town area over time; it’s already gridded, there are blocks,” Bader said. “There’s just not a lot of that out there.”
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“Bike wash” as in a place to wash your bike, or “bikewash” by adding extensive bike parking in a suburb that doesn’t have the comfortable biking experience to support high ridership?
Don’t want to be a downer, but I couldn’t resist the pun 🙂 I actually don’t have very much experience in downtownish Beaverton. What’s it like to ride there? Do BikePortland readers think the bike amenities at this development will be heavily used?
I’ve never ridden in downtown Beaverton but I have ridden on the arterials. It’s a nightmare. Tiny (maybe 3-4 foot) painted bike lanes right alongside speeding 45 MPH traffic. The sidewalks aren’t much better. I hear WashCo is working on a cycle track near Beaverton, though. That should improve the situation a bit. Honestly, the streets are so wide there that cycle tracks can easily fit into the ROW.
Hm. Which arterials have you ridden? There are some that are nightmares, such as Farmington Rd/Beaverton-Hillsdale highway, then there are some that have not-bad bike lanes, such as Jenkins/Baseline, Murray, 158th. There are also some recently-completed trails, and signals that have been added to existing trails (Waterhouse trail @ Walker Rd., Greenway trail @ Hall) that have made off-street navigation a bit better. Surprisingly, I find riding in downtown Beaverton about as problematic as riding in downtown Portland. There are some streets that just aren’t suitable due to narrow width plus fast speeds, rail tracks, etc., and others that are just fine with or without bike lanes.
I’ve ridden 158th and Walker Road. The bike lanes are glorified shoulders and not very comfortable to ride in.
Based on your requirement that every bike lane should be protected and separate from traffic it is no wonder you find every piece of bike infrastructure lacking. A more positive view that something is being done might be more helpful, rather than the daily, it isn’t enough posting that leads off every comments section.
Those roads really do suck. Every aspect of them.
What bike “Lanes” aren’t glorified shoulders? They are asphalt and paint.
I ride 158th daily to work. It’s a bike lane like any other, and I’ve never had an issue with it other than south of Walker, in which case it is a shoulder and not a bike lane as indicated by the 4in stripe. Walker, is intermittent with regards to a bike lane and in many place is a shoulder, again as indicated by the 4in stripe instead of the 8in stripe.
This infrastructure has been built out over years. Walker goes from two lanes to 4 lanes, to 4 lanes with a center turn lane. It has sidewalks and curbs, it has neither and gutters. It has bike lanes and shoulders and neither. The road also lies within three jurisdictions, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Washington County. They don’t all upgrade the road at the same time let alone the entire road in under their control. It’s better than it was and continues to improve.
“It’s better than it was and continues to improve.” We’re just going to have to agree to disagree on that one.
Walker is also the road that in the not too distant future, will get a protected bike lane, basically along the section of the road that passes by Nike’s campus. At least I think it’s coming soon. It’s not in yet, is it Canuck?
What the lane will look like, and how it’ll function, is a ‘wait and see’ proposition. Because it’s going to be so short, I think it’ll be more of a demonstration showpiece, rather than something able to do much good for riding in the area.
I want to be really positive and upbeat about how infrastructure for walking and practical biking in Beaverton will come together going into the future. Tough reality seems to continue to be though, that a view of biking as a major means of travel for practical purposes in the area, has yet to evolve.
The city is big on making provision for recreational biking (such as the Creekside project in Central Beaverton that’s gradually being built.), Those things mostly are park type infrastructure…not cycle tracks, bike lanes, bike ways, whatever you want to call them…designed to allow a lot of people to commute comfortably and safely to work, shopping, etc, out of direct exposure to motor vehicle traffic.
Not saying every street needs a cycle track, but a 45 MPH suburban arterial absolutely should. There’s plenty of room for one, and the speed differential and high car volume make a cycle track the only safe option.
But yes, they don’t make sense everywhere. We have a great system of Neighborhood Greenways that when done well, can be very safe and inviting to ride on. What we need to focus on next is improving access to business districts — most of which are on busy arterials where just more paint won’t improve safety enough.
wsbob,
Nothing has been done on Walker on the north side of the Nike campus. I’m not sure if the fix is tied to the construction on the campus or it is separate project.
Although that section does have a useable bike lane. West bound I prefer Walker over Jenkins, even with the hills, because it’s a straight shot bike lane where Jenkins has that two lane down to one where the right lane becomes a turn lane and the bike lane cuts across it. East bound I prefer Jenkins no hills the Murray intersection is easier to deal with
Just did a little online searching. Currently being worked on seems to be what’s being referred to as “…158th Avenue (Merlo Station
to Walker Road) and Walker Road–Phase 1 173 rd Avenue to Schendel Avenue) project. Link to a ‘project summary and comments’ for a past May meeting that’s interesting. for me, especially questions and answers related to protected bike lanes:
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/TransportationProjects/upload/158th-OH-1-and-Walker-OH-3-Summary.pdf
Long story short…this phase doesn’t extend east to Walker past Nike. It’s apparently Phase II scheduled to start in 2018, that goes past NIke.
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/TransportationProjects/walker-rd-west-of-sw-murray-blvd.cfm?page=Activity
In the materials I’ve provided links for, is indication that conversion of two lane roads to four with center lane, continues to be the strategy for accommodating likely to increase use of the road with motor vehicles. Moves more motor vehicles, yes…but considering the major, negative characteristics that go along with that type of conversion, I wonder if this really is a good way for Beaverton and Washington County to be moving toward keeping the area a good place to live.
The nightmare intersection that puzzles me the most:
Why is crossing TV simpler from The Round MAX station at Hall?
Why shouldn’t crossing TV at Central be as simple?
Beautiful building totally.
Iconic actually.
I think I love it.
Every floor could have an open view corner near the elevator, a good view, comfy seats, swivel chairs, small table, coffeemaker, fridge, poster board.
“To every floor, a break room must come”
I ride through downtown Beaverton fairly often. Lots of connecting cross streets, not a whole lot of traffic, because it is all on Farmington/B-H. Not a nightmare at all.
Outside of central Beaverton, it is a mixed bag.
Double entendre.
Actually, where this will be located is a prime spot for bike commuters in Beaverton. Aside from the hellways that are Canyon and Farmington Roads (Washington County needs to tackle these roads in a big way, the bike infrastructure is practically non-existent, and where it is implemented is spotty at best), there are plenty of bike lanes and routes in and around Central Beaverton. It’s no panacea, but it’s getting better every year.
From this location, one can hop onto SW 5th Ave to head east toward Portland, the MAX station is very close by to get you downtown, and heading south on Hall, after some dicey areas north of Allen, isn’t bad at all.
Beaverton is already working on Canyon Road in this area…
http://www.beavertoncivicplan.com/creekside-components/district-transportation-plan/canyon-road/
“…What’s it like to ride there? …” Alex Reed
It’s fine. Nice walkable neighborhood area south of Farmington around the library. The two big thoroughfares streaking right through the center of town are persistent physical, psychological and aesthetic hurdles to the city being a more enjoyable place to get around without driving. Get away from them a block or two, and surroundings are nice, quiet, low traveled.
I would be great if Beaverton could keep from becoming overly congested and busy. This new housing the city and the county is putting up will hugely increase travel needs made upon area roads. There’s very little indication travel infrastructure is being correspondingly expanded and improved to meet that need.
Glad to see downtown Beaverton getting some development. Definitely a lot of potential there.
Having had commuted from SE to Hillsboro, I’m glad to see this. My nice ride used to drop into dangerous bikehell at NIKE for a cross your fingers ride down baseline in the bike lanes. Every day was a win when I made it the path on the 26 w/o getting doored or hooked. This development will progress active transport in Washington county, unfortunately, it happened too late for me.
The 26 path is fantastic. Getting to the path from Nike needs some serious
work, though. Riding on Walker Road is downright scary. Once you get past Nike, it’s mostly pleasently quiet neighborhood streets. Last I heard, there was an effort to stripe sharrows along this route.
Sharrows on Walker is a terrible idea. Especially East of Cedar Hills Blvd. I know, I live there. I would never ride on that entire part of Walker, unless I had no other choice.
If you’re commuting from Nike, you’d be so much better off taking Park Way. It shoots straight through Cedar Hills and takes you directly to the Sunset path.
Sorry for the confusion. I meant sharrows on Park Way. Walker should have protected bike lanes.
Agree on both points! (though I think Walker East of Cedar Hills is going to get a much-needed center turn lane before it gets dedicated bike lanes, but any improvement is a move in the right direction)
There was an article here a year ago about Walker getting protected bike lanes. Wonder what the status on that is. http://bikeportland.org/2014/11/25/nike-expands-nearby-biking-options-113947
that was my route, but West of NIKE was NOT safe
I used to commute to Nike and Intel from the NE corner of Hwy 217/SW Walker Rd. So, yeah, if I was running late, I’d drop onto Walker east of Hwy 217 and cross my fingers until I got to just east of Cedar Hills. The stretch from William Walker elementary to where it finally widens a bit is narrow, with no shoulder and ditches. I’d take the lane (yay, downhill!), but it wasn’t unusual to have some idiot sitting on his horn behind me the whole way. I am not sure where y’all are seeing improvements; those of us in east WashCo don’t get squat.
I’d be happy with “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” for that stretch of SW Walker.
Another option from Nike is to cross Walker onto SW 150th or SW Meadow, then head east on Downing/Butner to SW Huntington (R turn, lovely now that they have covered over the sharp pointy boulders in the ditch with an actual paved shoulder), then L on SW Park Way. If you are working in the leased buildings on the Tektronix campus, go north on Ecole, cross over Walker into the church parking lot (yes, it is possible, even a rush hour), then cut left/right out the back of the parking lot, and follow that street to, again, Park Way.
Beaverton is a mixed bag. City government does appear to take biking seriously, and (along with WashCo) is improving bike facilities in and around the city. Tualatin Hills Park and Rec District, the local parks district that largely serves Beaverton (but is independent of the city) and which maintains many of the offroad trails, is great.
OTOH, there’s a lot of old neighborhood streets with poor amenities, and a lot of gaps in the bike network. Crossing TV Highway and the P&W tracks is difficult; crossing US26 is worse. And downtown Beaverton is not an easy place to ride; though the city is planning a revamp of the downtown core, particularly Canyon Road.
THPRD is great, but WashCo’s approach to bike facilities is abysmal. They do the absolute bare legally-required minimum, and sometimes not even that.
That is so true. I commute on Beaverton-Hillsdale at night and once I leave Multnomah County, it’s a white-knuckle ride through Raleigh Hills and into Beaverton. No bike lane. No lights. Sidewalks are a minefield of random trees, posts, bus stops, and traffic signal poles. I’ve sent so many complaints and suggestions to WA Co and heard nothing back.
The City of Beaverton, on the other hand, got back to me within days, and the contact even commiserated with me about how little improvement Beaveton-Hillsdale has in Washington County.
The bike lanes end by a shoe store of all businesses in Raleigh Hills and reappear and disappear. ODOT is widening Farmington and putting in new bike lanes and wide sidewalk right now. WashCo is considering putting in protected bike lanes as part of the SW Oleson Road realignment project.
“… commute on Beaverton-Hillsdale at night and once I leave Multnomah County, it’s a white-knuckle ride through Raleigh Hills and into Beaverton. No bike lane. No lights. …” Nate
Sounds like you’re taking Beav-Hllsdale Hwy because you want to, because it’s fast, simpler and more straightforward than say, south on Oleson to Garden Home and then either west on Garden Home Rd, or the Fanno Creek trail. May happen someday, but it’s going to be tough and expensive to create good bike lanes on Beav-Hllsdale west of Raleigh Hills, or preferably, some some sort of fast and efficient bike route off the highway some distance.
WashCo does have a bikeway plan, published in July 2014: http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/Divisions/TrafficEngineering/DesignInformation/neighborhood-bikeway-plan.cfm
However, it is completely unfunded.
Staff is “looking into grant opportunities in order to launch a pilot project.”
What I like so much about this (bikewashing or no) is the reminder that Beaverton was a town before it was a suburb. For those of us in Portland who don’t get out that way much, it feels like just a series of freeways and stroads, and this apartment building reminds me that there IS a downtown-old-town to be enjoyed, developed and promoted as a 21st century town of its own. Good for them!
Does anyone know the rental market out there much? Where does a $1050 studio stack up?
These are not near downtown Beaverton:
Near Orenco Station MAX:
http://www.hub9living.com/
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5309825,-122.9164314,124m/data=!3m1!1e3
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http://www.platform14apts.com/p/apartments/floorplans_6052/hillsboro-or-97124/platform-14-6052
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5317536,-122.9163263,124m/data=!3m1!1e3
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http://www.simpsonpropertygroup.com/apartments/hillsboro-oregon/nexus-at-orenco-station
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At NW Cornell & NW 206th
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5376607,-122.8888932,124m/data=!3m1!1e3
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At NW Wilkins and NW 206th still under construction:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5273906,-122.8881641,124m/data=!3m1!1e3
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Near NW 201st and Baseline
http://baselinewoodscr.prospectportal.com/beaverton-portland/baseline-woods-apts-beaverton/floorplans/#floorplan
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Near SW 205th and SW Kirkwood
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.516433,-122.8872168,124m/data=!3m1!1e3
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Near Quatama MAX station:
http://quatamavillage.com/floor.php?plan=Skylark
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Quatama+Crossing+Apartments/@45.5257017,-122.8898,495m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x1d80685db669fee0
Looks great. The area is good because you can easily walk to shops, library, gym, park, farmers mkt, grocery, etc…
Beaverton currently has two other new urbanist apartment projects under construction on 1st St in their downtown area (which might even be complete by now — I don’t visit Beaverton enough to tell). I think that downtown and the area immediately north of it, where the two main Beaverton MAX stations are located, would be good spots for Beaverton to create its own little Pearl District of sorts. It seems that this has been their intention for awhile — “The Round” development seems to have been the first step of such an attempt, which stalled out shortly thereafter.
Hillsboro is a bit more advanced in the construction of its version of the Pearl District with Orenco Station, and for some reason has been more successful than Beaverton.
I think it’s important for the suburbs to construct lively city centers containing high-density mixed use residential and commercial units in part so that they stop driving to ours during the weekend. I know that’s really glib sounding, but it’s apparent that suburbanites do appreciate urbanism on some level, even if they don’t want it directly in their backyard. I’d rather that they drive a short distance to it rather than driving 20 miles to Portland, where they fill up our city streets with cars on Saturday afternoon.
In Washington, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland have all built out pretty nice downtown areas that serve as a destination spot for their residents. Central Bellevue’s newer development consists primarily of residential and office towers, whereas Kirkland and Redmond have opted for a more low-rise six-story “European” strategy. If the residents of those suburbs want to sit in some sidewalk cafe on the weekend and watch people walk by, they don’t have to go to Seattle. They can stay put and hang out in their own downtown. Residents of Beaverton should have the same option. I lived there for six months in the early 2000s, and it sucked there. Totally boring, with nothing of interest to experience other than a handful of parks. I hope they change that.
I thought this phrase was key:
” If the residents of those suburbs want to sit in some sidewalk cafe on the weekend and watch people walk by, they don’t have to go to Seattle. They can stay put and hang out in their own downtown.”
That’s exactly correct– the suburbs, in order to stay viable, need to have places their residents can shop, eat, play, hang out, within their city limits. They also need to work on making a fully connected system of sidewalks and bike lanes.
I don’t live or work in Portland, and I don’t want to drive 20 miles just to hang out at a bar or coffee shop. I live and work in a suburb, it would be nice to be able to hang out at a bar or coffee shop in my city, and it would be nice to have bike lanes and sidewalks everywhere so I don’t have to take my life into my hands every time I choose to transport myself without using my car.
Tigard seems to have got the message, and are currently setting their sights on being the “best most walkable city” in the region, but they have a very very very LOOOOOONG way to go to make that label a reality. The revitalization of Tigard’s Main Street is a great step, now they need to work on connections.
Have you been on Tigard’s new Tigard Street Trail or the new boardwalk on SW Johnson Street? There is a new big concrete staircase that now connects SW Oak Street to SW Ventura at the site of the old Tigard armory.
I second (third?) the thoughts of chris and Kristen T. I suspect more people would like to live in small, interesting, walkable cafe towns( suburbs) than in super-dense cities. The (new ‘n’ improved) suburbs are the future! Glad to hear about Tigard’s plans–anything that makes it easier for me to get to Banning’s is a plus. 🙂
Well, I live a mile north of there and I pay $735 for a 750sq ft 1 bedroom in a nice complex with very low stress access to the 26 bike path to get downtown. $75 more for a garage and I have work space for my bike too.
I HATE crossing the area between 8 and 10 on a bike though, it’s one of the reasons I don’t like the “easier” southern route into town and would prefer to climb the hill 🙂
Beaverton recently removed some car parking spots on SW Broadway Street to install a wider sidewalk, street trees, and a gathering place.
“not all the land there is zoned to do high-rise housing.”
Why does it look like the only two choices for new construction are massive 1/2 million $$ single family homes or massive high rise apartment buildings? What about some garden apartments, and 2/3/4 plexes?
Some of Portland’s most charming units are the garden apartment buildings scattered about town. Surely you could put a 10 unit building on a lot where you’re going to put two 3000 sq ft houses.
Agreed! I love the garden apartment buildings.
I’m almost certain that new garden apartments are forbidden in single-family zones in Beaverton, as they have been in single-family zones in Portland and most other cities.
(In Portland, I’m told the history of this is that in the 60s through 80s, developers started using garden apartments codes to put in apartments that overlook parking lots instead of overlooking gardens. For some reason that design was less popular with neighbors, so they threw out the whole thing.)
In the handful of areas where high-rises are allowed (or low-rises, like this one) the developer naturally wants to maximize profit by putting in bigger buildings. Even if a developer would prefer to build a garden apartment on a lot like this one, she has to compete against a developer who’s willing to pay more for the land because they’re going to put in a bigger/denser building.
“and most other cities”
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k45w.pdf
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k41w.pdf
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k41w.pdf
Residential cottage apartment: RSL/TC
Low-rise codes: LR1, LR2, LR3.
Cool.
Sellwood has a lot of smaller 6-15 unit apartments in the pipeline, which aren’t exactly the same as as garden apartments. However, they are smaller scale buildings that are essentially replacing bungalows in areas zoned for medium density.
I live in the area and love it. We can walk to the library or farmers market and my daughter can walk to the high school. Hopefully the downtown area between Farmington and TV will get developed a bit. There was some work done on the sidewalks and streets recently in that area and looks much nicer. My bike commute takes me from central Beaverton out to Hillsboro near the stadium. I usually ride Hocken, Millikan, Murray, Jenkins, 170th, Walker, Cornell and Cornelius Pass. Most of these have some type of bike facility except for a mile or two section along Walker. Surprisingly I always feel safe and find most people pretty patient and careful around cyclists. Previously my commute was from SE 162nd/Powell to downtown and found that was a little less pleasant. True there are always the difficult intersections or two on any commute (the jog on Jenkins heading west in front of Nike campus if any Nike employees are listening. Do you really have to cut me off everyday. My arm is out signaling for a reason :^) ) but for the most part I find Washington county pretty easy especially if you avoid the really busy streets (TV highway). I know changes are coming also. Hocken and Farmington are tore up to make room for more lanes including some for bikes. Cornelius Pass is getting a separated mup path near 26. Walker is scheduled for widening with some of the work started this summer. The Rock Creek trail is getting extended near Cornell. The powerline path is a nice separated trail that runs north/south. I tend to avoid this however as there is too much foot traffic. I think the more Washington county grows and as traffic gets stacked up more people will look to bikes for commuting. I remember one busy Friday where a noticeable car passed me on Walker at 185th. I caught up to it and passed it near Jenkins and Hocken.
” It is hard to make the zoning work with these infill projects. … Obviously not all the land there is zoned to do high-rise housing.”
Then they need to change the freaking zoning! The last thing Beavertron needs is more sprawl and an expansion of the UGBu. Plenty of room for infill and affordable, walkable, bikeable neighborhoods if the NIMBYs can be resisted. Is there any effort afoot to rezone any of these dead zones, Michael?
BTW, there are some lovely garden apartments over in the Bethany area, across from Bethany Village. They only rise 2-3 floors, but still make relatively attractive multi family housing.
I like how the buildings in Beaverton have a certain sparkle to them, and the weather is nicer there — like a perpetual summer. These things are captured well in that photo.
But seriously, good news. If Beaverton had started projects like this 30 years ago, the region could have avoided so many roadway expansions and so many UGB expansions.
My only suggestion to Beaverton, the developers, and advocates would be looking at ways to improve the street grid N of Farmington, N across or over the railway, and make the area just S of the MAX line more pedestrian friendly.
Thats what, 100 feet from the heavy rail? I couldn’t live there, those trains blow their horns at every cross street. At least 5min straight you could hear them. You could probably feel the train that close.
While rail is good, it opens up many livability problems when it runs straight through the center of town.
yep, go have fun playing chicken with suvs out in the burbs — you will all soon be turned into hood ornaments