Portland's RiverEast Center
An urban redevelopment creates Portland’s first shared Green Street, using native plantings and recycled concrete to treat public and private stormwater and create a public plaza for better access to the Willamette River.
Until a few years ago, RiverEast Center was a 1951 abandoned concrete warehouse in Portland, OR, situated between an industrial sanctuary and the Willamette River. The Portland Development Commission, which owned the property, called it “a key site in the transformation of the Central Eastside”—an aging, but still economically viable jobs center. In April 2007, the building reopened as RiverEast Center, a fully occupied office building for 250 creative professionals, seven businesses, and two non-profit organizations. Group Mackenzie, the project architects and engineers, retained 100% of the original structure, achieved LEED gold certification, opened up public access to the river, and introduced Portland’s first shared Green Street.
Under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, projects earn credits for using a variety of sustainable design elements and construction practices. Portland adopted a Green Street resolution to further sustainable stormwater treatment. A “Green Street” is one that uses vegetated facilities to manage stormwater runoff at its source.
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| Planter areas naturally filter runoff from the roof and plaza. |
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| Recycled building concrete was used to form stormwater basins and sculptures for the public plaza. |
 |
| Portland's first shared Green Street captures runoff from public streets to be filtered on a private facility. |
To expand public access to the river, Group Mackenzie worked with the city to obtain a revocable permit to turn Clay Street into a public plaza connecting inner city neighborhoods to the Eastbank Esplanade, which runs along the river opposite downtown Portland. Large slabs of the concrete walls removed for windows in the building were used for sculptures and as part of the stormwater system. The city, which had been pining for a public park south of the site, now has a public plaza that provides new access to the Esplanade. The project also paves the way for a major bike thoroughfare connecting the homes in Ladd’s Addition—a historic Portland neighborhood that dates back to 1891—to the downtown area.
Urban redevelopment projects are typically obligated to treat only new impervious surfaces at ground level. Project engineers worked with the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services to create a model stormwater system that treats runoff from the building’s roof, parking lot, public plaza, and adjoining city streets. On Portland’s first shared green street, public stormwater runoff is being treated in a privately maintained facility through a recorded operations and maintenance agreement. A number of legal concerns needed to be addressed in forging the landmark agreement to comingle private and public stormwater treatment, including responsibilities following potential spills and maintenance of work on both sides of the right-of-way line. The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, which provided grants to support the demonstration project, hopes more developers will be encouraged to collaborate with the city on stormwater issues.
The city, concerned about pollution washing into streams and rivers, encourages stormwater management strategies that allow rain to filter naturally through vegetation and soak into the soil. The RiverEast Center system naturally filters runoff prior to its discharge into the Willamette River and reduces the load on the city’s overworked sewer system. The project recently won the Julian Prize for its stormwater management system from the American Public Works Association–Oregon Chapter.
Group Mackenzie’s civil engineers and the landscape architects of GreenWorks PC, both of Portland, designed the stormwater system. The system starts on the roof, which covers a city square block of area. The roof is sloped so rainwater can travel to the artistic scuppers on the south end of the building. Collection basins, made of recycled concrete building slabs and lined with native plantings, receive stormwater from the roof and direct it toward flow-through planters along the building and in the parking area.
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arking lot landscape areas also provide water-quality treatment through the flow-through planter method, where native plantings and soil sections capture and clean runoff from the public streets and the private parking lot. The facility combines the city of Portland’s standard flow-through planter and infiltration basin details, creating a system that both cleanses stormwater and allows it to meter flow into the Willamette River.
The RiverEast Center site demonstrates how public agencies, engineers, and private developers can work together to effectively manage stormwater in a dense urban area and reactivate underused streets for public recreation and environmental uses. The project also shows what can be done to recycle a city’s history and creatively apply sustainable design principles to protect our rivers and make a more livable city.
May 2008
Portland's RiverEast Center
An urban redevelopment creates Portland’s first shared Green Street, using native plantings and recycled concrete to treat public and private stormwater and create a public plaza for better access to the Willamette River.
Until a few years ago, RiverEast Center was a 1951 abandoned concrete warehouse in Portland, OR, situated between an industrial sanctuary and the Willamette River. The Portland Development Commission, which owned the property, called it “a key site in the transformation of the Central Eastside”—an aging, but still economically viable jobs center. In April 2007, the building reopened as RiverEast Center, a fully occupied office building for 250 creative professionals, seven businesses, and two non-profit organizations. Group Mackenzie, the project architects and engineers, retained 100% of the original structure, achieved LEED gold certification, opened up public access to the river, and introduced Portland’s first shared Green Street.
Under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, projects earn credits for using a variety of sustainable design elements and construction practices. Portland adopted a Green Street resolution to further sustainable stormwater treatment. A “Green Street” is one that uses vegetated facilities to manage stormwater runoff at its source.
|
| Planter areas naturally filter runoff from the roof and plaza. |
|
| Recycled building concrete was used to form stormwater basins and sculptures for the public plaza. |
|
| Portland's first shared Green Street captures runoff from public streets to be filtered on a private facility. |
To expand public access to the river, Group Mackenzie worked with the city to obtain a revocable permit to turn Clay Street into a public plaza connecting inner city neighborhoods to the Eastbank Esplanade, which runs along the river opposite downtown Portland. Large slabs of the concrete walls removed for windows in the building were used for sculptures and as part of the stormwater system. The city, which had been pining for a public park south of the site, now has a public plaza that provides new access to the Esplanade. The project also paves the way for a major bike thoroughfare connecting the homes in Ladd’s Addition—a historic Portland neighborhood that dates back to 1891—to the downtown area.
Urban redevelopment projects are typically obligated to treat only new impervious surfaces at ground level. Project engineers worked with the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services to create a model stormwater system that treats runoff from the building’s roof, parking lot, public plaza, and adjoining city streets. On Portland’s first shared green street, public stormwater runoff is being treated in a privately maintained facility through a recorded operations and maintenance agreement. A number of legal concerns needed to be addressed in forging the landmark agreement to comingle private and public stormwater treatment, including responsibilities following potential spills and maintenance of work on both sides of the right-of-way line. The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, which provided grants to support the demonstration project, hopes more developers will be encouraged to collaborate with the city on stormwater issues.
The city, concerned about pollution washing into streams and rivers, encourages stormwater management strategies that allow rain to filter naturally through vegetation and soak into the soil. The RiverEast Center system naturally filters runoff prior to its discharge into the Willamette River and reduces the load on the city’s overworked sewer system. The project recently won the Julian Prize for its stormwater management system from the American Public Works Association–Oregon Chapter.
Group Mackenzie’s civil engineers and the landscape architects of GreenWorks PC, both of Portland, designed the stormwater system. The system starts on the roof, which covers a city square block of area. The roof is sloped so rainwater can travel to the artistic scuppers on the south end of the building. Collection basins, made of recycled concrete building slabs and lined with native plantings, receive stormwater from the roof and direct it toward flow-through planters along the building and in the parking area.
arking lot landscape areas also provide water-quality treatment through the flow-through planter method, where native plantings and soil sections capture and clean runoff from the public streets and the private parking lot. The facility combines the city of Portland’s standard flow-through planter and infiltration basin details, creating a system that both cleanses stormwater and allows it to meter flow into the Willamette River.
The RiverEast Center site demonstrates how public agencies, engineers, and private developers can work together to effectively manage stormwater in a dense urban area and reactivate underused streets for public recreation and environmental uses. The project also shows what can be done to recycle a city’s history and creatively apply sustainable design principles to protect our rivers and make a more livable city.