A “master agreement” between the city and a developer changed the game and the scale of development. The rails were removed, toxic soil removed or mitigated and a new city street grid imposed on the vacant urban landscape.
Adaptive reuse of old warehouses continued, but a checkerboard of new city blocks began to sprout mid and high-rise structures. The Northwest Triangle was becoming the Pearl District. Photo by Bruce Forster©
Businesses followed, and urban dwellers sought out homes that no larger had lawns to mow. Powell’s Bookstore, an established tourist attractor, together with the conversion of the old Blitz Brewery into a multiple block commercial and residential complex expanded the district boundaries.
The early incorporation of a streetcar program in the Pearl District became a catalyst for development. Expansion of the streetcar system now connects the Pearl to other urban neighborhoods and downtown Portland State University.
Photo by Bruce Forster©
