oregon square design

A rendering of American Assets Trust's proposed redevelopment at Oregon Square, right, and the Hassalo on Eighth development already under construction, left. Together, the projects will add nearly 1,700 housing units to the Lloyd District.

(GBD Architects/City of Portland)

American Assets Trust appears to be doubling down on its plan to turn the white-collar Lloyd District into a bustling residential neighborhood.

The San Diego real-estate firm is already building 657 apartments at its Hassalo on Eighth development. Now it's considering adding another thousand on a site across the street, it has told city development officials.



The publicly traded trust declined to speak publicly about the project before an earnings conference call scheduled for Wednesday.



Its new plans call for building four towers on the site, currently occupied by four low-rise office buildings. The residential high-rises would range in size from 10 to 32 floors, and they would have a combined 1,030 housing units.



The Hassalo project was said to be the largest single apartment project in Portland's history, but the new planned development would top it.



The project would also include 36,000 square feet of retail space and 800 parking spaces in an underground garage.





An early design of American Assets Trust's proposed mixed-use Oregon Square development, which would bring 1,030 housing units to Portland's Lloyd District.

The site is one of the city's rare "super blocks," which interrupt the street grid to create a larger-than-usual block. The redevelopment would use the space between the four buildings as a pedestrian-only plaza.



GBD Architects, which also designed the Hassalo on Eighth development, is the architect for the new project.



The Lloyd District is better known for office towers and the Lloyd Center mall than it is for residential housing, and few people — only 1,000 in 2010 — actually live there now.



By itself, the Hassalo development was poised to nearly double the Lloyd District's population. Adding that to the new development could triple it.



American Assets Trust bought into the neighborhood when it acquired a portfolio of office buildings in a $92 million deal. Along with the office buildings came other underutilized property, including the parking lots where the firm is building Hassalo on Eighth.



The company's chief executive, John Chamberlain, said at the Urban Land Institute's real estate trends forum a year ago that it planned to redevelop a total 16 blocks in the district with a focus on residential and retail uses.



"We're trying to build a neighborhood," he said. "Residential does that. I don't think office contributes as much."



The owners of the Lloyd Center are also making big changes at the mall, in part predicated on the idea that the neighborhood is changing. They're opening more of the mall directly to the street in an effort to take advantage of an anticipated increase in foot traffic.



Gallery: Renderings of the Hassalo on Eighth development already under construction

Hassalo on Eighth development 7 Gallery: Hassalo on Eighth development

-- Elliot Njus