Interstate Lanes has been sold to a developer that is planning to build a huge apartment complex, with no amenities for the neighborhood. It will be 5 stories tall, 180 units, and is not currently designed to have any commercial/community spaces on the ground floor. As neighbors and concerned citizens, we urge the developers and architects to make it a mixed-use building. Adding commercial spaces will benefit local residents by providing spaces that could be used for small businesses, nonprofits, community gatherings, childcare facilities, etc. This would increase the desirability of the building and the neighborhood as a whole, and help ensure that Arbor Lodge develops in an economically and socially responsible way.

Dear Fairfield Residential and Ankrom Moisan Architects,

Greetings from your new neighbors in and around Arbor Lodge in Portland, OR. We understand that you have purchased the property at 6049 N Interstate Ave, currently the Interstate Lanes Bowling Alley. Welcome to the neighborhood! As community members, we embrace environmentally and socially-conscious development, and understand that Portland is a rapidly changing city. We are aware that your plans for 6049 N Interstate include 180 residential units, but do not currently include any commercial or public spaces on the ground floor. We respectively request that you revise your designs to add such spaces to the building. Adding commercial units would benefit local residents by providing spaces that could be used for small businesses, restaurants, community gatherings, childcare facilities, and much more. These are resources that the entire Arbor Lodge community could use, and that the neighborhood desperately needs, particularly if 180+ people are going to be joining us soon! We are concerned that increasing residential density at that location without also adding public amenities will be problematic. Adding commercial spaces to your building would increase the desirability of the apartments and the neighborhood as a whole. We also ask that you consider including an outdoor public space such as a pocket park, fountain, community garden, or the like. Public and commercial spaces would help make the neighborhood more bike and pedestrian friendly. This would resolve parking shortages and is a critical component of sustainable urban planning.

You have the opportunity to set a positive precedent for new development in the neighborhood, and to create a legacy as a company that truly cares about its impacts within the immediate community. We sincerely hope you will hear our voices, and join us in making Arbor Lodge an even greater neighborhood!

Sincerely,

Citizens of Arbor Lodge and Portland, Oregon.