South Waterfront

The South Waterfront (or SoWa) is a new high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the United States. SoWa is connected to downtown Portland by an extension of the Portland Streetcar, and to the Oregon Health and Sciences University campus atop Marquam Hill by the Portland Aerial Tram.

The South Waterfront is part of the Portland Development Commission's North Macadam Urban Renewal District. The first phase of the South Waterfront is the $1.9 billion "River Blocks" development. Construction began in early 2004. The full build-out of the district envisions many residential (primarily condominiums) and medical research towers ranging in height from 6 stories to 35+ stories.

As of April 2008, five towers have been completed in the district: the 16-story OHSU Center for Health & Healing, the condominium twin Meriwether Towers at 21 and 24 stories, the 31-story condominium John Ross Tower, and the 22-story Atwater Place condominium tower. The sixth tower in the district, the 31-story apartments The Ardea has topped out, but is not scheduled to be completed until late 2008.

Two other buildings are currently under construction; the 30-story Mirabella Tower which will be the districts first senior living community and The Alexan which is a 22-story condominium tower. The five floor Matisse buildings have been proposed and are due to begin construction sometime in 2008, they will be the districts first rental apartment buildings. A linear park running along the west bank of the Willamette River and a central public park have also been proposed.

External links

* [http://www.southwaterfront.com/ Official South Waterfront Website and Blog]
* [http://www.binaryscience.com/swf/ Live view of the South Waterfront rising]
* [http://www.thesouthwaterfront.com/ The general South Waterfront website]
* [http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/about/transformation/commons/index.cfm OHSU: Center for Health and Healing]
* [http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/about/transformation/tram/index.cfm OHSU: Aerial Tram]
* [http://www.portlandtram.org Portland Aerial Tram]
* [http://www.pdc.us/ura/sowa_n-macadam.asp PDC: North Macadam Urban Renewal District]