Mississippi Avenue Lofts - Blog

Mississippi Avenue Lofts invites you to join us this Saturday July 12th for the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair 10:00AM-7:00PM . Featuring over 150 vendors, children’s activity areas, 4 stages with live music, rib cook-off, beer garden, plenty of food, fun and entertainment for the whole family. This years event will be the greenest yet! Last year we featured sustainable vendors in a special block dedicated Mississippi Green, this years fair is going carbon neutral with help from the Blue Sky Renewable Energy Program and Portland Office of Sustainable Development Event Recycling Program. Look for recycling and composting stations throughout the fair!

A benefit for the Boise-Eliot Elementary & Albina Youth Opportunity Schools

Mississippi Avenue Lofts will be hosting hard hat construction tours during the street fair. We invite you to stop by and learn more about this exciting new sustainable mixed-use development. Mississippi Avenue Lofts has been designed to become the 1st building of its type in Oregon certified LEED Gold v2.2 from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The photos and copy in this post are a highlight of the work completed by general contractor Gray Purcell and their subcontractors during the months of May and June.

Gray Purcell installed structural steel for retail storefronts.

Gray Purcell installed pan decking, rigid insulation, forms and re-bar, Portland Mechanical installed fire stops and O’Neill Electric installed rough-in electric for 3rd floor slab and walls.

O’Neill Electric installed metering panels and switch gear in the main electric room. Portland Mechanical began installation of the City-Multi energy sharing fan control units and refrigerant lines. Parker Fire Protection installed the main fire control room and began installing pipe for fire sprinklers throughout the building. Subcontractor I.C.E. installed framing and drywall.

Gray Purcell and Union Masons from Anchor Concrete placed the 3rd floor slab, Gray Purcell poured 3rd floor walls.

Gray Purcell cored slabs for plumbing, mechanical and electric. Portland Mechanical installed plumbing, O’Neill Electric installed conduit, light fixtures and wiring in lofts. J C Metal Fabricators installed structural steel for the brick wall on west elevation and Long Painting began painting structural steel in lofts and hand rails from Riverside Manufacturing.

J C Metal Fabricators welded structural steel knife plates, Gray Purcell prepared and installed heavy timber beams, pan decking, rigid insulation and re-bar. Portland Mechanical installed fire stops and O’Neill Electric installed rough-in electric for 4rd floor slab.

Gray Purcell and Union Masons from Anchor Concrete placed concrete for the 4th floor slab.

Gray Purcell installed T&G decking and structural timber beams for elevated walkways. Anchor Concrete placed concrete for elevated walkways in the courtyard.

I.C.E. continued installation of framing and drywall, O’Neill Electric installed conduit, Portland Mechanical installed plumbing.

Gray Purcell began installation of 4th floor structural steel, retail storefronts and window systems.

In our ongoing effort to achieve the highest level of LEED certification possible Mississippi Avenue Lofts co-developer Peter Wilcox met with consultants from Solar City. Solar readings were taken across the span of the building to determine the amount of Kilowatts (kW) that could be generated with the installation of a large photovoltaic solar array.

We look forward to seeing you Saturday July 12th at the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair!

Since our last construction blog March 19th General Contractor Gray Purcell installed FSC Certified glulam beams for the south 1/2 of the 3rd floor structural system, placed forms, installed rebar and poured the North elevator and stair towers to the 2nd floor, south stair well and 3rd floor structural concrete beams across the west elevation.

During the 1st 1/2 of April J&J Construction and Fabrication continued welding structural steel and Gray Purcell continued installation of glulam beams, Regupol Sound Impact Insulation, pan decking, rigid insulation and rebar for the 3rd floor slab. Forms were placed, rebar installed and stem walls were poured for the retail storefronts. Portland Mechanical and O’niell Electric installed fire stops, conduit and drains for 3rd floor slab.

On April 14th union masons from Anchor Concrete joined Gray Purcell to place the south 1/2 of the 3rd floor slab.

Throughout April Portland Mechanical, O’niell Electric and Parker Fire Protection continued installation of plumbing, electrical and fire suppression systems. Framing and drywall subcontractor I.C.E. began installation of light gauge steel framing and Portland Mechanical began installation of City Multi air handling systems for 1st floor retail and 2nd floor lofts.

During the 2nd 1/2 of April crews from Gray Purcell working with Portland Mechanical and O’niell Electric set forms, placed rebar and poured 3rd floor walls for the North stair tower, elevator tower and gridlines 9 and 10. Gray Purcell set forms and placed rebar for 3rd floor walls on gridlines 8-6 and continued placing glulams, Regupol, pan decking, rigid insulation and rebar structural systems for the remaining 3rd floor slab.

As April ended Gray Purcell and Portland Mechanical began plumbing rough in on the 3rd floor, I.C.E. continued framing 2nd floor lofts and Gray Purcell began installation of structural steel for retail storefronts.

As we began the first week of March General Contractor Gray Purcell, plumbing contractor Portland Mechanical and Oniell Electric completed installation of rebar, fire stops, drains and conduit in preparation for the final concrete pours that will complete the 2nd floor concrete slab.

On Thursday March 6th Masons from Anchor Concrete placed 60 cubic yards of concrete to complete the 12″thick 2nd floor courtyard deck.

On Saturday March 8th Anchor Concrete joined Gray Purcell and 25 men placed 187 cubic yards of concrete to complete the 2nd floor slab. It was a big job on a Saturday with good weather so superintendent Ed Stanton asked Harry from Northwest Hot Dogs to stop by and serve up his legendary pulled pork and dogs for the crew. Harry brought along his friend and local musician Charles AKA “Chocklate Chuck” who rounded out a great day with music on Mississippi.

During the 2nd week of March Gray Purcell installed rebar and placed forms for 2nd floor walls, Oniell electric installed conduit and electrical boxes. On FridayGray Purcell poured 51 cubic yards of concrete to complete the walls on gridlines 5 and 4.

As this post goes out, rebar, conduit and electrical are being installed and forms are being placed to pour walls on gridlines 3 and 2 at noon tomorrow. Heavy timber structural beams are continuing to be installed on gridlines 6-10.

Interior finish materials began to arrive this week. We received TOTO bathtubs for 2nd floor lofts and steel grating for the bike area in the main lobby.

The big news in this post is that Mississippi Avenue Lofts has been selected to partner with the Sierra Club as a local business that has demonstrated the type of innovation that will help us solve our climate crisis and move us toward a clean energy future. As part of a national campaign to raise the profile of Climate Change, Mississippi Avenue Lofts will join the Sierra Club Portland and 3 other local innovators; the LEED Platinum Gerding Theatre, sustainable auto dealership EcoMotion and Solar Energy Solutions on Saturday April 19th to co-host “Shift to Green” a Bike tour of Portland’s Most Visionary Solutions to Global Warming.

Hello from all of us at Mississippi Avenue Lofts!
Welcome to our new blog! As part of an ongoing effort to provide up to date information on what it looks like to build a truly sustainable building, we will no longer be sending out a newsletter but instead will begin posting regular updates on our blog with current photo’s and information on both the process and progress of creating a precedent setting new sustainable infill development. This 1st entry will get you caught up on the work that has taken place in January and February since we released our end of the year newsletter.

To learn more visit mississippiavenuelofts.com As the New Year began project superintendent Ed Stanton from General Contractor Gray Purcell coordinated the following work to move Mississippi Avenue Lofts closer to becoming one of the greenest buildings of it’s type in the United States.

Gray Purcell set shoring and placed decking from a regional mill for the 2nd floor concrete slab.

Gray Purcell installed rebar and Portland Mechanical installed drainpipes for the 2^nd floor courtyard slab.

Union Masons from Anchor Concrete placed regional concrete to form the 12″ thick courtyard slab for the south ½ of the building.

Gray Purcell installed rebar and structural columns, Oniell Electric installed conduit and Portland Mechanical installed plumbing firestop systems for 2^nd floor slab.

Union Masons from Anchor Concrete placed concrete for the 2^nd floor slab for the south ½ of the building.

Gray Purcell installed rebar, set forms and poured the final 1^st floor footings, north stair tower and 1^st floor elevator room.

Gray Purcell installed rebar, set forms and poured 2^nd floor walls for the south ½ of the building.

The City of Portland connected Mississippi Avenue Lofts to the city water main and Portland Mechanical began rough in plumbing installation for water and fire suppression systems.

J box Cabinetworks began CAD drawings for cabinets and built ins that will be fabricated in their fully automated CNC manufacturing facility located just 6.5 miles from the jobsite.

Gray Purcell began installation of FSC Certified heavy timber beams from PARR Lumber in Portland.

Rounding out 2 very busy months, Gray Purcell completed installation of structural steel beams for the 1st floor, set shoring and placed decking and installed rebar for the 2^nd floor slab on the north 1/2 of the building. Portland Mechanical continued installation of firestops and began plumbing installation and venting for the 2^nd floor. Oniell Electric continued installation of conduit for 2nd floor slab and began installation of conduit within the parking garage to service the building.

Mt. Hood photo from unit 214 a studio in the southeast corner on the 2nd floor.

Steel & Concrete
Throughout the month of September General Contractor Gray Purcell set concrete forms and placed 46k lbs of rebar footings for the building. The total amount of rebar required for the Mississippi Avenue Lofts is estimated to be over 350,000 lbs. Fabricated in a regional mill using over 98% post consumer recycled materials, this rebar travels less than 300 miles from the mill to the jobsite. Over 225 cubic yards of concrete footings were poured, piping and installation was completed connecting to the City of Portland sanitary sewer main. Infrastructure for underground electrical service was put in place by Pacific Power & Light.

StormTech
Installation of the StormTech underground Stormwater management system is complete. Once the building is fully operational this system will manage 100% of our storm water on-site.

Going Up
Durring the month of October Gray Purcell placed over 40k lbs of rebar and installed 8500 cubic square feet of Symon panels including horizontal and vertical features for 250 lineal feet of first floor walls on the East and South elevations of the building. Superintendent Ed Stanton also coordinated the underground excavation and rough-in installation of sanitary sewer lines (plumbing) and the transformer vault room conduit (electric).

Up and Coming
As November begins Gray Purcell has poured over 20 tons of concrete to create the first walls of the building. Throughout November and December the construction team will continue setting forms, placing rebar and pouring concrete to complete the 1st floor walls and slab on grade. Work on the 2nd floor will begin with the installation of structural steel beams, columns and floor assemblies.

Website News
Mississippi Avenue Lofts Newsletters are now available on our website!

LEED Score Sheet is now available on our website!

Floorplans have recently been updated to reflect the relocation of kitchens in the 1 BR lofts facing Mississippi Avenue. This change was required by the City of Portland as it related to hood venting.

Final Interior Finishes will be updated in the coming weeks including slab granite kitchen counters with a glass tile backsplash and KitchenAid Architect Series® stainless steel appliances. Bathroom upgrades include slab granite vanities, travertine stone floors, subway tiled tubs and showers with a suite of TOTO® bath fixtures.

360° Construction Tours powered by MapClicks coming soon!

LEED Platinum with Solar
In an effort to continually exceed the expectations of those who support and follow Mississippi Avenue Lofts, the project team is currently conducting a feasibility analysis and energy modeling in the hopes of adding Solar Photovoltaic Panels to the roof of the building. If successful, the over 50 kilowatt system will additionally reduce the carbon footprint and life cycle cost of the building setting a national precedent for sustainable mixed-use infill development.

In the Neighborhood
The Mississippi Avenue Lofts development team is pleased to have recently presented a $500 check to the Boise Elliot School for new books in their library. Thanks to all of you who supported the school and our community at the 2007 Mississippi Avenue Street Fair!

Thanksgiving
As the holiday season begins we remind you to support local businesses and invite you to visit Pastaworks the future anchor tenant at Mississippi Avenue Lofts.

Live Green. Live Well.

Marketed by the MacNaughton Group at Realty Trust 503 222 5339
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