Powells former Technical Book site will soon become the new home of Pacific Northwest College of Art campus housing. Upon adoption of new residency requirements—where students must live on campus for at least one year—Pacific Northwest College of Art has reached out to Powells City of Books for more living space for students. The plans call for a 7-story, 60-unit ArtHouse in the Pearl District, and after discussing the $7 million, 55-000-square-foot building’s design, the Pearl District neighborhood association opened discussions at its last Tuesday meeting. The building could open to Pacific Northwest College of Art students in the Fall of 2013.
The students will be renting their apartments from Powells, and the ground floor of the building will include a café and 3,500 square feet of retail space. The Powell family and Pacific Northwest College of Art have teamed up with Lever Architecture, LRS Architects and Project Ecological Development to expand the students’ on campus housing opportunities. The rates for the apartments have yet to be determined. However the school is growing, and according to Oregon Live, it expects to have 1,000 students by 2016.
With such a growth in the student population, the students have begun to out grow Goose Hollow and neighboring areas where housing is provided and many students reside. The Pearl District provides a nice, central location for the students to live.
The Powell family has tried to buy this building many times for retail space, but it wasn’t until the college approached them that they really felt it was time to buy the space. They felt as if the area had enough retail space but lacked any further purpose for such a building. Now that the college has approached the family about student housing, the building will be put to good use.