The Oregonian published an article about the Hollywood District in its ..... section, "Hollywood is ready for its close-up". (Oregonian, February 28, 2008). The article is written by Oregonian staff reporter Erin Hoover Barnett and focuses on the new developments going on in the Hollywood District such as the Whole Foods project, the new Trader Joe's location, and Mark Lindsay's Rock & Roll Cafe. Some of the history of the Hollywood District is also revealed.

Congratulations to HNA's own Land Use Chairperson, Trudi Rahija, who was quoted in the article!
 

Gerding Edlen is the development company constructing the mixed-use building at the Washington Mutual site on Sandy and 43rd in the Hollywood District. The new building, which will be named the Rosemere, will take up the whole block and include a new Whole Foods, the Washington Mutual bank branch, and some additional retail on the ground floor. It will have residential condominiums above as well as parking built into it. You can see artist renderings and information about the project on the Gerding Edlen website.  

You can also see some of the plans in person inside the Washington Mutual branch on the site. The bank branch has a display with building renderings and additional information. The bank will remain open throughout construction. The plan is to move them into a finished portion of the new building this spring. The bank will retain a drive through option in the finished project.

Another Hollywood District article showed up in The Oregonian. Written by Joe Fitzgibbon, "Palms now grace Hollywood Theatre" discusses the palm trees that were planted in front of the Hollywood Theatre on Sandy Blvd. last year. The article was published on February 28, 2008 in The Oregonian, under the article heading "Put out those cigs near city buildings".

See pictures of the palm trees in the HNA Gallery. The Gallery also shows some pictures of the trees that were removed.

 

You can also read more about the type of palm trees and why they were chosen at the Hollywood Theatre / Film Action Oregon website. The palms are Chinese Windmill Palms (trachycarpus fortunei), which are adaptable to the Portland climate. According to the site, the old maple trees were taken out because their shallow roots disrupted the sidewalk, the limbs reached into the Spanish tiles and caused damage, and also the large, mature trees blocked a lot of the view of the Theatre.
 

From the Front Porch Oregonian blog by Ryan Frank February 26, 2008 "Portland: We're No. 2". According to the Case-Shiller index, "Portland surpassed Seattle to become the second strongest U.S. housing market among the 20 largest markets. Portland reported relatively flat growth of 1.2 percent, but it's still growth." Charlotte had the highest growth in the nation (at 2.3 percent).