Park Avenue West

This gleaming tower spent more than four years as a hideous brown hole in the ground before finally rising from the ashes of the Great Recession to become Portland’s third-tallest building (so far). Designed by TVA Architects and clocking in at 31 stories (two fewer than in the original design), the high-rise offers floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic views of skyline-porn. Retail, luxury apartments, and amenity spaces—including a fitness room, community kitchen, and outdoor terrace—occupy the first 18 floors, with the top floors being used as office space.

K^hunamokwst Park

The Cully neighborhood’s first developed park opened last summer to rave reviews. The name, pronounced KAHN-ah-mockst, means “together” in Chinook jargon. Surrounded by a circular concrete walking and jogging path, the core of the park features a large, picnic-ready lawn, a traditional playground with swings and a slide, and a “rain garden” that allows kids to scramble over boulders and rocks.

Century

This brand-new NE Sandy Boulevard sports bar comprises four distinct boozing spaces: a rooftop bar, a diva-proof VIP room, an indoor/outdoor lounge, and, the real star, a three-tiered miniature basketball arena. Concealed LED lighting in the custom woodwork speaks to the grand ambitions of the owners. Neon colors shift with the mood: a blue or white theme might accompany a wedding reception; yellow and green could host a Timbers viewing party; an impromptu Prince remembrance could draw a vivid purple.

Industry 415

For some product design firms, moving into this 9,427-square-foot, SW 10th Avenue space might foretell an aggressive expansion. For Industry, it simply means more room for existing employees to play. (They’re sticking with a staff of around 30—the sweet spot, they say, for productivity, efficiency, and morale.) The design team divided the skinny space, opening to natural light at both ends, into conceptual thirds: Inspire, Collaborate, and Make. The Inspire section includes a giant projection screen and 30-foot marble bar for employee happy hour and, eventually, community events. Collaborate is anchored by a rectangular fishbowl cofounder Oved Valadez calls the “war room”—complemented by a private “cry room” nearby. The Make section houses the 30 workstations (no private offices here) and the firm’s state-of-the-art 3-D printing lab for Industry’s trademark rapid prototyping. “This building is an icon,” says Valadez of the 1962 Modernist three-story structure, known for its multicolored checkerboard façade. “So we used steel, cement, glass, marble. The materials are honest.”