ENSO is a mixed use development located within the Pearl District (1400 NW Marshall Street) on the edge of Portland’s CBD. It has retail facing the main street frontages with five floors of apartments above (170 residential units in total).
ENSO occupies three-quarters of a city block, bounded by NW Marshall Street, NW 14 and 15 Ave and NW Lovejoy Street. The remainder of the city block is occupied by a heritage building, currently used as a commercial bank. The surrounding area consists primarily of other residential apartment blocks.
The development sits within easy walking distance of central Portland and is only 30m from the NW 13th & Lovejoy Tram stop, which provides access to the wider Portland Light Rail Service.
The residential units are arranged in a back-to-back (double-loaded) arrangement accessed from a central corridor. The lack of natural light access into the central corridor and the limited number of windows in many of the corner studio units are negative aspects of the development and should not be encouraged.
The development includes studio units (59m2), one bedroom units (71m2) and two bedroom units (101m2). The outward facing units have views over the street, while the inwards facing units have views onto a first floor internal courtyard (above the retail and car parking elements), which also provides outdoor space for the occupiers of the residential units. Given the building does occupy most of the full city block, a number of the inward facing units also have street views.
The development takes full advantage of its location to a high level of services, with a walk score of 97.
Parking for residents is provided in a basement and ground floor garage accessed via a single access point off NW 14 Ave.