Converted brick warehouses on short former rail yard blocks, and the building Drugstore Cowboy showed in its opening shot.
What Pearl District looks like
Two to four storey brick warehouses line the short blocks between West Burnside Street and the river, arched window heads repeating along their upper floors and loading bays at street level. Double streetcar rails run down the center of NW 13th Avenue and several of the surrounding streets, set into pavement between storefronts that now fill the old loading docks.
The at NW 11th and Davis is red brick with round arched windows and a zigzagging iron fire escape on one corner. Four blocks north on NW Hoyt, the North Bank Depot buildings face each other across NW 11th Avenue, a matching pair of two storey brick freight and passenger terminals built in 1908. The , a four storey former furniture warehouse at NW Hoyt and 13th, dates from 1906 and holds office and retail space behind its original brick front.
Newer construction stands beside the warehouse stock. A tan and red brick apartment tower with ground floor retail rises at NW 12th and Lovejoy, and a curved glass residential tower overlooks at NW 9th and Overton.
The Fields Park itself is an open lawn framed by low metal fencing around a dog off leash area, with paved paths curving past young trees. An old grain elevator and water tower rise over the buildings at its north edge.
Shot in Pearl District
Drugstore Cowboy passed under the Lovejoy Avenue ramp near NW 12th Street for its opening shot, with the Pacific Coast Biscuit Co. building visible down the block. Grimm's 2012 episode Tarantella used the Encore condos as a crime scene and The Fields Park for a coffee break between its two leads.
Grimm
NW 9th and Overton. The Encore condos and The Fields Park sit at opposite corners of the same block.
Drugstore Cowboy, 1989
The Pacific Coast Biscuit Co. building
The film's opening shot passes beneath the Lovejoy Avenue ramp near NW 12th Street and holds on this building, its arched windows and a Snow Flake Sodas sign painted across the wall in the shot. The building itself dates from 1891 and is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Street View
Grimm, 2012
Grimm's February 2012 episode Tarantella used the Encore condos as the set for a crime scene worked by the show's lead detectives. The building's curved glass tower and street level entrance stand on NW Overton Street, at the edge of The Fields Park. Street View
Grimm, 2012
The Fields Park
The same episode sends Monroe and Burkhardt to The Fields Park for a coffee break scene, with the Rational Exuberance sculpture in the background. The park's lawn and paved paths sit at the edge of the same block as the Encore Condos crime scene. Street View
What Pearl District can double for
RiNo Arts District in Denver, Colorado
RiNo's brick warehouse buildings along Brighton Boulevard share the Pearl's arched window heads and loading bay openings, built in the same early industrial decades. Look for the blocks around Blake Street for similar two and three storey fronts converted to galleries and offices. Denver's mountain backdrop and wider streets show up in any elevated or wide shot, so a tighter frame along a single block holds the match best. Try searching brick warehouse galleries block now.
Fulton Market District in Chicago, Illinois
Fulton Market's old meatpacking and warehouse buildings carry the same arched brick openings and loading docks at street level, redeveloped into offices and restaurants the same way the Pearl's warehouses were. Randolph Street and the blocks just north of it are the closest match in scale. Chicago's flatter light and wider avenues read differently on camera, so a shot held tight to one warehouse front avoids giving the city away. Try searching brick warehouse loading docks now.
Pioneer Square in Seattle, Washington
Pioneer Square's Romanesque brick warehouse buildings are a decade or two older than the Pearl's stock, with more ornate cornices and terracotta trim. The plainer, later blocks toward the edge of the district are the closer match. Seattle's decorative stonework and cast iron storefronts need a plain facade held tight to avoid dating the shot too early. Try searching plainer brick warehouse blocks now.
