Month: May 2020

Construction, New Business

Back Lot Cannabis Extraction

Applications for a Cannabis Extraction facility highlight a change of use for a building along SE Stark Street. 8505 SE Stark Street has displayed the sign for Portland Hearing Aid Specialists for many years. It is a two story corner house, originally built in 1908. The building was converted to an office over 20 years ago. In the winter of 2014 it sold, and a few years later it quietly became a Marijuana manufacturing and production facility.

Although the Hearing Aid Specialists sign is still up, the phone number (503) 261-9309 on it has been disconnected. Perhaps leaving the sign up provides some urban camouflage of the building’s true use. The black chain link fence, with razor wire atop, should be enough indication that this is no longer a hearing aid provider.

The below permits seem to indicate business is growing at this location, and regardless of what signage is around, this is a very different business than others along SE Stark.

19-265045 – change of occupancy of existing building from S-1 TO F-1, and addition to existing building at NW corner of property for new cannabis extraction and post processing room. W/ 19-265047 MT

19-265047 – Make up air vent, add exhaust vent, add minisplit for addition to NW building for cannabis extraction. W/ 19-265045 CO.

19-184148 – Add new portions of walls and add (2) new door to create a vestibule providing separation from office 1st floor and apartment 2nd fl. Upgrade restroom to accessible restroom on ground floor and add new accessible ramp on front of building.

Construction, New Residence

School Yard 6-Plex

A development adjacent to Vestal Elementary School has been proposed by Chalet Homes LLC. Permit 19-215818 calls for a “new 3 story, 6 unit apartment building, with trash enclosure less than 120 sq. Ft. Site work to include new walkway.” The new apartment building will be at 8050 NE Flanders Street and share the lot with the current single family home located at 8036 NE Flanders Street.

8036 NE Flanders Street built 1890

This Property is bordered by Vestal’s playground to South and Vestal’s parking lot to the East. The original house on the property was built in 1890 and will remain. A new walkway and trash enclosure will be added to the Northeast corner of the lot, replacing the driveway. The walkway will lead back to the new apartment building, along the Eastern edge of the property. The new building required a few appeals to alleviate fire control concerns around the Balconies and windows facing the other building.

Each of the three floors of the building will contain two apartments. All apartments will be two bedroom units with a full bathroom. Each unit will have its own Washer/Dry stack and indoor bike parking. The balconies on the second and third floors, face the Vestal parking lot. The First floor apartments have entrance via a covered porch below the balconies above.

View of Vestal from the Apartments

This project was submitted late last year and was last updated on March 5th. Once completed, it will provide needed housing alternatives to the area. The added visibility into the playground should help deter some of the unwanted activity that occasionally happens there at night.

Construction, New Business

Glisan Art Deco Icon Becoming an Architecture Office.

Harka Architecture will soon relocate to 7631 NE Glisan Street, moving from the Olympic Mills building. Patrick Donaldson, Principal Architect at Harka Architecture, bought the building on Glisan in June of 2019. Donaldson lives nearby this location and is encouraged that other businesses are starting to pop up along this stretch NE Glisan.

“The building is the perfect size for my office,” wrote Donaldson via email. “I played rugby at Montavilla park for years and rode my bicycle past this little building all the time. It is a great little example of Art Deco architecture with the curved walls and entry.”

Currently the only active building permit is a change of occupancy, however more work is in the future. Donaldson plans to repaint the building in new colors and make energy efficient upgrades. The efficiencies will be achieved through upgrading to high performance windows and replacing the gas furnace with an electric heat pump, along with a heat recovery ventilator.

Harka Architecture specializes in low carbon and high performance architecture. This remodel will showcase some of their techniques. They plan to use carbon neutral insulation such as lambs wool and Gutex. Sealing as many air leaks as possible, will also vastly improve the effectiveness of the insulation in this 80 year old building.

Completed in 1940, this structure has housed many business. Over the last 20 years, local residents have seen over a half dozen businesses at that location. Businesses with many different offerings.

Touchstone Coffee House
Grandpa Jimmy’s Southern Fried Fish
Hollywood Tattoo
Coconut Cafe
Hillbilly’s Herbs and Glass
Baba Ali Somalia Cuisine

It seems fitting that the new life for this Art Deco building would come from an architect. This tiny building manges to contain an abundance of character in just 833 square feet. Although it could be assumed that this building once blended in on NE Glisan, it is equally possible it has always been a standout.

With the new owner seeking a permanent location for his office, it is likely that we will see stability in this location. Montavilla is fortunate to retain this building and to receive and new anchor business on NE Glisan.

New Residence, Property Sale

NE 80th Townhouses Listed

The two duplexes on the corner of NE 80th and Holladay Street are now listed for sale. They are staged and photographed. The landscaping has been meticulously displayed for maximum curb appeal. They are ready to sell and the question is are people ready to buy.

986 NE 80th Ave is a 3 Beds 2 Baths, 1,166 square foot, two level home. It lists for $409,000.

990 NE 80th Ave is also a 3 Beds 2 Baths, 1,166 square foot, two level home. It lists for $399,000.

8012 NE Holladay Street is a 3 Beds 3 Baths home. It has three levels and a one car garage. At 1,469 square feet, it lists for $474,900.

8016 NE Holladay Street similarly offers 3 Beds 3 Baths and is a 1,469 square foot home. It has three levels and a one car garage, listing for $484,900.

These properties represent the most recent new home construction being listed in Montavilla. How well they sell should be an indication of how stable the housing market will be, coming out of our current economic situation. They seem to be priced right where they would have been in 2019, for this type of housing.

This is a sound approach to real estate at the moment. Portland is different than other parts of the country and there is nothing but speculation as to the outcome of our paused economy. Regardless, these are unique building in the neighborhood and will provide a nice home to their future owners.

Event, Food and Drink

Farmers Market Open Again

Many vendors have returned to the Montavilla Farmers Market today, May 3rd. The market has expanded into some of the area that had once been part of Beets Auto Body, to allow for greater distance between vendors. This is to facilitate walking past each other with at least six feet of clearance.

They have expanded the fencing around the area to control the flow of shoppers moving through the space and help everyone stay safe. A full listing of precautions and rules can be found on their site. If you feel like you can follow the procedures and be safe, please consider paying them a visit today. Please also note that they are resurving 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM for customers who are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and/or have compromised immune systems.

Construction, New Residence

Undeveloped Lot to Receive Home.

A new single family residence at 1430 NE 72nd Ave has been approved. The proposal calls for a three story detached house with a one car garage. The location is a rare full sized lot that has remained undeveloped. It sits overgrown with old trees around its perimeter.

The property last sold for $158,000.00 on July 19th, 2019 to Scot Harger. Robert Anderson, the previous property owner, sought Early Assistance for the development of this lot. That application used the former address of 1424 NE 72nd Ave when it was submitted in September of 2018, almost a year before the land sold.

Michael Vaughn, of Urban Revival LLC, is the Applicant on both the Early Assistance and the building permits. Michael Vaughn is a Real Estate Broker with Paramount Realtors LLC and General Contractor through Urban Revival LLC. His general contractor company is a prolific developer in the Portland area, with several projects in Montavilla.

The plans for this home are not yet available for review. There are many choices when it comes to developing a lot like this one. Will the developer keep the trees and some of the topography or elect to grade the whole lot?We will follow this property’s prograss when construction begins.

Construction, New Residence

Square Corner Lot

A square corner lot will soon house a three story single family residence with an attached one car garage. The property uses both 8933 SE Pine Street and 285 SE 90th Ave as its address. 8933 SE Pine is still the official address on Portland Maps and the Building Permit record is filed under the main address. However, the permit number 2019-225477 is addressed 285 SE 90th Ave.

Early Assistance was originally sought in mid 2018 for a “New single family residence with tuck under garage.” Two month later the property sold for $35,000.00 to Scot Harger. Michael Vaughn of Urban Revival LLC is developing the property.

These two have partnered on another Montavilla property being built by Urban Revival LLC. Applications to build both properties were filed around the same time, however it is unknown if construction will occur simultaneously.

This lot is bordered by one unimproved gravel road, SE 90th, and a partially paved road. Both roadways have no curbs or clear definition between public and private space. SE Pine is a staggered intersection through SE 90th. A defined corner would be helpful for drivers and pedestrians. With that benefit to the area, it would be preferable for the developers to build the curb and sidewalks as part of this development, as opposed to paying the Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC).

Both streets surrounding 285 SE 90th Ave, are LTIC eligible streets. LTIC is a program designed to encourage developers to build curbs and sidewalks, where they do not yet exist. If the developer does not want to build that infrastructure, they pay the LTIC fee. That will end up costing the developer $600 per linear foot of street frontage. Except there is a set LTIC Maximum for R5 properties, like this one. It limits the footage used in the calculated fee to 50 feet. This could encourage the builder to not take on the hard cost of building a curb and sidewalk but instead pay the capped fee.

Although paying into LTIC helps improve Portland in whole, spending that money on these two street specifically, would be a targeted improvement to the area. Any development in this part of Montavilla would be welcome by the residents. However, enhancing the shared infrastructure around the property could be a good way to ingratiate the project with the neighbors and ensure they see it as an positive addition.