On April 24th, demolition crews began removing the modest 1956-era single-story home at 1542 SE 84th Avenue to make way for a duplex with onsite parking. Developer Ethan Knudson is on the second iteration of redevelopment plans, adjusting designs around Portland’s rules to include attached garages in the new housing.
Knudson bought the deteriorating property last summer, intending to build two detached single-family houses. Ahead of developing plans, his team met with the Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D) staff to review their proposal and understand what is allowed on the 50-foot-wide lot. “I had a conversation with [city staff], a whole land use team, and the people who handle this for me. We initially sat down with them, and I said, ‘I need garages because this is not two blocks from everything.’ People are going to have to drive,” said Knudson. “And the city said, ‘We don’t allow garages on skinny houses anymore.'” Knudson explained that the city had told him the restriction was regarding street-facing vehicle storage on slender homes and that he could instead build a shared driveway between the two 15-foot-wide houses with garages in the back of each residence. After his architect had created those plans, they checked back with city officials to ensure they met their approval. Knudson said that another group of city staff told them that his designed garages would not work because vehicles had insufficient space to turn around behind the homes on either side of the center driveway.
That new information meant that architects would need to redraw the plans, and the design team had only one option for a project that included attached garages. Portland’s updated parking and onsite vehicle storage rules restrict excessive attached garages on street-facing walls. It says the length of the garage wall facing the street may be up to 50 percent of the total length of the street-facing building facade. However, if any or all the units in a multiunit development are less than 22 feet wide, the limitation applies to the total length of the street-facing facades. The duplex’s common wall construction removed the need for a five-foot setback from the adjoining property line, allowing each home to span 20 feet, making a 10-foot wide garage permissible.
This change in design will add to the floor space of the units, and each home will remain on its own lot, but the structures will touch. Knudson is working with Zed Design to create distinct looks for the two homes, visually separating them. “I’m going to make sure the frontage still looks the best we can, like independent houses, so that it doesn’t look like a duplex,” said Knudson. The builders will do this through the use of different siding materials and other architectural elements.
The three-bedroom homes will have two full bathrooms on the second floor, one each serving as the owner’s ensuite, and an open-concept first floor with half-bathrooms. Knudson says he likes to minimize the long front hallway –often found in skinny homes– making space for a sizable entryway with seating to put on shoes and coats. The previous design with parking in the back would have allowed for more activity at the front of the houses. Now, the living room sits at the back of the main level with a fireplace and sliding door leading to a backyard patio. Designers placed the C-shaped kitchen in the middle of the ground floor behind the garage and across from a walk-in pantry. The larger front bedroom above the garage offers a walking closet with natural light, and residents will have a full-size laundry room on the second floor.
Knudson is working with his team to create an interesting driveway leading to the attached garages at the front of the duplex. He explained it would feature a decorative finish similar to what people apply inside high-end garages but on the outside slab. The team wants the project to stand out but priced at an attainable rate for home buyers with a growing family who need more bedrooms and a place to park the family car. In Knudson’s experience as a developer, not having onsite vehicle storage is a detractor for home buyers. “Losing those garages knocks off $100,000 in value for the whole development. Garages are super important, even if it’s just for a storage unit. A lot of people don’t actually use a garage as a garage,” remarked Knudson.
With the old building removed, KL Excavation crews will begin leveling the lot and preparing the site for underground utilities and foundation work. Knudson plans to finish the homes with stone countertops and custom cabinetry. He says his experience and connections help keep costs down while providing quality finishes for his housing. Knudson looks forward to working on more projects in the area and is excited for local residents to see the expanded housing he is offering, which he anticipates will blend in well with the neighborhood.
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