Crews recently built the foundation for a new home and attached Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) at 2701 SE 85th Avenue and will soon begin framing on the three-story structure. This lot has remained vacant since the previous property owner demolished the original single-story home in 2018. In 2021, Ernie Jette Construction bought the 1,936-square-foot corner property after it was split from the parcel that currently supports a 1997-era duplex. Since then, contractors working for the City of Portland have paved the adjacent gravel road and constructed modern sidewalks, saving the developer from having to provide that infrastructure along SE Clinton Street.
The two new homes will have sloped shed roofs, giving them a flat front appearance towards the street. The main residence will face SE 85th Avenue and stand three stories tall, while the ADU will face SE Clinton Street and be one level shorter. Both units will have open main floors with living and kitchen space. Designers placed a half-bathroom under the stairs on the first floor, with a full bathroom on the second floor serving two adjacent bedrooms. The primary residence has the owner’s suite on the third floor with its own attached bathroom and walk-in closet. The larger home will offer future residents 1,426 square feet of living space, and the ADU will provide 789 square feet of living space.
The infrastructure work in this area is part of the Jade and Montavilla Multimodal Improvements Project, which created new sidewalks on SE Clinton Street from SE 84th to 87th Avenues, among many other updates. These additions help ready this area for future housing density. Much of the surrounding lots are Residential Multi-Dwelling 1 (RM1) zoned for low-scale multi-dwelling development. Replacing the gravel streets with modern infrastructure is essential as more residents will need to walk, roll, or drive through the area. Although Ernie Jette said that the new streets and sidewalks were not a deciding factor for creating this project, he is happy with the timing.
This section of the Jade District, bordered by SE Division Street, SE 82nd Avenue, SE Powell Boulevard, and Interstate-205, still has many streets and sidewalks in need of updates. Some of that work will occur during redevelopment, but for smaller developments, adding the infrastructure costs to a project can significantly increase the selling price of a home. When the City can leverage Federal funds and System Development Charge (SDC) funds to bring the area up to modern street standards, as they did in this area, it can make it easier to add housing density within a community and lessen the burden on neighbors by providing curbside parking and more efficient streets and sidewalks.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.