Jacob Loeb began writing for newspapers in high school, first for the school's publication and then for a Vashon, Washington, community paper. He graduated college with a degree in English Literature and Television Communications. After graduating, Loeb worked in film distribution for a pioneering DVD company that supported independent filmmakers. Years later, he wrote for a weekly newsletter about technology and ran a popular computer advice column called Ask Jacob. Moving to the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, with his family in 2005, Loeb firmly planted roots in the community and now writes for the Montavilla News. He is a Society of Professional Journalists member and volunteers with non-profit organizations serving East Portland.
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This month, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) launched an online Open House featuring current plans to improve 82nd Avenue. On June 1st, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) transferred ownership of 82nd Avenue within the City of Portland to PBOT. The jurisdictional transfer includes $185 million in project funding from the state legislature, ODOT, and the City of Portland. City staff refers to the collection of infrastructure upgrades and deferred maintenance projects along the former state highway as Building a Better 82nd. Now, City planners want community members to participate in a survey, setting priorities for future enhancements.
Work on 82nd Avenue is already underway as PBOT invests $80 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to address Critical Fixes. The City must use the federal funds before the end of 2026 or risk losing access to the money. Consequentially, PBOT is implementing pre-identified projects focusing on lighting, crossings, repaving, curb ramp upgrades, and traffic signal replacements. The Survey results will guide planners as they spend the remaining $105 million on projects breaking ground after 2026.
PBOT is working on translating the survey into Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. To request a translated copy of the survey, contact the program team at 82ndavenue@portlandoregon.gov or 503-865-8282. Providing input now is the most effective way for the public to shape future investments in the corridor.
By
Jacob Loeb
Images in this article are provide courtesy of PBOT.
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Today, road crews closed multiple lanes of traffic along SE 92nd Avenue and Division Street to repave the intersection. Over the last several weeks, workers have reconstructed corner curb ramps at this junction as part of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) Outer Division Safety Project. This fresh layer of asphalt will smooth and level the roadway, erasing the rough seams caused by recent construction.
All users of this intersection should practice caution and patience while navigating this area. Drivers should expect delays as crews divert traffic around the worksite, and pedestrians may need to detour to other crossings. PBOT expects repaving work to continue through Friday, August 12th.
By
Jacob Loeb
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Later this year, the Mia and More restaurant will relocate from its original Beaverton shop to 326 SE 82nd Avenue. The store’s menu features fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, milk tea, fruit smoothies, and Vietnamese street food. Located in the Annex building near SE Stark Street, the retail space previously housed Las Tres Flores and All-Ways Warm fireplace store. Remodeling crews are now waiting on permit approvals before they begin transforming the space.
The Mia and More brand originated in Kent, Washington, several years ago. The owners license the name to other independent store operators across the country and supply licensees with sugarcane sourced from trusted farms in Vietnam. The Beaverton location was the first Mia and More in Oregon. Local restaurant owner Michelle Tran wanted to open her Mia and More location in Portland. However, an existing commercial lease in Beaverton allowed Tran to test the market before committing to a dedicated space.
Image courtesy of Mia and More
Tran is no stranger to Portland eateries, having owned The House of Ramen on SW Columbia Street for many years. However, with a 22-year-long career in the medical industry, Tran wanted to expand her food service work to include more fresh and natural products. The Mia and More brand had built a reputation for high-quality ingredients that appealed to her. “We blend the sugarcane juice with real fruit instead of powder. The only powder that we use with the taro powder, chocolate, and matcha, those are the ones we can’t help,” explained Tran.
Mia and More Beaverton Store, pressing sugarcane. Image courtesy of Mia and More
After a short time in Beaverton, Tran began looking for a location closer to her most active customers and a community with an appreciation for the menu items. “So when we were in Beaverton, people had to drive all the way from Portland, Vancouver, Salem to get to the Beaverton location. We chose the Montavilla area because it’s quite packed with Vietnamese population right there.” Said Tran. Designers started work on the new location in March, but City permitting delays stalled construction. Tran could not staff both sites simultaneously and had intended to close the original restaurant around the time of opening the SE Portland spot. However, construction delays have pushed the opening date past August, and it is still uncertain when renovations will be complete. The old location is now closed, leaving customers eager for the Montavilla restaurant to open.
Image courtesy of Mia and More
Michelle Tran explained that the new storefront is smaller than her old location. Consequentially, the staff will need to cut down the menu some. However, the popular drink offerings will remain the central focus of the store. Look for an update within the next few months announcing the official opening date for Mia and More on SE 82nd Avenue.
Las Tres Flores has relocated down the street to 24 SE 82nd Avenue, inside the Santa Cruz Bakery and Taqueria.
By
Jacob Loeb
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Three months after a car collided with the McDonald’s restaurant at 8149 SE Stark Street, workers have begun to repair the damages. On May 4th, a vehicle jumped the curb and collided with the SE 82nd Avenue facing dining-room windows. Witness reports indicate the driver “was doing donuts” before crashing into the building.
Portland Police received the hit-and-run call at 9:43 p.m. A video posted on Instagram shows the store manager making the call. The vehicle entered the restaurant, destroying the aluminum framed storefront windows and the short wall underneath them. Fortunately, the dining room was vacant, and no one suffered injuries inside the restaurant. Crews have reconstructed the support wall and brick exterior, making way for the glazers to install replacement windows next week.
A similar crash occurred at this same restaurant last year. In both incidences, Police identified unsafe driving as the cause of the wrecks. The reoccurrence of damage at this location has not deterred the franchise owner from rebuilding. With luck, this will be the last restoration work at this location for a while.
Photo from May 5th 2022
Update August 18th: Glazers installed new windows in the repaired wall.
By
Jacob Loeb
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Next summer, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will begin a multi-year project to reconnect portions of the City’s street grid east of Interstate 205. This work will slice up several long blocks, opening the way for new housing developments emphasizing walking, Biking, and public transportation. The project will span from NE 94th Avenue to NE 100th Avenue, with work occurring in two phases.
PBOT intends to begin Phase 1 work in mid-2023, completing sidewalk infill on NE 97th Avenue. Previous developments and public works projects added modern road infrastructure to NE 97th from NE Glisan Street to NE Davis Street. Crews will continue that work south to E Burnside Street. That area currently lacks curbs and sidewalks. This phase will also improve conditions on E Burnside Street from 94th Avenue to 97th Avenue. Portions of the sidewalk and road surface have deteriorated, particularly near the TriMet Max tracks that cross the westbound lane.
E Burnside Street at 94th Avenue Looking east
Planned for the Summer of 2024, Phase 2 of the project has a greater impact on the local streetscape. This work will create new streets and require significant private land dedication to complete. PBOT crews will build new segments of NE Couch Street from NE 97th to 99th avenues and NE Davis Street from NE 97th to 100th avenues. The project’s scope includes new streets, sidewalks, and stormwater improvements.
NE 97th Avenue and NE Couch / Davis LIDs from Portland Maps
As a Local Improvement District (LID), property owners will supply funding for this $15 million project with tax increment financing (TIF) from the Gateway Urban Renewal Area and a transportation system development charge (TSDC). PBOT will cover overhead costs incurred by managing this project.
Developer Joe Westerman and his companies own the majority of the affected properties in the LID. That concentrated ownership likely helped drive the City’s efforts to reconnect streets and will allow a significant change in road use. Although near the I205 Multi-use Path, this section of Portland is challenging to navigate outside of a car. Long blocks force pedestrians onto busy roadways and extend walking distances as people double back to reach a destination. Walkable and bike-able streets near public transit reduce the number of parking spaces needed, allowing for larger developments that maximize land usage and housing density.
NE 97th Avenue at NE Davis Street looking towards E Burnside
In 2019, this area received a surge in development interest, with one project at the corner of E Burnside Street and NE 97th Avenue receiving design approval. Other projects stalled in the Early Assistance phase of development, including a six-story building with 77 units. These planned improvements could help reignite developer interest in this area and spur a new wave of housing construction. Look for road crews to begin work next summer and prepare for new streets in 2024.
East Montavilla Sanborn Map 1928
By
Jacob Loeb
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Road crews have one eastbound lane on NE Glisan Street blocked while reconstructing the corners at NE 92nd Place. Workers removed the old sidewalk infrastructure and have staked concrete forms into position. Last month they relocated stormwater inlets to handle drainage with the new curb configuration. Soon, masonry specialists will pour and finish the concrete at these corners before moving work across NE Glisan Street. When completed, pedestrian crossing at this intersection should be safer and more accessible.
Original article published February 23rd, 2022
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) plans to reconstruct two sidewalk corners and add curb ramps on NE Glisan Street at NE 92nd Place. In conjunction with a similar project to the south, this work prioritizes 92nd Place as a multi-modal connector between NE Glisan and E Burnside. Crews will expand the pedestrian zone by constructing a curb extension at the southeast corner and improving stormwater control with new street drain inlets. Across the T intersection, on the north edge of NE Glisan, workers will add two new curb ramps in alignment with the corners on the south side of the street.
NE 92nd Place Crosswalk
Degraded sidewalks along this portion of NE Glisan Street often force pedestrians to cross flooded intersections with substandard ADA ramps. Both corners rebuilt during this project will add new stormwater inlets to NE 92nd Place and install a larger grated drain along NE Glisan’s sidewalk to the east. Last year, crews moved lines and equipment off a utility pole on the southeast corner, placing them onto a new pole installed five feet to the south. Workers will remove the now unused utility pole during construction, making for a clear pedestrian path on the sidewalk.
NE 92nd Place ends at NE Glisan in a T intersection. Consequentially, designers placed curb ramps on the north edge of Glisan mid-block. The TriMet 19 bus line currently stops within a few feet of where PBOT intends to install the new curb ramps. A TriMet spokesperson explained that PBOT staff have not communicated with the transit organization about this project. As of yet, they have no plans to close the stop during construction or relocate the stop outside the crosswalk zone. However, Trimet expects to coordinate with PBOT before construction begins.
North edge of NE Glisan Street
Enhancing pedestrian crossings at this location is essential to making this area more accessible to those not traveling by car. Over a year ago, PBOT released an East Portland Arterial Streets Strategy for NE Glisan Street spanning 82nd to 102nd Avenues. If approved and funded, this plan could add protected bike lanes that would provide a buffer to pedestrians from adjacent traffic. Along with the improvements planned for this intersection, a bike lane buffer will make NE Glisan a more enjoyable place to walk. Look for work on this project to begin sometime later this year.
Curb extension markings at the southeast corner
By
Jacob Loeb
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Hand Therapy Specialists relocated to Northwest Portland In January of 2022 and appears to have changed ownership. The hand rehabilitation clinic had occupied the building on SE 80th Avenue for twenty years. Now the former clinic owners are selling the facility located in historic Montavilla downtown.
Crews completed construction of the 1,878 square foot building in 1948. It has undergone several updates over the years, including a project to enclose the front porch around 2018. The long building is surrounded by well-maintained landscaping on a quiet street. Although last used for medical work, it can easily convert into office space. Contact the Nick Shivers Team at (503) 594-0805 for more information about purchasing the property.
By
Jacob Loeb
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African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO) is in the process of buying the Flex Building located at 2110 SE 82nd Avenue. The youth mentoring organization currently operates out of the former Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) building on NE Glisan Street. Developers will soon transform the TBN site into affordable housing, prompting AYCO’s move to a new facility. However, the group needs to raise $5.5 million to purchase and renovate the new building.
In January 2021, AYCO relocated to 432 NE 74th Ave from SE 122nd Avenue. Although the group knowingly committed to a short-term lease for the property on NE 74th, they hoped to become a partner organization in the supportive housing planned for the site. Unfortunately, Metro did not select the development group they partnered with, making another move inevitable.
This week the developers submitted a type 2 Land Use Review for the first of two buildings planned for the Glisan and 74th housing project. That four-story wood-framed residential building will contain 41 units of permanent supportive housing above a ground floor commercial kitchen, cafe, and retail incubator space. Additional amenities include resident services, laundry rooms, bike parking, and a community room.
With the permitting process underway, securing a new home for AYCO takes on a new sense of urgency. The Flex building on SE 82nd Avenue is several years old but has never found a tenant. Constructed in
2017, the building’s owner anticipated demand for high-end office and commercial space on 82nd Avenue near SE Division Street. Lower demand and the pandemic kept the building vacant except for a short-term popup COVID testing site. Crews only constructed the basic shape of the space, waiting for tenants to dictate the placement of interior walls. This unfinished condition will add to AYCO’s overall costs for the project. “The building is a shell and needs huge construction [and] tenant improvements,” explained AYCO Executive Director Jamal Dar.
The Flex building will cost $3.6 million to purchase. AYCO staff have allocated the remaining $1.9 Million to cover construction and furnishings. Fortunately, they have already received commitments for $1.5 million from supporters. An additional $2.5 million is expected to come from Federal funds and contributions from the City of Portland. Now, AYCO is seeking donors at any level who can help bridge the $1.5 million gap. They must find those funds within six to ten months or incur debt from loans.
The Flex building offers many benefits to the AYCO community, and buying the building will provide the permanent home this group has sought for many years. Dar explained that the building is centrally located near the community his organization serves. He feels its proximity to several schools, shopping, and transit options will be an invaluable benefit to the immigrant and refugee community using this resource center.
At 18,682 square feet, the increased building size means AYCO will continue to offer all existing programs with room to expand. “[The building] will allow us to conduct all of our programs, including establishing early childhood education and many other programs we currently don’t have,” said Dar. Buying the Flex building has the potential to take AYCO to a new level and secure its space in the supportive services community.
People or groups interested in investing in AYCO’s future location on SE 82nd Avenue should visit the group’s website www.aycoworld.org and click this Donate Now button at the top of the page. Jamal Dar and his staff are available to talk to groups interested in large sponsorship opportunities.
By
Jacob Loeb
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Update: 9:38 a.m. – Pacific Power confirmed crews restored power to all affecting residences. As air conditioner use increases in the region, these minor outages could become more common. The rise in extreme heat events will also make outages more dangerous for those who require electricity to stay cool.
Update: 9:09 a.m. – Reports of power restoration are starting to come in.
This morning, customers of Pacific Power in Montavilla found themselves without electricity. A localized power outage is affecting 276 residences. The power went offline around 6:30 a.m. and, as of yet, has not been restored. Linemen are on site working to restore power to the small section of the neighborhood served by their company. Repair estimates say power should return by 11:30 a.m.
Pacific Power provides electrical service in Montavilla north of SE Stark Street. Portland General Electric (PGE) covers the southern portion of the neighborhood. PGE customers have not reported any outages in the area. With temperatures already reaching 75 degrees, residents are concerned about cooling themselves before the power service comes back. This article will update when power is restored.
By
Jacob Loeb
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After a two-year hiatus, the Montavilla Street Fair returns this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with family-friendly entertainment. Event organizers will block automotive access to SE Stark Street from 82nd Avenue to 76th Avenue on July 31st, making way for the expected 10,000 visitors. Attendees can eat, drink, and shop at 122 vendor booths. Nine music acts span two stages, and a pair of beer gardens offer adult beverages.
Since 2011, the street fair has welcomed Portlanders from all over the city to the historic Montavilla Downtown. Organized by theMontavilla/East Tabor Business Association (METBA), this yearly event highlights the unique businesses and groups in the neighborhood. This year’s Montavilla Street Fair is presented by Adventist Health Portland and Mr. Plywood, with sponsorship by over a dozen other businesses.
METBA invites everyone to stop by throughout the day and take in all that Montavilla has to offer. Organizers will provide public portable restrooms in mutable places along SE Stark street, and food vendors will offer many options to eat at the event. Drivers should expect detours starting at 6 a.m. on July 31st and continue through the evening up to 8:30 p.m. Anticipate crowded street parking in the surrounding area and plan for extended walking to and through the event.
Plaza Stage Music Schedule:
10:00 AM – Tallulah’s Daddy (for kids!) – Matt Lynch (Tallulah’s Daddy) is a children’s music entertainer active in the Kindie Music scene in PDX.
11:30 AM – Mo Phillips (for kids!) – Mo Phillips is a teaching artist and a fun time maker who teaches songwriting in schools and shreds ukulele for the people.
1:00 PM – Norwester Sky – Original tunes that feel timeless while making the Americana songbook feel new again. These fellas take great pride in their craft and love to jam.
2:30 PM – Jermaine – Hailing from gospel choirs in the midwest, Jermaine’s charismatic energy and passion for music is reflected in all of his solo and group efforts.
4:00 PM – Friends of Noise – Friends of Noise provides resources, support and mentorship to youth that have something to say.
Main Stage Music Schedule:
11:00 AM – Hiroki – Hiroki is a force of friends focused solely on grooves, vibes, the result is something smooth; something tasty.
12:30 PM – Five Letter Word – Mix three singer-songwriters, several stringed instruments, and a variety of percussive techniques, and you get Five Letter Word.
2:00 PM – Reb & the Good News – Rebecca Conner’s heart-centered, velvet vocals are delivered with a vulnerability that unravels listeners down to their core.
3:30 PM – Moorea Masa & Friends – “Irresistible and staggeringly beautiful, Masa displays a delicate balance of restraint and raw power.”- The Oh Es Tee
By
Jacob Loeb
Disclosure: The author of this article servers on the Montavilla/East Tabor Business Association, 82nd Avenue Business Association, and Montavilla Neighborhood Association Boards. All three groups have booths at this year’s street fair.
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