Category: Demolition

Construction, Demolition, New Residence March 26, 2023

SE 83rd 30 Unit Apartment Complex

McGuirl Designs & Architecture recently announced plans to create a 30-unit apartment complex at 33 SE 83rd Avenue. The two-building development will replace an existing single-family residence and an adjacent empty lot with three floors of housing. Both buildings will support nine two-bedroom and six one-bedroom units evenly dispersed on each level. Residents will access apartments on the upper floors through exterior stairwells that lead to a central walkway between the structures.

*Two-story home to be demolished if development proceeds*

The layout and scope of this 19,284-square-foot project could change significantly before work begins. In 2018, the previous owners of this property proposed an eight-unit apartment building. During that early development work, demolition crews removed a detached storage structure from the now vacant lot. That project did not succeed, and in the summer of 2020, Montavilla Green LLC bought the home with the undeveloped parcel. The new owners have not yet submitted demolition permits for the 1946-era home or building permits for the two new multi-family buildings. However, the architect has made the required notice to the neighborhood association, indicating there is momentum behind this proposal.

*Portland Maps image with MV News illustration*

This property is next to and behind commercial properties in a Commercial Mixed Use 2 zone that promotes this type of development. The site is close to the intersection of 82nd Avenue and Burnside Street, making it an ideal location for public transit users. It will also provide protected bike parking for residents who want to use that mode of transportation. This development will contain inclusionary housing units as required in projects with more than 19 units. Look for the developer to submit building permits later this year, with work likely beginning in 2024 or later.

*Empty lot where detached garage once stood*

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the board of the Montavilla Neighborhood Association.

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Construction, Demolition March 18, 2023

Cinderblock Building Demolished for Apartments

Wednesday, March 15th, crews began demolishing the 1949-era cinderblock home at 235 SE 80th Avenue, making way for a three-story apartment building. The new structure will support 11 units of housing. Eleay Properties bought the house in 2019 and started the permitting process to build the multifamily development. Schumacher Custom Homes is the builder on this project.

In addition to the new housing, the developer will plant a new street tree and construct a carriage walk – a small cement path in the furnishing zone that bridges the planted gap between the sidewalk and curb, allowing people to exit a vehicle without stepping on the grass. An Early Assistance application for the project scoped 12 units and seven parking spaces. However, the submitted permit application text does not mention parking and proposes one less apartment. Expect to see demolition work complete at the site sometime next week, and construction should begin this summer.

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Demolition, Infrastructure March 5, 2023March 17, 2023

A CoW Will Now Connect Your Call

In the next few months, the mobile phone network operator Verizon Wireless will deploy a temporary Cell-tower on Wheels (CoW) to 432 NE 74th Avenue. This device will support the wireless network during the demolition and reconstruction of the site’s equipment room. The existing cell tower will remain on NE Glisan Street and return to operation after demolition crews raze the former TV broadcast facility where the network equipment is currently located.

Last December, Verizon Wireless filed a permit to create a new equipment area within a ten by twenty-foot fenced area on the residentially-zoned southern portion of the property. The enclosure will house equipment cabinets and a generator associated with cell phone antennas on a utility pole in the NE Glisan Street right-of-way. Crews will construct a fully sight-obscuring eight-and-a-half-foot tall wood fence around the equipment shed and standby power generator. The wireless support staff will access the space through a four-foot gate on the north side. Landscapers will provide plantings around the outside perimeter to further blend the structures into the residential streetscape.

*Plan set from 2019 Cell Site upgrade showing equipment room being demolished*

The new weather enclosures installed behind the fence will replace the existing three racks full of batteries, power management devices, and radio equipment stored in the northeast corner of the former TV studio. Crews will deconstruct the building to make way for the site’s two future low-income and supportive housing developments. Verizon Wireless will deploy the portable cell tower to maintain cell phone coverage during construction. It includes a cellular antenna, transceiver device, battery, and other necessary equipment required to provide a stable wireless mobile network. The transition to the temporary equipment should be seamless for users. Expect new equipment to arrive on site later this year ahead of demolition work.

Jacob Loeb

Demolition February 28, 2023March 17, 2023

Trio of Dilapidated Houses on SE 92nd

Demolition crews will soon raze three dilapidated and boarded-up houses along SE 92nd Avenue near SE Division Street. The Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church of Portland purchased 2320 SE 92nd Avenue, 2328 SE 92nd Avenue, and 2340 SE 92nd Avenue between 2007 and 2013. Those properties became vacant four years ago, with one recently suffering fire damage.

Each home sits on an expansive 56 by 368-foot lot, together representing a 1.4-acre property. The area is zoned Residential Multi-Dwelling 1 (RM1). It supports low-scale multi-dwelling developments up to three stories tall and setback from the sidewalk, similar to other residential structures around it. The houses are under a 35-day demolition delay to permit public comment. City staff will approve the permit applications sometime after March 22nd, 2023.

*Aerial view from Portland Maps showing the three large lots*

The Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church owns an adjacent site of similar size to the north, where they operate the Grace Lutheran School and preschool. Church staff fenced off the back portion of the three homes and created a grassy field available to the students. When cleared of homes, the front section of the properties may also become an open field until the faith organization determines a future use. Church leaders were not available to discuss plans for these properties.

Jacob Loeb

Demolition, Infrastructure February 24, 2023March 17, 2023

A Dim Future for Portland Parks

Starting February 22nd, Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) will remove dangerous light poles in twelve City parks, including Montavilla Park. Six of the seventeen light poles at 8219 NE Glisan Street have structural anchoring issues that make them unsafe. These units could pose life and safety hazards to the public. Maintenance teams must remove them immediately, even though the City parks bureau lacks sufficient funds to replace these lights. Affected parks will close at 10:00 p.m. nightly, and Park Rangers will visit locations more frequently at night.

PP&R recently identified 243 poorly anchored light poles after conducting a system-wide review of 1,000 units in City parks. Some lamp posts are over 100 years old. Many of the older cast concrete light poles are not anchored to the ground sufficiently to avoid tipping over if pushed with horizontal force. Last June, one of the older light poles fell on two people in Irving Park after a hammock was illegally attached.

Mt. Tabor Park also contains 81 lights that fall into the unsafe category. Park crews will replace some light poles over the next 16 months, with Irving Park and Mt. Scott Park receiving priority based on an equity analysis. However, bureau staff are exploring opportunities to maximize the use of remaining lights to keep affected parks as bright as possible.

*Montavilla Park’s gravel center road lined with older lamp poles*

PP&R will require additional funding to replace all the unsafe light poles in the park system. bureau leadership has reallocated $5 million from the major maintenance fund to remove the potentially hazardous light poles and begin the partial replacement process, pulling money away from other projects. Portland parks require $600 million of repair and replacement work beyond what the bureau budget covers. PP&R Director Adena Long is working to address this challenge through its Sustainable Future Initiative to align equitable service with available funding.

This lighting reduction is one of multiple budget shortfalls leaving Montavilla Park with fewer amenities. In 2021 demolition crews removed a dilapidated picnic shelter that park officials intended to replace with a new structure. However, lack of funds postponed that project, and the site is now just another grassy field. Expect fewer light poles in the two area parks over the next few months. Until PP&R funding increases, do not anticipate the restoration of the removed lights or shelter at Montavilla Park.

Twelve City parks with light pole removal planned

Colonel Summers Park will have 12 of 16 light poles removed
Irving Park will have 73 of 78 light poles removed
Ladd Circle Park will have 4 of 20 light poles removed
Lair Hill Park will have 5 of 9 light poles removed
Montavilla Park will have 6 of 17 light poles removed
Mt. Scott Park will have 18 of 22 light poles removed
Mt. Tabor Park will have 81 of 216 light poles removed
Rose City Golf Course will have 1 of 1 light poles removed
Sellwood Park will have 17 of 23 light poles removed
Sellwood Riverfront Park will have 14 of 17 light poles removed
Woodstock Park will have 8 of 25 light poles removed
Wallace Park will have 4 of 6 light poles removed

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Demolition, New Residence February 19, 2023March 25, 2023

Slender House Replacing Garage on Burnside

Portland real estate investor Antoine Dean recently purchased a thin 24-foot-wide lot on the NE side of E Burnside Street. The site contains a detached garage used over the last several decades by residents of 4 NE 72nd Avenue. Later this year, after demolition crews remove the existing structure, the site will host a new two-story single-family residence fronted on E Burnside Street.

Antoine Dean is a Portland real estate agent and investor who often looks for unique development opportunities. When he discovered the 1904-built home on the market, Dean saw potential in the detached building. The single-car garage and attached shed were not part of the original home but joined the adjacent property later. The lots remained separate parcels over the years, and Dean was able to purchase the garage’s land independently from the house.

The site will require creativity in its construction, being one-foot skinner than most infill houses. “It is a relatively small lot compared to everything else,” remarked Dean. Residential buildings in this zone require a five-foot setback from the property line. Consequentially the architect had to take a standard 15-foot-wide split lot plan set and shave an extra foot from the design. This proposed house is 14′ wide by 38′ long. However, it fits many amenities in that 1016-square-foot space. Each of the two bedrooms has an attached bathroom. That leaves just enough room on the second floor for a stacked washer and dryer closet at the top of the stairs. The main floor features an open-plan living room, kitchen, and dining area. Under the staircase is a small main-floor powder room.

This home targets the affordable side of the housing market. Dean explained that a home in a high-traffic location with a modest floor area is ideal for those working with a constrained budget. “Whoever purchases it is going to have to feel comfortable being right there on Burnside,” said Dean. He expects the single-family residence to list anywhere from $375,000 to $415,000, depending on the market conditions at the time of sale. Providing finically accessible housing is important to Dean. He sees it as one of the top challenges in the country, and he hopes his work will help mitigate the national housing shortage.

The demolition permit for the garage is approved, and work should begin soon after workers clear the property. Expect to see crews working the site throughout the summer. Dean hopes to keep to a tight building schedule and have the property listed before the end of the year.

Jacob Loeb

New Residence, Construction, Demolition February 4, 2023March 25, 2023

Apartments Replacing Cinderblock House on SE 80th

The cinderblock home at 235 SE 80th Avenue is boarded up and fenced off, awaiting demolition. After crews remove the 1949-era single-family residence, the new property owners will construct a three-story apartment building. The new structure will support 11 units of housing. Eleay Properties bought the house in 2019 and started the permitting process to build the multifamily development. Tenants, who have occupied the property since its purchase, have moved out ahead of the impending work.

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Demolition, New Residence January 28, 2023March 25, 2023

Deconstruction and Development on NE 91st

Exterior work is wrapping up on a pair of connected homes at 380 NE 91st Avenue and 384 NE 91st Avenue. Demolition crews are actively deconstructing the 1925-era single-family residence next door at 400 NE 91st Avenue. The developer of these related projects, FX Homes, will replace that structure with two single-story townhouses.

This multi-residence development sits across the street from Columbia Christian School and is adjacent to the educational institution’s accessory parking lot. Each dwelling under construction shares a fifteen-foot common wall, forming an “H” shaped duplex. The homes are on individual lots and can sell separately. Each 998-square-foot house has a covered front porch. The entryway leads into a living room with a gas fireplace. The “C” shaped kitchen sits behind that, with a dining nook in the portion of the home that pushes towards the neighboring connected house. A hallway leads past a pantry and laundry closet to the back of the home. The middle of the building has a ten-by-eleven-foot bedroom and a full bathroom. At the back of the houses, designers created the “Owners Suite” with an attached 3/4 bathroom.

*380 NE 91st Ave and 384 NE 91st Ave nearing completion*

Interior work on the buildings under construction should conclude in the next few months, with the homes hitting the market sometime this year. After workers remove the nearly 100-year-old house, crews will begin working on the next townhouses. When completed, four new residences will have replaced a single-family dwelling while blending into the scale of the neighborhood.

*Original house at 400 NE 91st Ave mid-deconstruction*

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Demolition, New Residence January 19, 2023March 25, 2023

Post Fire Rebuilding on SE 84th Ave

In February 2022, a fire consumed the second story of the 100-year-old home at 1502 SE 84th Avenue. Now the owners are rebuilding from the ground up, trying to complete a project they started a year ago. Eventually, the site will support a two-story house and a pair of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU).

Julie Lais and Levi Lais bought the 1919-era home in early January 2022, intending to refresh the old craftsman house. The building sat atop an unfinished basement, and the property included a detached garage. This additional space offered the couple space for two ADUs that would provide income for the family. Their children attend school within blocks of the house, and this location would have met their desire for a classic Portland home in a walkable community. As a licensed Oregon real estate broker, Julie Lais recognized the quality of this home with its fir floors, hand-crafted built-ins, and leaded glass windows. “It’s a really sweet house that you could tell had been loved for a few decades, even though it was a rental prior to us purchasing it,” said Lais.

However, a month into cleanup work at the house, an electrical fault changed the couple’s plan. “In February, while we were still doing some cosmetic updates, there was a bathroom fan that we believe was the source of the fire,” explained Lais. Flames spread throughout the top floor and began burning through to the main level when Portland firefighters arrived on the scene. The fire crews extinguished the flames, but smoke and water damage destroyed everything else, leaving nothing to salvage. Fortunately, the asbestos siding kept the fire contained to the inside of the structure. No one was living in the home yet, but they had insurance. However, the Lais family would soon discover the shortfall of insurance coverage.

A slow insurance payout delayed rebuilding for the better half of a year without compensation for lost funds. This location was not the Lais family’s primary residence at the time of the fire, so a loss of use coverage would not apply to this incident. Insurance would have covered lost rent if it had been a rental for at least six months, but the house was vacant and new to the couple. It was unfortunate timing, leaving them responsible for all the bills without support. “We’ve just been paying the mortgage on the hole in the ground,” said Lais. Now that they have received the insurance money, they realize it’s insufficient to recreate the lost house. “You can’t rebuild with what the insurance company will give you,” explained Julie Lais. Crews will construct the replacement house with contemporary building materials and modern finishes to stay within budget, losing the classic craftmanship of the older home.

*Elevations for new house at 1502 SE 84th Avenue courtesy Julie Lais*

The new house will recreate the prevues layout of the first floor with a similar large front porch. They chose to update the second floor’s arrangement and build taller walls supporting a higher ceiling. Modern building standards required a new foundation for the basement. That space will remain unfinished. Eventually, it will host a one-bedroom apartment after the Lais family financially recovers from this current project. The detached garage will also support a one-bedroom, one-bathroom ADU. The detached garage is the last part of the original property and will remain on-site with a new purpose.

Although the demolition of the old home created a sense of loss for the Lais family, the support of the local community was helpful during a difficult time. “We have met many neighbors in the process, and they have all been very kind and encouraging,” said Julie Lais. Construction plans for the site have changed due to the fire, but they are trying to get back on track. They anticipate keeping the property but may rent it out instead of moving in. It is undecided. “Everybody has a plan until their house burns down,” remarked Levi Lais.

Jacob Loeb

Construction, Demolition, New Residence January 8, 2023March 25, 2023

24 Apartments on NE Hoyt

Work is underway on two apartment buildings located in a dead-end section of NE Hoyt Street. Concrete crews recently completed the foundation for both three-story buildings. The 12 unit structures are mirror duplicates of each other, with their construction occurring simultaneously. However, each multi-family development will reside on separate lots owned by different companies.

Provision Group bought this property in September 2020. At the beginning of 2022, demolition crews removed the duplex at 9022-9032 NE Hoyt Street a year after applying for the permit to raze the 1959-era single-story building. Soon after crews cleared the property, the developer spit it into two new 50-foot by 95-foot lots. In July 2022, the owner sold each lot to separate Limited Liability Companies (LLC). D&B Properties LLC now owns 9050 NE Hoyt Street, and Hoyt Development LLC owns 9060 NE Hoyt Street. Provision’s owner, Andrey Bolokhovskiy, is a partner in the two new LLCs.

The buildings offer a total of 24 units up to 689 square feet in size, accessible through exterior stairwells. Each building has one set of stairs facing the street and a second set on the side of the structures accessed through a walkway between the buildings. Residents on the upper floors will have access to balconies from within the units. A development of this size will likely require new sidewalk and curb construction in front of both buildings. However, the properties on either side of this project lack modern street-side infrastructure, so the new pedestrian path will be underutilized until future redevelopment creates connections to the sidewalk.

Rental pricing is unknown at this time, but this could become workforce housing in a section of Montavilla recently seeing new density development. These apartments will provide homes for people just one block from NE Glisan Street and the number 19 TriMet bus. The Gateway Transit center is also within walking distance. This project exemplifies the type of middle-housing solutions required to meet Portland’s expanding demand for new residences.