Category: Demolition

Demolition, Infrastructure

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.

Update: PP&R will now replace all lights and halt removal until new lights are available.

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

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

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.

Image from Portland Maps

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.

Floor Plan courtesy of Antoine Dean

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.

Update October 14th, 2023: Cement masons completed foundation work at 7225 E Burnside Street outlining the new skinny structure. Look for principal framing to progress over the next few months.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

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.

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 occur in the early part of the year.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

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

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

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.

House prior to fire from Google Maps

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.

276 E 84th Street – Sanborn Map 1924

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.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

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.

9060 NE Hoyt Street foundation

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. 

9050 NE Hoyt Street

Updated (March 30th, 2023): Added new pictures showing project’s progression.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Community, Construction, Demolition

Reshaping the VOA Oregon Site on NE Glisan

Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon will raze the existing church building and other structures at 8815 NE Glisan Street within eight years. This demolition work will clear the way for the organization’s consolidation of its family safety, substance use, behavioral health, and post-incarceration services. Until the redevelopment begins, the human services organization plans to reuse the existing buildings for some relocated services and potentially as a childcare center.

President of VOA Oregon, Kay Toran, explained in an interview last week that the organization is in the early planning stages. The massive property spans both sides of NE 90th Avenue at Glisan Street, and plans for the new VOA campus will include purpose-built structures to support their various programs. Toran sees this project as an opportunity to change the perception of supportive services. “We tend to marginalize our oppressed populations by the facilities that they visit. So what I want this property to be a property that not only makes good efficient use of our time and efficient use of our professionals but also to lift up the population we serve,” said Toran.

VOA Oregon currently maintains services across many locations in the Portland Metro area. Development of this site will bring together those disparate locations into one destination and give the organization room to expand into other offerings. “We plan to use the 5.8 acres to relocate our existing services into one space, so we have more of a one-stop-shop,” said Toran. Consolidation is just one aspect driving the redevelopment of this multi-lot property. VOA Oregon is in the process of substantially expanding its medical services.

A sizable portion of VOA Oregon’s work centers on addiction treatment, including substance abuse disorder and gambling addiction. With the development of the new facility, they will focus on growing the behavioral health services by becoming a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). They intend to augment their current behavioral health offerings by providing Primary Health services to clinic patients and their families. This ambitious goal will drastically increase the number of people using VOA Oregon services. “So right now, we serve, over the course of a year, probably 10,000 individuals. That includes families and individuals,” explained Toran. “Well, I think it will grow exponentially because we’re looking at applying for a new service that will support family [healthcare].” This move to include accessible general medical care fills a critical gap in supporting marginalized people. “In our community, health care is not easily accessed by most people who are not insured,” said Toran. VOA Oregon would like to get people on the Oregon Health Plan when possible, but that still leaves people unserved, and this new expansion will help bridge the gap in coverage.

Not all VOA Oregon functions will relocate to the Glisan Street Site when completed. Corporate offices will remain at SE Stark Street and Cesar Estrada Chavez Blvd. The Montavilla location will grow into the central hub for the organization’s client facing services, maximizing all available land for that purpose. “We’re going to use all this space, and that’s where the professional talents of an architect is very important,” explained Toran. Staff will continue working with professional contractors to design the campus over the next four months. At that point, Toran expects to have a loose plan to share regarding the project.

A campus of this size and scope will require extensive planning and substantial donor investment. However, Kay Toran is committed to seeing this project underway with the urgency that current conditions demand. “I can’t tell you whether that’s five years or eight years, but I can say it won’t be ten years.” The site will likely remain empty as plans take shape. Expect to learn more about the NE Glisan Street property early in 2023 and anticipate seeing some temporary use for the building sometime next year.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence

4 New Townhomes on NE 74th

The new owners of a single-family residence at 423 NE 74th Avenue will soon remove the 100-year-old building. In its place, the developers will create four new townhomes in an area of NE Montavilla seeing substantial development. This 5,000 square foot lot sits next door to a recently completed apartment building and across NE 74th Avenue from the proposed affordable housing complex breaking ground next year.

Riverside Carpentry bought the 900-square-foot home in April of 2022. A month later, they applied to demolish the house and detached garage. In mid-September, the developer submitted building permit applications for a project consisting of four two-story townhomes. Each residence will reside on its own lot. Plans do not call for onsite parking for this project.

Image from Portland Maps

This infill development joins other recent high-density housing centered around NE Glisan street west of NE 82nd Avenue. Similar projects are underway at 432 NE 73rd Avenue and 319 NE 75th Avenue. Although the Mt Tabor Villas building on NE 74th Avenue predates Metro’s purchase of the former Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) location, other recent developments seem centered around the future low-income housing complex. Even before the construction began at the TBN site, the message from officials was clear. Density housing is the future for this area.

Within a few years, many more people will reside off NE Glisan Street. The added residents should boost nearby businesses, and the late-night activity could deter some malicious activities in the area. Eventually, other properties on the surrounding blocks will have economic pressure to convert to residential or mixed-use, bringing in even more people and businesses to the area. NE Glisan will take years to mature, but current building trends indicate that change is already underway.

423 NE 74th Avenue after it sold in April 2022

New Townhome addresses

  • 451 NE 74th Avenue
  • 453 NE 74th Avenue
  • 455 NE 74th Avenue
  • 457 NE 74th Avenue

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, Food and Drink, New Business, View of Montavilla

Proposed Chick-fil-A on SE Stark

This month, the Chick-fil-A development team continued their preliminary work on redeveloping 9950 SE Stark Street. Designers have modified the project from the Early Assistance meeting last May. The current Early Assistance no longer seeks to demolish the approximately 7,012 square foot building or construct a drive-thru lane on the property. Instead, crews will rehabilitate the existing structure to host the fast food restaurant with 98 indoor seats. Plans still include some outdoor seating.

Currently zoned as Central Commercial (CX), City planners expect new developments on this property to maximize density and encourage urban activities. The CX zone allows projects with tall buildings placed close together. Developers working in this zone should create pedestrian-oriented structures with a strong emphasis on a safe and attractive streetscape. The proposed project on SE Stark Street will be a nonconforming use of the existing site. Portland allows noncomplying use within a zone when the building predates the new standards and only expects zone compliance to occur when property owners significantly redevelop the site. The status of nonconforming structures is not affected by changes in ownership or tenant. The project’s initial demolition and drive-thru-oriented redevelopment plan would need to adhere to the CX standards. This new renovation plan will create a different Chick-fil-A than most of the restaurant’s other locations but retain its nonconforming status and maintain the usage pattern of previous tenants.

The single-story structure, first built in 1984, hosted a wide range of restaurants and entertainment venues over the years. Rax Roast Beef owned the property until 1990. Recent tenets included Tony Roma’s restaurant, Hooters, Mystic Gentlemen’s Club, and Venue Gentlemen’s Club. If approved, Chick-fil-A will shift this location’s use back towards general fast food and away from adult-orientated services. The lack of a drive-thru window will limit some of the traffic impact experienced by the change in use. However, based on other Chick-fil-A locations, this could become one of the most popular destinations in the surrounding blocks and attract additional vehicles to the area. The project is likely months away from approval and may fail to move beyond the planning phase. Look for permit applications sometime next year if the City approves this site’s reuse.

Article originally published May 13th, 2022.

A recent land-use Early Assistance application indicates Chick-fil-A may soon open a new restaurant on SE Stark Street. If approved, developers will demolish the 1984-era building and construct a new fast food restaurant with a drive-thru window. Located at 9950 SE Stark Street, the 36,590 square-foot half-block property currently houses an adult entertainment club and bar.

The Chick-fil-A development team intends to construct a 4,991 square foot building with 98 indoor seats for guests. Outdoor canopies and an outdoor eating area with 12 patio seats would surround the new building. The property sits between SE Stark and SE Washington Streets, aligned at SE 99th Avenue near Mall 205. The site offers a variety of vehicle access points and is near the number 15 TriMet bus line. Other Chick-fil-A restaurants tend to attract many visitors, sometimes with lines spilling onto the neighboring street. However, this proposed Chick-fil-A is just six miles from the Clackamas restaurant and seven miles from the Gresham location. That density of stores may reduce peak demand for the proposed eatery and avoid traffic issues sometimes seen at other Chick-fil-A sites.

Developers use Early Assistance applications during the pre-planning phase of a project. Many proposals do not continue past this stage, and this Chick-fil-A may never materialize in this location. However, the addition of a popular destination restaurant in the area could draw in more visitors and improve business for neighboring stores. Expect to see updates regarding building permits if this project moves forward.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, Food and Drink, New Business, Property Sale

Proposed Food Cart Pod on SE 82nd

SE 82nd Avenue may soon have a new food cart pod near the popular SE Stark commercial area. A recent Early Assistance application revealed plans for the large corner property on SE 82nd Avenue at SE Ash Street. The new owner of 218 SE 82nd Avenue wants to demolish the existing Recreational Vehicle (RV) sales buildings and construct a food cart pod with an overhead canopy structure and other amenities.

B&U Properties bought the corner lot used by Budget RV Center in November of 2021. The same Limited Liability Company had recently acquired three lots adjacent to the RV sales property in June of 2021. B&U Properties is owned by Uday Seelam, who previously operated a food cart business and has experience in the food service industry.

The combined site owned by B&U Properties is 260 feet long and 100 feet deep, making it a sizable dining venue with space for parking and dozens of food carts. The proposal for the site includes adding water and sewer services to support the food carts, along with a shared trash enclosure. Crews will reconstruct the existing commercial driveway and add a pedestrian entrance from SE 82nd Avenue. They will also provide modular bathrooms on site, similar to the facilities installed at The Yard at Montavilla food cart pod.

Modular bathrooms at The Yard at Montavilla

This new food cart pod would be Montavilla’s second culinary collective opened in the last few years. The Yard at Montavilla greeted guests a year ago, just two blocks to the north. One month before the Yard’s grand opening, the Collective Oregon Eateries (CORE) at 3612 SE 82nd Avenue opened near SE Powell Blvd. If approved, this new pod could create a competitive marketplace for food cart operators seeking favorable rent while remaining in the same vicinity. This project is in the early stages of development and will likely not begin construction until sometime in 2023.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.