TESO Life Store Opening on SE Washington Jan 31st
TESO Life will open its first Portland location at 10548 SE Washington Street next Saturday, January 31st. The Asian household goods seller took over the 23,200-square-foot storefront left vacant by Big Lots four years ago at Plaza 205. The shopping complex is currently reinventing itself to serve people interested in items and flavors from across…
Chick-fil-A Opens on SE Stark Street
On January 22nd, Portland’s first free-standing Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in the Gateway district across from Mall 205. The store is unique in several ways from the other locations in the outer Portland area. It has a larger kitchen than most stores, a kids’ play area less often included in new facilities, and no drive-through window. Instead…
New Pedestrian Infrastructure Opens Around Chick-fil-A
As Portland’s first free-standing Chick-fil-A restaurant prepares to open in early 2026, pedestrians traveling around the Mall 205 area in the Gateway district gain access to wider sidewalks with street furniture offering places to rest. Recently, crews removed construction fencing around the new fast food destination at 9950 SE Stark Street, fully opening the area…
Bookstore Joins Hungry Heart Bakery
On November 13th, Endless Wonders Books opened a sales corner at Hungry Heart Bakery, 414 SE 80th Avenue. The new integrated business relationship between the distinct companies adds operating hours to the storefront while offering a selection of titles featuring marginalized communities or written by authors identifying as members of underrepresented groups. Owners Zo Nicole…
Blackfang Tattoos and More on SE Stark
A new tattoo shop and retail storefront will open at 7925 SE Stark Street in the former Maintain Yourself PDX space on the historic downtown Montavilla main street. Blackfang Tattoos and More will have space for five resident tattoo artists, along with an all-ages storefront featuring works by local artists, stickers, clothing, plants, and jewelry.…
Holy Moly Salon on SE Stark
On November 1st, Holy Moly Salon and Gallery opened at 7819 SE Stark Street in the former Harashay storefront with four stations and a back wall dedicated to showcasing local artists. The owners designed the newly renovated space to offer an “elevated experience” that is approachable to area residents and serves the full spectrum of…
Tool Building Grows NE Glisan Main Street
Painters recently covered the former O’Neills Tools & Equipment building at 7131 NE Glisan Street with a fresh coat of white paint as the new owners begin transforming the large corner building into a multi-tenant retail destination serving the community. The formerly barred and gated property now presents board-covered openings, as crews prepare it for…
Essa Bakery Middle Eastern Desserts
Essa Bakery opened in August within the former Stop By Bakery & Deli space at 8243 SE Division Street. The new bakery’s owner, Essa Abdulsahib, is friends with the previous business owner and learned that the space was available after Stop By Bakery relocated to Beaverton. Abdulsahib is a lifelong baker who brought his father’s…
Large Attendance at 99 Ranch Grand Opening
Crowds of eager shoppers packed the queue outside Portland’s first 99 Ranch Market on August 16th for the Pan-Asian grocery’s opening day celebration. Attendees waited in a one-hour-long line to enter the new 40,174 square foot store and waited another 25 minutes to check out. Inside, people found a brightly LED-lit and fully stocked store…
Cookies Dispensary Reopens on SE Division Under New Ownership
After a prolonged closure, staff at the Cookies cannabis store at 7916 SE Division Street have turned on the open sign and hung a “Now Open!” banner in the front window ahead of the shop’s August 16th grand opening. It closed its doors in late 2023, with the site initially developing signs of neglect. The original…
1818 SE 82nd Sober Shelter Construction Starts August
Starting August 4th, demolition crews working with Multnomah County’s Homeless Services Department will begin preparing the site at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue to support a new sober shelter that Do Good Multnomah will operate after construction completes in the 2025-2026 winter season. With the reconstruction of SE Mill Street adjacent to the property complete, and road…
Cannabis Store Opening in Downtown Montavilla
Broadway Cannabis Market will open a new location in the former Tub and Tan building at 8028 SE Stark Street. The Oregon marijuana dispensary chain signed a five-year lease for the Montavilla storefront in a building currently listed for sale. The company’s owner, Tony Birch, is recognized for introducing an upscale design to the ubiquitous landscape…
99 Ranch Hiring for Midsummer Opening
Crews are assembling the refrigerated display cases and product shelving inside East Portland’s first 99 Ranch Market location at 10560 SE Washington Street. The highly anticipated Asian grocery store began hiring for nearly 100 positions at the new location in May, with a Job Fair and postings on job websites. The hiring manager for this location anticipates…
Another Gateway Mall Property for Sale
The owners of the six-tenant strip Mall along SE 96th Avenue are seeking a buyer for their Mall 205 adjacent property. Called Prime 205, the single-story bar-shaped structure at 1026 SE 96th Avenue recently secured Carrington College as a new anchor business occupying 64 percent of the building with a ten-year lease. Past owners of…
Stone Soup PDX Cafe Opens on NE Glisan
On Tuesday, June 3rd, Stone Soup PDX Cafe opened at 7400 NE Glisan Street, marking the culinary training nonprofit’s return to direct customer sales after closing its downtown storefront at the start of the pandemic. The cafe will serve breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Starting in July, Stone…
NE Glisan Community Support New Bodega with May 30 Benefit Show
On Friday, May 30th, two bands will play a benefit show at Replicant Beer & Wine to support the new NE Glisan bodega-style convenience store, How Convenient. The show features the performers Wedding Singer and Friends with Salad, who will play from 6 to 8 p.m. within the bar at 7033 NE Glisan Street. In…
Wildcard Barber Opens on NE Glisan
On Sunday, May 4th, Wildcard Barber will host a grand opening celebration from 5 to 9 p.m. with food, refreshments, and discount tooth gems. Montavilla’s newest barber shop recently took over the former Highway Tattoo space at 7110 NE Glisan Street. Owner Danielle St. Pierre shares the two-station shop with established Portland barber Erik “Gator” Heglund.…
Devout Rcrds Reopens on NE Glisan
On April 26th, Devout Rcrds held its grand reopening in its new location at 7115 NE Glisan Street after a long hiatus. This highly specialized store focuses on metal music in all its varieties. Redevelopment pressures forced the shop to move several times within Portland’s Inner Eastside, and the pandemic caused the owner to close…
B2T Boxing Gym Opens at NE 80th and Burnside
B2T Boxing Gym opened on April 1st at the corner of East Burnside Street and NE 80th Avenue, providing a new fitness resource to a neighborhood that recently lost 24 Hour Fitness and Cascade Athletic Clubs. Owners Bryan Sanchez and JC Wade are rebuilding the community scattered by an August 2019 fire that closed the…
Tréla Greek Brunch Weekends
Tréla Greek Kitchen opened at 6000 NE Glisan Street on December 16th, 2024, and introduced weekend brunch service the following March. By summer, the restaurant owner’s parents will open Yiayia’s Greek Sweets shop in an adjacent space, serving the dessert items made for Tréla, along with Greek beverages and soft-serve ice cream. Since opening, people…
Oak Street Village Shelter Opens
On February 19th, representatives from Multnomah County, the City of Portland, and Montavilla community leaders joined the Oak Street Village shelter operators at 333 SE 82nd Avenue for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This event officially opened the temporary shelter site that can house up to 40 adults in 29 sleeping pods with 33 parking spots so residents can…
99 Ranch Construction Resumes
After a long permitting and planning process, construction is beginning again on East Portland’s first 99 Ranch Market location at 10546 SE Washington Street. The highly anticipated Asian grocery store’s progress slowed after the property owner made exterior modifications to the storefront and installed new demising walls to create smaller storefronts flanking 99 Ranch’s entryway.…
Fine Things Studio and Ceramics Shop
In January, Mary Carroll Ceramics and Alexandria Cummings Ceramics relocated their shared production studio to a long-vacant storefront at 6900 NE Glisan Street. The corner storefront allows the partners to expand their businesses to include a membership-based multi-use space and retail storefront to sell homeware alongside their creations. Taking the new business name from the…
Sleepover Pizza Replaces Pie Spot
In early February, Sleepover Pizza will open in the former Pie Spot storefront outside the Rocket Empire Machine food hall at 6935 NE Glisan Street. The new school pan pizza maker takes inspiration from Detroit and Sicilian styles, offering eight-by-ten-inch rectangular pies with classic flavors that aim to excite families and pizza lovers alike. The shop…
Oak Street Village GNA Moves to Signing
On December 9th, the Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) voted unanimously to sign the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) for the Oak Street Village shelter site at 333 SE 82nd Avenue. The Multnomah County-owned property will open to temporary residents in early 2025, and formalizing a community agreement is a significant step toward launching this shelter. The…
Stone Soup at Glisan Landing
The culinary training organization Stone Soup PDX recently relocated its operations from downtown Portland to the Beacon at Glisan Landing building on the corner of NE 74th Avenue and Glisan Street. Educational programs are currently underway inside the storefront space, and their publicly accessible cafe will open in March 2025, when they expect residents to…
Abandoned Driving Range to Become Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary
The Bird Alliance of Oregon recently completed its purchase of a 12.51-acre property on NE 82nd Avenue across from Leodis V. McDaniel High School. For decades, this overgrown field was known for the graffiti-covered remnants of a golf driving range built on top of a landfilled quarry. Within the next several years, it will become…
Tusi’s Deli Creation Brings Samoan Food to NE Glisan
During weekends in October, the area’s only Samoan restaurant eased into opening at 6824 NE Glisan Street. However, enthusiastic customer response soon attracted attention from social media, and Tusi’s Deli Creation experienced its first back-to-back sellout days. The wife and husband team are enjoying the warm reception from the community, which has countered negative feelings…
Timberview VIII Apartments Lifts Gateway
The eight-story Timberview VIII Apartments at 540 NE 99th Avenue will open to new residents in October. Currently Gateway District’s tallest building, this mass timber affordable housing project brings environmentally forward construction to a prominent section of NE Glisan Street. The bar-shaped structure elevates income-restricted housing design and features apartments for households of varying sizes…
Publican Beer Room Opens at CORE
On Friday, September 27th, the Publican Beer Room opened inside the Collective Oregon Eateries (CORE) food hall, supported by the bartending skills of Chris Shimamoto of Barrio fame. The CORE food cart pod and dining hall at 3612 SE 82nd Avenue recently took in carts displaced from Eastport Food Center’s closure. Now, they have made…
ZenTech Auto Repair Opens on SE 82nd
ZenTech Auto Repair opened on August 3rd at 145 SE 82nd Avenue in the former auto spa location next to Hong Phat Food Center. This three-bay repair shop services all vehicle types, and the staff speaks Vietnamese and several Southern Chinese dialects in addition to English. Their fluency in people’s native languages sets this shop…
Dingo’s Sports Pub for East SE Stark
In early September, Dingo’s Sports Pub opened at 8826 SE Stark Street, replacing the Beer Brats & Beats venue with an Australian-style sports bar. Owner Brendan Jones has transformed this space several times since opening in late 2021. This iteration pulls inspiration from his national roots with a light Aussie theme that offers a brighter, quieter…
Shorba Arabic Food Cart on SE 80th
On August 27th, the Shorba Arabic food cart opened for business after a weeks-long soft launch period. This uniquely sited cart sits adjacent to an apartment building on the northeast corner of the same block that hosts mainstay neighborhood restaurants, including Yaowarat and Redwood. The cart’s owner, Omer Alshahrabani, and his wife run lunch and…
Storied Vintage Opening on SE Stark
On August 21st, Storied Vintage opened its new Montavilla location at 7850 SE Stark Street after relocating from a 1,000-square-foot space at the Brooklyn Mall on NE Sandy Boulevard. This leap into a dedicated storefront reflects three years of business growth for store owner Jana Fulop. The family-run shop is still developing its hours during…
Way Home Studio Opens to the Community
On August 18th, the Way Home Studio will open next door to the Way Home Shop as a rentable event space for classes and gatherings. The four studio co-owners came together based on a common need for flexible space to host their sessions. The group’s community-building approach to business includes making the space rentable at…
Flipside Hats Flips Storefronts
Flipside Hats recently moved one door down within the same building, taking over 7848 SE Stark Street from a previous tenant. The hat company relocated to Montavilla from SE Belmont Street in November 2021 after an extensive remodel of the building. Endure Vintage Furniture rented the smaller retail space at the hat-maker-owned building in February…
Hong Phat Supercenter Celebration
Hông Phát celebrated the opening of its new Supercenter at 4200 SE 82nd Avenue on Friday, July 26th, with firecrackers, lion dancers, and speakers lauding the anticipated community contribution of this grocery store. Store staff filled the former Walmart location in Eastport Plaza’s campus with many of the fresh produce and imported brands found in…
Hong Phat Supercenter Opens July 26
Hong Phat Supercenter will open to the public on July 26th after a 30-minute ceremony that begins at 9 a.m. The store owners invite shoppers and community members to tour the new grocery store and indoor mall shops starting at 9:30 a.m. This Eastport Plaza situated location is the company’s fourth store, which opened a…
Chipotle Mall 205 Opening July 23
Chipotle Mexican Grill will open its newest location at 10090 SE Washington Street on July 23rd. Located at the outer northern edge of Mall 205, this rapidly expanding chain restaurant is replacing another Mexican-themed fast-casual restaurant, Baja Fresh. This brand shuffle is part of a growing reinvestment in this area that includes redeveloping older mall properties…
Plaza 205 Retail Revival
In 2022, a California-headquartered real estate investment and management company purchased the Plaza 205 retail complex east of Mall 205. For over a decade, the struggling retail destination at SE 103rd and Washington Street followed the shopping mall decline seen across the country with prolonged vacancies and empty parking lots. Since taking ownership, Red Mountain…
New Holgate Library Opens July 13
The replacement Holgate Library will reopen to the public on July 13th with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and three days of events. The entirely new two-story mass timber facility at 7905 SE Holgate Boulevard replaces the former single-story Library and is the first new branch building constructed since 2010. The Multnomah County-run location hosts thousands of…
Stop By Bakery and Deli on Division
On December 5th, 2023, Waseem Elaibi opened Stop By Bakery & Deli at 8245 SE Division Street near Portland Community College’s southeast campus. The owner and chief baker migrated from Iraq in 2016, bringing traditional baking skills first honed in his youth. The menu features halal-compliant foods and many freshly baked items, including samoon, an…
Montavilla Ranch Pizza Opens June 6
On Thursday, June 6th, Ranch Pizza will open its eighth location at 7940 SE Stark Street on Montavilla’s historic main street. That same morning, the pizzeria’s sister business, Loro Coffee, will welcome customers from its second location, which shares this storefront. Ranch Pizza owners intend to make the Stark Street location the home base for their…
City Noise Records Opens, Replicant Bar to Follow
On May 22nd, City Noise Records relocated from a small storefront on NE Broadway Street to 7033 NE Glisan Street. Within a few weeks, a new beer and wine bar called Replicant will open next door to the punk and metal music shop, allowing customers of both establishments to commingle through a central passageway. These complementary…
Jade District Learning Center at PCC
On May 8th, Verizon, Hacienda CDC, and Portland Community College (PCC) hosted an open house for the Jade District Learning Center. It is one of three new centers intended to remove barriers between low-income Portlanders and tech resources. Elected officials, corporate sponsors, and community organization leaders spoke at the late afternoon event while letting people explore the tech-focused maker space.…
Thang Long Cuisine Opens on SE Division
Thang Long Cuisine opened in the former Thai Fresh location at 8409 SE Division Street in late April, replacing HÂP Fresh, which briefly occupied the space. The new restaurant will host a grand opening celebration on the weekend of May 11th and 12th. Co-owners Minh Pham and Thuy Nguyen took over the shop from the previous business to start their…
SE Stark Chick-fil-A Moves Forward at Recent Homicide Site
The site of an April 1st homicide will become a new Chick-fil-A restaurant after the City approves permits. Since 2022, franchise designers have worked to gain approval for a new chain chicken sandwich shop at 9950 SE Stark Street. The approximately 7,012 square foot building hosted several establishments over its years, including Tony Roma’s, Hooters, Mystic Gentlemen’s Club, and now Venue…
Dollhouse Espresso Opens on SE 82nd
In Late March, Dollhouse Espresso opened its bikini coffee stand at 1133 SE 82nd Avenue and has served caffeinated drinks to drive-through customers every day since. Owner Jessica Cody bought the cart with donations from supporters interested in seeing a woman-owned stand that would create a safe space for the people working there. Although barista attire is…
Upcoming 82nd Ave County Shelter Meetings and Vote
On March 20th, the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) held its first widely attended public meeting regarding shelter plans for the Multnomah County-owned property at 333 SE 82nd Avenue. The second County run meeting on April 3rd will continue the community conversation with JOHS staff, City of Portland representatives, and site operator Straightway Services in attendance. On April 8th,…
Day Services Open at Former 82nd Ave Church
On March 21st, PDX Saints Love held a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the beginning of new day services at the former Saints Peter & Paul Episcopal Church property. In a partnership with Shelter Portland, the nonprofit will help unsheltered and housing-insecure community members access food, housing, behavioral health treatment, healthcare, and work opportunities. This organization will use the historic building at 247…