Organizers of the annual Jade International Night Market will soon decide if this is the year for the popular community event to return. The last occurrence attracted more than 20,000 visitors in 2019, but like many other events, the pandemic disrupted the yearly tradition. Now the market’s planning committee needs input from the community through a survey to determine if the Night Market will return this August.
Since 2014, the late summer gathering has highlighted the best parts of the area centered on SE 82nd Avenue and Division Street. “[The market] provides a space to celebrate and recognize the diversity and culture of the communities who live and work in the Jade District and sheds light on the issues impacting a neighborhood in transition,” explained the Jade District manager Alisa Kajikawa. However important the two-day-long event is to the community, the organization has a finite capacity to organize group activities. The survey results will significantly help determine the public interest in the Night Market and explore other formats that better-fit community needs.
The Jade International Night Market’s planning committee meets next Tuesday, February 21st. Jade District staff invite people to complete the survey before the meeting to help guide their evaluation. The survey will remain open after next week’s meeting, and all input is welcome.
Pre-registration for this free resource fair is available online. Participants will receive complimentary food and a chance to win prizes through a raffle. Event organizers encourage all small business owners to attend, even if they do not have questions in mind. They see this as an opportunity for business operators to share information with others and learn more about resources available to grow the business community. Representatives from Prosper Portland, PDX 311, Bureau of Development Services, and other business support providers will join APANO’s Small Business Advisor team at the event to talk with the business community.
Small businesses are the backbone of Portland’s economy, and the city has received recognition for its supportive environment for entrepreneurs. However, running a small business is far from easy. These last few years have amassed excessive pressure on business owners dealing with rising costs, labor shortages, and crime-related costs. The 2023 Small Business Resource Fair aims to bolster support for businesses in the area and is an opportunity for people to tap into support they may not have known existed.
The Jade District and APANO will host a special event from noon to 4 p.m. at Harrison Park on Saturday, October 1, 2022. The event, titled Heal, Unite, Gather: A Jade District Community Art and Resource Fair, is part of the group’s Resilience Series that grew out of the pandemic response. This inclusive event will provide a mix of information, support materials, and artistic expression. Event planners will provide Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Somali, and Spanish interpretation services during the four-hour gathering.
The fair at 1931 SE 84th Avenue is free to attend, although the organizers have created an online registration page to calculate demand for the event. Family-friendly activities include healing arts, refreshments, music, food boxes, raffle prizes, and a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. People are encouraged to stop by and check out the offerings as even more activities are planned.
After a two-year hiatus, Montavilla’s Dumpster Day returns as part of a new Portland program. Area residents are invited to drop off bulky household items on Saturday, September 24th, at the Montavilla Church parking lot on the corner of SE 92nd Avenue and SE Hawthorne Boulevard. This free program allows residents to dispose of many large items not collected in regular curbside bins and prevents trash from ending up on the streets.
Two years ago, Portland’s Office of Community & Civic Life (Civic Life) discontinued a similar program once offered through neighborhood associations. Those programs provided an annual opportunity for residents to dispose of mattresses, broken furniture, and other trash that did not fit into regular collection containers. The events also served as a primary fundraiser for the nonprofit neighborhood organizations. Trash haulers will collect bulky items left on the curb during weekly pickup days if residents notify them ahead of time and pay a fee. However, some people do not have the means to arrange for those collections and instead leave items on the corner with “Free” signs attached. Those items can contribute to the City’s trash problem and congest public spaces.
The absence of a free dumpster program in Portland left a noticeable mark on the City’s trash collection system, prompting officials to create a new program. This weekend’s Montavilla Dumpster Day is the first in a series of events organized by Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), with funding through the City’s Public Environment Management Office. For this event, the City will pay members of the Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) and the Jade District to support the Dumpster Day operations. In the future, BPS will hire contractors to run events held in other neighborhoods.
People are encouraged to bring mattresses, furniture, and certain small appliances like a toaster, vacuum, or microwave. Some treated lumber and wood stumps are accepted but need to come from households, not businesses. Tires, large appliances, electronics, and hazardous materials can’t go into the dumpsters. However, Oregon Metro staff at the drop-off site will assist people in finding the proper disposal agency for items not taken at Saturday’s event. A complete list of allowed and forbidden items is available on the BPS website.
Although a Montavilla-based event, organizers secured ample dumpsters to accept items from local residents and neighboring areas. However, space is limited, and the event staff recommends people come early. The entrance opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 1 p.m. or when the dumpsters are full.
Disclosure: The author of this article will work at this event and may receive payment for his participation.
Saturday’s Jade District Dumpster Day and Solve Oregon cleanup attracted dozens of volunteers and a stream of vehicles dropping off large trash items. Within the first hour of operation, people filled 30-yard dumpsters at two drop-off sites. Instead of closing three hours early, the events coordinator, Alisa Kajikawa, picked up her phone and arranged for additional dumpsters. Before the day was done, yet another cycle of dumpsters rolled in to accommodate the overwhelming demand for trash disposal.
Kajikawa, the Jade District Manager, organized this one-day event with funds from Oregon Metro and support from the 82nd Avenue Business Association. The four-hour-long program included a community cleanup and open dumpster access for neighborhood disposal of bulky items.
Volunteers with Solve ventured out with 33-gallon carts to collect trash throughout the area and bring back items of all sizes to the primary dumpster site, located in the Unicorn Inn’s parking lot at 3040 SE 82nd Avenue. Nearby campers used shopping carts to roll in trash from their area and help clean up the streets.
Jade District Manager Alisa Kajikawa and Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang stacking mattresses
The dumpster on SE 82nd Avenue, and one on SE 92nd Avenue, were open to residents seeking a free place to dispose of items not collected through curbside trash pickup. Demand for dumpster use far exceeded expectations, and both sites eventually had to turn people away. Even after staff filled the five 30-yard trash containers to capacity, a stack of mattresses remained awaiting pickup by a recycler.
The dumpster demand seen over the weekend signals a great need in Portland for more events like the Jade District Dumpster Day. In 2020, The City canceled a long-running program that worked with Neighborhood Associations to host dumpster days across Portland. These events acted as an annual trash release valve that reduced the number of illegal dumps. Now groups like the Jade District are scrambling to find funding to meet the demand for trash disposal.
The original budget for the event only included funds for two dumpsters. The added cost of the three extra dumpsters will need to come from grant reserves and other funds within the organization. The success of the cleanup is measurable by the tonnage of rubbish collected. However, it barely makes a dent in Portland’s trash problem. Based on the demand seen Saturday and the piles of illegally dumped items across the City, an event like this could run every month for years without slowing down.
Flyer for the now completed event
Disclosure: The author of this article servers on the boards of the 82nd Avenue Business Association and Montavilla Neighborhood Association. He also volunteered at this event.
Located across 82nd Avenue from the Portland Community College, the property listing contains two adjoining parcels totaling 26,240 square feet with 232 feet of frontage on 82nd. The Flex at 2110 SE 82nd Avenue and the Pacific Plaza at SE 82nd and Division completed construction on this block within the last few years. Although both new buildings remain unoccupied, planners expect this section of the Jade District to grow in the next decade.
DJ Guild of Guild Investment Properties explained that these Montavilla properties, and others he is selling in Portland, have long-term tenants. The soonest lease expiration is two years away, making these properties suitable for investments holdings, opposed to rapid redevelopment. However, since most are zoned Commercial/Mixed Use 2 (CM2), Guild said they offer “outstanding density” opportunities if the new owner is interested in maximizing the property’s potential.
CM2 zones allow a wide range of commercial and residential uses. Development is intended to be pedestrian‐oriented, with a strong relationship between buildings and sidewalks. Structures in this zone will generally be up to four stories tall. However, the city allows larger projects with height and floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses. Guild noted that one of the 82nd Avenue lots for sale could hold up to 100 apartment units if the city granted all land use bonuses.
Selling these properties ends a decades-long investment in the area by DJ Guild. He began his tenure on 82nd Avenue in 1996, opening his automotive sales business in a former VW dealership at 333 SE 82nd Avenue. Guild first leased the location but later bought the property in 2008, marking a career shift from auto sales to real estate holdings. He focused on maintaining accessible rents for small businesses, which he says are underserved by recent construction seen throughout the city. Consequentially, Guild did not redevelop his holdings but instead added value to the existing buildings and kept those shops available to independent business owners.
Soon Guild will expand his operations towards building a new commercial property. He is transforming a 7.28 acre Vancouver Washington parcel into a 54 unit industrial business park. Again, he is focused on the ignored segments of the commercial real estate market, offering smaller and more affordable space than his competitors.
It is uncommon to see this many commercial properties available simultaneously on 82nd Avenue. Even if they all sell within the next few months, changes will take years to manifest at these locations. However, change in ownership brings the potential for new uses and further enhancements to the public space.
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