Tag: RIP

Construction, New Residence

SE Clay Townhomes Underway

Heavy equipment recently leveled the 35-by-100-foot lot at 8416 SE Clay Street, which has remained vacant for years awaiting development. In 2021, Provision Investments purchased the property, intending to construct a three-story apartment building containing nine residences. That multifamily project never broke ground, and in 2023, the owner listed the project for sale with city-approved building permits. By February 2024, the ownership team converted the project to a four townhome development. In late 2024, the group used Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) to place each unit on individual lots without needing a condominium-style homeowners association.

SE Clay St looking east from SE 84th Ave

The builders will construct the four townhomes on a gravel-covered and partially paved segment of SE Clay Street. A shared walkway will provide access to the back residences. The three off-street homes will offer residents around 920 square feet of living space, with the street-facing unit slightly larger at 1,000 square feet. The City addressed the two-story townhomes as 8416 SE Clay Street, 8418 SE Clay Street, 8420 SE Clay Street, and 8422 SE Clay Street. MHLD documents show the builders will add 35 feet of sidewalk to the front of the property. The sidewalk area creates a six-foot-wide pedestrian path set back seven feet from the new curb. In the space between the sidewalk and curb, crews will construct a three-foot-wide planter with stormwater inlets to collect rainwater from the street.

Site Map form LU 24-037194 Middle Housing Land Division Proposal

The developers of this property will need to relocate the City’s water main, which is currently running under the future sidewalk segment, to a path under the road. They must also pave 20 feet of the street in front of the development. This work will not dramatically transform SE Clay Street, which has no adjacent sidewalks or curbs. Provision Investments will be the first developer to contribute modern shared infrastructure on this block. However, this is the first step towards improving these substandard streets. The City mandated infrastructure updates are costly for developers and sometimes prevent home builders from taking on a project due to the added expense.

Foundation and main floor joists, April 2025

This project faced many delays and transformed over the years, trying to find a path to construction. Having crews working on the townhomes after four years of awaiting the right conditions may signify Portland’s recovering housing production market. A recent progress report on middle housing production in Portland indicates the Residential Infill Project (RIP) and the Residential Infill Project Part 2 (RIP2) have successfully encouraged developments like these townhouses on SE Clay Street and many other locations in Montavilla.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Construction, New Residence

SE 92nd and Alder Townhomes

The new owner of a corner lot at 9144 SE Alder Street will construct three new townhomes on the backside of an existing 1947-era single-family residence. Each new townhouse will offer residents around 1,400 square feet of living space spanning three levels. The new homes will contain three bedrooms with two-and-a-half bathrooms. Units will face SE 92nd Avenue and receive addresses on that street.

Image from Portland Maps

The property’s owner, James Kosta, describes the new structures as two and a half stories tall, with the third bedroom in the standing-height attic area. Dormers looking out onto SE 92nd Avenue will provide additional upper-level floor space and scenic views. Kosta’s BW Construction company has built housing east of Interstate 205 for many years, and they are now expanding to areas west thanks to the zoning code changes implemented by Portland officials in the Residential Infill Project. That package of code updates allows additional housing on most lots in the City.

Property frontage along SE 92nd Avenue

Kosta has spent the last 50 years building homes and is a proponent of affordable housing construction. His company often utilizes Portland’s program that offers builder tax abatement incentives to create new homes priced in the middle of the housing market. The three units will sell to buyers earning at or below the median family income (MFI) level for a four-person household, which is $116,900 as of April 2024. The income restriction will adjust upward for larger families. The program also caps townhome prices at $455,000 as of 2024. However, units can sell for less based on market interest from qualifying home buyers. Income limits and the sale price cap adjust annually based on median home sales and Portland Metropolitan area income reports evaluated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Existing 1947-era single-family residence

BW Construction is a family-owned company based in Oregon. James Kosta’s daughter is a partner in the housing development business. They do not plan on using Middle Housing Land division for this project at SE 92nd Avenue and Alder Street. The homes will sell as condominiums with a small Home Owners Association (HOA) covering shared property costs. Permit applications do not include additional on-site parking for this development, but the corner lot has curbside parking along both streets. Building permit approval timelines and other considerations will push the start of construction into 2025. When completed, the new homes will add family housing options just three blocks from a park and school while maintaining the existing house.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account or you can pay directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscribers or sponsors. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction

NE 74th Townhome Land Division

As four new townhomes are nearing completion at 457 NE 74th Avenue, the property’s developer applied for a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) to create distinct lots for each home. This form of property segmentation allows for common-wall construction that avoids Home Owner Association (HOA) fees and creates clearly defined boundaries between neighbors.

Crews began constructing these new homes in October and quickly completed principal framing, sealing up the exterior so work could proceed inside the units. This level of completion enabled the developer to pursue an MHLD lot division, which requires the builder to have units constructed to a state where an as-built survey of buildings and underground services can occur before the City approves the final plat. Although developers can only start the MHLD process after submitting permits, the process is guaranteed to be fast, according to Oregon state law. The City must either approve or deny the application within 63 days.

Site map included in the Land Use Notice of Proposal

An MHLD is reserved for specified housing types and does not apply to vacant lots or non-residential development. Lots segmented in this way must have existing buildings or structures under construction to qualify. The buildings can be attached or detached duplexes, triplex, fourplex, and Cottage Cluster developments. Unlike traditional lot divisions, MHLD does not require street access or a private road for all units. In the previous City code, all lots needed street access through complicated lot lines or easements. As with this project on NE 74th, MHLD-created properties can reside behind other lots without street access. Only the front home at 457 NE 74th Avenue directly connects to the sidewalk and utilities. The other three units have a walkway and utility easements.

Each MHLD-created lot has to contain one residence. However, those lots do not need to be the same size. The back property at 451 NE 74th Avenue is larger than all the others, with significantly larger yard space. It also contains a shared drywell for onsite rainwater management. The middle two units have equal land area, access, and yard space.

MHLD is an integral part of Portland’s recent Residential Infill code updates that allow people to create more housing on existing properties. Creating independent lots in this creative way eliminates added monthly costs that some homeowners pay to an HOA for shared property maintenance. It can also simplify the mortgage process and neighbor relations by not having an extra level of governance over one’s land. Many newer infill developments across Portland are already using MHLD, which may indicate that changes brought about by the Residential Infill Project are succeeding in the City’s efforts to create more housing. Look for these four townhouses to become available for purchase in 2024.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account or you can pay directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscribers or sponsors. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Construction, Demolition, New Residence, View of Montavilla

New Townhouses on Burnside

Update June 27th, 2022 – Construction crews are wrapping up work on a three townhome project at 7424 E Burnside Street. The two-story multi-family development replaced a single-family home while retaining a detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) built at the west edge of the lot.

Update March 15th, 2022 – Framing crews have completed work on the three townhomes currently under construction at 7424 E Burnside Street. The unit to the west features a steep gable roof similar in pitch to the neighboring accessory dwelling unit built in 2018. The other two homes share a low slop roof edged by a parapet.

Workers will next seal the two-story building from the elements with a roof system, windows, and siding. After that work completes, tradespeople will focus on the interior with the project’s expected completion later this year.

Update October 19th, 2021 – Demolition crews are actively deconstructing the single-family residence at 7424 E Burnside Street. When the property is clear of the 1949 era single-story home, work will begin on three new townhomes at this site. Another detached residential building will remain on the west portion of the property. Consequentially, crews will cap shared utilities near the old foundation instead of at the sidewalk, maintaining services at the other structure during construction.

Original article published September 20th, 2021

East Burnside Street could gain three new Townhouses just west of SE 75th Ave. Developers plan to raze a 70-year-old signal family dwelling at 7424 E Burnside Street, clearing the way for three new homes. An existing accessory building will remain on the property.

Work on the project could begin next month. On October 6th, the thirty-five-day demolition hold will elapse for the existing single-story building. Once cleared, the property will be ready for further development.

Permits submitted last Friday seek to build a trio of two-story townhouses on the lot. New residents of these homes will rely on street parking and other transportation options. The limited space on the lot does not allow for the construction of garages. In 2018, the property owners constructed an accessory structure on the western edge of the lot. That building will remain, adding a 4th unit to the property.

This proposed development is possible thanks to zoning changes made this summer by the Residential Infill Project (RIP). Portland planners believe these changes will create smaller homes that are more affordable for residents. Regardless of the final price of each townhouse, the lot will soon have space for two extra families. Many supporters of RIP hopped that buildings would be added to properties and not cause excessive demolition. However, as with this project, creating housing density will require the sacrifice of some older buildings. Expect to see demolition crews at the site later in 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

Commissioner Fritz Condemns RIP

Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz was the lone dissenter in this week’s adoption of the Residential Infill Project (RIP). Underdeveloped infrastructure and its impact on the environment was a component of Fritz’s objection. The RIP Ordinance and amendments will not address unimproved, under-improved roadways, and sidewalks.

Commissioner Fritz expressed many doubts regarding the effects of these new zoning code changes. In the August 12th City Council meeting, Fritz outlines how she believes it will hasten gentrification and do little to improve homeownership among people of color. The Commissioner expressed concern that this would benefit developers and landlords while making Portland less affordable.

Commissioner Fritz unified her objections under an environmental concern, stating that underdeveloped pedestrian infrastructure and lack of public transportation mandates car usage. Destiny construction without considering its location near resources is counterproductive to our environmental goals, explained Fritz. “Putting new homes where they never will have transit, never have sidewalks, never be close to jobs, and services will mean that we won’t be able to meet the climate emergency goals we all voted for a few weeks ago… New residents will have to drive to groceries, jobs, schools, and services.”

Beyond the indiscriminate nature of RIP’s zoning code changes, it does not provide sufficient infrastructure enhancements. Instead, developers can pay into the same system used for single-family and duplex homes. The Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC) is an option for builders who do not want to improve their portion of the roadway. Before the recent changes, building a triplex or more dense building, required the developer to build sidewalks and roadways to the current city standards. With the changes to LTIC, they can pay into a general road and sidewalk fund that the city uses throughout Portland.

The LTIC change was a conservative solution and a minor adjustment to support RIP. “In terms of the RIP and the LTIC, the changes are just housekeeping to bring the LTIC code in compliance with the changes the RIP has made to Title 33. LTIC currently only applies to single-family and duplexes. RIP applies to tri and quadplexes. These changes will bring LTIC in alignment with RIP,” said John Brady, Communications Director at Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Without expanding LTIC, city officials worried there would be a patchwork of street improvements. Sidewalks only 25 to 100 feet long are evident on some older streets, LTIC was a way to prevent that from continuing. LTIC corrects the intermittent upgrades by pooling funds until the whole road can be updated all at once. It lessens the development cost, which encourages more housing development. However, it is nowhere close to being enough funding to fix all of our streets and provide sidewalks.

Additionally, those funds improve roads wherever the city feels it is needed most. There is little chance LTIC funds will improve the infrastructure near where funds were collected. Commissioner Fritz highlighted that point in her comments when voting against the ordinance adoption.

“In allowing the development of tri and four-plexus on gravel and curb-less streets, we have offered a dubious solution in the local transportation improvement charge that will not guarantee that sidewalks will be built wherever new development occurs. In fact, it will ensure people living in the new homes will never have paved streets or sidewalks in their lifetime.”

Fritz believes the new Zoning introduced by RIP will damage the environment through increased use of single owner vehicles. Due to its lacking support for sidewalks and roads that facilitate biking or bus transit. It also encourages small affordable homes on under-improved streets to be demolished, making room for high-density developments. That could make low-cost homeownership less attainable.

Others on the Portland City Council did not share Fritz’s concern for RIP. They believe that adding housing inventory, with incentives for low-income options, will outweigh the adverse effects of this ordinance. All involved in the deliberations seem to agree that under-improved and unimproved roadways are a problem that RIP does not address. For Commissioner Fritz, it was one significant reason not to support the program.

With RIP now passed, Portland streets will need news solutions to address their deficiencies. LTIC is not up to the job, but it does not need to be the only solution. There are many other funding options in our system to help. However, more will be required if we are serious about improving Portland’s infrastructure. Walking and biking need to happen on modern roads with continuous sidewalks. With increased public support, Portland City Council can adopt other programs to address streets and sidewalks. RIP turned out not to be the place to do that work, but its passing means we now have a greater need to replace our outdated roadways.