Upholstery Block

Riding my  bike to work, I noticed this sign.  When I’m biking, I don’t like to stop, so I resolved to come back at a later date with my camera.  A random Friday off from work and a delay in demolition gave me my opportunity.

We’re looking at the block between N Webster and N. Alberta on Interstate.  My new favorite website Next Portland, tells me this block will turn into the Aniva Apartments.  There is a picture of what it will look like. It will have 90 units and tuck-under parking according to the building permit.

Here’s what’s here now, from Alberta Street:

And here’s the other end of the block, from Webster street:

This upholstery shop was here when I moved to Kenton in 2007.  It was one of two on Interstate.  Both have closed now, but there is now one on Lombard, and one in Kenton, so our net loss of upholstery shops is zero.

I took a picture of the backyard.  Soon, that house on the right won’t have much light on that side.  They will also get to enjoy a bunch of people being able to look right into their backyard.

This is the only house that will come down.  It occurs to me I should take a walk down Interstate and capture all the current houses. When I once told someone I lived on Interstate, she said, “I didn’t know there were any houses on Interstate.” I responded that there were a lot, but perhaps in 50 years there won’t be any.  Best to make a mark of them now, just like we did for the motels of Interstate.

The parking lot for the building on the corner of Alberta and Interstate.  Someone was living in the back corner of it, before they put up the fence.

This building will also go, which suprised me, as someone recently put some money into renovating it (newly paved parking lot, new paint job, general upgrades.) There was a coffee shop there for a bit, but it closed, probably for lack of customers. Ironically, once the new building goes up, I would put good money on it having a coffee shop.

There will also be a new building happening across the street. Proud Ground, the people who own the land my house sits on, will be developing the block across the street.  It hasn’t made it through review yet, so isn’t on the Next Portland Map, but the Portland Observer reports that 41 of the 50 units would be Proud Ground condominiums. It would also give priority to residents displaced by the gentrification of North/Northeast Portland.

Here’s what the block looks like now, from the Webster side:

From the Alberta side:

The cleaners and the shop with the yellow awning were in operation until recently.

Lots like this–with surface parking in front and the stores set back from the street–are in short supply on Interstate. It’s hard to see, but there is housing on this block already.  The building that houses the convenience store is hooked to another building running parallel to Interstate. It has apartments on the upper levels. It took me nearly a decade to notice them.

J’s Market is still open, though I’m guessing it won’t be for long.

No one has come to remove this phone booth, so I guess it will eventually be the job of the people who level the lot.

 

2 thoughts on “Upholstery Block”

  1. WOW! Those are some big changes! The new apartment looks sleek and nice, but boy will the street profile look so different.

    1. And that’s just one street in Portland. It’s happening all over. Williams was about 10 years ahead of Interstate, so most of the street has been transformed. Division is the same way. It is remaking the street profile in dramatic ways.

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