Category: Structures

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.

 

Tiny House Expo

For my birthday, Matt bought me a ticket to the Tiny House Expo.  This was a very good present, as I love tiny houses. At the expo, people had a chance to tour several tiny houses as well as visit vendors.

I went early, which was a very good move. Tiny houses don’t hold very many people, which meant even at 9:30 in the morning, there were lines to get into each tiny house.

I loved the curved roof on this model.

Apologies for the blurry picture.  This model had just sold.  It cost $150,000.  (Yeesh!)

This person apologized because he forgot to bring his step.  This was fine by me, as I could easily take the big step up into the house.

Inside the step-less house.  I loved how the kitchen was not skimpy.

I liked the shed roof design of this house.  Plus, this company, Tiny Smart House, has a very fun Build-it-Yourself Program where you can build your tiny house on-site and take advantage of workshops, discounted group material buying.  So smart!

Here’s a tiny house camp trailer, which you can follow on Instagram @tinyhousecamptrailer.  They had a lot packed into a small space.

Here is a tiny house made out of a shipping container. It was very sleek.

I really liked how open and airy these big windows made this house feel.

Here’s the floor plan

A lot of houses were using this water system.

The teardrop camper people were there too.  I love me a good teardrop camper, especially one as nice as this one.

Hiddenbed of Oregon had a very good design.  During the day: desk.
At night: bed.  Nicely done. The desk stays flat, so you don’t have to disassemble and reassemble every night. Cost for a double bed? $2100.

You could also have your own geodesic dome.  I have affection for domes, as they were not uncommon in the landscape of my 80s childhood.

Overall, I had a great time.  Thanks Matt.

Also! The square lights at the Convention Center! So fun!  And my mind boggles at how all those things got into this building.  Convention center logistics must be no joke.

New Building coming on NW 5th & NW Glisan

I spent some time staring at the photo accompanying this pubic hearing notice.  It didn’t seem to fit with the neighborhood.  After a time, I realized that it was an old notice–they had glued the new notice on top of it, and the rain had loosened the current notice which had slid and stuck.

So here’s what’s coming. And I found a great site: Next Portland: Architecture and Development in PDX.  Here’s what they have to say about this project. (Includes multiple renderings of the site with the new building.)

Here’s the site itself.  The green wall is a 1954-era building that would be removed. There is no mention of the removal of the Three Points Oil building, but that would disappear too.

Overall, it seems like a good use for this corner.  All other surrounding buildings would be preserved. Chinatown could use more residential units, so I’m calling this a win.

It will affect my walking route over the Steel Bridge during construction, though.  That will be annoying.

Morris Marks House moved

This house used to sit near the corner of SW Main Street and SW 13th.  That location is very close to the First Unitarian Church, so I used to see it often, coming and going from and to church.  During that time, it seemed to go from minimally occupied, to unoccupied, and I crossed my fingers that it would survive as it has incredibly good bones.

As you may guess from this photo, it did!  It was moved to a grand location where it overlooks the cars exiting 405.  The Oregonian covered the move (because who doesn’t love a good house moving?) and you can read the September 30 story about the moving of the Morris Marks house by clicking this link.

I look forward to its restoration.

Get the dirt out

Here we are looking at the corner of Davis and 10th. This is the block I’ve been watching change. Currently, there are two dump trucks on the block itself and three waiting.  Excavation is always the first part of the high-rise project.
And here we see the actual excavation. This reminds me both of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Fuel by Ani DiFranco, that stalwart of my late 90s/early 2000s experience.

Broadway Building Rehab and Broken Branch

I’ve featured this building before on this blog.  It’s getting an update.  The Passport Photo place on the corner has moved into the middle space while they renovate.

It’s a to-the-sidewalk renovation, and I’m interested in how they have built a temporary new interior while they work on the exterior.

And also how the corner entrance looks like it will be maintained, along with its light.

Around the corner in the North Park Blocks, a branch is down.

A big branch!

The outline of the old

Now I’m curious if those windows are closed over on the inside of the remaining building.  My guess is yes.  I’m pretty sure this means the remaining building (Deschutes Brewery) was built first.  Or perhaps an incredible optimist added windows to the wall, hoping that someday that other building would disappear.  It’s your moment in the sun, incredible optimist.  You are proved right!