1896 Sunnyside Home Slated for Destruction

PORTLAND, Ore. – A 119-year-old home in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Southeast Portland will be demolished and likely replaced by multiple new residences.

Located at 4511 SE Madison St., the house was built in 1896 and sits on a 6,600-square-foot lot. The residence itself totals 949 square feet in size.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

City and county records do not show any recent sales transactions, listing the most recent sale taking place in 1999 for $129,900 when it was sold to Eric Piper.

But on June 8 the Bureau of Development Services received an application for demolition of the century-old home. While Piper is listed as the owner, Gene Hubbell of Portland Development Group LLC is shown as the applicant, with “Gene” of the same company (no last name given, but probably the same person as the applicant) listed as the contractor.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Several weeks prior to the demolition application the city received an application for lot confirmation, to reopen an underlying lot line on the property. There is one lot line about 16 feet from the east edge of the current lot. The application also asks to adjust the line’s location, likely meaning it will be relocated to evenly bisect the property.

While the site is located in an R2.5 zone, meaning splitting the 6,600-square-foot lot would be allowed even without using the lot of record regulations, reopening an underlying lot rather than applying for a new land partition circumvents the process that goes along with a new land division, a process that includes a waiting period, neighbor notification, public comment period and appeal possibility.

Lot confirmation simply requires an application and city staff review.

No construction permits have been applied for on the site. The demolition delay for the 1896 home likely expired July 10 based on the intake date. While no detailed information is given, on July 13 the city recorded “corrections received” on the demolition permit in the process management criteria. The nature of the corrections is unclear.

A number of trees are located on the property. Their fate is not detailed in the demolition application.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Former cases covered by the Portland Chronicle indicate this development company virtually always purchases the property rather than working on contract, suggesting a sale has likely occurred or will occur shortly. Zillow’s estimate of the property’s market value gives a figure of $331,853.