Demolition on Glisan: 37 Units Will Replace 1923 Homes

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two 92-year-old single-family homes in the Kerns neighborhood will be demolished and replaced with a multifamily apartment complex.

The center two houses will be demolished, while the outer two will remain. Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Located at 2238 and 2248 NE Glisan St., both houses were built in 1923.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

County records show both houses having individual sales on Nov. 3, 2014 for $805,000. The ambiguity of the sales records means it is unclear whether the houses sold together for that price, or individually for that price each. Portland city data only lists one sale, on the house at 2238 NE Glisan St.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

One of the houses was sold by Marvin J Foust to Treece & Lambert LLC, while the other was sold by Janet S Foust to Treece & Lambert LLC.

Marvin Foust has several business registered in his name, including Northwest Home Inspections, Inc.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

In place of the one- and two-story homes, Treece & Lambert plans to construct a five-story 37-unit mixed-use complex. Applications call the top story a “partial 5th floor” because it will not stretch across the entire building, but will only be adjacent to the Glisan Street property line.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Architect Barry Smith and the new owner, Martin Treece of Treece & Lambert, applied for an adjustment to the legally allowed height of the building. The “partial 5th floor” extends higher than the mandated 45-foot height limit in the Commercial Storefront zone. The developers, or more accurately Mike Coyle of permit middleman service Faster Permits, applied for an exemption to the code.

Their rationale, according to city documents, was that the property site is near Sandy Boulevard, where higher buildings are allowed.

While there was a neighborhood appeal of the Bureau of Development Services’ approval of the adjustment, the BDS opted to ignore the appeal and approve the decision again. The BDS did impose a fairly strict requirement. In exchange for its approval of the exemption to the legal height limit, the developer must submit required site plans.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

With the adjustment the new complex will rise 54.5 feet off the ground, and will be adjacent to a one-story house and a three-story house. Both houses, located at 2228 NE Glisan to the west of the planned development and 2306 NE Glisan to the east of the site, are listed as dual-use residential and commercial.

New owner Martin Treece is listed by Google Plus as a “financial planning consultant.”

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle