A 95-year-old building in northwest Portland is under demolition review, and could be replaced by six stories of multifamily housing.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The building, located at 1727 NW Hoyt, is currently known as the Ballow & Wright building. It was formerly known as the Buck-Prager building. Built in 1919, it initially housed the Women’s Hospital of Portland.
The 12,930 square foot building was renovated in 1980. It was up for sale in 2008.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The building is a contributing resource to the Alphabet Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. A full list of the historic district’s contributing structures can be found here.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The current owner is Mark O’Donnell, a Portland attorney. Archives of The Oregonian show that O’Donnell practiced law in the building in the 1980s as O’Donnell, Sullivan & Ramis. He is currently a partner at O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP.
An additional listed owner is the Blackstone Center Group, registered to O’Donnell and Timothy Ramis.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The applicant for demolition is developer Mark Edlen of Gerding-Edlen. Besides serving as the CEO of the prominent development company, Edlen also is a commissioner on the Portland Development Commission.
Edlen wants to demolish the building, as well as its neighboring structure to the north and a parking lot to the north of that.
The parking lot to the south of the Ballow-Wright building would also be removed. The new development would cover the entire west side of the block, and would include six stories and 82 apartment units.
The Historic Preservation Club blog and the Northwest District Association have some visual details on the proposed design.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The architect is Holst Architecture. Holst has previously designed the Belmont Street Lofts as well as the Thurman Street Lofts, a building which “sensitively engages the nostalgic character of Portland’s historic Northwest District, and leads the way in responding to the higher density and commercial requirements of the zoning changes for the area,” according to Holst’s website.
The Thurman Street Lofts required demolition of a single family residence.
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Neighbors of the Ballow-Wright building have started a petition opposing the demolition. They are urging concerned members of the public to contact city commissioners and explain their concerns. A public meeting before the Landmarks Commission will be held on November 17 at 1:30pm. The Landmarks Commission is located at 1900 SW 4th Ave., Suite 5000.
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This is a Type IV Land Use review. In this case, the Landmarks Commission will advise City Council, which will make a decision on the request. According to city documents, Council will approve a request for demolition of the historic resource if “demolition of the resource has been evaluated against and, on balance, has been found supportive of the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan and relevant area plans…” or if preserving the existing structure would “deprive the owner of all reasonable economic use of the site.”
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle
The evaluation will consider a range of factors, including “the effect demolition of the resources would have on the area’s desired character,” “the merits of preserving the resource,” and “the effect that redevelopment on the site would have on the area’s desired character.”
“Significant public opposition to demolition could save this building and a piece of Portland’s history,” says the petition.