Irvington Historic District Home Will Be Torn Down

PORTLAND, Ore. – A two-story home in the Irvington neighborhood of Northeast Portland will be razed to make way for a new single-family residence.

The house, located at 2602 NE 13th Ave., was built in 1922 and sits on a 5,000-square-foot lot. The house itself is 1,392-square-feet in size.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The 93-year-old house is located within the Irvington Historic District, although it is not a contributing structure. Because it is located in the historic district, a historic resource review is required for plans involving new development.

On April 7 the city received an application for a pre-application conference to discuss a Type III Historic Resource review in order to demolish the 1922 home and replace it with a single new house.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

On April 17 the city received an application for demolition of the house. Because it is in the historic district the 35-day demolition delay was triggered (it is now triggered on all single-family residences within residential zones, but this application was received three days prior to the new code taking effect).

City and county records as well as the permit applications list the property owner as Bernadette L. Suh, who has been the listed owner since 1988 after a $36,000 sale.

PortlandMaps.com estimates the property’s 2014 real market value as $396,850.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The applicant on the demolition is Rich Eisenhauer of RAE Design & Associates registered in Beaverton. Eisenhauer is also a program manager with the Portland Bureau of Transportation managing the transportation system development charge (SDC) program and has worked with Eric Rystadt Homes designing “high-end custom homes” in the past.

Transportation SDCs are “one-time fees assessed to new development and changes in use” and are charged to anyone applying for new development other than remodeling.

The contractor on the Northeast 13th Avenue demolition is John Duncan of Timberridge Development. This company designs, develops and sells its own “high end luxury homes,” according to its Facebook page.

An “ideabook” on Houzz.com gives an idea of the styles under consideration for the new development.

The demolition delay for the 93-year-old home expires May 22.