Portland, ORE. – Three houses built more than a century ago will be torn down to make way for a four-story, 63-unit building on Southeast Belmont Street.
The houses are located on the 4300 block and range in age from 106 years old to 110 years old.
At 4311 SE Belmont St. sits a single-family residence built in 1906. It totals 1,768 square feet in size on a 5,050-square-foot lot.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Next door to that house is a residence at 4325 SE Belmont St. Built in 1910, that house is 1,408 square feet in size and sits on a 5,050-square-foot lot.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
One lot to the east is a 1910 home at 4335 SE Belmont St., which totals 1,226 square feet.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
On March 18 a sale of all three lots was recorded, for a price of $3.6 million to buyer KP Belmont 44 Real Estate LLC. Two days prior a sale had been recorded from Lawrence Property to a real estate acquisition firm, for $2.08 million.
City records indicate former owner Chuck Lawrence planned to redevelop the property for some time, and had lobbied for a zone change to allow such development.
New owner KP Belmont 44 Real Estate LLC lists only a law firm as its registered agent, without indication of who the individuals involved in the company are.
Eight months prior to the sale the city had received an early assistance application for development on the property. That application, submitted by Ron Dean of Otak Architects, described a four-story building with 36 or 37 residential units.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
But then, in November, another application was received. Applicant Peter Miller, also of Otak Architects, described a four-story 65-unit apartment complex on the site, nearly double the previous proposal.
On Feb. 2 the city received an application to build a four-story, 63-unit apartment complex on the site of the three houses. Late last month the city received demolition applications for all three houses, listing as the applicant Mark Desbrow of Green Light LLC.
Information provided to the Clear Light Neighborhood Coalition – Sunnyside last fall also confirms Green Light as the developer and also provides renderings of what the project was proposed to look like at that time.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Rendering as of November posted on Clear Light Neighborhood Coalition – Sunnyside
Information released during an appeal process shows the 63-unit complex will include 15 parking spaces, which the document also indicates is the minimum required.
The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability explains that when there are 51 or more units on the site, the development must include 0.33 parking spaces per unit. That would suggest this development, with 63 units, would need roughly 21 spaces.
However, there are seven categories of exceptions to the parking rules. Including bicycle parking spaces, among other measures, can be a substitution for a certain amount of automobile parking. City documents show the Belmont development plans to include bicycle parking space.
The demolition delay period on the three houses will likely expire April 29.
Green Light was also the developer behind a tear-down on Southeast Clinton Street as well as the D Street Village development on Southeast Division Street.