Vernon Home Vanishes for Multiple New ‘Renaissance’ Units

PORTLAND, Ore. – An 87-year-old home in the Vernon neighborhood of Northeast Portland has been demolished and will likely be replaced with multiple new units.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Located at 5804 NE 11th Ave., the one-story house was built in 1928 and sat on a 5,000-square-foot lot. As the Portland Chronicle reported in March, the house and property sold in May 2014 for $209,000 to Lloyd Development LLC.

In April 2015 it sold again to Renaissance Custom Homes LLC for $285,000. The developer applied for demolition of the house shortly before the sale was recorded by the county. It has since been demolished.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The demolished house was located in an “alternative design density” overlay zone, some of the goals of which are to “focus development on vacant sites” and “preserve existing housing.”

While there are no underlying lot lines on this property, it is located within an R2.5 zone that allows a maximum of one residential unit per 2,500 square feet of property in future land divisions. Before the sale to Lake Oswego-based Renaissance Custom Homes LLC, developer Lloyd Development LLC applied to partition the 5,000-square-foot lot into two parcels for development.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

In September Diane Hale of the Bureau of Development Services sent out notice of approval of the partition. That notice touched on the alternative design density overlay zone.

However, while the official definition of the overlay zone notes three goals (“focus development on vacant sites,” “preserve existing housing” and “encourage new development that is compatible with and supportive of the positive qualities of residential neighborhoods”), Hale addresses only one of those in the land use approval.

“The Alternative Design Density (a) overlay encourages new development that is compatible with the surrounding residential neighborhood,” she wrote. “This land division proposal is not using any of the a-overlay provisions.”

While the site is certainly vacant following the demolition, it was not at the time of approval and existing housing has not been preserved. These facts are not addressed in the notice.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

So far one construction permit application has been received by the city. It is under review.