1920s Homes and Restaurant to Be Leveled for Mixed Use

PORTLAND, Ore. – Three structures built in 1922 in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood of Northeast Portland will be torn down to make way for new construction of a mixed-use development.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The buildings are located at and near the intersection of Northeast 45th Avenue and Fremont Street. At 4515 NE Fremont St. sits a 1922 one-story single-family house totaling 990 square feet in size.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

To the east is a one-story 1922 house at 4525 NE Fremont St. It is 950 square feet in size.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Next door at the corner of 45th Avenue and Fremont Street is another 1922 building most recently in commercial use. An annex connects to the north side of the building. Two restaurants, The Red Fig and Bumblekiss, were tenants until earlier this year.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

“Sorry to report that due to the continuous increase of taxes and lease Bumblekiss is now CLOSED indefinitely,” the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page in February.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

On Aug. 15 the county recorded a sale of all three buildings from their former owner, the F & E Strange Family Limited Partnership III, to 4525 Fremont LLC for $2,020,000. The combined total of all three lots is 15,000 square feet.

On Sept. 16 the city received applications for demolition of all three buildings. The permits were issued the same day, as the lots are located in a commercial zone which does not require a demolition delay period.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

4525 Fremont LLC is listed as the owner on the demolition permits, with Nathan Arnold of Faster Permits as the applicant and Jean Pierre Veillet of Siteworks Inc. as the contractor.

4525 Fremont LLC lists a law firm as its registered agent, but the Hollywood Star-News has reported that Ethos Development is the new owner of the property, suggesting 4525 Fremont LLC is a subsidiary of the development company.

The Star-News reported the developer is planning a mixed-use building on the site of the three 93-year-old structures.