Guy Bryant Demolishes 1890 Home, Ignores Petition


Part of a series on 1525 SE 35th Place

PORTLAND, Ore. – A 125-year-old single-family home in the Richmond neighborhood of Southeast Portland has been demolished despite citizen attempts to petition the owner into saving the structure.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The house, located at 1525 SE 35th Place just off Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, was built in 1890, according to city records. At 1,833 square feet in size it was built on a 5,546-square-foot lot.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

The house, profiled by the Portland Chronicle in January, sold to developer Guy Bryant of GPB Development LLC, in 2013 for $220,000.

After Bryant applied for demolition of the 125-year-old home in January, a petition began with the goal of convincing him to save the house along with two others he is planning to demolish on Northeast Thompson Street. Two months later, it has 465 supporters and has yet to receive a response from Bryant, whose GPB Development LLC is registered at 17764 Kelok Road in Lake Oswego.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

In place of the 1890 home Bryant plans to build two new attached townhouse units, each two stories with tuck-under garages. Those permits are still under review.

The property is located within an R5 zone, meaning one residential unit per 5,000 square feet of property. However, it has a Comprehensive Plan designation of R2.5, meaning one residential unit per 2,500 square feet of land.

In areas where the base zone differs from the Comprehensive Plan designation, the city offers this explanation: “This situation occurs mainly in areas planned for more intensive development but where it has not yet been determined if the area’s public services and infrastructure are adequate to support the level of growth that would be allowed under the Comprehensive Plan map designation.”

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

KOIN News, declining to identify the developer as Bryant, reported that he “fears the home demolition controversy in Portland has become so heated that even responsible development is being opposed simply because people don’t want any homes torn down.”

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

It was not reported whether he felt the demolition of the 1890 house for attached townhouses would be an example of “responsible development.”

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle