PORTLAND, Ore. – Plans are in the works to build a 50-unit multi-family apartment complex on the site of a demolished 1903 house.
Located at 1122 SE Ankeny St., the 1903 single-family home totaled 2,416 square feet and sat on a 3,400-square-foot lot. In late 2018, the city received a demolition application for the then-115-year-old house. The permit, which called for deconstruction, was issued in early 2019 and the house was taken down that year.
Photo credit: City of Portland
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
The property is owned by RLAND Development Co. and it last sold in 2004 for $270,000. Early construction plans submitted around the time of the demolition described a six-story, 18-unit building to be constructed on the site.
Willamette Week reported on a disagreement between the property owner and the city’s development commission over that project, a dispute that ultimately led to a federal unfair housing claim against the city.
In January 2021, the city received an application for early assistance on a new project to build a multi-family apartment complex, six stories tall with 50 affordable units, according to the early assistance request. “No off-street parking is proposed,” the early assistance application adds.
Photo credit: LoopNet
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
The now-vacant lot is L-shaped and wraps around behind two additional single-family homes, both built in 1904. One edge of the property faces Southeast Ankeny Street and the other faces Southeast 12th Avenue.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Southeast Ankeny Street has seen substantial new construction of multi-family housing in recent years, most of the projects requiring demolition of existing buildings.
The Portland Chronicle previously wrote about a demolition across the street from this project, in which a 1906 duplex was torn down to make way for a 27-unit, $7.8 million multi-family apartment complex. That property is currently owned by a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company.
Photo credit: Movoto
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Just up the street, the former Old Wives Tales restaurant was demolished to make way for 69 residential units.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Google Maps
Two blocks up from that site, an 1896 home was torn down for a five-story, 40-unit building.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Another major nearby project was the demolition of a 1930 funeral home for construction of nearly 200 residential units, located about four blocks from the Ankeny project.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Also near the 12th and Ankeny site, an 85-unit apartment building was constructed on a vacant plot of land adjacent to Michael’s restaurant in 2016.