Portland Infill | Northwest Portland

[QAtheSky]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

GBD Architects have submitted a project at 2301 NW Savier St, the former location of Besaw’s, for Design Review:

Nice to see they are keeping the Besaw's building. That building and the McMennamin's stretch across the street have a lot of character they bring to the area.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by QAtheSky

Nice to see they are keeping the Besaw's building. That building and the McMennamin's stretch across the street have a lot of character they bring to the area.

Definitely! Though, it sure would be nice to have the SW corner of 23rd & Savier get redeveloped. That little surface parking lot is a shame and the building attached to it is no prize.

Wasn't there talk of doing something with the SW corner of 23rd & Northrup? Does anybody know what the story with that building is? It has such an incredibly location, but the corner has been vacant for ages.

EDIT! EDIT! EDIT! I meant 23rd & Northrup. Oops!

[soleri]

In other NW 23rd Ave surface parking lot news, the flower shop on Glisan (SEC) is gone and the Plaid Pantry is next in preparation for the new Restoration Hardware. I'm not a fan of this generic, higher-end retail, but it will be good to see a building facing the street instead of an asphalt lot. I hear people wax nostalgic for the old days of Vaseline Alley, which I never saw. Ideally, you'd have all kinds of real-world stores on the street, and maybe even a movie theater, like the old Esquire at Kearney. Still, nothing stays fixed forever. Maybe future development will take out that surface parking lot across the street where Westover Dentists is located. Fingers crossed.

[bvpcvm]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

Definitely! Though, it sure would be nice to have the SW corner of 23rd & Savier get redeveloped. That little surface parking lot is a shame and the building attached to it is no prize.

Wasn't there talk of doing something with the SW corner of 21st & Northrup? Does anybody know what the story with that building is? It has such an incredibly location, but the corner has been vacant for ages.

I think you mean the SE corner. The SW corner has some houses on it which have some legal offices or something. The SE corner is an old vacant grocery store. The story I've heard, in the Examiner IIRC, is that the owner died and left it to his son, who runs a recycling business out of the back lot and can't be talked into doing anything else with the property. Such a shame, right there on 21st. Just as bad as the old Quality Pie building at 23rd, where the streetcar turns around. It's owned by four very old people in (I think) LA, who want to put no effort at all into it. Such a prime location.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by soleri

In other NW 23rd Ave surface parking lot news, the flower shop on Glisan (SEC) is gone and the Plaid Pantry is next in preparation for the new Restoration Hardware. I'm not a fan of this generic, higher-end retail, but it will be good to see a building facing the street instead of an asphalt lot. I hear people wax nostalgic for the old days of Vaseline Alley, which I never saw. Ideally, you'd have all kinds of real-world stores on the street, and maybe even a movie theater, like the old Esquire at Kearney. Still, nothing stays fixed forever. Maybe future development will take out that surface parking lot across the street where Westover Dentists is located. Fingers crossed.

Wasn't vaseline alley the name for Stark St in Downtown? I've never heard it applied to NW, but I'm not an old time Portlander either.

[PacificNW]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Wasn't vaseline alley the name for Stark St in Downtown? I've never heard it applied to NW, but I'm not an old time Portlander either.

While living in Portland I frequented the nightlife on SW Stark Street. It did have a nickname of "Vaseline Alley" at the time. Never heard it being used for an area in NW Portland... I could be wrong but I lived in NW right off 21st for a few years and then moved to SW Vista....and I never heard that nickname for any area other than my old stomping grounds around the Stark area..

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

I think you mean the SE corner. The SW corner has some houses on it which have some legal offices or something. The SE corner is an old vacant grocery store. The story I've heard, in the Examiner IIRC, is that the owner died and left it to his son, who runs a recycling business out of the back lot and can't be talked into doing anything else with the property. Such a shame, right there on 21st. Just as bad as the old Quality Pie building at 23rd, where the streetcar turns around. It's owned by four very old people in (I think) LA, who want to put no effort at all into it. Such a prime location.

Sorry!!! I meant 23rd & Northrup. The sad seemingly always vacant corner building where the streetcar turns along the SW corner of 23rd & Northrup. What is the deal with that space?

[soleri]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Wasn't vaseline alley the name for Stark St in Downtown? I've never heard it applied to NW, but I'm not an old time Portlander either.

That makes a lot more sense than NW 23rd, but my source is an older Portland native. I'll ask him again about this. I believe the Esquire, for example, showed gay porn. The Quality Pie Shop was open 24 hours (noted Portland author Katherine Dunn (Geek Love) worked there. Rose's Deli anchored the southern section. Gentrification does a lot of good things, of course, but Portland's dive bars and sleaze played a role in creating its mystique. Now the city is getting a money bath and it's all fading away.

[maccoinnich]

I think the loss of porn theaters has more to do with the creation of the internet than it does gentrification.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by soleri

In other NW 23rd Ave surface parking lot news, the flower shop on Glisan (SEC) is gone and the Plaid Pantry is next in preparation for the new Restoration Hardware. I'm not a fan of this generic, higher-end retail, but it will be good to see a building facing the street instead of an asphalt lot. I hear people wax nostalgic for the old days of Vaseline Alley, which I never saw. Ideally, you'd have all kinds of real-world stores on the street, and maybe even a movie theater, like the old Esquire at Kearney. Still, nothing stays fixed forever. Maybe future development will take out that surface parking lot across the street where Westover Dentists is located. Fingers crossed.

You aren't missing anything not experiencing Vaseline Alley, I was living here during that era and I saw things on that street I wish I hadn't seen....some aren't PG enough of tell here and others are just down right, "holy crap, Portland can be rough."

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

You aren't missing anything not experiencing Vaseline Alley, I was living here during that era and I saw things on that street I wish I hadn't seen....some aren't PG enough of tell here and others are just down right, "holy crap, Portland can be rough."

Hey now..."Vaseline Alley" was one of few places gay Portlanders could be out and proud and feel safe. Until the recent wide spread acceptance of LGBT rights, it was not uncommon for gay neighborhoods across the country to be located in the "shady" corners of town. I never felt it was overly "rough" and rarely saw things that made me go "holy crap" in horror or disgust. I do remember more than a few nights of soooo much freaking fun. I, too this day, miss the heavy concentration of the gay bars/bath houses that created a lusty buzz on Saturday evenings.

[PacificNW]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Hey now..."Vaseline Alley" was one of few places gay Portlanders could be out and proud and feel safe. Until the recent wide spread acceptance of LGBT rights, it was not uncommon for gay neighborhoods across the country to be located in the "shady" corners of town. I never felt it was overly "rough" and rarely saw things that made me go "holy crap" in horror or disgust. I do remember more than a few nights of soooo much freaking fun. I, too this day, miss the heavy concentration of the gay bars/bath houses that created a lusty buzz on Saturday evenings.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Hey now..."Vaseline Alley" was one of few places gay Portlanders could be out and proud and feel safe. Until the recent wide spread acceptance of LGBT rights, it was not uncommon for gay neighborhoods across the country to be located in the "shady" corners of town. I never felt it was overly "rough" and rarely saw things that made me go "holy crap" in horror or disgust. I do remember more than a few nights of soooo much freaking fun. I, too this day, miss the heavy concentration of the gay bars/bath houses that created a lusty buzz on Saturday evenings.

My stories don't agree with that, I think today in Portland is much better in general for those who are gay.

[pdxtraveler]

Depends on what you consider better. Yes, acceptance is up. But as for community we lost that. It is a double edged sword. WONDERFUL that we have great acceptance and can go anywhere, but sad we no longer have a "boystown" to just let our hair down and be ourselves with people like us. I miss that.

[maccoinnich]

SERA Architects have scheduled a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a project at 1732 NW Quimby St:

A 6-story market rate apartment building with approximately 115 units and basement parking.

FFA Architecture have submitted a project at 915 NW 21st Ave for building permit review:

New 4 story mixed use building, (2) ground floor retail spaces and (31) parking spaces, 27 apartment units on floors 2-4.

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by pdxtraveler

Depends on what you consider better. Yes, acceptance is up. But as for community we lost that. It is a double edged sword. WONDERFUL that we have great acceptance and can go anywhere, but sad we no longer have a "boystown" to just let our hair down and be ourselves with people like us. I miss that.

it has been a real drag to watch Stark Street get gentrified (heterofied?). as a straight guy who grew up in Portland (NW burbs) that was a dynamic and fascinating place to be, and taught me a ton about diversity and acceptance. downtown is less of a place without that little "dangerous" corner of the city.

Quality Pie... oh man, the memories.

[maccoinnich]

NW 19th & Quimby drawings [PDF - 12MB] and Staff Report, which does not yet recommend approval.

[maccoinnich]

Kōz Development have requested Early Assistance for a project at 1015 NW 16th Ave:

New 6-story,153-unit studio apartment building. Demo of 2 existing structures on site.

Mackenzie have scheduled a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a project at 2800 NW Front Ave:

Pre-Application Conference to discuss a Type III Conditional Use Review, Type II Nonconforming Situation Review and Greenway Review and possible Type III Greenway Goal Exception Review. The applicant is proposing to construct a new approx. 14,000 square foot headquarters office and make other site improvements on the existing Selzer Pump site. The proposal was discuss in a previous Early Assistance meeting – EA 15-219075. The applicant has submitted questions for staff response.

[maccoinnich]

Image of the Bob Ball / FFA building planned for 915 NW 21st Ave, via the DJC ($).



I guess even in the portions of NW that the Historic Landmarks Commission doesn't have purview over we still get pseudo-historic nonsense.

[soleri]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I guess even in the portions of NW that the Historic Landmarks Commission doesn't have purview over we still get pseudo-historic nonsense.

Yeah, this looks really weak. I wonder if it might be better off without the balconies. I can't hate this too much since it's taking out that vile Gypsy structure, but if you're doing faux historicist, do what you can to make it less cloying.