Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Farm Life
This is the place. I bought this property a couple years ago with the idea that I could create my own live-work environment without having to knock anything down or start from scratch. Located south of SE Woodstock in an area known in Portland as either Felony Flats or Eastmoreland Heights depending on which side of the tracks you're standing on, this unfinished building used to be part of a larger residential property. The story goes that several years ago, a developer bought the entire property, which once occupied approximately four city lots and included a large, once-beautiful-but-now-trashed-beyond-recognition mid-century house and a 2000sf "garage" and created a separate "flag lot" off the back of of the property.It is very common in this neighborhood (as well as other neighborhoods throughout the city) to take undeveloped lots, or to demolish existing single buildings, and replace them with several "skinny" houses or townhomes. I'm sure my opinion of this type of development will be expressed here from time to time but, so the story goes, that is what was slated to occur here as well. 
Apparently, our newly created "flag" lot was zoned for up to four spankin' new townhomes and the land was quickly snapped up by an eager builder. What the shady development company that did the splitting failed to disclose, and what the salivating builder failed to discover via due diligence, was that there was an easement for a sewer line running under the newly created property that prevented any building above it. Based on permit applications filed with the city, the unfortunate builder explored a few "single family 4br home" options that involved either significantly altering or replacing the "garage" that sat on the only buildable part of the property, but ultimately he decided to cut his losses and sell it. This is where my part of the story begins.
Apparently, our newly created "flag" lot was zoned for up to four spankin' new townhomes and the land was quickly snapped up by an eager builder. What the shady development company that did the splitting failed to disclose, and what the salivating builder failed to discover via due diligence, was that there was an easement for a sewer line running under the newly created property that prevented any building above it. Based on permit applications filed with the city, the unfortunate builder explored a few "single family 4br home" options that involved either significantly altering or replacing the "garage" that sat on the only buildable part of the property, but ultimately he decided to cut his losses and sell it. This is where my part of the story begins. I think is was my friend Linda, who was also my realtor, who first coined the term "The Farm" when I took her to see the property. It might have started off as "The Ranch", or "Rancho UJ" (Uncle Jeff), or "The Circle V", or something like that but ultimately it had to be "The Farm" since the building looks just like a damn barn (or if not technically a barn, at least some sort of farm type outbuilding). The entire property was a mess with broken glass and chunks of bricks and debris everywhere. I could tell she was questioning my sanity but she had seen some of the other pieces of junk that I've bought and worked on over the years and probably figured I had a vision so we went ahead and made a deal to buy it. That was a couple years ago and, while progress has been slow (very slow), and the timing hasn't necessarily been in my favor (as usual), I do have a vision for this place and look forward to seeing it come together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
