PORTLAND, Oregon — The old Gordon’s Fireplace Shop in Northeast Portland is a skeleton of what it used to be. The historic building, which dates back more than a century, has become a magnet for vandals. The three-story structure is covered in spray paint, scattered with broken glass and loose bricks. Old tents and debris often litter the property.
“It is quite an eyesore and it’s been this way for years,” said Warren Webb, co-owner of the Blind Onion Pizza and Pub, which sits across the street. “It’s just frustrating.”
There were big plans for redevelopment at the site, including office space and retail, but the developer blames the city for slowing down the project with red tape and an ineffective response to homelessness and illegal drug activity.
"I think Portland sticks out in a way that is incredibly challenging," said developer Rob Brewster.
The historic 'Aircraft Factory'
The iconic building on the corner of Northeast 33rd Avenue and Broadway is visible from Interstate 84, just east of downtown Portland. City records indicate the building was constructed in 1918 as a workshop for house parts, although an article in The Oregonian from August 1917 suggests it may have been earlier. The newspaper story, titled “Plane Plant Opens,” described how workers built wooden airplane parts in the brick building, which would later referred to as the Aircraft Factory.
Over time, the building became a furniture store, then home to Gordon’s Fireplace Shop for more than 60 years. In 2016, Gordon’s Fireplace closed. The old building hasn’t been the same since, despite the plans for renovation.
“A lot of promises and we just haven’t heard anything,” said Webb.
Big plans for building, delays follow
In 2017, Spokane-based developer Rob Brewster and his partners bought the building with plans to create office space and retail. But after the pandemic hit, they re-evaluated to focus on residential with 18 residential loft-style units and ground-level retail. Brewster blames bureaucracy for slowing down the project. City permits and fees alone cost $322,000, city records indicate.
“The core of the problem is when we went in for a permit, we were told that it would be six to eight months to get a permit. And I said, 'Look, if it takes longer than that you are putting us right in the middle of a different economic climate,'” said Brewster.
And that’s precisely what happened, he explained. Roughly a year later, construction costs and interest rates had gone up.
“It’s a lot of red tape. It’s a lot of paperwork that really has a negative impact on housing and a negative impact on one’s ability to get a project done,” Brewster explained.
Ken Ray, spokesperson for the city’s Bureau of Development Services admits the permitting process is complex with a lot of back and forth between the city and developer.
“We hear a lot of complaints about the permitting process,” Ray admits. In this case, Ray explained the city’s review teams typically turned things around in about a week or so — suggesting that it was just as much the developer who held things up.
According to the city, the initial permit request came in on March 1, 2021. The intake fees weren’t paid until April 7, 2021, at which point city inspectors began their review of the application. The permit was issued on March 21, 2022.
Graffiti, broken glass and falling bricks
In the meantime, the building has fallen into disrepair, generating complaints. There have been eight code enforcement cases at the property since 2019.
“When you have bricks falling off a building or broken windows or glass on the sidewalk, that proposes a danger to the public,” said Ray.
City records indicate the property has a current balance on a lien for more than $10,000 in unpaid fines for code enforcement violations. The penalties could increase. Brewster failed to show up for a code enforcement hearing in December and a continuation of the same hearing on Tuesday following complaints about exterior brick and mortar joints on the building.
“Put the time and effort into coming up with a solution instead of continuously fining somebody,” Brewster complained. “That’s kind of childish.”
The city claims it has tried to help developers like Brewster. Last year, the city council took several steps to try and spur new housing by freezing increases to system development charges or fees paid by developers and making it easier to renovate office space to residential.
In 2020, the city helped coordinated a community art project at the vacant building. Nearly 20 artists spray painted murals along the bottom of the building. Brewster said the project attracted unwanted graffiti.
"One of the things people don’t realize is once you start with a little bit of graffiti it just sort of follows,” said Brewster.
KGW filed a public records request for all emails between city hall and Brewster’s company, InterUrban Development. The emails showed that last year, city officials with the Public Environment Management Office — which operates out of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office — offered to help with graffiti, broken glass and masonry. Just this week, after months of inactivity, crews were seen removing some of the broken glass at the building.
Brewster suggested construction work on the project could start in the next month or so.
“We finally got a good construction contract budget now. It came down from where it had escalated so drastically a year and a half ago,” Brewster explained.
Developer blames city; similar stalled projects elsewhere
The developer argued that the building isn’t the problem, it’s Portland and the way city government is being run.
“The city is more intent on fines and listening to griping neighbors than actually addressing the rampant drug and homelessness issues that are driving lenders, developers and businesses from Portland,” Brewster wrote in an email to KGW.
In his native Spokane, Brewster and his company planned to renovate the historic McKinley School from 1902. Neighbors complain that the project, which has been dormant for more than five years, is an eyesore. The property is surrounded by a chain link fence. The windows are all either covered in plywood or broken.
The building has unpaid property taxes of more than $14,000, according to the county treasurer.
To his credit, Brewster does have a resume of projects including the Pine Street Market in downtown Portland and the Under Armour offices — although none of them are quite as eye-catching as the old Gordon’s Fireplace building.