Proposed Demolition of NE Portland Church Signals ‘Dragon of Gentrification’

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Annie Ellison, GoLocalPDX Reporter

When developer Peter Kusyk bought the 111-year-old church at NE Failing St. and NE 8th Ave., it was listed on the city's Historical Resource Inventory. With a simple letter, that designation was gone, teeing up the historic property for demolition, followed by a plan to build duplexes.

What was formerly the St. Paul’s Evangelical and Reformed Church sits at 801 NE Failing St., Portland. Photo: Change.org

But not if the neighbors have anything to say about it.

According to Portland Maps, Firenze Development Inc. applied April 1 for a permit to demolish the building, what was once the St. Paul’s Evangelical and Reformed Church. March 31, Kusyk wrote to the city and had the building removed from the city’s HRI.

Doing so removes the only zoning regulation that accompanies the HRI designation — a mandatory delay of 120 days between approval for and the date of demolition.

April 3, Kusyk applied for a construction permit to build a two-story duplex, one unit with a garage underneath, the other with a parking pad, on the lot of the historic church. The church is one of few landmarks built by Volga Germans, a population who migrated to Russia, some of whom settled in America.

“There’s a general lack of democracy in development planning in general,” Board President of the Northeast coalition of neighborhoods, Alan Silver, said.

“When you get to the point that people are tearing down homes to put two homes in their place, that’s a hyper gentrification, that says ‘we’re gonna forget about any consideration other than profits.’”

A petition started by community activist Cat Goughnour on the social justice web site Change.org calls on Kusyk, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and Housing Bureau Commissioner Dan Saltzman, to protect the historic building.

“The church you are proposing to demolish is currently on the historic resource inventory list and is a well-known landmark that literally stands as a symbol of the soulful tradition within the heart of Portland's Historic Black Community, Albina,” the petition reads.

As of Monday night, the petition had 1,070 of 1,500 signatures.The group Save PDX Diversity and History is looking for a private buyer who might restore the church and turn it into a neighborhood building, perhaps a community center. In 2014, the last year for which data is available, the neighborhood was identified as low to moderate income.

'Hyper Gentrification'

It’s not Kusyk’s first time coming up against neighbors over historical properties. The developer had slated the Markham home in Southeast Portland’s Laurelhurst neighborhood for demolition, until a community group rallied to keep the building.

“It’s our city, it shouldn’t be a platform for Peter Kusyk to make the city what he wants at his profit and convenience and the rest of us just deal with it,” said Silver.

Media requests to Firenze Development were not returned before press time.

The church, built in 1904, was added to the city’s HRI in 1984, when civic-minded Portlanders swept the city, cataloguing more than 5,000 buildings with architectural or historical significance in 27 binders.

The incentives for owners to maintain HRI properties are minimal, and the label does little to keep registered properties from being demolished. Roughly 50 properties have been removed from the inventory and destroyed since its inception. Registry with state or federal historical agencies reaps greater incentive, but also requires the owner apply through a land use process for the building to become a landmark.

Silver said the struggle over the Failing St. Church exemplifies a “hyper gentrification” when larger capital and larger projects are involved, and dollars are invested in neighborhoods for the sole purpose of turning a profit, not simply home ownership.

“It’s different, the dragon of gentrification is breathing out of a different nostril now,” said Silver.

HRI lacks teeth

The city’s regulations on nationally regulated historical properties is more substantial than those on the inventory, said Portland City Planner II Hillary Adam. An owner can write a letter and be taken off the HRI, and there is no agency to prevent property owners from doing so.

“It’s definitely an opportunity to learn about HRI and how little protection it offers,” Silver said.

Adam said when given the opportunity, the city encourages preservation, but BPS does not actively list properties in the national register any more.

Meanwhile, community members are advocating for repurposing the building. As a coalition, the board watched Portland’s Alameda and Irvington neighborhoods struggle with gentrification.

“Here’s a property that comes around that like many others could be turned into housing or something interesting the community can use,” said Silver.

Silver said Kusyk’s proposed duplex would do little for the character of the neighborhood, or to encourage interaction between neighbors.

“People want to see the communities they’ve known not be lost completely,” said Silver. “Folks don’t want their neighborhood to be picked apart.”