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Address: 5826 N Interstate Ave.
Year built: 2013
Square footage: 35,941 (includes apartments above)
Market value: $7,857,020
Owner: Cumberland II LLC
How long it’s been empty: Since it was built.
Why it’s empty: Shhhhhh.
As vacant spaces go, this one has a pretty tame story. No burst water pipe drove the tenant out. It has never been infested by rats. It isn’t owned by a hoarder who has filled it with old machinery. It’s not stuck in red tape at the Portland Bureau of Development Services.
Like the apartments above it, the commercial space at street level at this address on North Interstate Avenue is pretty new and very nice. The only thing that might be keeping it vacant is that the owner, who declined to speak on the record, doesn’t want to rent to a restaurant because he’s worried the noise will bother his tenants upstairs. He says he has been trying to lure an insurance agency or something like that.
Google Maps shows there are already two dentist offices nearby and one yoga studio. Otherwise, it’s all apartment buildings and houses along the MAX line. There are very few restaurants in the immediate vicinity. Maybe the owner would consider a quiet one, with a library theme, say. Boké & Books? The Red Sauce Reading Room?
Every week, WW examines one mysteriously vacant property in the city of Portland, explains why it’s empty, and considers what might arrive there next. Send addresses to newstips@wweek.com.