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ADDRESS: 2855 SW Patton Road
SQUARE FOOTAGE: Lot is 1.14 acres.
MARKET VALUE: $3,951,600
OWNER: Southwest Hills LLC
HOW LONG IT’S BEEN EMPTY: Since 2016
WHY IT’S EMPTY: A beloved grocery store closed.
For more than a century, residents of the Southwest Hills could avoid a winding trip into town for groceries because Strohecker’s market was nestled among their homes.
“Stroh’s,” as it was known, was founded by Gottlieb Strohecker in 1902. Under his grandsons Wesley and Wayne, it became an ur-Zupan’s, selling specialty items and a huge selection of high-end wines curated by Wayne, a bona fide oenophile.
The Stroheckers built the hulking brick structure that’s currently on the site in the 1980s, adding a post office, pharmacy and liquor store in one location. They sold the operation to Lamb’s Thriftway in 1996. It ran for another two decades before closing in 2016.
The property has been vacant since, drawing nuisance complaints for trash and debris. These days, it’s owned by Southwest Hills LLC, an entity controlled by California real estate developer Tim Sotoodeh. The LLC paid $5.4 million for it in 2012, property records show.
At the time of Sotoodeh’s purchase, the parcel was hobbled by a decades-old zoning decision. For years, the market, a commercial enterprise, had operated in an area zoned residential, a so-called non-conforming use.
The Portland City Council remedied that in 1984, changing the zoning to commercial and requiring that the site always be a grocery store. The council also limited the size of any signs, prohibited any new accessory buildings, required that trash and recycling containers be stored indoors and, oddly, required employees to park in the garage under the building.
Unable to sell the building with those restrictions, Sotoodeh sought to change the grocery-only designation in 2017. The official neighborhood association, the Southwest Hills Residential League, fought Sotoodeh’s proposal, saying the site needed to have retail space.
After months of hearings and testimony before the City Council, Sotoodeh agreed that any development at the site would include 3,000 square feet of retail space. But, Sotoodeh said, if that space didn’t attract a buyer or renter after six months, it could be converted to another use. Following another round of testimony, Sotoodeh extended that offering period to one year. The council approved the deal in September 2018.
Then nothing happened. The LLC controlled by Sotoodeh, who didn’t return calls or email seeking comment, still owns the property, according to public records. The windows are boarded up. The parking lot is empty. Moss is growing on walkways.
Members of the Southwest Hills Residential League—or SWHRL for short—say they remain optimistic that something good will come of the property.
“The closure of Strohecker’s tore the center out of our community,” the SWHRL Land Use Committee said in a statement. “We all look forward to someone putting the location back to use, whether it be another grocery store or a mixed retail/housing structure.”
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.