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- ADDRESS: 7 NE Oregon St.
- YEAR BUILT: 1924
- SQUARE FOOTAGE: 29,283 (lot size)
- MARKET VALUE: $1.89 million
- OWNER: Kalberer Company
- HOW LONG IT’S BEEN EMPTY: 9 years
- WHY IT’S EMPTY: Location
Back in 1969, August Ferdinand Kalberer, founder of the restaurant supply business that bore his name, and Walter S. Elmer, founder of the Elmer’s Restaurants chain, purchased a former Mack Truck dealership at 7 NE Oregon St., a commanding location overlooking the eastern terminus of the Steel Bridge.
The plan: convert the 9,222-square-foot garage, with its expansive views of downtown, into an Elmer’s Restaurant. But due to a variety of factors beyond the new owners’ control, that restaurant never got built.
Today, two of Kalberer’s grandchildren, Patrick Gortmaker and his cousin Britney Kalberer, run the family real estate firm, Kalberer Company, which now owns the property. They are still looking for a productive use for it, beyond its two parking lots (one is leased to TriMet, the other to the Trail Blazers).
The garage, which most recently served as storage for Central City Concern, has been vacant since about 2015.
“Everybody has great ideas, but when it comes down to it, it’s a challenging location,” Gortmaker says. “And now it’s smack dab in the middle of the [Interstate 5] freeway expansion.”
Gortmaker says zoning that would allow construction of a 325-foot tower appealed to a nonprofit Minneapolis developer, Place. In 2019, Place drew up plans to create a soaring live-work project on the site, which is sandwiched between Moda Center and the Oregon Convention Center. Gortmaker says Place engaged in extensive talks with city officials about tricky elements of developing the property, most notably access from the Steel Bridge, which terminates at Northeast Oregon, a one-way street, and Interstate Avenue, a busy transit artery.
But the pandemic, and subsequent decline in Portland’s fortunes, killed Place’s interest.
One bright spot: the art that adorns the façade of the decrepit garage. “We were sick and tired of getting tagged,” Gortmaker says. Kalberer Company formed an agreement with Portland Street Art Alliance several years ago, and the tagging all but stopped. “The taggers mostly leave us alone, I think, because they respect the artists’ work,” Gortmaker says.
Kalberer Company is committed to holding the property until Portland’s fortunes improve. “When the city comes back,” Gortmaker says, “it’s going to be a key development site.”
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.