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ADDRESS: 4071 NE Sandy Blvd.
YEAR BUILT: 1929
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 4,675
MARKET VALUE: $1.3 million
OWNER: Dean Vincent Family Trust
HOW LONG IT’S BEEN EMPTY: 6 years
WHY IT’S EMPTY: Pandemic-plus
Sandwiched between two Hollywood District landmarks, the Hollywood Theatre and Sam’s Billiards, Blackwell’s Grub Steak Grill provided patrons with generous drinks and filling meals from its opening in 1982 (it replaced a Chinese restaurant called The Mandarin) to its abrupt closure in 2018, following the death of owner Jan DeLorme.
WW paid tribute to Blackwell’s upon DeLorme’s death.
“For 35 years DeLorme presided over the bar with a certain hard-boiled indulgence—you could be whoever you wanted, but no nonsense was tolerated,” WW’s Matthew Korfhage wrote Jan. 23, 2018. “And if you wanted to use the bathroom without buying a drink, it would cost you 50 cents.”
After DeLorme’s death, Blackwell’s house band, the Bayou Boyz, went quiet. DeLorme’s son, Charlie, talked about selling the business, but it never happened. The space settled into decline as the pandemic ravaged the restaurant industry. Today, its windows are boarded up and mold darkens a red-and-white canvas awning branded with the Blackwell’s name.
The property’s owner, the Dean Vincent Trust, has been in no hurry to act, having been around as long as the Hollywood neighborhood itself. On Multnomah County maps, the property exists in what’s called “Vincent’s Business Addition.” The property was platted, or added to county maps, in 1913, records show. One of the names on the original map: Shadrach Dean Vincent, a young property investor who moved to Portland in 1904 from Lapeer, Mich., according to History of the Columbia River Valley from The Dalles to the Sea, Vol III. Vincent went on to serve as president of Portland Savings & Trust Co. and built a substantial real estate portfolio, including several other Hollywood properties. After leaving the bank, he started a real estate firm that bore his name and operated across Oregon and Washington.
Vincent died in 1963, but his properties, including the buildings that housed Blackwell’s, survived him in the Dean Vincent Family Trust. Dean Alterman (no relation), a Portland real estate lawyer, became the trustee of that trust about a year ago.
Alterman says after some consideration, Vincent’s descendants have decided to sell the property.
“We have been exploring various options for a while and are about to put it on the market,” Alterman says. “This is a building with a near-100-year history that has potential for renovation or redevelopment.”
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.