Portland Considers Foreclosing on Gordon’s Fireplace Shop

The once-iconic building has in recent years been iconic for a different reason: just how much of an eyesore it is.

Gordon's Fireplace Shop. (Michael Raines)
By Sophie Peel

Gordon’s Fireplace Shop, the gutted hulk that’s become a canvas for taggers and perhaps the single most conspicuous symbol of Portland blight, now faces foreclosure by the city.

City commissioners will vote next Wednesday on whether to foreclose on the once-iconic building that greets new arrivals traveling into town on Interstate 84. For decades, the 1918 building at 3312 NE Broadway held Gordon’s Fireplace Shop, until it shuttered for good in 2016.

The Portland City Council regularly votes to foreclose on rounds of vacant and dilapidated buildings that have accrued significant tax liens. According to city documents, the owners of the Gordon’s building owe City Hall more than $20,000 in enforcement fees stemming from its decrepit condition, and haven’t been in contact with the city’s liens team for at least the past six months.

The 25,655-square-foot structure was the first building examined by WW’s Chasing Ghosts series when it launched in August 2022. (Every week we examine the story behind a different vacant building.)

Seattle-based Interurban Development purchased the building in 2017 for $2.7 million with hopes of transforming it into apartments with ground-floor retail stores. The president of the company, Rob Brewster, said in 2022 that obtaining city permits had already taken 14 months, with no end in sight. At the time, the city had fined Interurban $50,000 related to complaints about the building.

Yet Brewster remained hopeful: “We are stewards of these properties which are part of the city’s infrastructure,” he told WW in August 2022. “It’s up to us to make it better.”

But nearly two years later, the City Council will vote whether to foreclose on the building. According to city staff, 31 calls were made to the city from around the property between June 2023 and May 2024. “The majority of these calls were for disorder,” city documents read. “The property is covered in graffiti, it is open to entry and has excessive trash and debris on site due to unlawful occupants who are camping at the site.”

Interurban did not respond to a request for comment.

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