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A fair amount of construction has been going on in Southeast Portland‘s Sunnyside neighborhood, and it will likely continue into spring.

Last week, work began on a lot on Southeast 30^th Avenue and Hawthorne, which has been vacant ever since Big Daddy’s BBQ – a former frequent late-night grub spot of mine – closed four years ago. The lot is only two blocks away from where a new Safeway is being built.

Construction crews currently working on the lot are just taking out some old gas lines, according to Dave Mullins of Creston Homes LLC, a Beaverton housing development company that now owns the property. A gas station occupied the lot for years.

Mullins said the lot will be used for housing purposes, but he didn’t get more specific than that.

The neighborhood needs more housing. Rental vacancy in the area – and  the whole city, really – has become extremely low in the past year or so, .

But I really hoped another barbecue restaurant would fill the lot. Since Big Daddy’s left, my ability to walk somewhere I can eat my body weight in brisket has decreased significantly.