91视频

聽The red and white 鈥淯鈥� signs on the historic Cornelius Hotel building could be removed soon, but not because a renovation is planned. TMT Development has filed for a permit to demolish the building.

Guardian Real Estate Services spent nearly six months planning to convert the nationally registered building, at the corner of Southwest Park Avenue and Alder Street, into housing for veterans. Guardian has been unable to secure the necessary funding, however, and TMT says it can’t afford to sit idly.

鈥淲e don’t have any other choice,鈥� said Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development. 鈥淭hat site has been owned by the Singers, the Greves and us, and nobody has been able to figure out how to make it work. The size, the historic nature, the cost of rehab, the cost of (reinforcing) the masonry 鈥� Guardian had a solution but wasn’t able to get through the process. So at this point we feel like we’re back up against the wall, and there’s nothing we can do but demolish it. It’s cost-prohibitive (to rehabilitate it).鈥�

TMT purchased the building in 2002 for $2.4 million and planned to renovate it into a 66-room business-class hotel. Those plans fell through, but then Guardian sought (at TMT’s urging) to create a 66-room facility to house veterans, with social services on the basement level and a restaurant on the ground floor.

Tom Brenneke, Guardian’s president, said the company was partnering with Central City Concern, which has veterans services scattered around the city. The project would have consolidated them into one location.

Guardian applied for money through the Portland Housing Bureau‘s Notice of Funding Availability process, but was rejected (only three projects received funding this year). Ross Cornelius, vice president of development for Guardian, said the company was seeking $3.8 million from the city, $2.4 million in federal historic tax credits, $7.8 million from the sale of federal low-income housing tax credits (allocated by the state) and vouchers through the federal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program.

Cornelius said money from the city could also come from the River District urban renewal area if the Portland Development Commission were to slightly amend the boundary to include the property.

Guardian was under contract to purchase the building from TMT, but that won’t happen without money for the renovation. Meanwhile, Sturgeon said the building needs approximately $1.5 million worth of fire and life safety upgrades to accommodate new use. The 鈥淯鈥� signs alert firefighters to take extra precautions before entering the building in case of a fire.

The six-and-a-half-story building was constructed in 1908 for Oregon pioneer Charles W. Cornelius, whose varied career included gold mining, acting, construction and hotel operations. Cornelius hired noted Portland architect John Virginius Bennes of Bennes, Hendricks and Tobey to design the building, which has an elaborate mansard roof and a brick, French Renaissance facade.

Val Ballestrem, education manager for the Architectural Heritage Foundation, doesn’t want to see the building demolished.

鈥淭his comes up often in our world as historic preservationists,鈥� he said. 鈥淧roperty owners let the building fall into disrepair and then blame the building as the reason they have to demolish it.鈥�

The Cornelius Hotel building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. That listing will likely make TMT’s pursuit of a demolition permit a lengthy process. Tim Heron, a senior planner for the Bureau of Development Services, said it would trigger a type four review process that could take up to six months and ultimately go before city councilors.

Heron said that only one nationally registered building has been demolished in the city’s history 鈥� the Dirty Duck, which was razed to accommodate the new Blanchet House of Hospitality.

鈥淓veryone has been searching for a path here to try and say, 鈥楾his is how it’s going to get redone,’ 鈥� Brenneke said. 鈥淚 think it’s been really hard to find that. We thought we had the path, and with the right financing and right support we think it can be done. But at this point, since we got turned down on our funding, we’re not sure we can move forward on it. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way. If there’s enough interest from not only the city, but the state and the tax credits, we could get a deal done.鈥�

Sturgeon said TMT does not yet have plans for the site beyond demolition.

鈥淚t’s really disappointing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s a beautiful building 鈥� It’s been really hard.鈥�