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The founders of Propel Studio Architecture see opportunity in a vacant Southeast Portland lot.

“We’re making a park,” said Lucas Gray, co-founder of the Portland-based startup. “It’s a place that people can gather, kids can play. The community can come together.”

Gray and Propel Studio co-founder Nick Mira are aiming to create a plaza in the heart of the Lents neighborhood. That vision resonated with Portland Development Commission officials, who in January awarded Propel Studio and Portland-based nonprofit ROSE Community Development a $7,500 grant to enliven a PDC-owned property on the corner of Southeast 88th Avenue and Foster Road.

Propel Studio designed a series of walls and benches as well as a stage area constructed with gabion (wire boxes filled with stones) for the 7,142-square-foot site. Also, an exhibit with large portraits of Lents business owners will be incorporated into the plaza.

The project is designed to be temporary and spur more permanent development in the area, PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. The PDC also awarded a grant to The Belmont Goats, a nonprofit, to help relocate a herd of goats from the Belmont area to a PDC-owned lot in Lents, at Southeast 91st Avenue and Foster Road.

“Lents has been an area where there has been a lot of land acquisition work that PDC did over the years,” he said. “What we’ve got now are some opportunities. The interim uses are a great step.”

The PDC, the biggest landowner in the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area, wants to revitalize the neighborhood, PDC project program coordinator Alison Wicks said. The agency this month released a draft five-year action plan to create more vibrant, economically healthy commercial districts and neighborhood centers in the URA.

“It’s about bringing in new users (and) new activity … into Lents,” Wicks said.

Propel Studio’s plaza is scheduled to have 18 months to contribute to that effort. Then the PDC will decide whether it should be disassembled or made permanent, Gray said. If the PDC were to sell the property for permanent development, the plaza could come down sooner.

“If we’re really successful, our project won’t last as long,” he said.

The temporary nature of the site is one reason why Propel Studio chose to use gabion as a building material, Gray said. It also fit the budget.

“That’s one of the challenges of talking about the materials choices. In 18 months, we’re responsible for removing all this,” he said. “It’s a relatively cheap material to get and we thought it would be fun to reinterpret it into an interactive space.”

Propel Studio and ROSE Community Development submitted their grant applications separately. It was a pleasant surprise, Mira said, when the PDC paired them because the architecture firm had previously reached out to ROSE to offer its services.

“Separately, it would not be as successful,” he said.

The collaboration complements ROSE’s work to revitalize outer Southeast Portland neighborhoods, ROSE Executive Director Nick Sauvie said.

“I think we really share the same goals in terms of providing a place for people to be in the town center,” he said. “It just needs more activity in general and more distinct places. I think it definitely fits a need.”

Because Propel Studio is a startup, the Lents project is a great asset in its portfolio, Gray said.

“We also felt this was a good opportunity to go after some public work and get our name out there,” he said. “We want to balance making a profit off our projects with helping out our neighbors.”

Nonprofit organization Portland YouthBuilders is scheduled to begin site work on the plaza next month. The aim, Gray said, is for the plaza to be ready in June, in time to attract shoppers attending the Lents International Farmers Market nearby.