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When Petros Jarra and his wife Ainalem Sultessa moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 1974, they had no idea it would be permanent. But six years later, after they completed their studies, civil war made a return too dangerous.

Jarra and Sultessa changed their plans and opened Jarra’s Ethiopian Restaurant in Portland. It later moved to the Buckman neighborhood‘s southern edge.

“We wanted to do some business for ourselves,” Sultessa said. “(We thought) ‘We have this food that we can make that’s not familiar here. So we invited some friends to show them, and see if they like this food – and they did. So that gave us the idea to open up a very small place.”

However, after 31 years of service, Jarra and Sultessa are ready for another change. The restaurant will close, and the existing 4,100-square-foot building at 1435 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. will be razed.

Sultessa and Works Partnership Architecture last week presented plans to the Buckman Community Association for redevelopment of the property as a four-story, 30-unit mixed-use building – the Langano Apartments, named after a bar on the ground floor. When fully developed, the 9,500-square-foot site will include 2,800 square feet of retail space and 13 surface parking stalls.

Works Partnership Architecture and Yorke & Curtis General Contractors are walking Jarra and Sultessa through the development process.

The Langano, unlike most buildings in the area, won’t have a traditional square box frame. Instead, it will have three house-shaped masses with pitched roofs that appear to teeter over the ground floor.

Large, upper-story windows on the Southeast Hawthorne face will continue the asymmetrical theme, while the L-shaped floor plan will be canted inward at an acute angle. That feature may draw some added interest in the facade, but its main purpose is to open a south-facing hallway to additional sunlight.

During the meeting last week, one neighbor asked if there were other buildings around town that might offer clues as to what the Langano would look like when finished. Works Partnership Architecture principal Carrie Strickland couldn’t think of any examples – even in the firm’s portfolio.

“We’re not a firm that repeats a lot of our work,” she said.

Like many new urban apartment projects, the Langano has elicited concerns about its potential impact on parking. One neighbor believes the development, despite a parking ratio of 0.44 stalls per unit, would cause a “big mess” because little street parking exists in the area.

However, with only 30 units, the Langano isn’t required by city code to provide parking. Strickland said the group chose to include it because it not only increases livability, but also investment value.

“For Aina and Petro this is the next big thing that they’re going to be doing for maybe the rest of their lives,” she said. “So we’re setting up the building so that it can last an apartment market that may soften at some point, and setting up the building for the long haul.”

The Langano will include six studios, 18 one-bedroom units, and six two-bedroom units in an effort to attract a broad spectrum of renters. Strickland said many of those units will rent for less than $1,000, with studios starting at $850. The goal is to create a sustainable product.

“It’s all part of making sure this is a long-term investment project,” she said. “We’re not filling it up and selling it as soon as it gets stabilized.”

Jarra and Sultessa plan to retain ownership of the development, but hire a management company to look after it. The plan is to begin demolition by June 15, and finish development by March 2015. The group declined to share financial details of the project.

A Buckman Community Association board member, Susan Lindsay, said at last week’s meeting that she was pleased the Langano will include not only parking, but also ground-floor commercial space – details that other developers in the area have often skirted. She offered appreciation for the couple’s longtime commitment to the neighborhood.

“It’s rare that we get to have a long-term Buckman business owner redeveloping and continuing to manage their property,” she said. “You are our neighbor and you’ve been a part of our neighborhood much longer than many people that are now a part of our neighborhood, and I’m very happy you’re going to continue to be a part of our neighborhood.”