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When Milwaukie architect Brett Laurila nearly 20 years ago purchased an undeveloped property in Southeast Portland, it was to design and build a sustainable home for himself and his wife.

Through a lengthy process to gain city approval for development on the parcel slightly larger than an acre, the project has morphed into the Street of Green 鈥� a subdivision with four lots geared for environmentally friendly houses.

鈥淲hat I’d like to see there is sustainable homes that have been thought of in a sustainable (manner),鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淭he restrictions (are that) they have to do on-site stormwater management or green roofs.鈥�

Laurila, a principal of Milwaukie-based bkl|a architecture, initially was drawn to the property near the intersection of Southeast Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Berkeley Way because he found it a serene natural setting. But its proximity to Johnson Creek, wetlands, the Springwater Corridor trail and a city-owned nature area also has posed a challenge. The effort has involved close consideration of the development’s environmental impacts and conception of potential designs for modern, energy-efficient homes on the property.

鈥淭his is highly unusual,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淚t’s a unique situation and there aren’t many lots that have this kind of potential in Portland. I very much believe that you look at the holistic view of the entire project 鈥� The intent was always a green development.鈥�

Several significant hurdles have popped up during the decade-long process to create the subdivision. One is pushback from neighbors who wanted to see a park built on the property and another is protection of the site from a potential landslide.

鈥淭his project got started quite some time ago, like years ago,鈥� city planner Rachel Whiteside said. 鈥淥ne of the interesting things about this property (is that) because of its proximity to Johnson Creek it has environmental conservation and environmental protection on it.鈥�

When Laurila bought the property for $35,000 in 1995 he was looking only to build a single house for his family. After the Portland Bureau of Transportation required him to pay for an extension of Southeast Berkeley Way as part of the project, he decided to subdivide the property.

鈥淭he only way we could afford to do all this work was we had to subdivide it,鈥� Laurila said.

Two years ago, he won a Portland City Council appeal that reversed denial of the project’s land use and environmental review application. The application denial stemmed from concerns about the development from residents of Milwaukie’s Ardenwald neighborhood.

The City Council hearing was followed by an extensive process to gain PBOT and Bureau of Environmental Services approval for the designs of the Southeast Berkeley Way extension.

鈥淚 have every penny that I’ve made in my retirement 鈥� all invested into this,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淚 had so much invested in it, at this point I had to continue. As an architect, I was lucky I did all my own work. If I had to pay myself to do that it wouldn’t have been financially viable.鈥�

Construction of the new street, utilities, landscaping and a stormwater planter started in June and wrapped up last month. City planners are in the final stages of approving the platting for the land division, paving the way for home construction on the sites, Whiteside said.

Laurila is hoping to sell three of the lots for prices that range from $175,000 to $215,000, and save a fourth for his own home. He’s come up with conceptual designs for three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom homes for the lots that range from 2,500 to 2,600 square feet. Each site will have optimal sun exposure for homes using solar energy.

鈥淚 wanted to build a net zero or passive house home,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淎ll of the designs we’ve created lend themselves to that.鈥�

He’s keenly aware of the site’s proximity to a city environmental conservation zone, and has planned his subdivision using low-impact development strategies. This includes keeping the lots smaller and sticking to a lower-density residential zone than the city designation for the site.

鈥淎s part of the environmental review, we made the lots smaller, lessening the impact on the zone,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淲e really (only) impacted the flat areas on the site 鈥� really the developable areas. We could do five lots there, but there’s no way without significant impacts on the conservation zone could we do five lots.鈥�

The development will take up a small portion of the site, and Laurila plans to donate the rest 鈥� approximately an acre 鈥� to the city.

鈥淯ltimately, we’re planning on donating it to BES so that will always be maintained as green space,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淚 want it to so-called stay in the family.鈥�

This makes sense, Whitehead said, because the site is surrounded by city-owned land.

鈥淚t’s not developable anyway,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s heavily vegetated and contains this wetland area. It would be ideal for the Bureau of Environmental Services to take over it.鈥�

The extensive effort to get the Street of Green subdivision off the ground has been worth it, Laurila said.

鈥淚 think what we’ve done here is probably the best result,鈥� he said.