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A two-story apartment building in Portland’s oldest neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places may soon gain an adjacent building with 12 units. The Marcus Apartments, at 1810 N.E. 11th Ave., is nearly 50 years old, but a non-contributing structure to the historic district.

Brett Laurila, a principal at Milwaukie-based bkl|a architecture, on Dec. 24 applied to the city for a Type III historic resource review. Submitted plans call for building a three-story, 12-unit structure where a parking lot exists currently. Ten non-conforming vehicle parking spaces would be eliminated.

鈥淭he lot doesn’t meet current parking standards because you essentially have to back into the street to exit,鈥� Laurila said. 鈥淲e’ve been working on this for about a year and have been through a lot of iterations, but the owner is very happy and the neighborhood is mostly happy.鈥�

Plans call for new construction to resemble the craftsman-style homes in the area. Each of the 12 new units would have one bedroom; the four top-floor apartments would also feature loft sleeping areas.

Laurila said the design includes as many craftsman-like features as possible without making the cost of construction excessive.

鈥淏rett (Laurila) came to two of our (neighborhood association) meetings, got input and made some significant design changes that brought the project much more in line with the historic characteristics of the block and the neighborhood as a whole,鈥� said Dean Gisvold, spokesman for the Irvington Community Association. 鈥淲e’re not happy with the loss of the parking because parking there now is at a premium, if it’s available at all, during the day and the evening. This will exacerbate that situation, but it could be a lot worse.鈥�

Gisvold said neighborhood residents plan to support development.