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The first job for a renovation of the space at 2340 N.E. Sandy Blvd. was to undo all the work done before.

The future home of Providore Fine Foods was once the future home of the Portland P Palace, an imaginative bar-recreation center that would have featured ping-pong, putt-putt, pinball, PBR — and other P-words. Voodoo Doughnut‘s Tres Shannon and his team invested more than $150,000 in the 96-year-old De Soto Building and were days from opening doors before the city stepped in mandating a significant seismic upgrade.

P Palace investors were sued by the building’s owners, Art and Mary Laws, and evicted because of thousands of dollars owed in back rent. But the P Palace team managed to complete all groundwork 鈥� plumbing, heating, electrical, a drop-down ceiling and bar below, a nine-hole mini golf course and many fashionable amenities.

鈥淭hey did a lot; we had to undo a lot,鈥� said Providore’s builder, Brian Bachelor of Bachelor General Contractor.

The dreary details of the P Palace project have often overshadowed the incoming tenant. Providore Fine Foods, designed by developer Kevin Cavenaugh, will be a collaborative 鈥渄estination food marketplace.鈥�

Despite red-tape issues of its own, the Providore team is five weeks from completion. The business will host vendors selling side by side. A number of notable chefs and vendors are involved 鈥� Pastaworks, Arrosto, Little T American Baker, Flying Fish, The Meat Monger and Emerald Flowers. A local produce vendor has yet to be announced.

The building will feature a Pastaworks production kitchen, on-site parking and space for events. The large garage doors that once opened to an auto body shop will open for diners in tolerable weather.

The anchor tenant is relocating from its longtime home: Pastaworks was founded 32 years ago in the 鈥渇ood desert鈥� of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Pastaworks has always been a European-style market, co-owner Kaie Wellman said.

鈥淲e aren’t restaurant people; we are grocers,鈥� she said.

Cavenaugh has developed a motley portfolio of 鈥渁daptive reuse鈥� projects and new construction. His Guerrilla Development is responsible for Box + One, the Zipper and the Ocean 鈥� all designs that celebrate and encourage collaboration between tenants. It’s a common approach elsewhere, he said, citing Melrose Market in Seattle and the San Francisco Ferry Building as examples. Providore will be slightly different from Portland’s City Market NW model, because Pastaworks will anchor the lease, Cavenaugh said.

鈥淭o you or I, this will look like one market,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut really it’s a bunch of different micro-businesses. Portland hasn’t done this yet, as far as I know.鈥�

The De Soto Building was built in 1919. It has housed many businesses 鈥� auto shops, in particular 鈥� near the heavily-used Sandy Boulevard.

One issue for the P Palace team was that desired occupancy triggered a seismic retrofit. But with the code in mind, Cavenaugh said he was able to stay within limits and not run afoul of city code. For instance, Providore’s 6,000-square-foot production kitchen has a much lower occupancy level than the P Palace’s proposed game room, he said.

鈥淣o offense to the P Palace guys, but they weren’t exactly masters of the code,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e knew just how far we could push it.鈥�

But permitting was also an issue for Providore; it took about seven months. A historic De Soto sign located out front 鈥� around from a time when De Soto cars were sold there 鈥� juts over a sidewalk. Purchasing city right-of-way was the only option, and it wasn’t easy, Cavenaugh said.

Though much work remains, Cavenaugh is confident they will hit the Jan. 29 scheduled completion date. Bachelor’s workers are 鈥渟crambling.鈥� They’ve ripped out layer after layer of wall and ceiling, exposing 鈥渆normous鈥� timber beams that factor prominently in the new design. The framing will wrap up in about a week. Drywall should start going up in two weeks. Vendors are waiting on the floors so they can move in coolers and begin setting up.

Right now, crews are 鈥渟andblasting the bejesus鈥� out of the inside, Cavenaugh said.

鈥淚 work across the street, and every day there are workers crawling over each other, sprinting to get to the finish line.鈥�