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Next to a 117-year-old house in the Irvington historic district, developer Mike Nuss wants to build a three-story apartment building on the same lot.

The development would be about 2,800 square feet 鈥� larger than the original 2,367-square-foot house, which Nuss converted into a duplex. He is considering different floor plans for the proposed multifamily building that could yield three to seven units.

Nuss’ development firm, RareBird, is trying to do the sort of infill development that city officials and housing advocates say is desperately needed.

But Nuss’ approach 鈥� wedging apartment buildings onto lots with existing homes 鈥� is testing the city’s historic review guidelines as well as neighbors’ patience.

It’s a pattern being replicated across Portland as developers move to meet strong demand for rental housing in Portland’s desirable, walkable neighborhoods. Increasingly, lots that already have single-family homes are being targeted for increased density.

Nuss maintains that his methods are more sensitive to historic neighborhoods than the scrape-and-rebuild projects that have become commonplace in Portland’s core.

鈥淢ost developers just want to go in and tear down a home and maximize the building,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to keep as much of the existing resource as possible without demolishing, and add density with creative design.鈥�

Nuss is working on a similar project at 2715 N.E. Flanders Ave. That proposal calls for a two-story, four-unit building with a rooftop deck. Construction on the project should begin this summer, he said.

Nuss also owns a property at 5734 N.E. 27th Ave., a few blocks north of Alberta Street’s burgeoning commercial district. He plans to build six units on the lot, which he acquired for $675,000 in March 2016, according to city records. The R2.5 zoning allows for 10-foot setbacks from the property’s edge and a maximum height of 35 feet.

In Irvington, Nuss will have to grapple with the area’s powerful neighborhood group: the Irvington Community Association.

鈥淲e’re opposed to the current proposal and we’re entitled to say so in the discussion (with the Historic Landmarks Commission),鈥� said Dean Gisvold, chairman of the neighborhood group’s land-use committee.

Gisvold has lived in the neighborhood since 1967 and said residents are wary of cheaply built infill housing that doesn’t fit Irvington’s historic character.

鈥淢y experience with folks in Irvington is the developers come in and they don’t fully understand the historic district, and they want to put up something quickly, not very well-designed and cheap,鈥� he said.

Most Irvington homes were built from the 1890s to the 1940s.

鈥淚n Irvington, they built houses to last,鈥� Gisvold said.

The neighborhood offers leafy, walkable streets near the center of Portland. Home prices in the neighborhood, as in other desirable areas, have shot up.

鈥淚t’s got trees; it’s got houses,鈥� Gisvold said. 鈥淚t’s pleasant to walk around and be in.鈥�

Nuss isn’t the only developer doing this type of building. At 718 N.E. Dekum St., Thomas and Michele Juon have applied for early assistance to build a six-unit apartment building on the lot holding their own single-family home.

The Juons own the property and live in the residence, a 2,400-square-foot home built in 1916. Their proposal would add a three-story mixed-use building, with ground-floor retail space and two stories of apartments above.

鈥淚 think the land is worth almost more than the house,鈥� said Dave Spitzer of DMS Architects Inc., which is designing the project.

Spitzer acknowledged that the project would have a significant impact.

鈥淭he house will get a little more crowded, for sure,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have this beautiful yard, which will totally be gone.鈥�

Thomas Juon owns Four Hammers Construction, and would build the project himself, Spitzer said.
Spitzer has experience increasing density to fast-gentrifying Dekum Street in the Woodlawn neighborhood. He added a restaurant-brewpub and three apartments at 820 N.E. Dekum Street. The property is now home to Breakside Brewery, a popular neighborhood destination.

As infill developments have become increasingly popular, the city has wrestled with how to regulate them. So called 鈥渕iddle housing鈥� types such as duplexes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) don’t fit neatly into existing zoning.

The city expects 123,000 new households in Portland by 2035, and 20 percent will be in single-dwelling residential zones.

In December, the City Council adopted a concept report for residential infill. The city is moving toward allowing more housing types in certain overlay zones, particularly in highly trafficked corridors. The plan would also make it easier to do internal conversions 鈥� for example, the renovation of a large house into several smaller apartments.

Such projects often stir neighborhood opposition. Gisvold said the Irvington Community Association has supported ADU projects that add small dwellings onto lots with single-family homes. But the association is balking at Nuss’ proposal. One reason: the new apartment building would be larger than the existing house. Gisvold said that violates the city’s historic review guidelines, which state that residential additions should be 鈥渟ubordinate鈥� to existing structures.

Irvington and Portland’s other close-in historic neighborhoods aren’t the answer to solving Portland’s housing needs, he said.

鈥淚t’s not our inner-city neighborhoods’ responsibility to solve the housing problems for everybody moving into Portland,鈥� he said.

Newcomers must be willing to live elsewhere, Gisvold said.

鈥淲e’re going to try to house them, but not everybody is going to be housed in an inner-city hip neighborhood that is close walking distance to everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome people are going to have to live out in neighborhoods out by (Interstate) 205 and even beyond, and we’re going to have to spend more money on transit.鈥�

On Monday, a planned Historic Landmarks Commission discussion on Nuss’ project was postponed when other agenda items ran late. Nuss’ design advice request has been rescheduled for March 20. The commission received three letters from neighbors opposed to the project. The residents expressed concern about the project’s size and modern design. They also voiced support for preserving an old-growth tree on Nuss’ property.

鈥淢ass structures not only do not belong in our community but also create a space of chaos in a neighborhood which is already maxed out from inch to inch,鈥� one resident, Kena Noel, wrote to the commission. 鈥淎long with adding more cars to the streets without adding more parking spaces, this structure will be taking away the natural light by blocking the historic buildings near it while also tearing down a very old tree which is an important element in our area.鈥�

Nuss said he expected resistance from the Irvington Community Association, but is willing to be patient.

鈥淚rvington will be a fight,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here’s going to be some people in the neighborhood that appreciate it, and some people in the neighborhood that don’t. We have a long-term outlook 鈥搘henever we get it built, it will be a great product for the neighborhood.鈥�