The proposed two‑story mixed‑use building was designed to quietly assert the site’s best and highest use. A small retail space would anchor the street frontage, while the upper and rear portions of the building would provide single‑room‑occupancy housing with ten private sleeping rooms, shared kitchen and amenity spaces, and—most importantly—dignity and stability for residents.

This project was conceived to activate an underutilized corner lot at 70th and Glisan, currently serving as overflow parking for an adjacent adaptive‑reuse development of four micro‑restaurants and a bar. The proposed two‑story mixed‑use building was designed to quietly assert the site’s best and highest use. A small retail space would anchor the street frontage, while the upper and rear portions of the building would provide single‑room‑occupancy housing with ten private sleeping rooms, shared kitchen and amenity spaces, and—most importantly—dignity and stability for residents.

Although the neighboring food‑oriented building was constructed first, the two projects moved through permitting in tandem. The primary challenge lay in designing both sites to meet current planning and zoning requirements while also anticipating future compliance once the lots were formally divided.

While this project remains unbuilt, the permit drawings are fully approved and still awaiting pickup at the City of Portland. The renderings continue to serve an important purpose: they offer a vision for how co‑housing can be reimagined to meet urgent community needs.

The need for low‑barrier transitional housing persists. And the lot remains –  empty still, but full of the potential for meaningful impact…