Why Won't Anyone Gentrify Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northrup Street?

I've lived in Portland for 22 years. Through all the gentrification, one thing has endured: the empty storefront at Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northrup Street. This prime location has never had a tenant during that time, and looks just like it did in 1993. What's up?

—"Gentrify NW 23rd and Northrup Now!" Campaign Manager

There are few things more pathetic than one non-native Oregonian trying to one-up another in terms of old-school Portland street cred.

Lucky for you, Gentrify, pathos is my strong suit. Thus, I can say: Oh? You mean the old Quality Pie? World's meanest waitresses? Yeah, I guess you never went there.

Each night, Quality Pie offered about a dozen different pies. The selections weren't written down; the waitress ran though them orally. Once. Too bad if you weren't paying attention.

The diner closed in 1992 and has stood empty since, which is a little weird. But this column often gets questions about why this or that seemingly valuable property stands vacant.

Gerard Mildner, director of the Portland State University Business School's Center for Real Estate, hipped me to the term "skill/capital mismatch." This basically means somebody is sitting on a cash cow but isn't clever and/or greedy enough (under capitalism, "clever" and "greedy" are the same thing) to milk it.

The Quality Pie property might fit in this category. A Portland Tribune investigation in 2007 found that the property is owned by a family of out-of-towners who either can't agree on what to do with the place, or just aren't that interested in exploiting it.

Mildner says it's also common for a property to need expensive improvements to meet code, and some landlords hold out for a tenant willing to foot the bill. (A classic example is the disused gas station whose tanks have to be dug up before the property can be developed.)

Anyway, it's a fascinating topic, and I'd be happy to discuss it further—meet me at the lunch counter at Newberry's?

Willamette Week