3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2017
Odd Fellows Building could become bar, event center
Sale of building
could impact
existing tenants
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
a chain of bars and sandwich
shops in Portland, wrote back.
Though plans are not firm, she
told West, the buyers plan to
use the ballroom space as a
venue. She thanked West for
understanding.
‘Romantic’
Potential buyers of the his-
toric Odd Fellows Building in
downtown Astoria could turn
it into a bar and event center,
according to emails exchanged
between a tenant and the buy-
ers and social media posts.
A sale is pending on the
93-year-old building, and the
potential buyers are expected
to close in the next month or
two. Current tenants include
the antique store Old Things
and Objects, Sea Gypsy Gifts
and Downtown Coffee Shop
on the bottom floor and the
nonprofit Astoria Arts and
Movement Center, which uses
the floor above for a variety
of dance classes, community
classes and public events.
Jessamyn West, executive
director for the arts center, sent
an email to the potential buy-
ers. She introduced herself and
asked them if they could meet
in person to discuss the pos-
sibility of the arts center con-
tinuing to use the ballroom as
a studio.
Tacee Webb, who described
herself as the partner of
Tommy Habetz, the co-owner
of Bunk, the company behind
On April 18, a domestic lim-
ited liability company named
Oddfellows Astoria LLC was
registered with the state. The
articles of organization list a
Thomas Edward Habetz as the
organizer and registered agent,
as well as a Portland mailing
address.
On April 26, Webb had
posted a picture of the Odd Fel-
lows Building and the location
“Astoria, Ore.,” on her per-
sonal Facebook page.
“Isn’t it romantic?” she
wrote. She added, “I’d love to
form a collective of old Port-
land places, try to invite or
reinvent them here … calling
all artists and dreamers! Sure,
it will be a fleeting moment …”
In the comments below the
post one person asked, “What’s
your plan?”
Webb replied with a
description of the building —
the number of levels, its square
footage — and wrote, “I plan
to open a venue in the ballroom
with a bar. You’ll looooove
it. Eventually I will have a
shop on the main level also,
apparel.”
In an Instagram post from
March featuring a picture of
LoopNet
A sale is pending for the Odd Fellows Building.
the ballroom she wrote, “Come
back to me. The future looks
like 1923. October masquer-
ades in this very unloved ball-
room. Vintage coast fantasies
…”
Bunk representatives and
Habetz did not reply to a
request for comment by press
time.
Astoria real estate agent
Peter Tadei of Myriad Com-
mercial Properties Ltd, who is
working for the building’s cur-
rent owners Luottamus Part-
ners LLC, confirmed a sale was
pending. He could not com-
ment any further on the mat-
ter at this time. He said he first
listed the building last summer.
It is listed at $575,000 on the
Myriad website.
“The property is well-po-
sitioned to capitalize on the
town’s ongoing resurgence,
embarrassment of treasures,
and ever-growing tourism,”
states a description of the
property on the Myriad web-
site. “The highly visible cor-
ner makes a very desirable
location.”
Frustrating
For West and others con-
cerned about the future of
the building, the situation is
frustrating.
“They’re wanting to offer
a bar and event center across
the street from another bar
and event center that’s also
for sale,” West said, refer-
ring to the Astoria Event Cen-
ter, located down the road and
listed for sale on Myriad’s
website at $650,000.
West worries, too, about
what the buyer’s plans would
do to the historic nature of the
building.
“It’s been a ballroom since
the 1920s,” she said. “Before
we moved in, the Astoria
School of Ballet was there.”
She says she knows locals
who are interested in buying
the building, keeping it avail-
able to the current tenants
and preserving its historical
integrity.
Astoria’s
Community
Development
Department
has not seen any permits yet
related to the building or Odd-
fellows Astoria LLC, but said
any change of use would likely
come before the Planning
Commission.
Odd Fellows Hall is zoned
as Commercial, the type of
zoning that covers downtown
Astoria, and certain uses are
permitted outright: eating and
drinking establishments, com-
munications business, studios
for artists, among others.
A switch from using the
space for retail and a dance
studio to using it as a bar and
event center would likely trig-
ger review by city building
officials and community devel-
opment, according to City
Planner Nancy Ferber.
“But it just depends on what
they’re proposing,” she said.
Community Development
Director Kevin Cronin con-
firmed that the department has
not seen any permits related to
the building. He said he had
heard “through the grapevine”
that there was a change in own-
ership at the building.
Landmark
Odd Fellows Hall is listed
as a local landmark included
in Astoria’s downtown area
which has been designated
a historic district, according
to John Goodenberger, and
instructor for Clatsop Com-
munity College’s historic
preservation program and an
architectural historian and
preservationist.
Under this designation,
some restrictions apply: If a
developer wants to change
the exterior of the building,
for example, or use different
materials, add on to the build-
ing itself or take out or enlarge
windows.
Dulcye Taylor, president
of the Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association,
which advocates for the down-
town area, said she also heard
about the potential buyers for
the building. She says she has
questions about the “ramifi-
cations and repercussions of
modifying that building” given
its historic nature.
From her own personal per-
spective, she said she is “very
saddened” to think the arts
center might have to vacate the
building.
“The Arts and Movement
Center is a viable, wonder-
ful part of our community that
does a lot of great things for
a lot of age groups and eco-
nomic levels,” she said.
Affordable houses at RV Park proposed in Cannon Beach budget
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — Can-
non Beach is proposing to build
four new affordable housing
units in the RV Park by fall as
a priority project in the next fis-
cal year.
“Affording housing is the
No. 1 issue we’re all talking
about. It’s important every-
where, but especially on the
coast,” City Manager Brant
Kucera said.
The RV Resort on
Elk Land Road and
Haskell Lane was
identified as poten-
tial site in a report
compiled by the affordable
housing task force last year, cit-
ing the fact the city owned the
land, as well as relatively low
startup costs as benefits.
Each house would be around
400 square feet and mobile,
Kucera said. With rent antici-
pated to be $600 to
$800 a month, the
homes would be
intended for single
and working-class
people with incomes
of about $15 an hour.
The project would be funded
by a newly proposed afford-
able housing fund totaling
$429,740, which if adopted,
would take effect in July. The
homes would be paid for using
a bank loan, rents and construc-
tion excise taxes if the City
Council chooses to approve it,
Kucera said.
If the pilot program is suc-
cessful, the city could expand
this program out to include up
to 12 homes on this property,
which in line with the city’s goal
to build 25 affordable homes by
July 2018, Kucera said.
as the top priority for the city.
But the proposed excise tax
— which would contribute an
estimated $92,000 of the total
fund — has received a luke-
warm welcome from some city
councilors.
The proposed excise tax is
a one-time 1 percent imposed
based on the construction value
listed on the building permit.
Portland and Salem have imple-
mented these taxes and one is
being considered in Astoria.
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Excise tax
A citizen survey last year
identified affordable housing
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
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