Yet another perfectly good home in Eliot Neighborhood now sits in rubble after it was demolished yesterday. The 125 year old home at 623 NE Thompson was ripped down, forever erasing it from the neighborhood.
One could argue the history of the home is not lost, but without the landmark to go with it the history is just not the same. This is another example of a home that could have been given a little TLC and made into a great starter home for a new family. Instead it will end up in the landfill with the rest of our garbage.
Unfortunately the house next to it at 633 NE Thompson on the corner of 7th is next and will likely be demolished later this week. It’s especially painful because the 2 houses were on 3 good sized lots. There was plenty of space to build 3 – 4 new “skinny” houses and keep the historic homes. Doing so would have met the objective of increasing housing AND protecting historic resources. Instead they will each be replaced by a 4 unit condo building (for a total of 8 units).
Eliot Neighborhood 
Maybe it’s time to look at the back ground of the people we put in the important city hall jobs…..I think Dan Saltzman is heavily invested in real estate, and I’m pretty confident that was in Charlie Hales’ portfolio, and probably still……. How about changing the record?
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My daughter had taken to call this the “rainbow house” the last couple of years and was quite shocked as we went by on our way home from school yesterday. Yes, with it’s current zoning the property could have had plenty of space to keep the homes and build 3-4 more units on the property. With my current zoning (R2) I could as well build more units on my lot (same block) while keeping my existing structure. I will not be able to do so If the proposed zoning changes to R2.5. I understand the intention is to make properties less desirable to developers so they will not tear down houses. I truly wish for a better way to stop home demolition.
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