Memo reader Margot Miller said she thought the proposed Namaste Indian Cuisine restaurant at 10306 N.E. Halsey St. and its owner, Harjinder Chand, were being made to jump through extra hoops to obtain a building permit.
This restaurant—slated originally to open in October 2015—has not ‘broken ground’ on its planned renovation under Portland Development Commission’s new storefront pilot project of which it would be a grant recipient if it meets Portland Bureau of Transportation infrastructure requirements (“Does Halsey pilot project pencil out?” MCM December 2015).
Asked about the seemingly higher bar imposed on the Namaste restaurant renovation than on other Halsey/Weidler properties benefitting from various PDC grants, Anne Mangan, PDC’s public relations manager, was forthcoming with news that may be a game-changer for Namaste’s long-delayed Wunderland replacement.
Mangan said that PDC and the Portland’s bureau of transportation recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that adds 103rd Avenue at 10300 N.E. Halsey St. to the streetscape improvement project, effectively shifting the cost of sidewalk improvements, wastewater treatment and utility pole relocation from Chand to PDC/PBOT. Therefore, it seems the barriers to a building permit for Namaste Indian Cuisine restaurant have been removed. “There is a lot of work to do, and it might take a couple months to open the store,” Chand said when asked how the PDC/PBOT decision impacted his endeavor.
For more information, contact Mangan at mangana@pdc.us or 503-823-2594.
