Good Food Here Cart Pod to be Replaced by Condos

Last summer, rumors swirled that the carts at the Good Food Here pod on SE Belmont were going to get the boot to make way for condos. But lot owner Urban Development Partners said they had no plans to develop. Turns out, the rumors were true. The Portland Business Journal reports that the lot will soon become a four-story, 27-unit, senior co-housing community called PDX Commons. Apparently, half the units have already been sold.

The nearly 5-year-old cart pod (once home to the Sugar Cube, Eurotrash and the original Lardo), is currently home to about 15 carts, including the perennially popular Viking Soul Food and new-ish Monk's, a cart that specializes in East Coast style deli sandwiches. Monk's owner Andrew Heckcrote says the lot's owner hasn't told the carts about the development, but no one is surprised. "We saw it coming," he says. "There was that scare last summer. I wasn't here but I heard about it."

He said the cart owners are examining their options. "A few people are talking about opening a brick and mortar. A few others are talking about getting a different lot and trying to move the whole pod all at once. I think personally my cart and the food I do would do better in a different neighborhood anyway. I was thinking downtown or even the suburbs."

No word yet on when the carts will be asked to move The Oregonian reports that Eric Cress at Urban Development says the carts can stay until the end of the year. Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016. So visit those carts now while you can. In addition to the units, there will be 1,000 square feet of ground-level space for a coffee shop or restaurant.