Living in a $5M condo without heat

Legal Action Over Pho Gabo Shutdown

The owner of Pho Gabo has sent notice to the city that he intends to sue. Eddie Dong seeks “economic and noneconomic damages related to the city’s subjective, selective and disproportionate enforcement of city codes.” An anonymous neighbor complained about the odors at the Roseway Vietnamese restaurant for a year and a half. Dong closed the restaurant when the fines and an expensive air filtration system proved too costly for the business to stay open. [Willamette Week]

• Related: Why a Portland restaurant closed for smelling like food. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Library Closures, Explained

The Gresham, Northwest, and Belmont library branches have all closed their buildings on unexpected days in the last month — sometimes offering only door service. Multnomah County Library requires one worker to be designated as the person in charge each day, which means dealing with any security issues, and a new union contract requires that workers be allowed to choose whether they’re willing to do that job. If no one agrees, the library building closes. Officials are working to hire managers to take on the role. [KGW]

• Related: Why your local Portland library might look — and feel — a lot different. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Pearl District Condo With No Heat

Condo owners, who paid as much as $5 million for their properties at the Vista North Pearl, spent weeks without heat and air conditioning. “A private arbitration panel in February found that [developer Hoyt Street Properties President Tiffany] Sweitzer ‘actively concealed’ the HVAC problems at the Vista from a prospective buyer in 2021,” the Oregonian reports. The problems may prove costly for Hoyt, which has built 14 buildings in the Pearl. [Oregonian 🔒]

Portland’s Newest Foodie Hotspot Is… Beaverton!

Some Portlanders seem to have a bit of a superiority complex regarding our suburbs, but over the past decade or so, areas like Beaverton and Hillsboro have become serious foodie destinations. Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden shares her picks for the best places to eat west of the city.