It’s coming down to make way for new construction.
First, the building I refer to as the Unfortunately Stuccoed Building. I’ve been hoping for years that my school could move to this building. It’s bigger, we would be able to occupy two floors and it’s right next to the park. 
But no, this building will soon be no more. What a great front entrance that would have been. Note that the building on the right is staying.
Here is the north side of the block. This building is nothing to write home about and spans one-quarter of a the block.
The northeast corner of the block has this two-story brick with nice bones.
A view of the two-story with nice bones from the corner.
I wonder if, once the growth spurt has ended, city planners will look back and be sad that they tore down all these great old buildings. I feel like Chicago is a city that’s done things right, keeping lots of great old buildings while also allowing for new construction. I hate to see all of Portland’s character go away (although its citizens certainly have enough of it).
I will say that Chicago did tear down a ton of really awesome buildings in the mid-20th century. I know this because probably one of my top-5 This American Life stories centers on that. But yes! I’m particularly worried about the small-houses-large-lots that keep getting replaced by big-houses-no-yards in my neighborhood. Plus all those great early 20th century apartment buildings like the one I used to live in, which is now a huge “luxury” apartment building. And a lot of the sort of b-string buildings like the ones in these pictures are in a lot of danger too.
It’s weird because there is a preservation ethic (McMenamins, some Historic Districts, repourpsing) but it’s not being trumpeted very loudly. I think the demand is just too much and there’s too much money to be made. There was a front page story in today’s paper (which of course I can’t find on Oregon Live because their search feature is terrible!) about how 36,000 people have moved here since 2010 and the average rent has climbed from 800-and-change to 1200-and-change. I’m so glad I’m not currently in the rental market. I don’t know if I would ever sleep, for worry that my place was about to be redone and re-rented at double price.