Six months ago, SE 43rd and Division was home to the Artistery, a DIY all-ages space that hosted shows, radical lectures, and punk potlucks in its falling-apart house and venue. Then, in January, the space was sold to a huge developer, DR Horton, for $649,000 and the Aristery was razed. RIP.

So what's the big developer's plan? Tiny, tiny homes. The third-of-an-acre lot will become 29 "micro-homes" with studio units ranging from 364 to 687 square feet costing $120,000 to $180,000.

Their pitch sounds like it's right out of a Portland Plan wet dream: "Homes sized just right for Portland. And just right for you. Where it’s easy and convenient to live car-free. Where you can get to know your neighbors in friendly, relaxed outdoor spaces." It's interesting to see a mega-developer (DR Horton has built over 18,000 homes in the US, including plenty of cookie-cutter suburban McMansions) recognize that there's a market in small, green homes. It would be great to see companies like theirs shift away from building sprawl and instead invest in building dense urban developments. Of course, there are local architects building smart, dense projects in Portland, too, but getting giant developers to recognize the value of building small could create a lot more options.

Another schematic is below the cut.