Riverton housing complex clears final legal hurdle as judge again sides with city, developer
Belfort Landing, a 50-unit housing development, seen from Belfort Street in Portland in September. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
A Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of the city of Portland and the developer behind the Belfort Landing housing complex, this time over the neighbors’ claim that the property was improperly rezoned.
The ruling issued Tuesday marks the final legal hurdle for the 50-unit project after a group of Riverton neighbors and the owners of Moran’s Market on Forest Avenue filed a seven-count civil complaint challenging the city’s decision to approve the development.
All other counts were previously decided or dismissed, allowing construction to proceed on the parcel between Belfort Street and Talbot Community School.
The project has been seen as a bellwether for new housing projects approved under the city’s 2024 ReCode effort and has even divided the candidates for City Council in District 5.
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Alex Coupe, the developer with Acre Properties, said Wednesday that the ruling shows that the neighbors “had no legal merit all along,” adding that “baseless lawsuits” throughout the state continue to stall new housing from being built.
Construction on the two buildings has continued even as the court battle played out. Coupe said one building is framed and mechanicals are being installed, while framing for the second building will be complete in November.
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Coupe purchased the land in 2022 from the Larsen family, which owns Moran’s Market. In 2024, a portion was rezoned to allow multifamily housing as part of Portland’s ReCode effort.
The neighbors’ claim argued that, during the ReCode process, the city made an “eleventh-hour decision to spot-zone the property” at the owner’s request, and without proper resident notification.
Signs opposing the Belfort Landing housing development are seen on Belfort Street in Portland on Sept. 3. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
In the ruling issued Tuesday, Justice Thomas McKeon said Coupe lobbied city officials for the 1.5-acre parcel to be rezoned through ReCode, because city staff were not originally planning to rezone the land. After communication from officials, including Councilor Kate Sykes, the parcel was reclassified ahead of the final ReCode vote, the ruling states.
While McKeon acknowledged that the city “changed its mind” regarding the rezone, he said law court precedent is clear that “the court must refrain from meddling in the city’s legislative process and is limited to comparison of the project to the comprehensive plan.”
McKeon said Belfort Landing was consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan because it advances the city’s goals for developing “complete neighborhoods” and providing additional housing to Portland. The location along Forest Avenue is identified as a primary growth area in the plan and has access to public transportation.
“(The) parcel is located next to a school, local market and community center, all of which are components of a complete neighborhood,” McKeon wrote.
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He also said that the city’s “deficiencies” in properly noticing public meetings “do not provide a basis for invalidating the rezoning.”
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In response to the neighbors’ claim that the chosen zoning was out of character with the surrounding neighborhood, McKeon acknowledged that the chosen zoning “departs from the plan’s description of areas of recommended for higher-density housing.”
But, the judge said, “that contradiction does not render (the) zoning inconsistent with the plan as a whole.”
A representative from the neighborhood group could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
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Tagged: city of portland, development, housing
Andrew Rice is a staff writer at the Press Herald covering the city of Portland. He's been working in journalism since 2012, joining the Sun Journal in 2017, then the Press Herald in 2026. He lives in. More by Andrew Rice
