Help La Osita Complete Their Brick and Mortar

David Doyle is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hi,

We are Elizabeth and David the owner/operators of La Osita PDX, a food cart that has been operating in Plaza 122 in the Mill Park Neighborhood in SE Portland since 2018.

In March of 2022, we were able to purchase the property formerly known as the Taylor Court Grocery Store located in the heart of the Montavilla neighborhood. Our primary reason for this purchase was that our current food cart space is too small to keep up with the amount of customers we are serving. We had already upgraded to a new larger cart but have been running into a constant scramble of having to shop and prep certain items for only the next business day because of our limited storage space. We also have crammed in the maximum number of employees we can into the space and are still feeling the need to add more. In the long run, these are all positives for us but have made the last couple of years of operating a challenge that requires lots of extra hours and a less than optimal workflow than we could have in a larger space.

Unfortunately, the loan we had to take to secure this property was a variable rate loan and since closing that loan, rates have had a steady rise bringing our monthly payment from $4,100 when we closed up to $6,287 for our most recent payment and rates are still likely to rise. Once we realized the loan we would have to take was variable we decided to grin and bear it as we likely would not have a shot at a property like this in the future. Sadly, the steady rise in our rate every few months coupled with rising construction, materials and business operating costs in general have hindered the speed of our remodel.

Due to those costs, we have been putting all of our personal and business income into the project in a pay-as-you-go manner to afford the mortgage and pay for the remodeling of the property. Fortunately, our cart has been busier than ever and we have been able to rent out the house on our store lot as a short-term rental to family and friends of our neighbors to help afford payments, but as time draws out the possibility of rising costs and rates put the completion of this project where we end up in a financially sustainable position both personally and for our business, in danger.

Early in this process, we set up an avenue to get extra funds for this project by selling merch, gift cards, donations and other items on our website we appreciate that support but in total, it has added up to about $6000.00 in funds and we have already poured over 120k into the property remodel including the mortgage payments and interest.

We have been working to do the remodel as quickly and affordably as possible and have done a major transformation in the space already but have not been able to hire the major trades required to finish the building to get it up to code as a restaurant and get the project finished quickly. We have hired "Design by Faster Permits" to manage the permits and coordination of our plans with the city and while the permit costs alone are high we are beginning to see a light at the end of this tunnel with their expertise and guidance.

We have been hesitant to ask the community for more assistance aside from the already generous support every day at our cart and buying merch we put up for sale, but several customers who have been hearing our story have asked if we would set up a go-fund-me to help us in the transition.

With that, we are asking for support to help fund the remaining work, trades and materials needed to complete the remodel as fast as possible so we can get the building financed to a fixed rate before rates rise too much and get our operation moved into a more functional environment. Then we can get back to focusing on what we do best which is bringing excellent Mexican food and drink to our Portland Community.

That being said, if you choose to help fund us we would be happy to send you a gift card for some or all of the amount you donated to our store. We would only request you hold off on using it until we get into our new space. If you would like to be sent this gift card, please contact us through this Go-fund-me with your donation name, address and desired card amount and we will happily and gratefully mail you the gift card.

These funds will be used to pay for the critical trades we need to hire to do permitted work in the space including our mechanical (HVAC, commercial hood), plumbing, electrical, refrigeration and gas. We also anticipate having to hire concrete cutters for a few aspects of this project. We are anticipating our remaining work costs, materials, systems and associated permits and fees to eclipse 100k when all is said and done.

To this date we have done massive amounts of demo on the layers upon layers of work done in this space over the years, lots of infrastructure repair, electrical and plumbing repair, framing, drywall complete roof overhaul, painting in and out and have already drastically transformed the space with the work we have done so far. Since this is a complete change of use for this commercial space there are major components and requirements we need to add and meet to allow this space to be permitted as a restaurant.

The Taylor Court Grocery is a perfect place for us to move to, while it's not in our same established neighborhood it is not far away and in another great neighborhood in Montavilla. We have fallen in love with the space with its unique location and are so excited to be able to keep its footprint and classic neighborhood bodega facade intact while we transform it into a beautiful neighborhood eatery.

We are committed to completing this and have poured all of our time and resources into this since our purchase process started and as lifelong Oregonians/Portlanders we feel so lucky to have been able to buy a space like this in this city and are so excited to see it completed. Please view the attached drawings and updated images of the space to get an idea of our progress to date. We will be adding updates as the work continues on the space.

Thank you for your time and support,

Elizabeth, David and the La Osita Crew.