There's nothing legally improper about the property owner's actions.
 
The "take away" is that the market isn't there to develop the kind of "wannabe Pearl Street" development upon which our clueless staff have based the proposed South Willamette Special Area Zone.
 
If the SW-SAZ were adopted, the result wouldn't be "Pearl District on Willamette." Instead, it would be a few "worst case" developments, in and adjacent to single-family homes, that exploited the increased density and building heights.

-- Paul