A former dental office next to Decibel Sound & Drink in downtown Milwaukie is being transformed into a hidden garden event space called Lulu Mae, with room for 15 to 30 guests indoors and a rear courtyard that fits up to 49 people among plants and gravel pathways. The venue is scheduled to host its first private event at the end of October.
The project comes from Sarah Ciobanasiu and Isabeau Pletka, whose families already run Decibel Sound & Drink, the vinyl-and-cocktails bar that opened in 2019. According to OregonLive, Decibel's owners purchased the neighboring property at 11358 SE 21st Ave. to build Lulu Mae, and the two families now own both buildings at the corner of 21st Avenue and Main Street. The Pletkas had purchased the adjacent building at 11380 SE 21st Ave. in 2019, and the Ciobanasiu and Pletka families bought the Lulu Mae property itself in 2023, per the same report.
Ciobanasiu, who has a background in fine dining and event planning, said Decibel receives frequent inquiries about small events but has never had a dedicated private space to host them. She wants Lulu Mae to remain affordable, particularly for people who bring their own food, and the venue is being designed to accommodate baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, private dinners and small community gatherings.
From Dental Chairs to a Garden Retreat
The roughly 900-square-foot building was originally a dental office before it was converted into a private residence after the dentist retired, the outlet reports. Now it's being outfitted with a small kitchenette, two restrooms and a buffet-and-bar counter, while liquor service will run through Decibel's own bartending teams, led by bar director Matthew Ciobanasiu.
Ciobanasiu has called the garden space the showstopper of the project, and the rear courtyard is expected to do double duty. When it isn't booked for private events, the space could serve as a live-music venue or overflow seating for Decibel's regular guests, according to the article.
The name Lulu Mae is a tribute, honoring Sarah Ciobanasiu's and Isabeau Pletka's daughters. The Pletka family's roots in Milwaukie run deeper than Decibel: Eddie and Isabeau Pletka are both involved in the family's other business, Eurotubes, which was founded by Bob and Carla Pletka in the 1990s. Eurotubes sells vacuum tubes and custom-built amplifiers for stereo systems, and it operates as a specialized global distributor that hand-tests, sweeps and matches JJ Electronic vacuum tubes for audio and guitar amplifiers, running high-voltage real-world testing on equipment before it reaches customers. Isabeau Pletka previously worked as a CFO for a couple of Portland restaurants before joining the family ventures.
City Grant Money and a Permit Paper Trail
The Lulu Mae property sold for $315,000, and the owners received $50,000 toward the renovation. The city of Milwaukie funds those business improvement grants through two main sources: tax increment financing from urban renewal areas and revenue from the local Construction Excise Tax, which supports tenant and storefront improvements citywide. More than 30 Milwaukie businesses have received funding through the city's grant programs over the past two years.
The renovation also carries an official paper trail. The City of Milwaukie Planning Department approved a Type II Downtown Design Review application for the property in June 2025, authorizing exterior facade alterations and building renovations to convert it into a multi-purpose event space. The site sits within the Historic Milwaukie neighborhood district and falls under Milwaukie Municipal Code Section 19.304, which governs Downtown Mixed Use zoning and its design standards.
Part of a Wider Downtown Revival
Lulu Mae is emerging alongside a broader wave of investment in downtown Milwaukie's commercial core. Just blocks away, the 1938 City Hall building underwent a $5 million adaptive reuse that reopened in April 2025 as a commercial hub housing pFriem Family Brewers and Keeper Coffee, a project that later earned a 2025 DeMuro Award from Restore Oregon for historic preservation and downtown economic development. The building, built with WPA funding as the last such project in Oregon, previously housed the city's fire and police departments.
Elsewhere downtown, a multi-tenant overhaul of the historic Perry's Pharmacy building at 10909 SE Main Street brought four new local businesses — a boutique, salon, vintage store and taproom — to the district in 2026, a project that drew on Oregon Main Street and local storefront grants. Downtown merchants and civic leaders also coordinate placemaking events like the Milwaukie Lights Walk, a winter art walk designed to bring foot traffic into the commercial district.
Decibel itself has built a reputation beyond its bar service, featuring an extensive record collection and a high-end stereo system inside a space furnished with a custom record cabinet built from 100-year-old salvaged walnut wood, a bar top repurposed from a bowling alley lane, and a 1970s living room setup. The venue has also hosted intimate chamber music performances as part of Third Angle New Music's Decibel Series, giving the family a track record of pairing sound and hospitality that they're now extending next door with Lulu Mae's garden courtyard.
