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Don Mazziotti has his eye on undeveloped property in downtown Beaverton, but it’s not for a baseball stadium this time.

After negotiations to build a Triple-A stadium in Beaverton came to halt in October, the city hit upon a new idea to reinvigorate its city core: more housing.

Beaverton city council last week reviewed a draft Memorandum of Understanding with Providence Health and Services to locate a three-to-five story, mixed-use senior living facility called ElderPlace at a city-owned block bounded by First Street, Angel and Main avenues, and Farmington Road.

Mazziotti, hired in September as the city’s new community development director, says if Providence can secure funding, ElderPlace could jump start more housing projects in the central city.

Except for a few smaller townhouse projects and mixed-use condo project The Round, Beaverton has seen little multi-family residential development in its downtown in recent years.

鈥淏eaverton has seen the same pause in real estate and development as everywhere else,鈥� Mazziotti said. 鈥淏ut recent reports on third-quarter performance show that Beaverton has seen an expansion of leased space and rents at traditional levels.鈥�

鈥淭his is long overdue,鈥� said Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle. 鈥淥lder apartments in downtown have been closed or torn down with nothing to replace them. This project would be in a highly visible spot. We want it to look good and make some financial sense.鈥�

ElderPlace would provide 50 to 60 units of assisted-living housing, with ground-floor health care and social services provided by Providence. The company currently runs five ElderPlace communities in the Portland-metro area, with a total annual revenue of $45 million in 2008.

Statistics from the US Census Bureau’s 2006-08 American Community Survey indicate that 9.6 percent of the population of Beaverton is over 65 years of age.

鈥淭here is a need for senior housing in our central city,鈥� said Beaverton City Councilor Cathy Stanton. 鈥淲e have a substantial senior population and the need was present for such a project before this great recession.鈥�

Providence has applied for funds through the city’s HOME Investment Partnership Program, which provides money to increase affordable housing, according to Gary Walker, director of public affairs for Providence.

The company also has discussed applying for federal funding through low-income tax credits and other programs, Walker said.

鈥淭his has to happen fairly quickly given the time period for applying for federal funding,鈥� Doyle said. 鈥淲e’re trying to get our ducks in a row here so we can help (Providence) find federal money.鈥�

Mazziotti says he estimates the cost of the facility being between $6 million and $7 million.

鈥淚 can’t predict the future better than anyone else,鈥� Mazziotti said. 鈥淲hether economics will allow this remains to be seen, but if this project goes forward, several adjoining properties owned by public entities would become likely candidates for redevelopment.鈥�

Some of the neighboring properties around the ElderPlace site are owned by the Beaverton School District while others are owned by private parties.

Mazziotti said the city will embark on a technical planning exercise next year to come up with a redevelopment plan for the whole central district. A significant part of that could be more four- and five-story housing structures, he said.

鈥淲hen I say higher densities, I’m not speaking of 30-story buildings,鈥� Mazziotti said. 鈥淏ut the possibility exists to redevelop these properties into neighborhood scale developments.鈥�

鈥淕iven our tight supply of property, any new housing will have to be vertical,鈥� Doyle said. 鈥淪ome people don’t like that, but we have to grow up rather than out.鈥�

Beaverton City Council will meet Nov. 30th to discuss whether or not to enter into an MOU with Providence for ElderPlace. A development agreement could be struck as early as April 2010.