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One of California’s largest affordable housing development organizations is making its first foray into the Portland market.

San Francisco-based , a 30-year-old nonprofit, is planning to build a mixed-use project in the Pearl District. According to an early pre-application notice from the city, the six-story structure could include as many as 185 units and 115 below-grade parking spaces.

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Cynthia Parker, the organization’s president and CEO, said the property will have a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments, and will cater to families.

鈥淚 think that so many people can’t get the right start in life unless they have the stability of a home,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you look at kids and track their success in school, you see that so many people move around a lot and kids get dislocated from school, and a lot of that has to do with the affordability of housing, and of course jobs. But getting a stable place for people to live that’s good, and is part of the community, is I think the foundation of moving forward successfully in life.鈥�

BRIDGE has a for-profit arm that operates as an investment adviser to California’s Public Employees’ Retirement System. That arm is entrusted with $175 million for urban infill development.

After Parker, a Portland State University graduate, joined BRIDGE in 2010, the organization began seeking opportunities in the Northwest. It reached out to , which put BRIDGE in touch with Hoyt Street Properties LLC.

BRIDGE will purchase the project site 鈥� Block 27, at Northwest Raleigh Street and 13th Avenue 鈥� from Hoyt Street Properties. Parker said the parcel is not yet fully defined, and the sales price will be determined once a pending lot line adjustment is completed. Williams & Dame will be the project’s development consultant.

The building’s design won’t be a cookie-cutter, Parker said.

鈥淲e have about 37,000 residents in about 85 communities,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e know how to work with those communities and really try to deliver a type of product that is individually tailored to the community around it.鈥�

Tom Moisan, a principal of , the project’s architect, said design will likely involve two buildings connected by a sky bridge. It will help to create two independent courtyards 鈥� one public and one private.

鈥淥ur biggest challenge is to make it feel connected to the city and the Pearl because it’s kind of out there on its own right now,鈥� Moisan said. 鈥淭here’s a lot of empty land around it. Mainly, the connection will come through the 13th side.鈥�

Ankrom Moisan also designed the Ramona Apartments, a complex that sits kitty-corner from the site. Like the Ramona, the BRIDGE project will look to extend the loading dock motif along Northwest 13th Avenue.

Moisan said the company has developed ideas for the project for several months, and that renderings would be available in the next couple of weeks.

Parker acknowledged that the site’s former sawmill use would present some challenges. BRIDGE will need to remove several feet of sawdust, she said, and perform some additional cleanup at the site, which is in a floodplain. Solutions are being worked out now.

The company is hoping to break ground in late 2013, and Parker said the organization will look to work with local contractors. BRIDGE also plans to open a Portland office, and Parker said it will seek to do more in the Pacific Northwest.

鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re already looking at a couple now.鈥�