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A series of Hacienda Community Development Corp. projects in Portland’s Cully neighborhood are moving ahead this year as part of the nonprofit’s efforts to help low-income families in the area.

Crews from Colas Construction in November broke ground on a $3 million project to build a two-story office building, designed by Scott | Edwards Architecture, near the corner of Northeast Killingsworth Street and Cully Boulevard. The 11,280-square-foot building will house Hacienda CDC’s headquarters, ground-floor retail space, community meeting space, property management space for affordable housing tenants and other direct services to the mostly Latino clients it serves.

The Portland-based general contractor and architecture firm also are teaming up with Hacienda CDC to improve two of its affordable housing complexes nearby. Many of the existing apartments don’t have enough bedrooms to adequately house families, and the complexes lack outdoor spaces where children can play, said Lisa McClellan, a principal with Scott | Edwards Architecture.

鈥淎ll of their housing is really for families,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey have a lot of children running around. One of the things we’re trying to do is provide more open space.鈥�

A $2 million renovation under way will upgrade the 24-unit Vista de Rosas, at 6936 N.E. Killingsworth St., with new siding, windows, interior finishes and a laundry building. Directly behind Hacienda CDC’s new office, the organization is planning to replace 108 units at the Villa de Clara Vista, 6706 N.E. Killingsworth St., with a new 146-unit development that includes three- and four-bedroom apartments, a community center and courtyards for families.

Scott | Edwards Architecture staffers have already done preliminary site planning for the estimated $30 million project, and will likely move into design this spring. Initial plans created during a design charrette this past June call for breaking up the housing units into a series of smaller buildings that face single-family homes on the Northeast Emerson Street side of the approximately 3-acre property and building denser development on Cully Boulevard, which has more of a commercial presence, McClellan said. The increased density on certain parts of the site will help maximize the amount of open outdoor space, she said.

When complete, the Vista de Rosas, Villa de Clara Vista and Hacienda CDC headquarters projects will greatly improve the Cully neighborhood, McClellan said.

鈥淭hey’re a nonprofit that’s really rooted in one area of town and having a tremendous impact on that neighborhood,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou’ll see that this is transformative, these projects that they’ve undertook, all three of these projects. This is a gateway to the neighborhood. We just see this as a way to create a new, more positive face to the neighborhood.鈥�

As Hacienda CDC has expanded, its staffers have been spread out among three offices, said Catherine Kes, the nonprofit’s housing director. The new office building under construction in Cully will consolidate operations on the one place where the organization’s services are needed most, she said.

鈥淲e decided we really wanted to be in the Cully neighborhood, where the majority of our services (are offered),鈥� she said.

The office building design will feature a tile mosaic art installation on one corner of the building and accents of the colors in Hacienda CDC’s logo 鈥� pale blue, deep blue and orange. Scott | Edwards Architecture also designed a portion of the second story to hang over the parking lot to maximize space.

鈥淥ne of the challenges was how we fit their program into the building and provide parking without a parking structure,鈥� McClellan said.

Along with its own projects in Cully, Hacienda CDC has teamed up with three other nonprofits 鈥� Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East, Verde and the Native American Youth and Family Center 鈥� to purchase and redevelop the nearby Sugar Shack strip club, at 6729 N.E. Killingsworth St. The nonprofits, through a coalition called Living Cully, launched a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised $54,000 to help secure financing for a $2.75 million purchase of the two-acre property. The sale is in negotiations and could be finalized as soon as this spring, said Tony DeFalco, Living Cully coordinator for Verde.

Redevelopment ideas for the property include a community center, affordable housing, a gym or a grocery store, he said.

鈥淭he community has long been trying to purchase this property for nearly 20 years,鈥� DeFalco said. 鈥淚t’s been a blight to the community.鈥�

Working together with Hacienda CDC on projects to improve the Cully area has been an incredibly rewarding experience, McClellan said.

鈥淭he Cully neighborhood 鈥� it’s very interesting the way a lot of people are banding together to help it,鈥� she said.

Renovations to the Vista de Rosas apartments are scheduled to finish in April. The Hacienda headquarters will open in September. Depending on financing, ground is likely to be broken on the Villa de Clara Vista project in summer 2016. That project will require at least two years to complete, Kes said.