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A Portland developer planning to construct affordable housing in Northeast Portland is trying a fourth time to gain design approval.

Ricardo Berdichevsky since 2012 has sought to build Hazelwood Plaza on four conjoined lots between 222 and 312 N.E. 102nd Ave. in the Gateway Plan District. The Portland Design Commission, he said, has stalled the process by requesting changes to the design and planned materials.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been an interesting process,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to follow whatever they want because this has been such a pain to go through. I think we鈥檝e addressed all the issues they had.鈥�

Berdichevsky and architect Alberto Rinkevich of Ardesign LLC want to build two five-story apartment buildings, with 62 units combined, around a central courtyard area. When they sought early design advice, commissioners suggested several changes. These included adding ground-floor retail space, moving outdoor common areas somewhere more visible and improving the quality of building materials.

Original plans called for a combination of cement siding and corrugated metal cladding. Rinkevich has since modified the plans to include a smooth cement finish on the ground floor and additional metal paneling to balance heavy use of cement fiber on the upper levels.

鈥淲e went again for design advice in November (2014),鈥� Rinkevich said. 鈥淭he latest design is almost the same as before other than we made the changes in materials the commissioners asked for.鈥�

The plans the design commission will consider at the Feb. 5 hearing include three ground-floor retail spaces as well as tuck-under parking for 45 vehicles.

Rinkevich said that if the design commission approves the project he expects the permitting process to require about four months. He said the team would like to begin construction in summer 2015 and deliver in summer 2016.

Hazelwood Plaza, once completed, will be the fourth affordable housing complex in the Portland area owned by Berdichevsky鈥檚 company, Quail Court Management. Berdichevsky said he believes Hazelwood Plaza is the only new affordable housing complex going up in the Hazelwood neighborhood.

The project, budgeted at about $6 million, in October 2013 received the Portland Housing Bureau鈥檚 approval for a 10-year tax abatement. The forgone revenue, via the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption program, is estimated at about $540,000.

鈥淭he MULTE program does not have a time requirement for completion of construction, so the approval still stands,鈥� said Martha Calhoon, public information officer for the housing bureau. 鈥淧HB would need to approve any major changes to the project (such as changes to the number of units, the bedroom sizes of units, the percentage of affordable units, plus changes to any other approved public benefits). It wouldn鈥檛 be uncommon after this amount of time for there to be changes to a project plan that would be subject to PHB review.鈥�

Berdichevsky said he鈥檚 still planning to use the MULTE tax abatement. Approximately 10 units in Hazelwood Plaza will be reserved for tenants who earn 60 percent, or less, of the area鈥檚 median family income, he said.

The one- and two-bedroom units in the complex 鈥渨ill serve seniors, one- and two-person households, special needs individuals and low-income young families,鈥� according to Berdichevsky鈥檚 project description. He said he will also 鈥渁ccept as many section 8 tenants as are allowed to live there.鈥�

Berdichevsky said he does not know if the design changes will require another look from the housing bureau; he won鈥檛 move forward with development until the design commission approves the project.

鈥�(The area) needs affordable housing, but tell that to the commissioners,鈥� Berdichevsky said. 鈥淲e need everyone to come to the hearing and tell them to approve this project.鈥�