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The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal for implementing Mayor Charlie Hales‘ pledge to invest $20 million to build affordable housing in North and Northeast Portland.

The Portland Housing Bureau‘s five-year affordable housing strategy proposes spending $4.5 million to build 40 to 80 units on a city-owned lot known as the Grant Warehouse site, on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Northeast Cook and Ivy streets. An additional $3.5 million will go toward creation of 30 to 60 affordable housing units via redevelopment of additional properties owned by the city, Multnomah County or other entities. The PHB also plans to spend $3 million to buy more land for future affordable housing projects. The remaining $9 million will be spent helping homeowners repair their properties and creating homeownership opportunities.

Along with the $20 million investment, the proposal calls for increasing the PHB’s goals for hiring minority-owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses to work on affordable housing construction projects. The bureau also plans to include contractor and subcontractor pre-apprenticeship programs on its projects.

The housing strategy aims to address concerns about a history of gentrification in the area. The proposal is based on feedback gathered during an extensive community outreach campaign.

The mayor’s pledged investment in affordable housing stems from concerns raised by community members over the lack of transparency in a November 2013 Portland Development Commission deal to sell the 1.79-acre lot at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Alberta Street to California-based Majestic Realty.

The developer planned a commercial development that included Trader Joe’s as an anchor tenant. Amid the controversy, Trader Joe’s pulled out of the deal in February 2014. Natural Grocers has since signed a letter of intent to take its place. Colas Construction crews are scheduled to start work on the project next month.