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Among the housing issues facing Portland presently is the lack of affordable units for college students.

One project expected to contribute to a solution is The Amy, a development under way near Portland State University. The project is the brainchild of College Housing Northwest, a nonprofit that works to make housing more affordable for Oregon college students.

One aspect that will set The Amy apart from similar buildings is that its residents will be exclusively students. Managers of many 鈥渟tudent鈥� complexes give preference to students, but may allow nonstudents to rent units.

鈥淥ur organization is committed to renting to college students,鈥� College Housing Northwest Executive Director David Garnand said. 鈥淵ou have to go to a public or not-for-profit institution.鈥�

The聽five-story building will be constructed at 2031 S.W. 10th Ave., where a 30-unit, decades-old, wood-framed complex sat previously. The Amy will include 139 studio apartments, two one-bedroom apartments, 32 vehicle parking spaces, 230 bike parking spaces and 3,000 square feet of community space.

One of the biggest challenges for the project team surfaced in the permitting process: how to hold the hillside up. The slope of the lot caused problems with the planned retaining wall. The lot has more than 50 feet of elevation change and borders a Portland Bureau of Transportation right-of-way. Also, a 115,000-volt power line crosses a corner of the lot.

鈥淭here were some challenges with the shoring system to hold the hillside up across the PBOT right-of-way,鈥� said Joshua Lupkin, a project architect with SERA Architects. 鈥淲e had to redesign that system a couple times to where we aren’t encroaching on their right-of-way.鈥�

The engineers devised a way to use a soil nail system to help stabilize the hillside. The system involves drilling holes into the exposed wall face. Then, tension-resisting steel bars are inserted into the holes and grouted.

鈥淭he city planners were skeptical of our system working,鈥� Lupkin said. 鈥淲e had to do continuous inspections and have a geotechnical engineer on site.鈥�

The permitting issues delayed the project near the beginning of construction.

鈥淧ermitting took about 10 weeks longer than we thought,鈥� Garnand said.

SERA Architects and Pavilion Construction helped straighten out those design issues. Each unit will average just 300 square feet 鈥� bigger than a so-called tiny house, but smaller than most studio apartments. Each unit will be furnished, and include a bathroom and a small kitchenette featuring a sink and a microwave. One of the major goals is to give residents a sense of privacy not found in other student housing environments.

Durability became a major factor in choosing everything from d茅cor to building materials.

鈥淲hen you are designing for students, you want everything to be more durable,鈥� said Ryan Sturley, internal development manager at College Housing Northwest. 鈥淏eing nonprofit, we want it to be as affordable as we can, but we want something that we are going to be able to hold for 20 years or more and be able to stand up to the abuse of college students.鈥�

鈥淒oor frames and the quality of the paint was considered,鈥� Lupkin added. 鈥淲e wanted to make it easier to patch and paint.鈥�

Accomplishing those goals while keeping within the price target for a nonprofit organization hoping to provide affordable student housing was another challenge.

The $18 million project was funded through bonds that were arranged by the Oregon Facilities Authority. Funding such facilities is often a difficult endeavor.

鈥淭hat was a complex process, but (Oregon Facilities Authority) really helped us and made a complex process go really well,鈥� Garnand said.

While the apartments will not meet Portland’s technical definition of affordable housing, the group is aiming to keep rents 15 percent below market rate. The median rent for a studio apartment near the PSU campus was $1,655, according to a February 2016 study by the Scion Group. A one-bedroom unit went for $1,571, according to the study.

鈥淎t the core of our mission, it is to provide more affordable housing,鈥� Garnand said, 鈥渁nd make it really close to campus.鈥�

College Housing Northwest manages developments totaling 725 housing units throughout Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood and in Corvallis, near Oregon State University.

鈥淭he rents are going up, up, up,鈥� Garnand said. 鈥淚t is tough to find any place at all. You have a lot of new housing, but it is mostly market-rate housing.鈥�

The nonprofit’s hope is that The Amy will make living in Portland a little easier for its studious residents 鈥� presumably sophomores through grad students. Despite the hurdles, the building is expected to be completed in time for students to move in for the 2017 fall term.

鈥淥ther than the permitting hiccup, we are really excited about this project,鈥� Garnand said. 鈥淚t is going to be great for the students.鈥�

The Amy

Location: 2031 S.W. 10th Ave.

Cost: $18 million

Owner: College Housing Northwest

Architect: SERA Architects

General contractor: Pavilion Construction