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After receiving two design advice hearings, one for design review was enough for a proposed 159-unit affordable housing project in the Gateway District.

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday voted 6-0 to approve plans for a four-story, 90,940-square-foot building at 9747 N.E. Glisan St. The developer is Northwest Housing Alternatives, a Milwaukie-based nonprofit responsible in recent years for bringing online a host of new affordable housing projects across the state.

鈥淭his project has done a really good job of developing itself through the (design advice and review) process,鈥� Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said. 鈥淭he density is a little higher in the context, but the Gateway neighborhood is changing radically, and this could be the type of project that changes the context. It’s an incredibly difficult site with a difficult program, but it does a good job, on balance, of meeting the context guidelines.鈥�

Designed by MWA Architects, the Glisan Apartments will be built across three tax lots stretching between Glisan and Irving streets, east of the Gateway Transit Center. The long, relatively narrow site brought about a design providing four stories of workforce housing with two distinct wings at the north and south ends. The street frontage will feature gable ends with steep pitched roofing, while the building’s cladding will be a mix of brick and cement fiber. Courtyards will decorate both wings’ west side, which faces an existing pedestrian path that will gain new landscaping.

Programming will include primarily one-bedroom and studio apartments that will be made available to individuals making 60 percent or less of the regional median family income. In addition, 7,000 square feet of community space will occupy the ground floor with floor-to-ceiling glazing.

The project is being financed through the聽Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services and their LIFT program, as well as Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

One of the few complaints from local residents is the lack of parking included. Like many other mixed-use and residential developments in recent years, the Glisan Apartments will sit on property zoned RX for central residential. This designation does not require that parking be included for projects of this nature, but that did not sit well with Tom Beeman, who lives in the Gateway Arbors condominiums nearby.

鈥淚 can clearly testify, although I have no separate evidence on me, to the incredible lack of current on-street parking in that neighborhood due to the residents and the Gateway Transit Center,鈥� he told the commission.

While somewhat sympathetic, commissioners told Beeman there was little they could do to change current zoning regulations.

鈥淵ou are a member of an extremely large club in the city of Portland that feels the same way you do,鈥� Commissioner Tad Savinar said. 鈥淏ut it’s not our purview. And it’s unfortunate the city is changing and getting more dense, and we’re moving from a time where we used to feel as owners of homes that the parking space in front of our homes was ours. That’s gone, but your path to be heard should be clear.鈥�

From here, Northwest Housing Alternatives will now be able to complete the design process and submit a land use application.