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The first piece of Downtown Development Group‘s Ankeny Blocks plan is quickly coming together in Portland’s Skidmore/Old Town Historic District.

230 Ash, rising on a half-block parcel along Southwest Ash Street, between Second and Third avenues, will offer five stories of apartments above ground-floor retail space. The former surface parking lot’s transformation is providing something rarely seen in the immediate area: new residential units.

General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis is building 230 Ash, which was designed by GBD Architects.

鈥淚t’s a nice, exciting time for the project,鈥� Cesar Aviles, project manager for Lease Crutcher Lewis, said last week. 鈥淐urrently we’re working on our wood framing, where we’re up to level four, starting level five. We did all the concrete, and we’re starting on our exterior mock-up 鈥� we should get steel started in late February for the curtain walls that support the brick, and we’re shooting to have our roofing around March.鈥�

Then crews will start drying in and performing interior work, Aviles said.

鈥淲e’re working on metal framing down on the ground floor, and then a lot of MEP rough-in throughout the building,鈥� he said. 鈥淲here people can find space, they’re getting stuff done.鈥�

Design requirements were stricter for 230 Ash than for typical projects because the property is within a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nevertheless, the team plans to pursue a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating for the project.

The 133 apartments on floors two through six will be either studios or one-bedroom units. Developers took advantage of Multnomah County’s Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) program to gain a 10-year property tax abatement by offering 20 percent of the apartments below market rate to people making 80 percent of the median family income or less.

At the ground level, 7,955 square feet of retail space will be available for multiple tenants 鈥� likely at least one restaurant. 230 Ash also will provide 58 motor vehicle parking spaces underground as well as 201 long-term bicycle parking spaces. A rooftop space will provide additional tenant amenities.

Exterior work is expected to continue through the end of July, while interior work will proceed through at least September. A certificate of occupancy is expected to follow, likely in October if current schedules hold steady.

Downtown Development Group will retain ownership of 230 Ash once it’s finished. HSM Pacific Realty is handling leasing of those spaces.

鈥淚t’s an interesting location,鈥� Aviles said. 鈥淰oodoo Doughnuts is just up the street and you get a bunch of tourists. And yesterday, actually, the restaurant Mother’s (Bistro & Bar) was doing their grand opening, so they had probably a 300-person parade with a band and stilt walkers that was going on while Northwest Natural was doing their gas tie-in 鈥� there was a lot going on, a lot of fun stuff.鈥�