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Work has begun in Hillsboro on a mixed-use development that will be the largest cross-laminated timber project to date in Oregon.

AmberGlen South will have a total of 495 housing units in three buildings. At 449,457 square feet combined, the CLT buildings have more space than the First Tech Federal Credit Union office building, also in Hillsboro, or the Marshall Elementary School and McLoughlin Middle School projects in Vancouver, Washington.

AmberGlen South comes from The Wolff Co., a major developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The development comprises twin six-story market-rate apartment buildings and a five-story senior living facility. The southwest building will have 197 housing units, with two levels of structured parking in a double-podium design. The northwest building will be similar, with 155 units along with two levels of structured parking. A senior living facility, Revel AmberGlen, will have 143 units in five stories, with parking below grade.

鈥淲e’ve been a big believer in the Hillsboro area for a long time,鈥� said Rob O’Dea, a spokesman for The Wolff Co. 鈥淥bviously, there’s a ton of jobs out there.鈥� Major nearby employers include Nike, Intel and Salesforce.

The project site is at 91st Street between Northeast Wilkins Street and Gibbs Drive, just south of Tanasbourne and Sunset Highway. A fourth block is expected to be developed at a later date. The use of that block has not been determined, a spokesman for the developer stated in an email.

Hillsboro has long planned high-density development in the AmberGlen area. The City Council in 2010 adopted the to guide development there.

鈥淲hat we really sought to do was take a somewhat underutilized office park and turn it into a high-density neighborhood,鈥� said Dan Dias, economic and community development director for the city of Hillsboro.

The project is being designed by LRS Architects, with Katerra serving as the architect of record and general contractor. The project team plans to use CLT from Katerra’s factory under construction in Spokane Valley, Washington.

Site work is under way at AmberGlen. Excavation has begun, and construction cranes are being moved into place. The project is expected to go vertical this summer, with the CLT on track to be installed in August.

CLT has proved attractive in Oregon to developers who prefer the material’s faster construction timelines and lower carbon footprint, along with a link to the timber industry. Portland has been the epicenter of CLT construction in the United States, and this week again hosted the annual International Mass Timber Conference at the Oregon Convention Center.

Katerra, a vertically integrated housing firm based in Menlo Park, California, has entered the CLT market with factories in Phoenix and Tracy, California, in addition to the one in Eastern Washington. Competitors include D.R. Johnson of Riddle, in Southern Oregon, and Canada’s Structurlam.

鈥淔rom our standpoint, there’s a couple of things that make it a really attractive material,鈥� O’Dea said. 鈥淚t allows us to do some things from a design standpoint. It allows us to run longer spans of material.

鈥淎esthetically, it’s a beautiful product,鈥� O’Dea added. 鈥淭he third piece of it is, it’s faster to build, which improves the economics of a project and gets the project to market more quickly.鈥�

The city of Hillsboro is considering using CLT for a planned community center on 53rd Avenue, Dias said.

Future residents of AmberGlen South will have easy access to Portland via the MAX light-rail line.

鈥淚t is a hot spot,鈥� said Cynthia Schuster, a senior projects manager with LRS Architects. 鈥淭here’s just a need for housing, and people find the rents are a little cheaper.鈥�

The project team also seeks to meet increasing demand for multigenerational housing.

鈥淪eniors, they don’t necessarily want to go to a home where they’ll be isolated,鈥� Schuster said. 鈥淭hey want to be in a community.鈥�

LRS had worked on the site for previous developers before The Wolff Co. took over the project.

鈥淥riginally, Wolff would have preferred to do lower density on the site,鈥� Schuster said. 鈥淭he city was pretty adamant they wanted their four blocks and higher density. Obviously, it stuck and that’s what’s being built.鈥�

The Wolff Co. previously developed The Arbory, a 276-unit multifamily development with 2,200 square feet of retail space in Hillsboro. The developer was under contract on a riverfront property below the west end of the Broadway Bridge in Northwest Portland, but walked away from a $9 million deal in 2016 with the Portland Development Commission (now Prosper Portland).

鈥淲e were under contract on that one, but we stepped out of the contract and terminated the deal,鈥� O’Dea said this week. 鈥淭here were some pretty significant design constraints on that site, and there were also some environmental constraints that made the project untenable.鈥�

O’Dea said The Wolff Co. is interested in future development opportunities in Hillsboro.