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Wilsonville-based West Coast Home Solutions, since its inception in 2005, has developed single-family houses and townhomes in the Portland-metro area. But on a site along the Columbia River in North Portland, the company is making its first foray into apartment development. The Harbor Sky Apartments also represents West Coast Home Solutions’ faith in that market’s future.

鈥淲e feel like the Portland market is going to be appreciating more and more compared with Seattle and Denver,鈥� West Coast Home Solutions President Eugene Labunsky said. 鈥淔or me the biggest difference is when you’re building a subdivision and you’ve got 100 home spaces, you have 100 customers. When you’re building an apartment building you have 100 tenants, but they’re not your customers; so you only have one buyer if you sell the building. It’s like selling a business versus selling or catering to a lot of folks.鈥�

Labunsky’s brother, Andy, is president of Portland-based Atlas Property Management, which will manage the Harbor Sky complex when it is finished.

鈥淚t’s a long-term hold play,鈥� Andy Labunsky said. 鈥淚t’s almost a recession-proof investment.鈥�

West Coast Home Solutions is serving as its own general contractor for the Harbor Sky Apartments. Leeb Architects designed the complex, which will consist of 385,000 total square feet 鈥� a mix of residential and ground-floor commercial space.

Ground was broken late last year. There will be 266 apartments 鈥� studios, one-bedroom units or two-bedroom units 鈥� as well as a private swimming pool, controlled-access covered parking, a 24-hour fitness studio, bicycle storage and more. The units will average around 600 square feet, but the largest (two-bedroom penthouse units on the sixth floor) will have some 1,500 square feet. Completion is expected by the end of 2019.

Harbor Sky will be a single large structure with three distinct wings that overlook a pair of large courtyards opening to the north and the Columbia River. The building itself will have five wood-framed stories atop a post-tensioned concrete podium. However, some sections, including the main entrance, will have only four stories.

The poor soil quality close to the river meant extensive shoring was required to stabilize the building, lead project architect Steve Sandstrom said. In fact, 395 separate pilings, some up to 75 feet in depth, were drilled for structural support. Deep soil mixing was used to help prevent liquefaction of below-grade soil in case of a seismic event.

鈥淲e learned a lot, and quickly,鈥� Sandstrom said. 鈥淭hey pour concrete like a slurry when they’re doing the piling itself, so essentially it eliminates the liquefaction factor from happening.鈥�

The irregular-shaped property also contributed to the building’s unique design. Far from a flat-roofed box, Harbor Sky features numerous nooks and crannies; according to the most recent calculation, 58 distinct floor plans will be used for the residential units.

In the future, the Labunsky brothers say they want to engage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in talks to try and find a way to create legal access to the levee north of the complex. Currently, it’s off-limits to the public.

鈥淲e’re not even supposed to walk on that right now,鈥� Andy Labunsky said. 鈥淧eople walk on it all the time, but it’s not authorized.鈥�

The Labunskys also envision the levee one day becoming part of Portland’s 40-mile bicycle loop that is being built farther east along Marine Drive.

鈥淓ven though it’s technically not a sanctioned path yet, if it came through it would be a dynamite asset to have,鈥� Eugene Labunsky said.