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Just inside Gresham city limits, near East Burnside Street and Southeast 167^th Place, a multifamily development is in the works for a 0.52-acre parcel. The project, designed by Leeb Architects for developer West Coast Home Solutions, will add 24 apartments to the market.

鈥淚t obviously allows people to use the MAX (light rail) to commute,鈥� said Robert Leeb, the firm’s principal in charge. 鈥淎nd I think that in terms of the building and the design, we were trying to coordinate the building with the context of the neighborhood. We had a group of townhomes next to us on the east, and we wanted to be compatible with those owner-occupied row homes.鈥�

The single-building development is being designed in a contemporary townhouse style that will include an internal courtyard and a children’s play area. On-site parking will consist of 15 surface spaces and nine tuck-under parking garages 鈥� a one-to-one ratio for the 24 units.

鈥淲e created pavilions in the buildings and steeper pitched roofs,鈥� Leeb said, 鈥渢o break the mass up into different pavilions to give it a row house, townhouse look instead of a monolithic apartment building.鈥�

Traditional exterior materials are being used, including lap siding and brick masonry at the base.

Apartments will be studios, one-bedroom units or two-bedroom units.

鈥淚t’s a smaller scale and there are nice-sized two-bedrooms,鈥� Leeb said. 鈥淭here is a nice courtyard that some of the units face. It’s a small-scale infill, and there’s a limited amount of space to do what you want to do. But we’re proud of it; it’s an elegant little building.鈥�

West Coast Home Solutions will serve as its own general contractor. It formerly developed only single-family homes. Right now, however, the firm is nearing completion on its first multifamily project: the 266-unit Harbor Sky Apartments in North Portland.

The firm hopes to begin construction on the Burnside Apartments sometime in the first quarter of 2020, Leeb said. At that time, he noted, subcontracts for the project will still be going out to bid.

鈥淚 don’t think we take our notes from Burnside or the light rail as much from the neighborhood context,鈥� Leeb said. 鈥淭he idea was definitely to get this project into the neighborhood. This was something that was in their portfolio for a while. They had control of this property for a while, and they’ve done some smaller projects in Gresham.鈥�

On the Boards is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects in Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, send an email to [email protected].