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Construction crews have broken ground in Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood on a 110-unit affordable housing development. Cathedral Village will house low and very low-income families as well as people either chronically homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The four-story building is being erected on a 1.2-acre lot at 8614 N. Crawford St. The site is within walking distance of Cathedral Park, grocery stores and retail outlets.

Related Northwest and Catholic Charities of Oregon are co-owners of the project. MWA Architects is the architect, and LMC Construction is the contractor.

The building will hold one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging from 384 square feet to 1,051 square feet. It will also feature a community room with a kitchen, a shared laundry, a teen room, a courtyard with a barbecue area, a 鈥渢ot lot鈥� with a garden for children, and bicycle parking.

The building’s exterior will be a brick skin with metal cladding; an art installation will be added to the panels facing Crawford Street. The building’s other side will have views of the St. Johns Bridge.

鈥淚 think it’ll be a handsome building when done,鈥� said Stef Kondor, vice president of development at Related Northwest.

The location was selected as part of an effort to ensure there are affordable housing opportunities throughout the city, said Travis Phillips, director of community development and housing at Catholic Charities.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit midway through the design phase, Phillips said, and main elements had already been established. The design team then looked at how to make sure residents would be able to both live and work in their units.

鈥淚 think that (need for individual space) elevated this year with the pandemic 鈥� the fact that more people are spending more time in their individual spaces,鈥� he said.

Many meetings took place, Phillips said, concerning whether a cabinet would be installed in one place, or shelving units would go in another.

Affordable housing units often have limited storage space in individual rooms, Kondor said. A big initiative, she added, was to make sure each unit would have enough pantry and linen storage.

Team members also spent a long time configuring the community spaces, Kondor said. Wi-Fi was included in all of those spaces to make them more inviting and able to facilitate children’s schoolwork.

Catholic Charities will provide residential services and support within the building. It was important for those spaces to be placed near the community ones, Phillips said, in order to encourage face-to-face interactions between staffers and tenants.

A point of emphasis for Kondor, she said, was location of building entry and exit points allowing high visibility to ensure security. The design team used a crime-prevention-through-environmental-design model to make sure residents would feel safe. Landscape and lighting were given special attention. There will be no hidden corners, and security cameras will be placed in all common areas, Kondor said.

The aim of the support services within the building is to help people adjust to living inside if they’ve been homeless. Staffers also will help tenants understand the health care coverage system and how to navigate it.

With Cathedral Park hosting one of the longest-running jazz festivals west of the Mississippi River, music is an integral part of the St. Johns neighborhood, Kondor said. The project team wanted that to be reflected in Cathedral Village with a music room. It’s also working with a local high school to provide an after-school music program for children.

The development’s estimated cost is $37.7 million. Funding is coming from Umpqua Bank, Red Stone Equity Partners, the 2016 Portland affordable housing bond, Oregon Housing and Community Services, The Collins Foundation and the Hedco Foundation.

The project team is adhering to PHB (Portland Housing Bureau) green building standards and aiming for Earth Advantage gold certification.