91视频

On Northeast Glisan Street, two apartment buildings on neighboring lots offer 25 and 30 apartments, respectively. They’re not particularly remarkable, but they have pleasant courtyards and thoughtful design touches.

鈥淲e try to strip our buildings down to what you need to live and provide a price point where medium-income people can afford to live,鈥� said Ed Bruin, director of design at Edge Development. 鈥淭hat’s the goal.鈥�

Multifamily production in Portland fell 13.1 percent in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, inclusionary housing requirements and other factors. Large projects stalled as the number of permitted new units dropped to 3,757, according to the Bureau of Development Services.

Yet in pockets around the city, small multifamily buildings kept rising. The number of permitted units in buildings of three to 50 units actually increased in 2020, by 10.1 percent.

Edge Development is among the small-scale multifamily developers that have found a niche in the current market. The projects aim to meet demand for urban neighborhoods close to employers such as Providence Portland Medical Center, and outdoor attractions such as Mount Tabor Park.

Edge Development’s buildings are often three stories, as are both at Northeast 57th Avenue and Glisan Street. That reduces construction costs.

鈥淲e try to limit the scope of the buildings that are what you need to live in a nice, comfortable development, without the amenities that drive up costs,鈥� Bruin said.

Edge has its own construction and property management companies 鈥� another cost-management strategy.

Developers are also finding creative ways to keep buildings below the 20-unit threshold that triggers the city’s inclusionary housing policy. Edge Development’s 30-unit NOTA development, at 5635 N.E. Glisan St., is permitted as two separate buildings.

Another local developer, VWR Development, has broken ground at Southeast 13th Avenue and Nehalem Street on a building designed to hold 19 units 鈥� just below the number that would require rent-restricted units be offered (or a fee be paid in lieu). VWR owner Vic Remmers did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Both Edge and VWR typically build apartment complexes with no parking 鈥� another amenity that increases costs. The Sellwood project reflects the densification seen throughout Portland’s neighborhoods. It required demolition of a home that was built in 1892 and had served as a retail storefront for Sock Dreams and later a small gift shop.

Sellwood has been among the neighborhoods most targeted by multifamily developers seeking walkable urban settings. At the height of the pre-inclusionary housing boom, more than 900 multifamily units were in the pipeline for the neighborhood.

鈥淚n the past year, there was a slowdown after (COVID-19) hit,鈥� said David Schoellhamer, chairman of the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League‘s land-use committee.聽 鈥淚 think we might be starting to come out of that. We’ve got a couple of projects after a long lull.鈥�

An Arizona developer has proposed a three-building, 85-unit project at 1666 S.E. Lambert St. in Sellwood on a surface parking lot that neighbors a church. The developer, Scotia Western State Housing, a limited liability company based in Tucson, could not be reached for comment.

In a December meeting with the SMILE neighborhood association, Sean O’Neill of Scotia Western State Housing said the project would have 16 studio units, 43 one-bedroom units and 26 two-bedroom units. The project would meet inclusionary housing requirements with seven apartments (8 percent of the total) designated as affordable with rents restricted to the level of 60 percent of area median income, according to meeting minutes.