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Noel Johnson saw potential in a grass-strewn tract in Northwest Portland that was visible from the window of the first home he bought in Portland.

鈥淚’ve been staring at this property since 2004,鈥� he said during a tour of the Wilson Street tract.

Now, Wilson Forest Park Townhomes is under construction with 14 townhomes. They range from four bedrooms and approximately 2,100 square feet to five bedrooms and 3,400 square feet. Located along Northwest Wilson Street between Northwest 29^th and 30^th avenues, the townhomes are built for flexibility, with a first-floor unit that can be rented out as an apartment or used as an office or bedroom.

Johnson and local architect Richard Potestio landed on an unusual building typology: They are not traditional detached, single-family homes, but it’s also not a multifamily condo or apartment project.

鈥淲e’re trying to create an answer to the question of how can a family live in (the) Northwest neighborhood, both functionally and economically,鈥� Johnson said.

The three- and four-story homes have walk-ups to Wilson Street. The garages will have electric vehicle chargers installed in each home, an amenity that required Portland General Electric to beef up decades-old electric infrastructure in the neighborhood.

The townhomes are made from cross-laminated timber. Johnson used Oregon supplier D.R. Johnson in Riddle, and much of the material was salvaged from wildfires, he said. On Wednesday, contractor Carpentry Plus Inc. flew in mass timber pieces using a crane.

CPI had to buy the timber at the height of soaring prices. Johnson signed a change order that cost an additional $111,000. 鈥淚t is what it is,鈥� he said.

Each townhome is separated by a mere 4-1/4 inches from the neighboring townhome’s exterior wall. There’s a reason for that.

鈥淚f we connect, then it’s a condo,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲ho wants to be in a condo?鈥� The townhomes are for homeownership, and no condo or homeowners association is involved.

The ground-floor units take advantage of the growing popularity of accessory apartments, both for homeowners looking for an extra revenue stream and renters seeking urban living space in Portland’s tight market.

Johnson calls them ADUs (accessory dwelling units), but they’re within the main structure of the townhome, rather than a detached small building. The ground-floor units average about 700 square feet.

The ground-floor units have separate entrances and mailing addresses, making them ideal for people who want to offset their mortgage payment with rental revenue. 鈥淭he home hopefully has the flexibility to grow and move and groove over decades, not just a couple years,鈥� Johnson said.

It also has advantages for Portland’s increasingly mobile workforce. Johnson gave the example of a Nike employee being sent abroad for a few years. 鈥淚n which case, then you can rent out the main home, you can keep the ADU so you have a mailing address and a place to land when you’re working as an expat, and you can come home,鈥� he said.

A group of four other local investors, all of whom live in Northwest Portland, are backing the Wilson Forest Park Townhomes. (The project is so named because it’s a sneaker’s throw from Forest Park’s Lower Macleay trailhead). Johnson’s co-managing partner is Scott Tillman, with whom he previously took part in the acquisition of ESCO Corp.’s Northwest Portland property. First Republic Bank is the project’s lender.

The investors endured a lengthy journey through the city’s permitting process. An extensive land-use review was required because the lot was being subdivided into 14 parcels. Further reviews by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and public works bureaus followed, and then reviews for ground work and finally the building permit.

The developers lost a battle seeking an exception to a city rule limiting building frontages to 100 feet or less.

鈥淚n total it was 3-1/2 years of simply waiting on city review,鈥� Johnson said. Combined with development and construction time, the project will be a half-decade from inception to completion.

鈥淚t’s going to take five years to build 14 homes in the city of Portland on a site that was a perfect, ready-to-go site with no complications,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭hat is why we have almost no supply of new housing, especially for families, in the city of Portland. We’ve built our system to fundamentally prevent it.鈥�

The city’s Bureau of Development Services has come under fire for lengthy permit delays that were exacerbated by the pandemic. BDS spokesman Ken Ray said the city is working to improve.

鈥淲e understand concerns about the timeliness of the permitting process,鈥� Ray stated in an email. 鈥淎ll seven permitting bureaus are engaged in the work of the Permitting Improvement Task Force, appointed by Commissioner Dan Ryan, to reduce building permit times by one-third.鈥�

I & E Construction is the general contractor. Johnson hired the company after hearing about their work from contacts at Walsh Construction.

The project is set for completion in April 2022. Sean Z. Becker Real Estate is .