91ÊÓƵ

POWER LIST: GENERAL CONTRACTORS

For a decade now, O’Neill Construction Group and Walsh Construction have been partners on a mission – one that led to nearly half of the Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters construction budget to go to woman-owned and minority-owned subcontractors, as well as 576 affordable housing units being built. Afton Walsh, community outreach director and project manager, said O’Neill/Walsh (OWCB) pursues projects that prioritize diversity and community impact.

In 2019, the group completed The Louisa Flowers. With 240 apartments available for households earning at or below 60 percent of the median income, it’s the single largest affordable housing building constructed in Portland in 50 years. The building earned a Gold Nugget Award, Best Innovative Energy Design and Earth Advantage Green Builder of the Year awards and first place in 91ÊÓƵ’s TopProjects affordable housing category in 2020.

Then last year, OWCB worked with LEVER Architecture and Project^ on the new headquarters for Meyer Memorial Trust. The 14-month project prioritized workforce equity with up to 80 percent of the work completed by woman-owned and minority-owned subcontractors as well as environmental sustainability with design standards to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating.

The OWCB partnership started with acknowledgment that it could help smaller, minority-owned firms grow by intellectual capital being shared, Walsh said.
Recently, the group relocated a U.S. Postal Service retail storefront for the Broadway Corridor mega-project. That effort is a small piece of the grand redevelopment, but it will allow the rest of the work to begin.