91视频

Redevelopment in the Broadway Corridor, in Northwest Portland, will begin with a large-scale affordable housing project, city officials announced Thursday.

The Portland Housing Bureau has awarded the $147 million project to the joint venture of Home Forward and the Urban League of Portland following a competitive solicitation process. Holst Architecture is the designer of the 14-story, 230-unit building, and Colas Construction is the general contractor.

鈥淥ur community review committee was extremely impressed by the thoughtful, elegant design, the integrated on-site services, and the dedication to dignified, well-constructed affordable homes shown by the Home Forward and Urban League proposal,鈥� Housing Bureau Director Helmi A. Hisserich stated in a press release.

Hisserich called the project a 鈥渢ransformative development, which will root the new Broadway Corridor neighborhood in a commitment to service and support for low-income Portlanders for decades to come.鈥�

The Housing Bureau will contribute up to $42 million 鈥� Metro housing bond dollars and tax-increment financing 鈥� to the project.

Plans will be subject to city land use review and design review, Portland Housing Bureau spokesman Gabriel Mathews said.

The site, known as parcel 4a, is bounded by Northwest Ninth Avenue, Johnson Street, Park Avenue, and a half block that will be developed later in the Broadway Corridor build-out. The 32-acre site was created by the demolition of a longtime U.S. Postal Service property. The affordable housing building is envisioned to connect to the North Park Blocks and the planned Green Loop.

鈥淚 am convinced the Broadway Corridor will be a major catalyst to improve this historically underserved neighborhood,鈥� Urban League of Portland President and CEO Nkenge Harmon Johnson stated in the press release.

The proposal calls for apartments in a mix of sizes, from studios to three-bedroom units. Sixty-two of the units will be family-size; of those, 39 will be regulated as affordable at 30 percent of the area median income. Eleven other units 鈥� either studios or with one bedroom 鈥� will also be available at the 30 percent income level. All other units will be affordable at 60 percent of the AMI.

The ground floor will be anchored by a 2,900-square-foot early learning center to be operated by the Urban League of Portland. The facility will be open to both building residents and others.

A 1,200-square-foot workforce development center will activate the corner at Northwest Ninth Avenue and Johnson Street. The building will also include a 2,700-square-foot community room overlooking a second-story roof deck, and property management and service offices on the ground floor.

As the housing project ramps up, city bureaus are working on building out the area鈥檚 infrastructure via a sewer and water pipe improvement project and extensions of Northwest Kearney and Johnson streets through the redevelopment site.

鈥淩ight now there鈥檚 a lot of work to be done in that district putting in basic infrastructure so that future vertical development can happen,鈥� Prosper Portland spokesman Yume Delegato said in an interview.

The Broadway Corridor will 鈥渟pur inclusive economic growth and deliver on our shared values as a site of connection and environmental stewardship, a vibrant mixed-income community and a bustling center of employment and commerce,鈥� Prosper Portland Director Kimberly Branam stated in the press release.

The project will be one of the largest to date for Colas Construction, stated Andrew Colas, the firm鈥檚 president and CEO. The growing Black-owned construction firm has completed other affordable housing projects, including the 80-unit Beatrice Morrow building in Northeast Portland.

鈥淲e are thrilled to partner with our exceptional team on this legacy project,鈥� Colas stated.

The Home Forward and Urban League of Portland team was chosen from among four contenders that also included: 1, BRIDGE Housing; 2, Related Northwest and the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization; and 3, Edlen & Co., HMS Development and the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center + Rosemary Anderson High School.