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On a 25,000-square-foot lot in a single-family residential area in Milwaukie, a cottage cluster development aims to point the way forward for densely built affordable housing in Oregon cities.

A collection of 15 two-bedroom cottages called Shortstack Milwaukie will rise next to lots with single-family midcentury ranch houses. A ceremonial ground-breaking event took place last week.

Shortstack Milwaukie advanced via Metro鈥檚 $652.8 million affordable housing bond and private funds. A community land trust provided the foundation for affordable homeownership, matched by a newfound political willingness in Milwaukie to accept change and growth in neighborhoods that were formerly zoned only for single-family homes.

The developers, Jessy Ledesma鈥檚 HomeWork Development and Anna Mackay鈥檚 Sister City, solicited a new design from one of Portland鈥檚 most innovative architecture firms, Works Progress Architecture. Its design calls for modern, 960-square-foot, wood-framed units featuring a living room with a large picture window and a separate kitchen downstairs and the two bedrooms upstairs.

鈥淲e love being able to fit this housing scale in low-density residential neighborhoods and showing how it can be done thoughtfully,鈥� Ledesma said at the ground-breaking event.

The homes will sell for approximately $245,000 to $250,000 and be available to buyers earning 60 percent to 80 percent of the area鈥檚 median income. Project backers hope to have the homes available for purchase by the end of 2025.

The project is made to be replicable. Three sister projects are in the works in Portland, on North Mississippi Avenue, Northeast Fremont Street and Southeast Belmont Street. Together, the four projects total 108 units.

The Shortstack projects鈥� sizes and compositions vary: the Mississippi Avenue development, now under construction, will be four stories.

鈥淲e鈥檝e created this whole kit of parts that could be deployed on different types of properties and zoning,鈥� said Carrie Strickland, founding principal of Works Progress Architecture. 鈥淏efore we ever did any of these, we spent a good amount of time developing that prototype kit of parts, and we tested it on different-sized lots in Portland and surrounding zones.鈥�

One of the Shortstack Milwaukie cottages will be built with cross-laminated timber, a material typically used in larger commercial buildings.

鈥淲e want to show 鈥� that it鈥檚 going to work at this scale,鈥� Ledesma said.

Affordable homeownership

Shortstack Milwaukie is part of a collection of projects that aim to provide affordable homeownership 鈥� a tricky goal to achieve.

Financing for affordable rental housing is established and well understood, Ledesma said. 鈥淔or affordable homeownership, we鈥檙e all learning in real time.鈥�

Shortstack refers both to the physical size of the projects and what developers call the 鈥渟tack鈥� of funding from various sources that support the projects. In addition to funding from Metro鈥檚 affordable housing bond, the developers obtained a loan from Craft3, a lender with offices in Oregon and Washington.

鈥淒espite the name, this has a very long stack,鈥� Mackay said. 鈥淚 talked to more than a dozen lenders, and Craft3 was the only one brave enough to step up and figure this out with us.鈥�

Other funding for Shortstack Milwaukie came from Oregon Housing and Community Services鈥� LIFT program, the city of Milwaukie鈥檚 construction excise tax program and the U.S. Forest Service鈥檚 Wood Innovation Grants Program.

Reed Mayfield, a Craft3 vice president, said that it鈥檚 critical to provide affordable homeownership opportunities.

鈥淲ealth building is a key component of how communities are stable, how families are stable,鈥� he said.

The cottage cluster serves a need, said Holly Kang, a Works Progress Architecture project designer.

鈥淣o one鈥檚 really building starter homes anymore,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e starting at 1,400 square feet and a two-car garage.鈥�

Public officials noted that bond dollars from the 2018 ballot measure are dwindling.

鈥淭he Metro bond is winding down, and I鈥檓 committed to finding ways to continue building affordable and deeply affordable homes,鈥� Metro Councilor Christine Lewis said.

The typical down payment in Milwaukie is more than $90,000, she said.

鈥淚t might as well be a million dollars 鈥� it鈥檚 out of reach,鈥� Lewis said.

The project team

Owen Gabbert LLC is serving as general contractor and has partnered with the developers on other Shortstack projects.

All the Shortstack projects involve Proud Ground, a community land trust based in Portland. Buyers sign a 99-year ground lease with the nonprofit. The homeowners can eventually profit from their home equity, but Proud Ground places limits on future sale prices to ensure homes go to other income-qualified borrowers.

Proud Ground has 550 homes in its land trust and is on its way to becoming the largest community land trust in the U.S., said Dominique Merriweather, the group鈥檚 executive director.

Founded in 1999, Proud Ground operates in Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Lincoln and Jackson counties in Oregon and Clark County, Washington.

Strickland proudly notes that Shortstack Milwaukie is women-led, including the developers, architect, civil engineer 7 Oaks Engineering and structural engineer DCI Engineers鈥� Portland office.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of a unique situation to be in,鈥� she said.