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Two major full-block developments are in planning in downtown Hillsboro, where they would transform underused properties into a health care education campus with neighboring apartments and a grocery store.

The projects come from separate ownership and development teams: The health care education campus is a partnership of Portland Community College, Hillsboro School District and Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center; the multifamily project comes from Koz Development, a developer based in Washington that has completed several projects in Portland.

Both projects seek to capitalize on renewed interest in Portland’s suburbs as city residents flee high housing costs. Hillsboro’s population has continued to grow at a modest pace, reaching 107,730 in 2023, according to Census Bureau estimates.

Meanwhile, new commercial investment has come to downtown Hillsboro, including the adaptive reuse of a 17,000-square-foot U.S. Bank branch that now houses buzzy Portland brands Grand Central Bakery, Ranch Pizza and Backwoods Brewing. And Merrill Gardens, a seven-story assisted living facility, recently opened on Fourth Avenue.

Now city officials are eager to encourage more growth in downtown Hillsboro.

鈥淲e’re trying to get more people living downtown,鈥� said Karla Antonini, a Hillsboro Economic Development department project manager.

Koz’s multifamily plans

The Koz project site, known as Block 67, is a surface parking lot bounded by Southeast Washington and Baseline streets and Southeast Sixth and Seventh avenues. That places it within a couple of blocks of Hillsboro’s downtown core and along the TriMet MAX line.

Cathy Reines, CEO of Koz Development, said the Block 67 project fits the developer’s model to be near students, hospital workers, retail, restaurants and the service industry.

鈥淲e very intentionally located near both university districts and medical districts,鈥� said Reines. 鈥淭his scenario, it’s a perfect location with both of those drivers and a block off the downtown core.鈥�

Koz plans to construct two buildings. The largest, a six-story structure, will house 224 market-rate apartments. Reines described it as 鈥渨orkforce housing for those individuals in the area who want to live, work and play in the same area.鈥�

The smaller structure will rise four stories and comprise 109 units restricted to residents age 55 and older.

Koz builds smaller apartments, with studios of approximately 400 to 450 square feet, one-bedrooms of 550 to 600 square feet and two-bedrooms of 650 to 700 square feet.

鈥淲e build workforce housing,鈥� Reines said. 鈥淚t’s not low-income, it’s not higher income, it really is workforce.鈥�

A grocery store is coming to the 16,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space. Koz has signed a letter of intent with Fresh Foods Marketplace, a small grocery chain founded in Manzanita, and Hillsboro Food Co-op. The two groups will form a joint venture to operate the grocery store, Reines said.

鈥淭he idea is to provide access to fresh, affordable foods for the community,鈥� Reines said.

The parcel is owned by the city of Hillsboro. Koz would take over the property when a building permit is issued.

Koz designs its projects in-house. The developer is likely to hire frequent partner Deacon Construction for the Hillsboro project, Reines said.

Koz is looking to break ground this summer after the permitting process is complete, and the developer expects a two-year construction timeline.

The project is personal for Reines, who grew up in Hillsboro and has long sought to build a project in the Washington County suburb.

鈥淲e formed the company 10 years ago, and for 10 years I have been actively looking for the perfect project in Hillsboro,鈥� Reines said.

Health care education campus

A block west, across Southeast Sixth Avenue, three major institutions are planning to integrate health care and educational programs in a two-building campus.

PCC, Virginia Garcia and the Hillsboro School District are working on a partnership agreement for Block 56. Dicusssions on the partnership began in 2019, said Brooke Nova, assistant superintendent for academic services in Hillsboro School District.

Virginia Garcia is planning to operate a health clinic on Block 56. Students in Hillsboro schools and PCC will have opportunities for hands-on training.

The health care education campus is meant to complement the new workforce housing across the street.

鈥淗ealth care is going to be something that we need to create workforce pipelines,鈥� Nova said.

The program will help link K-12 and post-secondary education with employers, said Nova. Potential academic focuses include dental assistants, pharmacy technicians, athletic training, bioscience and medical assistants.

鈥淲e’re really excited about this partnership,鈥� said Rebecca Ocken, director of planning and capital construction for PCC. 鈥淲e’re thrilled to able to provide services in downtown Hillsboro, and services that are in demand for students.鈥�

Construction plans have not been finalized, but the institutions are planning two separate buildings. Virginia Garcia and Hillsboro School District would share one building of about 60,000 square feet, while PCC would have a smaller building of about 30,000 square feet.

鈥淲e started out in one building and we realized it was a lot and we needed to separate out the spaces,鈥� said Ocken.

Attempts to reach Virginia Garcia officials for comment were unsuccessful.

In planning, the institutions are looking to Portland’s Vanport building as a model. The $111 million Vanport building, completed in 2021, involves a partnership between Portland State University, the city of Portland, PCC and Oregon Health & Science University.

鈥淰anport was a great model for us to look to,鈥� Ocken said.

Existing structures on Block 56 would be demolished, including an education service building and two vacant single-family houses that have become dilapidated. One of the houses is the George Patterson house, a contributing historic resource dating to the 1880s. Officials said they were considering ways to honor the Patterson house in the education workforce project.

Project backers plan to begin design work this summer. PCC officials are hoping to take an alternative contracting method to the community college’s board for approval early this year. No architect or contractor is yet on board, and PCC will follow a public procurement process, Ocken said.

Both project groups expect their developments will complement each other.

鈥淲e’re happy to hear that housing and services will come in right next door,鈥� said Ocken. 鈥淎nd that really does support our student needs.鈥�