A new mixed-use building with an intergenerational focus will provide permanently affordable housing to families and senior citizens in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood. 72Foster, recently opened by REACH Community Development, features 101 apartments – ranging from studios to three-bedroom units – over a ground floor with resident amenities and 8,900 square feet of commercial space.

The Holst Architecture-designed project was completed last month by general contractor LMC Construction. The 80,000-square-foot building features three levels of wood-framed apartments over a concrete podium. Tenant amenity space includes a ground-floor community room that opens onto a public courtyard, which is accessible via a breezeway connected to the corner of Southeast Foster Road and 72nd Avenue, as well as a bicycle storage room and a fourth-floor lounge and outdoor terrace.

REACH partnered with the Asian Health and Service Center (AHSC), which conducted outreach to the Asian community to solicit input on the building’s design. The nonprofit also is providing leasing assistance as well as on-site programs and services to building residents. The goal is to provide a vehicle for lower-income community members to remain in the neighborhood amid escalating housing prices; create a hub for cultural activities, language and skill-building; and improve access to health care.

“Through affordable rents at 72Foster, many new immigrants can build up assets to acquire their permanent home,” Dr. Erik Szeto, AHSC board chairman, stated in a press release. “Moreover, isolated seniors can move into this project and enjoy culturally appropriate services provided by AHSC and develop new friendships with new neighbors in their new home.”

The residences are available to tenants earning 60 percent of median family income, and 20 apartments will be set aside for those with Project Based Section 8 vouchers.

The team for the $24 million project included construction manager Housing Development Center, landscape architect PLACE Studio, civil engineer Humber Design Group, and ABHT Structural Engineers.

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A new 101-unit affordable housing development is rising on Southeast Foster Road in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood. LMC Construction is building 72Foster – a four-story mixed-use building designed by Holst Architecture for REACH Community Development. The building will feature three stories of wood-framed apartments over a concrete podium that will hold commercial and residential amenity space.

Carpenters with framing contractor Wood Mechanix are nearly finished framing the building’s fourth floor. Installation of roof trusses and the weather-resistant barrier will begin next week, and windows will follow starting next month. The building will be topped out in early June.

72Foster’s 101 apartments will range in size from studios to three-bedrooms to primarily serve seniors and families. The units will be available to people earning 60 percent of median household income; 20 units will be occupied by residents with Project Based Section 8 vouchers. REACH is partnering with Asian Health & Service Center to provide outreach and on-site programs and services to residents.

The ground floor will hold five commercial spaces totaling 8,900 square feet, as well as residential amenities including a community room and bicycle storage. A breezeway will connect the corner of Southeast 72nd Avenue and Foster Road with a public courtyard on the property.

The building will have two parking lots – one with 23 stalls and another with 12. The $24 million project also includes right-of-way work and frontage improvements, including new sidewalks, lighting and vegetation. Crews began work on the site, a former parking lot owned by Prosper Portland, in September 2017. The building is slated to open in February 2019.

The project team also includes development consultant Housing Development Center, landscape architect PLACE Studio, civil engineer Humber Design Group, and ABHT Structural Engineers.

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The Portland Housing Bureau has awarded $47 million in local and federal dollars to , the agency announced Wednesday.

The awards follow the bureau’s notice in October of available money, specifically $61.6 million for project-based Section 8 vouchers. The notice also made five publicly-owned sites available for affordable-housing development.

Funding was awarded to projects backed by REACH, Home Forward, Central City Concern, and California-based developers Meta Housing Corp. and Bridge Housing Corp. The money will enable construction of 585 new affordable units, and preservation of 255 more through renovations, according to the Housing Bureau.

Of the new units, more than 120 are expected to house the lowest-income households – those earning up to 30 percent of median family income, or $15,400 for an individual and $24,300 for a family of four.

The projects are:

• 72Foster. REACH will receive $5 million to build 108 units on Portland Development Commission land in Lents. The project includes commercial space and resident services from the Asian Health & Services Center.

• North Williams Center. Bridge Housing Corp. was awarded $4.5 million to develop 61 new affordable units for low-income families on Multnomah County property in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. The project involves a possible partnership with Albertina Kerr to provide programming for developmentally disabled residents.

• The Creators Collective. Meta Housing Corp. was awarded $9 million to develop 76 new affordable units on the Housing Bureau-owned King/Parks site in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area for very-low-income families, seniors and veterans.

• Block 45. Home Forward received $5.6 million for a mixed-income, mixed-use development with 127 affordable units on Housing Bureau-owned property in the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area.

• Interstate. Central City Concern was awarded $2.2 million to develop 51 new affordable units in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area.

• The Henry. Central City Concern was also awarded $12.9 million for seismic and capital renovations to preserve 153 single-room occupancy units in Portland’s Central City.

• Stark I & II. Central City Concern was also awarded $7 million to develop 162 new units on two adjacent parcels in the Hazelwood neighborhood.

• Gladstone Square/Multnomah Manor. Home Forward will receive $1 million to renovate and preserve 102 affordable units serving low-income families in two of its complexes in the Lents and Montavilla neighborhoods.

The Housing Bureau also announced that Human Solutions has been granted an exclusive right to negotiate with the agency for a proposed mixed-use development on PDC-owned land in the Gateway Urban Renewal Area. As proposed, this project would include 40 affordable housing units. The actual mix of site uses – office, retail, housing and community services – will be determined through further negotiations, the bureau said.

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