An affordable housing project on the rise in Northeast Portland will add 159 new units to address the region’s ongoing housing crisis while providing residents with convenient access to mass transportation.

The four-story Glisan Apartments is being erected on a narrow, 0.45-acre parcel stretching between Glisan and Irving streets, just east of Interstate 205 and in two blocks south of the Gateway Transit Center.

General contractor Walsh Construction Co. is building the MWA Architects-designed building for nonprofit developer Northwest Housing Alternatives. The building fits the mold of workforce housing quite smoothly, Walsh project manager Jay Nees said, particularly in light of its convenient access to multiple bus and light rail connections.

“It’s all affordable, and it’s all geared toward the workforce so it’s a lot of studios and one bedrooms, not necessarily family housing,” Nees said. “It’s close to services, and we’re right off the light rail.”

Crews broke ground in March with the abatement and demolition of three single-family houses on the site. Once the 90,000-square-foot building is completed in spring 2020, the new complex will contain mainly studios and one-bedroom units, and a small number of two-bedroom apartments will be included, as well.

The four-story wood-framed structure is being erected atop a slab-on-grade foundation. The long, narrow building will feature gable ends with steep pitched roofing on the Glisan and Irving Street frontages. Cladding materials will include brick, and metal and fiber cement paneling. The project team is aiming to achieve Earth Advantage platinum certification.

The Glisan Apartments will be the first project in the area to include a required pedestrian path built according to the Gateway Master Street Plan, which calls for a network of new and improved pedestrian and bike paths to aid connectivity between large city blocks. The path will run along the west side of the property, connecting Glisan and Irving street.

“I’m amazed at how many people are walking by here on the sidewalk, but it’s not very friendly to walk on,” Walsh Construction Co. superintendent Andy Morris said.

The project will also include supportive offices, a large community room, parking for about 200 bicycles nine motor vehicles, and a landscaped courtyard.

“They’re committed to bike parking so there are big parking rooms on each floor,” Nees said. “And being so close to transit, they’ll be encouraging folks to use mass transit, because it’s in a perfect location for that.”

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After receiving two design advice hearings, one for design review was enough for a proposed 159-unit affordable housing project in the Gateway District.

The Portland Design Commission on Thursday voted 6-0 to approve plans for a four-story, 90,940-square-foot building at 9747 N.E. Glisan St. The developer is Northwest Housing Alternatives, a Milwaukie-based nonprofit responsible in recent years for bringing online a host of new affordable housing projects across the state.

“This project has done a really good job of developing itself through the (design advice and review) process,” Commissioner Sam Rodriguez said. “The density is a little higher in the context, but the Gateway neighborhood is changing radically, and this could be the type of project that changes the context. It’s an incredibly difficult site with a difficult program, but it does a good job, on balance, of meeting the context guidelines.”

Designed by MWA Architects, the Glisan Apartments will be built across three tax lots stretching between Glisan and Irving streets, east of the Gateway Transit Center. The long, relatively narrow site brought about a design providing four stories of workforce housing with two distinct wings at the north and south ends. The street frontage will feature gable ends with steep pitched roofing, while the building’s cladding will be a mix of brick and cement fiber. Courtyards will decorate both wings’ west side, which faces an existing pedestrian path that will gain new landscaping.

Programming will include primarily one-bedroom and studio apartments that will be made available to individuals making 60 percent or less of the regional median family income. In addition, 7,000 square feet of community space will occupy the ground floor with floor-to-ceiling glazing.

The project is being financed through the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services and their LIFT program, as well as Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

One of the few complaints from local residents is the lack of parking included. Like many other mixed-use and residential developments in recent years, the Glisan Apartments will sit on property zoned RX for central residential. This designation does not require that parking be included for projects of this nature, but that did not sit well with Tom Beeman, who lives in the Gateway Arbors condominiums nearby.

“I can clearly testify, although I have no separate evidence on me, to the incredible lack of current on-street parking in that neighborhood due to the residents and the Gateway Transit Center,” he told the commission.

While somewhat sympathetic, commissioners told Beeman there was little they could do to change current zoning regulations.

“You are a member of an extremely large club in the city of Portland that feels the same way you do,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “But it’s not our purview. And it’s unfortunate the city is changing and getting more dense, and we’re moving from a time where we used to feel as owners of homes that the parking space in front of our homes was ours. That’s gone, but your path to be heard should be clear.”

From here, Northwest Housing Alternatives will now be able to complete the design process and submit a land use application.

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Northwest Housing Alternatives is proposing to build a four-story, 149-unit workforce housing structure in Portland’s Gateway area.

According to a city Request for Response issued last month, applicants MWA Architects and owner representative The Bookin Group LLC are proposing to build the project at 9745 N.E. Glisan St. – currently three tax lots and the site of a 1,624-square-foot duplex built in 1912. The owner is listed as Gateway Affordable LLC, a West Linn-based corporation dedicated to affordable housing projects.

As submitted, the project would feature a new four-story, 90,000-square-foot structure with a bi-color exterior made of brick, fiber cement panels, fiberglass windows and aluminum storefronts. There would be surface parking for 10 vehicles accessible via Northeast Irving Street. It also would have 7,000 square feet of ground-floor space dedicated to community rooms, administrative offices and bike storage.

The plan is proposed to serve tenants with incomes of 60 percent or less than the regional median. Funding is coming from the Portland Housing Bureau, low-income housing tax credits and loans from the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing.

A design review hearing before the Portland Design Commission is scheduled for Sept. 20.

More information is available at: .

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An affordable housing project proposed for the Gateway area, in Northeast Portland, appears well on its way to approval after a largely positive reception from design commissioners on Thursday.

Northwest Housing Alternatives, a Milwaukie affordable housing organization, is calling for 157 apartment units for residents at 60 percent or below the Portland area’s median family income. The apartments would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom configurations.

The Portland Design Commission held a second design advice meeting for the project Thursday that continued from an initial meeting Nov. 30.

The four-story building would be constructed at 9747 N.E. Glisan St. and encompass 90,940 square feet. The 1-acre property is bordered by Glisan Street and Irving Street, a low-density residential street. To the east of the site is 99th Avenue; to the west are MAX light-rail tracks and Interstate 205.

The property was most recently purchased in 2006 for $941,280, according to public records.

A new pedestrian path would need to pass behind the building as part of a city requirement intended to improve circulation in large blocks in Gateway.

“The blocks are huge,” said Grace Jeffreys, a planner with the Bureau of Development Services. “This is just a location where there’s a requirement for a pedestrian path.”

The property would also have a community garden.

Design commissioners pushed for an enlarged entrance to the building and better articulation of some of the exterior materials. Planned building materials include brick, metal panels and fiber cement.

Design commissioner Sam Rodriguez said the building’s street frontages were much improved. “It has a whimsical quality that works well, and it didn’t before,” he said. “I think it’s really good.”

The design led by Bill Lanning of MWA Architects features a gabled roof. It has two long sides facing I-205 and the pedestrian path. At the first design advice meeting, commissioners urged Lanning to find ways to break up the mass on the two long sides that stretch approximately 384 feet.

On Thursday, design commissioners said they were pleased with the overall plan.

“It’s really close,” Tad Savinar said.

Design changes have reduced the number of apartments from 160 to 157 since the first design advice meeting. The project would also offer 10 parking spaces and two loading spaces.

The project team agreed to raise the height of the first floor to the city’s 12-foot minimum to aid the function of the ground-floor canopy.

A narrow, 6-foot building entrance attracted the attention of commissioners, who feared it would be too small for residents to use for practical purposes like putting on their shoes.

“Entry is super tight,” Commissioner Julie Livingston said. “If people are going to be standing there waiting for their ride, there just needs to be more room to stand there and be.”

Plans call for 99 studio units, 51 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units. They would range from 350 square feet to 795 square feet, with 11 built to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

The Northwest Housing Alternatives project would be the first in the area that would come with a required pedestrian path. Lanning asked the Design Commission if there should be consistent standards for lighting and other aspects. The paths would not be continuous throughout the neighborhood, but confined to each property.

The project will return for a design review hearing in coming weeks. As of Thursday, no date was set yet.

Walsh Construction is serving as general contractor.

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On a sunny day in May 2016, city leaders gathered at the future site of Gateway Discovery Park to celebrate breaking ground on a new community asset in the long-neglected East Portland neighborhood. The 3.2-acre park, now under construction, will offer amenities including a plaza, a skate park, lawn space and performance space. It is slated to open in the spring.

An adjacent mixed-use building from Gerding Edlen and Human Solutions will bring retail, office and apartment space.

The projects are among the most visible improvements in Gateway, where an urban renewal area was established in 2001. The URA expires in 2022. As time runs short to fund improvements in the area, city officials are working to invest the urban-renewal dollars in ways that lay the groundwork for later private development.

Public infrastructure is expected to come online in 2018. The park’s opening will be followed by a Portland Bureau of Transportation streetscape improvement project on Northeast Halsey and Weidler streets from 102nd Avenue to 114th Avenue. Construction on the streetscape project is anticipated to begin in spring or summer 2018.

Susan Kuhn, Prosper Portland‘s project manager for the Gateway area, said she’s noticed a recent uptick in calls from developers who are interested in opportunities in the Gateway area.

Real estate activity has also accelerated, said Fred Sanchez, a commercial broker in the area for more than three decades.

“The last two, three years, it has been absolutely the best years that we have ever seen, and we’ve been doing this since 1979,” he said.

Sanchez’s Realty Property has a waiting list for space at 111th Square, a shopping center at Northeast 111th Avenue and Halsey Street. All 16 of the center’s retail spaces are occupied.

“It is the hottest demand for rental spaces that we’ve ever seen,” Sanchez said. “If I had another space for 16 businesses, I’d be able to fill it.”

Gateway is home to a diverse community of people of color and recent immigrants and refugees. As with other Portland neighborhoods, residents fear being displaced by gentrification.

Prosper Portland’s Gateway Action Plan, adopted in 2016, calls for $20 million in investments in the urban renewal area, which encompasses 658 acres. City officials are eager to support small businesses along the Halsey and Weidler corridors.

Officials at the economic development agency point to Lents as a model, where three towering construction cranes are at work on various projects.

“I think there’s more coming to the Gateway area,” Kuhn said. “Obviously, in Lents there’s been a tremendous amount, and we’ll see more of that in Gateway too.”

The Gerding Edlen-Human Solutions project at Northeast 106th Avenue and Halsey Street will feature 75 apartments, with 35 at market rate and 40 affordable to families at or below 60 percent of area median income. Construction is expected to start in 2019.

In the design by Holst Architecture, ground-floor retail space will front the park’s plaza and Halsey Street. The second floor will host commercial space.

Another multifamily project has been proposed at 9747 N.E. Glisan Street. MWA Architects recently requested a pre-application conference for a four-story, 161-unit workforce housing development with 3,500 square feet of residential and community space.

The owner, Gateway Affordable LLC, is an entity connected to Walsh Construction executives John Wied, Robert Walsh and Matt Leeding. A spokeswoman for Walsh Construction said the executives were out for the holidays and not available to comment.

Officials with Gateway Baptist Church, at 13300 N.E. San Rafael Street, have sought city approval of a 2,717-square-foot addition. Myhre Group Architects is designing the project.

An urban winery, with a tasting room and production facilities, has been proposed for 10414 N.E. Halsey St. Currently, the small two-story building is a hardware store. Minor upgrades to the upstairs apartment are planned.

David Douglas School District also owns several undeveloped parcels in the URA, including land that formerly belonged to an Elks lodge. The Elks organization sold the property to the school district in 2015 for $3.8 million.

Recent projects in the neighborhood include Russellville Commons, Glisan Commons and the Oregon Clinic.

Gateway has plentiful retail, with Fred Meyer and WinCo Foods serving as anchors. It’s also well served by transit, with easy access from interstates 205 and 84 and three MAX light-rail lines.

However, the area has infrastructure challenges too, including limited infrastructure for bicyclists and areas with no sidewalks. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is planning a batch of projects known collectively as “Gateway to Opportunity” to address those issues. The Halsey-Weidler streetscape project is expected to wrap up in winter 2018-19. Other projects include overcrossing improvements at I-205 and Halsey Street, reconfiguration of Northeast 102nd Avenue from Weidler Street to Fremont Street and reconfiguration of Glisan Street from 102nd Avenue to the city limits. PBOT is also focusing on connections for walking and bicycling across I-205 and I-84.

Prosper Portland also is looking to implement the Gateway Action Plan to spur private investment. Major aspects of the action plan include:

• backing additional mixed-income housing projects in the Gateway area,
• improving circulation near Gateway Transit Center,
• lowering floor-area ratio requirements to encourage private development, and
• creating a bike connection project (led by PBOT) to provide consistent bike transportation along Tillamook, Halsey, Oregon and Pacific streets.

Prosper Portland has made other small investments, including a façade improvement program that has freshened appearances at businesses along Halsey and Weidler streets. The agency also controls a $5 million opportunity fund to be used on Gateway area projects.

Sanchez said he’ll be watching to make sure local agencies maintain the improvements they make. If so, he said, “I’m very optimistic about the future for the area.”

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