Redevelopment of a church campus is in the works in Northeast Portland. The Western Dominican Province, on behalf of Holy Rosary Church, has requested early assistance with the city to discuss options for four blocks of underutilized property in the Lloyd District.

The property’s management group, the Dominican Friars, has operated in the Lloyd District since 1893. The group envisions a multiphase project – including both affordable and market-rate housing – to improve its parish campus while contributing to the broader effort to reinvigorate investment in the people and infrastructure of Portland, the church stated in a press release.

In 2024, a request for qualifications was issued for the redevelopment of the land. The church and affiliated organizations proffered to prospective developers the land it owns within blocks 62 and 67 for affordable and market-rate housing. From this process, Cairn Pacific was selected to develop the market-rate housing and Gorman & Company was selected to develop the affordable housing.

The conceptual plan also includes the improvement of church facilities on blocks 68 and 211. Urbanist Housing Solutions LLC of Vancouver, Washington is the owner’s representative working on behalf of the Western Dominican Province. The organization, based in Oakland, California, is a faith formation and financial partner with each local Dominican parish, Kurt Creager, Urbanist Housing Solutions LLC’s president and founder, stated in an email. Friars are assigned to preach and administer in each parish. When financial support is needed, the group provides necessary assistance.

In 2022, Father Corwin Low (a former tech entrepreneur) recommended the church and the Western Dominican Province be more proactive in managing their commercial real estate assets, Creager stated. The goal was to maximize value to the community and create a sustainable financial endowment to support and enhance local church activities. The church established a property steering committee in 2022, with parishioners in the design, finance, construction and development professions to advise on strategy and industry best practices, Creager stated.

“Strategically, we plan on leading with affordable housing,” Creager stated in regard to plans for the site. “The affordable housing financing path, while never easy, is less fraught than market-rate housing, presently.”

The land, with one owner, allows for a “consolidated building” approach, according to Creager, in which the affordable units provided by Gorman & Company on Block 62 will satisfy the city’s inclusionary housing obligation for Cairn Pacific’s work on Block 67. By starting with affordable housing, there will be time for the market to recover and interest rates to moderate, enabling market-rate housing to proceed later, according to Creager.

For the first phase – affordable housing on Block 62 – two options will be presented to the city. The first is for a four-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space and both tuck-under and surface parking. The second option is for a seven-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space, ground-floor housing units and an adjacent parking structure with ground-floor retail space and top-floor amenity space.

The Miracles Central Apartments, on the southwest corner of the block, is not owned by the Western Dominican Province and will remain.

The project’s second phase would be replacement of the church’s educational, gathering and office spaces, adjoining the church sanctuary, on Block 68. A new three-story building and private courtyard would be constructed in their place.

The third phase – market-rate housing on Block 67 – would come in a 12-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space and above-grade structured parking.

The fourth and final phase would target Block 211. Plans call for construction of a seven-story building with ground-floor amenity/retail space and structured parking.

A 7-11 convenience store and associated parking, on the northwest corner of the block, are not owned by the Western Dominican Province and will remain.

Holst Architecture has worked with the church organization on the conceptual design of each phase. Gorman & Company and Cairn Pacific will need to select their preferred architect of record to take their respective sites forward into schematic design, construction documents and plan sets. No decisions have been made in that regard.

Walsh Construction is providing some preconstruction services to Gorman & Company for the affordable housing project. Both developers will need to select their preferred contractor.

Construction is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2027 for the affordable housing on Block 62 with completion in 2028 and then start in 2030 for the market-rate housing on Block 67 with completion in 2032. Factors such as system development charge waivers offered by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Gov. Tina Kotek could accelerate the market-rate schedule, Creager stated.

The Western Dominican Province applied for early assistance on Sept. 3; a meeting has not been scheduled yet.

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