The first project within the OMSI District has a green light. The Portland Design Commission on Thursday approved the design of a five-story, 100-unit affordable housing development, Los Colibris, on tract A of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry campus.

Holst Architecture designed the approximately 86,500-square-foot building planned at 1701 S.E. Water Ave. The project is being developed by Hacienda CDC and Edlen & Co. OMSI is the landowner. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, landscape architect PLACE, and Colas Construction.

Portland Permitting & Development values the project at $36 million. No specific construction schedule exists at this time, Holst Architecture principal and owner Dave Otte stated in an email. The project team will next look to secure funding.

Previously, the project team received design advice during a hearing in November 2025.

The site’s primary challenge is its location adjacent to Interstate 5. A large, multiuse courtyard on the east side faces away from the freeway to give residents a space shielded from traffic noise, the project’s narrative states.

Landscaping will be intense closer to the building, Holst Architecture senior associate Dustin Furseth said, adding that color will also be a key component.

“We think something bright and colorful next to OMSI adds to the beauty of that area,” he said.

The building’s name, Los Colibris (“The Hummingbirds”), ties into the design, Furseth said.

“Hummingbirds have a neutral palette often with highlights of color, which I think is a nice way of thinking about how to add color and vibrancy to a project,” he said.

Overall, the building will have a neutral color with hints of color at the windows and more vibrancy on the massing at the courtyard and entry.

Building materials will include primarily fiber cement with options for texture and paneled direction. Metal panels might have deeper texture folding like chevrons able to reflect color, Furseth said. The design team is exploring custom accent colors for fiber cement.

Layers of glazing are planned at the front entrance and the community room.

The roof will hold heat pumps and mini splits. Most of the rooftop equipment will be relatively low in sightlines, Furseth said.

Commissioner Brian McCarter added that he’d like to see a buffer around the children’s play area.

The commission’s approval came with five design modifications and 12 master plan amendments. One condition requires a landscape buffer of at least 10 feet maintained for the length of the building’s south elevation, at the northern side of the western half of the Bull Run pathway. Alternative configurations would be considered through a staff-level type II design review. This will preserve existing trees to screen the ground-floor units as the Bull Run pathway develops.

Modifications were approved for zoning code standards. These include providing approximately 57.5 percent of frontage and a wide courtyard to create active public space, creating an arcade along the east façade, modifying window standards and uses on the ground floor, and using 50 percent of the roof area for solar panels.

Master plan amendments include changing the timeline of development of open space 2, reducing the extent of the Bull Run improvements associated with tract A, removing the 20-foot building setback above 50 feet in height for tract A, removing the building pass-through at tract A and shifting vehicle access to the north, relocating the private wastewater treatment plant to a location to be determined, delaying provision of the OMSI identity framework, transferring 2,000 square feet of floor area to tract A from other tracts, removing the building line requirement from the north side of tract A, reducing the ground floor height requirement for tract A, and adjusting the Southeast Old Water Avenue right of way.

The wastewater treatment plant will likely be relocated to the south on tract A or tract F, according to OMSI.

Artwork will be included in the project; OMSI plans to be involved in the process.

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A social services organization has launched a new housing initiative to develop affordable housing alongside its wraparound services for the neighborhood.

Self Enhancement Inc.’s housing initiative, SEI Living, will break ground this summer with two projects: Mississippi Heights and Ruby-Mac Place.

SEI Living builds on SEI’s work co-developing affordable housing projects across Portland. In partnership with Community Development Partners (CDP), SEI co-developed the Alberta Alive affordable housing initiative, which includes five developments along Northeast Alberta Street; most recently the Luther Strong Jr. and Dr. Jackie Strong Empowerment Village.

SEI has been serving Portland for 45 years. Its work started with service to young people and then expanded to wrap-around services from “cradle to career,” said Trent Aldridge, chief executive officer of SEI, adding that the programming has been ongoing for three decades.

“In the last seven to eight years our housing department was one of the most referred parts of our programming,” Aldridge said. “Affordability really just became one of the main things we were working toward.”

Each SEI Living development, starting with Mississippi Heights and Ruby-Mac Place, will include SEI’s own wraparound services in the neighborhood, which include 40 programs and 400 services. These will include case management, after school programs, summer programming, sports, food pantries, educational support, health services and basic needs.

“Our approach here, the end result isn’t stable housing,” Aldridge said. “Getting into a place where you can pay your rent isn’t the end for us.”

SEI’s approach is to get residents stabilized with services such as mental health support, finishing school, job readiness such as working on resumes and supporting students with after school and summer programs.

“We want you to be able to go from stable at 30 percent to much more stable at 60 percent, getting you ready for the Ruby-Mac, which is 80 percent AMI,” Aldridge said. “You would get some support to get a stabilized job but also ready to rent or homeownership opportunities and first-time homebuyer programs.”

SEI Living’s first project, Mississippi Heights, is expected to break ground in a few weeks and be complete by September 2027.

Located at 4424 N. Mississippi Ave. in the historic Albina district in North Portland, the development will provide larger two- and three-bedroom units for families. The five-story, 29,465-square-foot building features 30 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, a community room, offices and support spaces for resident services. The units will be for households making no more than 60 percent of the area’s median income, with about 25 percent of the units dedicated to Permanent Supportive Housing.

The project team includes architect MWA Architects, Vega Civil Engineering, structural engineer VALAR Consulting Engineering of Clackamas, landscape architect Bothwell Landscape Studio, geotech Pali Consulting of West Linn and general contractor Walsh Construction Co.

Mississippi Heights is estimated to cost $24.5 million.

The second project, Ruby-Mac Place, is scheduled to break ground in September and be complete by mid-2028.

Located at 9801 N.E. 13th Ave. in Northeast Portland, the project will create 49 affordable homes designed to help families build stability and generational wealth, according to SEI.

The development will be managed under a community land trust model, with homeowners owning their homes and SEI maintaining ownership of the land over the long term. The development will offer homes for purchase to households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.

Aldridge said the idea of Ruby-Mac Place is to get people across the threshold to own a home and take the equity built and be able to afford to buy a market-rate home in Portland in the future. SEI will offer services for the neighborhood, such as learning to take care of a home.

The net-zero development will feature a mix of single-family homes, cottages, duplexes and townhomes on a 6.5-acre site. Homes will be built using modular construction and net-zero energy design.

The project team includes architectural partners Propel Studio Architecture and Green Canopy NODE of Seattle, civil engineer and landscape architect Stantec, structural engineer Froelich Engineers, Pali Consulting and general contractor Colas Construction.

Ruby-Mac Place is estimated to cost $22.6 million.

Aldridge said SEI has a pipeline system so there will always be something in predevelopment. The organization plans to do this work in communities where they have roots in the schools and the community.

Up next, SEI plans to close on Garfield Commons at the end of the summer. It will be a 59-unit affordable housing building. In July or August 2027, SEI expects to break ground on the fourth planned project, another affordable housing project for the Gordly Burch House. The house is formerly the childhood family home of Oregon’s first Black woman senator, Avel Louise Gordly. The first floor will honor the Gordly family.

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By Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal

For decades, a half-built hulk of urban blight and broken dreams has sat unfinished in the heart of Independence.

Even after the millions of dollars invested into the three stories of concrete and other building materials at 203 Monmouth St. referred to by some locals as “Skeletor,” the building’s only residents have been wild animals.

The newest property owners recently shared their vision and plans for turning the most difficult-to-build location in Polk County into a $39 million, five-story, 78-unit affordable housing complex.

It’s an ambitious plan for a building that hasn’t had a tenant since construction started in 2005. The plan will require the state to allocate millions of dollars and it would open in 2029 at the earliest.

The plans are the development’s most promising path in decades.

“Everybody’s been kind of cautiously optimistic about even having somebody say anything about this project because this is probably the fourth time I’ve seen something about, oh, this project’s coming forward, and then nothing,” said Christian Edelblute, executive director of West Valley Housing Authority.

The agency provides affordable housing for people in Polk County outside of the Salem urban growth boundary. The WVHA likely will be the building’s eventual owner.

“We’re kind of cautious to be exposed in that way, like, oh, another failure. But somebody’s got to take the baton and run it to the finish line,” Edelblute said.

The project is currently being referred to by the developers as Independence Apartments, which likely won’t be the final name. It’s had many colorful names, including that of the primary antagonist from the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoons.

The one thing it has never been called: completed.

The property developers have applied for housing adjustments that would let them raise the height of the building, change the location of bicycle parking, window area, materials on the facade and reduce the number of required parking spaces.

It’s the first of many city approvals they need.

The building needs a lot of work and development won’t be quick, but it shows promise.

“The community is so ready for anything,” Independence Mayor Kate Schwarzler said. “And there’s lots of running jokes in the community about it.

“A lot of conversations that I have with neighbors and other people are like, ‘Why don’t you got to force them to do this?’ We don’t own it, and that’s not how this works. So, we’re excited about it, and very optimistic — cautiously optimistic.”

Initial plans for environmentally efficient building stalled decades ago

The original developers intended the $10 million, three-story building to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly when they started working on it in 2004. It would have been powered with biodiesel — the tugboat engine that was going to burn it is still in the basement — and solar panels. It was designed to be the “World’s Greenest Building.”

Construction started in 2005 and stalled a year later. It’s been the focus of lawsuits and repeated attempts behind the scenes to finish development.

The most recent vision in 2021 was a ground floor of retail units and 28 apartments on four stories.

That plan never materialized and the property went up for sale in 2023. The loan fell into default and was acquired by Crossfire Enterprizes in December 2024. Castle Greyskull LLC purchased it for $1,550,00 in March 2025.

Castle Greyskull, another nod to the “He-Man” series, is owned by Clutch Industries, a local property developer that has taken on many large projects in the Salem area.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s been a couple of false starts,” Clutch Industries CEO Chris Blackburn said.

Salem-based developers purchased 203 Monmouth Street in 2025

Clutch Industries has built many large multi-family residential properties in the area, including the 42-unit Shepherds Crossing in Salem, the 128-unit Verda Crossing Apartments in Keizer and the 31-unit Pleasant View Apartments as well as the North Lancaster Business Park in Salem.

Blackburn said Clutch has shifted toward building developments for other companies in the past year.

Independence Assistant City Manager Shawn Irvine said the city had engineers evaluate the building and determined the concrete structure was solid, especially on the second and third floors. That is despite the structure’s decades-long exposure to the elements.

“It’s all concrete, and apparently there’s supposed to be a pool on the roof,” Irvine said. “So the advantage there is it still meets seismic certification and everything else because it was overbuilt for the pool.”

All that’s usable is the concrete, Blackburn said.

Because the initial development already took place and the property owners paid system development charges of around $600,000, the city is rolling those fees forward to this development.

“It was instrumental in us even approaching this or even buying it,” Blackburn said. “I wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case.”

Filling need for affordable housing in Polk County

When Edelblute moved to Polk County about 10 years ago, he noticed the skeleton of the building and wondered, like many people, what its story was.

What he found was all of the failed attempts to finish the building.

“I thought it was a commercial building, intended to be commercial because it’s right there in the city core,” Edelblute said.

“Well, come to find out, it was originally planned to have residential units in it, which kind of prompted me to think, gosh, if we could get our hands on it somehow and make it into affordable housing, that would be like just a dream.”

It wasn’t until Clutch Industries purchased the building that the idea of turning into affordable housing took off.

The agency has put up $10 million of its own money. Home First, an Oregon-based affordable housing developer, has applied for $15 million in state grants from the Oregon Legislature and another $14 million in tax credits.

The project is on the waitlist for both of those funds, Home First CEO Ben Pray said. The project will have to wait until the 2027 state legislative session to know if it’s fully funded.

“It’s going to require that investment by the state,” Pray said. “If there’s no investment from the state, then it ceases to be a viable affordable housing project.”

Edelblute said West Valley plans to commit 20 Housing Choice Vouchers to the building.

He pointed to people working at restaurants and in manufacturing who could qualify for an apartment at Independence Apartments.

“Since we’re applying for tax credits, it’s going to be limited to 60 percent of area median income for any applicant family,” Edelblute said. “For a single person, that’s like $42,780. That’s not chump change.

“I mean, somebody working as a receptionist at the doctor’s office is making around that. So we’re not talking about low, low-income individuals.”

Plans call for 78 apartments on five floors to open in 2029

Edelblute said the plans for the 78 units include four 4-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units, 58 one-bedroom units and four studio apartments.

The ground floor apartments could be live-work units, partly because the ceilings are high enough that they could have lofts. That means people can operate small businesses where they live.

The basement would include tenant storage units, a room to store bicycles, a large gathering room, an exercise facility and a pickleball court.

The plans call for 31 parking spaces. Irvine said the city is negotiating with the developers to use parking spaces at the neighboring Independence Public Library and nearby Independence Cinema.

“And from our perspective, also, it helps with the downtown revitalization, not just getting the building done, but now you’ve got a lot of people living in the downtown,” Irvine said.

Blackburn said if everything lines up perfectly, the earliest the building could be open is 2029.

If the state and federal money never comes to pass and the deal falls apart, Blackburn said his company could still go forward with the project as a private development.

“I’ve got to get it to the finish line of fully something we can actually build, and this gets us far enough,” Blackburn said. “We’ll make a few tweaks if we build it market rate, and it will go market rate if it’s not the other one.”

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By Hannarose McGuinness
Eugene Register-Guard

A project to turn the former Lane Community College building on Willamette Street into a mixed-use affordable housing project got a big infusion of funding from Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency Board.

The Eugene City Council approved an additional $8.66 million in funding during a council work session on June 22.

The development includes construction of a six-story, mixed-use, mixed-income building near the downtown Lane Transit District bus station. The building would have 133 apartments, with 68 of those units affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income, or about $55,000 in annual income for a single person. The other 65 units would be market rate with no income limits.

The building also would include ground-floor commercial space, a public gallery and mural, and help activate a downtown block that has been empty for more than a decade.

The project at 1059 Willamette St. has been stalled due to a funding gap the additional dollars are intended to close. According to a news release, the City and Downtown Urban Renewal District will invest $10.5 million in the project to cover early costs such as permits and system fees and to offset construction costs affected by rising prices and high interest rates.

The City also has supported the project by selling the land to developers for $1 and granting a 10-year property tax exemption through the City’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption, or MUPTE, program.

At the June 22 work session, Mayor Kaarin Knudson said city officials have long wanted to see more city-center workforce housing that is dense, transit-oriented and developed in partnership with local teams to meet the community’s goals. She said, ”It is incredibly exciting to see this project moving forward as an example.”

Funding comes from tax-increment financing, a method of freezing property tax rates in specific areas in order to reinvest additional revenues into improvement projects in that district.

The total project is expected to cost about $38.7 million.

The city is partnering with developers deChase Miksis and Edlen & Company for this project.

Within the next three months, the city must transfer the property to developers. Construction is expected to begin soon after the transfer is finalized.

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A Portland-based business has purchased a 160-unit apartment complex in Vancouver, Washington, for $35.45 million.

Mark Desbrow’s Green Light Housing snapped up the Carriage House Apartments in a transaction that values the Southwest Washington asset at $221,563 per unit.

Green Light has transitioned from developing market-rate housing into developing and operating affordable housing, Desbrow stated in a news release.

“We have now added a workforce housing acquisition and development platform and are thrilled to expand this work into Washington state with Carriage House Apartments,” stated Desbrow, Green Light’s founder and managing partner.

The seller was Jackson Square Properties, a San Francisco-based investment group.

CBRE‘s Joe Nydahl and Josh McDonald represented both the buyer and the seller.

Well-located Vancouver multifamily properties continue to draw investment, supported by strong fundamentals, limited new supply and continued population growth, according to CBRE.

“Carriage House represents exactly the kind of opportunity that continues to attract strong investor interest in the Vancouver submarket,” stated McDonald, a CBRE executive vice president.

CBRE Debt and Structured Finance team members Nick Santangelo, Micah Springston and Matt Thorp sourced accretive financing through Fannie Mae‘s Multifamily Affordable Housing Program at a 75 percent loan-to-value ratio, CBRE stated.

Carriage House Apartments was built in 1993 at 4714 N.E. 72nd Ave. in Vancouver. Its units have two or three bedrooms. Amenities include a swimming pool, a fitness center, a clubhouse, a gated entry and surface parking.

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A nonprofit’s latest affordable housing project is redevelopment of a former motel property in Southwest Portland. Jamii Court will be a 96-unit complex at 10450 S.W. Barbur Blvd., in the West Portland Park neighborhood.

Metro purchased the Portland Value Inn in 2021, and it was leased by Multnomah County as a homeless shelter until mid-2025. The motel was demolished this past fall.

Construction of Jamii Court started in November. Project completion is anticipated in late 2027.

The five-story, 95,833-square-foot building is being developed by Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH). The project team also includes LRS Architects, civil engineer Janet Turner Engineering of Lake Oswego, structural engineer Stonewood Structural Engineers, landscape architect Marianne Zarkin Landscape Architects, and general contractor O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders.

The total project cost is approximately $43.4 million, with most of that covered by Metro and the Portland Housing Bureau.

The building will be on the 1.1-acre property’s south side and face Barbur Boulevard; the parking lot will be on the north side, CPAH spokesperson Cara Jack stated in an email. There will be three interconnected masses: the Barbur‑facing volume, the east–west bar, and the knuckle that links them. The Barbur mass will align with the street, while the bar mass will follow the site’s east–west axis.

“The Barbur façade is intentionally pulled back from the roadway to create a welcoming entry along this civic corridor and to establish a meaningful frontage,” LRS Architects associate principal Calista Fitzgerald stated in an email. “Together, these massing elements create several distinct placemaking spaces across the site: the Barbur‑facing stoop, the north plaza at the connecting knuckle, and the south courtyard, which is tucked between building volumes and protected from Barbur Boulevard traffic.”

The design incorporates three Islamic elements: jali, the qibla, and specific colors.

Jali is traditionally a perforated stone or lattice screen featuring geometric patterns. A triangular motif was applied selectively to key vertical circulation elements that mark entrances and exits, Fitzgerald stated.

Window bays are angled in alignment with the qibla — the direction Muslims face when praying. This subtle orientation adds depth and meaning to the facade while reinforcing cultural resonance, Fitzgerald stated.

Traditional colors of Islam — green, white, blue and gold — will be incorporated throughout the complex. Window bays will be framed with two shades of green, and the graphic pattern on the angled “woof” wall (both a wall and a roof), will be outlined in gold. These colors will also appear in the interior design.

“Blue creates a continuous thread from the waiting area and drive aisle through the plaza, into the lobby, and ultimately to the water feature” in the south courtyard, Fitzgerald stated.

Building materials were selected with a 50‑year building life in mind to minimize long‑term life‑cycle costs while supporting sustainability (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum) and resiliency goals for the project. Exterior materials will include phenolic panels, fiber‑cement siding with a ceramic coating, European-style vinyl windows and aluminum storefront glazing.

Interior materials were selected for sustainability, durability, and reduced maintenance: low‑VOC paints, carpet tile, a walk‑off carpet, and rubber flooring. Gypsum board, including abuse‑resistant panels in corridors and other high‑traffic areas, will help minimize long‑term wall repair needs, Fitzgerald stated.

CPAH partnered with social services organization HAKI to engage the Islamic community in Southwest Portland in development of the project.

“Their input directly influenced the selection of the building name — Jamii Court, with ‘Jamii’ meaning ‘community’ in Swahili,” Fitzgerald stated.

Also, community members’ feedback shaped the designs of the community spaces and influenced the decision to include larger units, ensuring the building will support multigenerational living, Fitzgerald added.

The building will include 25 studios, 24 one-bedroom units, 29 two-bedroom units, nine three-bedroom units, and nine four-bedroom units.

The apartments will be available to households earning a wide range of lower incomes, including 49 units for people earning up to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI), 22 units for up to 40 percent of AMI, 15 units for up to 50 percent of AMI, and 10 units for up to 60 percent of AMI. Also, 39 units will come with rental assistance. CPAH will provide resident services.

Urban League of Portland will provide services — including case management and health care referrals — for occupants of the 15 permanent supportive housing units.

The building will include two community rooms: a larger one with a kitchen connected to an outdoor plaza (south courtyard), and a smaller one with a lending library and computer stations. The outdoor plaza will include grilling equipment, seating and a water feature. There will also be bike parking, dedicated service space, loading spaces, on-site laundry space, a parcel locker, on-site property management, and controlled building access. There will be 32 parking spaces, 17 of which will be ready for electric vehicles.

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Portland architect Chandra Robinson, known for designing a series of equity-focused projects, has struck out on her own.

Robinson recently left LEVER Architecture to start �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����. The time had come for her to start her own firm, she said.

“It just felt like I could generate more work for myself, and I could take it in a different direction and operate differently,” she said.

Robinson served for seven years at LEVER — most of that time as a principal, a promotion she earned after helping the firm gain new work as projects focused on racial and social equity proliferated in Portland.

Four projects on which Robinson led design opened last year: two Multnomah County library branches in North Portland and Albina, in the center of Portland’s Black community; and two affordable housing projects — the 94-unit Albina One project for Albina Vision Trust, and the 187-unit T. Joyce Phillips (formerly known as Dekum Court) project for Home Forward in Concordia.

“There are so many different types of projects that I’ve worked on that I’m excited about,” she said. “My favorite things are ones that actually have an impact in the place where they’re built, no matter what sort of project they are.”

Robinson said she’s interested in designing libraries, affordable housing buildings, cultural institutions and community centers.

Robinson has also worked extensively with mass timber on several projects, including the First Tech Credit Union headquarters in Hillsboro and the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters in North Portland. Mass timber is also a focal design element in the 26,000-square-foot Williams and Russell business hub, which she’s designing in partnership with LEVER and which will offer affordable office space and retail space on the long-vacant Hill Block property.

Robinson is also designing, with LEVER, the new Jefferson High School.

Former colleagues said Robinson has pushed forward local sourcing, working with tribal and community groups, and reaching out to disadvantaged, minority-, woman-, emerging small business and service-disabled veteran owned (DMWESB) companies.

“She’s an absolutely amazing person,” said Jonathan Heppner, a LEVER principal who first worked with Robinson at the firm now known as Works Architecture and then later at LEVER. “She is extremely committed to the local community. Her perspective brings a new lens to the way architecture can be practiced in Portland.”

Michelle Vo, a Hennebery Eddy Architects principal, said Robinson excelled at considering how buildings would be used.

“In my experience with Chandra, I observed her to be very interested in understanding the needs expressed by stakeholders in her projects,” Vo stated in an email. “She demonstrated a commitment to tailoring design responses that addressed specific user requirements, whether it was through architecture or more of an artistic installation in the space.”

Robinson came somewhat late to architecture, starting at the Boston Architectural College at age 31. She later returned to the Portland area, where she had grown up in Rockwood.

Robinson’s professional experience in Portland has been peripatetic: She first joined Works Progress Architecture in 2010 before stints at Hennebery Eddy Architects and Hacker. The latter firm loaned Robinson to LEVER, with which she worked on the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters.

It’s not unusual for architecture firms to let their employees work for other designers, Robinson said.

“We do that in Portland,” she said. “If projects are delayed or people need staff, it’s a good way to staff up your projects without having to vet and interview people, or if you are slow, not having to lose your employees.”

Robinson became invested in the Meyer Memorial Trust project and decided to stay at LEVER, where she gained experience working with mass timber and other advanced building materials.

Now, she’s starting afresh with Estudio �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, doing business as �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����. The name reflects the English word “chromatography” and the Spanish translation, “cromatografía.” She retained the “h” in part because of her first name.

“I just really like the idea of having something that’s mixed up, and then being able to identify separate elements,” she said.

At �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, Robinson wants to work with interesting partners. She’s designing a farm-and-garden project in Gresham for the Feed’em Freedom Foundation with Anyeley Hallova’s development firm, �����é, that is focused on food sovereignty in the Black community. Robinson is working on the design with James Gantz, a former ZGF Architects principal who recently returned to Portland after a stint in Washington, D.C. For the new Jefferson High School, with design led by LEVER and Bora Architecture & Interiors, she is working on placemaking alongside Colloqate Design.

Robinson is pursuing another, still-confidential project with �����é, which is also the developer of the Williams and Russell business hub.

Robinson said she’s not looking for a business partner to join �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����.

“I want it to be small because I want to collaborate with other small firms, right?” she said. “I want to work with other solo practitioners. I want to hire people on contracts where maybe the mix is different, the people who are working on different projects is different, and we’re not tied into a structure.”

Robinson identifies as a Black Latina. She quickly gained work as clients and developers sought to diversify their project teams in Portland. But one thing she does not want to do is be anybody’s token minority representation.

“What I’m not going to do is partner with a company that doesn’t have any diversity in their own firm — doesn’t have any Black leadership or women in leadership, and they’re trying to partner with someone who represents that so they can get a job,” she said. “I’m not doing that.”

Robinson does substantial volunteer work in the community for groups such as Architects Without Borders and Oregon Black Pioneers. She currently serves as chairwoman of the Portland Design Commission, which evaluates major building proposals.

She recently purchased a house in Netarts. She commutes into Portland for meetings and events when necessary, often using space at LEVER and staying with her mother in St. Johns.

Robinson hopes to do interesting work at �����dz����ٴDz���á�ھ�����, on her own terms.

“People are many things,” she said. “You’re not just one thing. But you also have to focus to get somewhere.”

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An affordable housing project in Portland is on pause while a new design is being created to reduce costs.

Hacienda CDC and Gorman & Company are redeveloping Villa de Clara Vista, which is in the Cully neighborhood, at 5300 N.E. Cully Blvd. The 100-unit garden-style apartment complex, built in the 1960s, has reached the end of its useful life, according to the Portland Housing Bureau. Currently, the plan is to demolish the existing 12 buildings and construct three four-story buildings with a total of 108 units.

“Due to age of the buildings and their original construction quality, renovation is not a feasible option,” Hacienda CDC spokesperson Isaac Montes stated in an email. “Hacienda has been working for many years to plan and implement a strategy that brings new, modern housing to the community that replaces … the current units.”

The project team also includes design architect Salazar Architect, architect of record Hooker DeJong of Grand Rapids, Michigan; civil engineer BKF Engineers, structural engineer Aman Structural Engineering, landscape architect PLACE, general contractor LMC Construction.

The current design calls for including mass timber sourced from local sources. Other amenities would include laundry rooms, open space and sustainable features such as rooftop solar arrays, stormwater retention features, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and highly efficient windows, lighting and mechanical systems.

“The goal is to bring those savings in electricity and power down to the tenants,” Hacienda CDC CEO Ernesto Fonseca said.

The units are to be affordable for people earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income.

The total project cost is approximately $75 million. Funding partners include Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), Metro, Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) and Raza Development Fund — a national Latino-focused nonprofit. But with the full scope of complexities clarified, the project team is facing a funding shortfall of $5 million.

Meanwhile, after securing a reservation with OHCS in 2023 for $10 million in funding, the project team surrendered that with the intention of reapplying later.

“About a year and a half ago, we were supposed to start the project, but cost escalation and uncertainty in the market didn’t allow us to do that,” Fonseca said.

A new design is expected to help bridge the funding gap. One possibility is that the buildings would be only three stories instead of four, allowing the elimination of costly elevators. In that scenario, the number of units would remain 108.

“We are going to be focused on finding savings first,” Fonseca said of the design changes.

Previous plans were to build on a small portion of the site and preserve the rest of it for related use — possibly more affordable housing. But if buildings were to end up three stories, they would become wider and consume more of the site. That would leave only half an acre.

“It’s going to be big enough for us to build a community space right at the corner of Cully (Boulevard) and Emerson (Street),” Fonseca said, noting that the space would become a mini plaza for the entire neighborhood.

Four to six months are expected to be devoted to the redesign effort. Then the team will reapply to OHCS through the Oregon Centralized Application (ORCA) process and seek additional resources such as a Community Development Block Grant, Metro funds, and donations.

If Hacienda CDC were unable to secure sufficient funding for the project, the nonprofit could choose to sell some of its bankable land, Fonseca said. The organization owns 20 acres between Salem and Portland.

When the redesign is complete, the team will create a master schedule and resubmit an application for city permits. Construction is expected to begin in late 2027 or early 2028.

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The city of Portland is continuing to find unallocated money within the Housing Bureau, and the latest discovery brings the total to more than $106 million.

Currently, the Portland City Council is considering how to handle the discovery last summer of a $20.7 million surplus within the Housing Bureau. On Wednesday, the council voted 8-4 for the city administrator to release public records tied to the surplus by Feb. 20 and schedule an oversight hearing for no later than March 6.

But the passage of follows the council being informed Feb. 1 of an additional surplus of $24.9 million unbudgeted in sub-funds within the Housing Investment Fund. Then on Friday, the city administrator announced another discovery of $62.1 million unbudgeted in four other PHB funds.

The $20.7 million is from the Portland Housing Bureau‘s Rental Services Office. Money accrued over the past several years as fees were paid by landlords as part of the city’s Residential Rental Registration program. The PHB discovered the money in August 2025 and then notified the council in November.

The City Council is considering what to do with the funds, but initial targets included several rent assistance programs, eviction prevention services, emergency housing vouchers, landlord/tenant education for tenant protections, affordable housing stabilization, and down payment assistance.

On Feb. 18, the City Council will vote on a full resolution addressing the $20.7 million. Previously, on Jan. 28, the council voted 8-4 to approve an amendment that removed emergency housing vouchers from consideration. Instead, $5.6 million would be appropriated for the Broadway Corridor affordable housing project, $1 million for the Williams & Russell project, and $1.5 million for Self Enhancement Inc.‘s Northeast 13th Avenue affordable homeownership project.

The most recent discovered surpluses – the $24.9 million and the $62.1 million – are not being addressed in .

Several councilors on Wednesday voiced support for the city administrator and Mayor Keith Wilson to hire an outside investigator. Council President Jamie Dunphy said the best option is to hire an outside investigator, but it would be expensive and the investigation would require one or two months to accomplish.

“I think this is entirely backward looking,” Councilor Steve Novick said. “What I want to know is what steps the administration is taking to ensure that we know, and they know, what money is available in various pots.”

Councilor Loretta Smith said the oversight hearing needs to focus on the full unaccounted funding ($106 million) and not just the $20.7 million. Councilor Mitch Green noted that the resolution would not prevent the council from discussing the full amount.

PHB interim director Michael Buonocore said the bureau’s finance team, which submits financial details to the city’s budget office annually, has eight or nine people. Smith said they should provide testimony during the hearing.

Following an initial oversight hearing some time before March 6, others could follow.

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EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In the steel shell of a former dormitory (more recently, a nursing home), water collects in buckets as construction crews hammer, drill, saw and weld, and heavy machinery is used to cover a series of underground water retention systems.

Next door, the masonry elevator shaft rises three stories above construction crews working on the first floor of a new building.

The two buildings are becoming 95 units of income-restricted housing. One Neighborhood Builders is tackling the project in partnership with Family Service of Rhode Island, Crossroads Rhode Island and Foster Forward. Units are expected to be ready for occupancy by February 2027.

Foster Forward clients, young adults aging out of the foster care system, are eligible for a few of the new apartments. They often struggle to secure housing because few landlords will accept any vouchers when demand is so high.

Forty percent of the units will be for people making 30 percent of the area median income or less, while the remaining 60 percent will be for people making 80 percent of AMI or less.

Work is expected to be done on the two buildings by January 2027. The project’s final phase would see construction of a third building with 49 additional units. A request has been submitted to the state for funding in the next round of income-restricted housing loans and grants. Those awards are expected to be announced in April 2026.

The hope is that the third phase receives funding before the general contractor is done with the first two buildings. If so, that would yield huge cost savings over having to bring in another general contractor later, Director of Real Estate Development Michelle Bleau said.

Site work started in March 2025, and then major construction began in December. Some of the work included creation of the underground water retention systems, with catch basins running the length of the parking lot. They’re designed for a 100-year flood capacity.

“These are basically anywhere where they could fit one in,” Pezzuco Construction Superintendent Douglas Valcourt said.

One of the last portions of construction will be vehicle parking: 145 spaces.

The plan was always for construction of two new buildings and renovation of an old one — a former Johnson & Wales University dormitory that was later turned into a nursing home.

“We cleared everything out — all the old walls, all the wiring, the mechanicals,” One Neighborhood Builders Senior Project Manager Stephen Kearns said.

Inside the old building, only the stairwells were left intact.

“You’re trying to reinvent what you can with what you have,” Valcourt said. “There’s a lot of trying to restore it back to a blank slate and then move forward.”

Crews then had to seal up the holes in the floor where various building systems had been.

“They ran everything differently 40 years ago when this building was built,” Valcourt said.

A dormitory or nursing home, with one massive heating and cooling system, is far different from an apartment complex with individual temperature controls. Apartments will be heated and cooled with Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems, based on heat pump technology — essentially mini-splits, Valcourt said.

That means holes don’t need to be cut in the walls between units that are supposed to have hefty individual fire ratings.

The whole building is electric, with plans for rooftop solar panels and heat-pump water heaters.

The old building still needs its new roof. Windows from Latvia that weigh twice as much as typical American ones will be much more efficient.

Once the building envelope is done, along with the roof and the siding (masonry exterior finishes were kept), the building will look complete. However, inside is where work still must be done.

Currently, the inside of the old building has been turned from a blank slate to a labyrinth of framing for apartments (including bedrooms, bathrooms and closets), storage rooms, and the electrical room.

Each unit will have blocking installed so that it can become accessible, allowing for a maintenance person to install railings in the shower or swap out the counters with those accessible to a person in a wheelchair, Valcourt said.

The building will have a mix of large studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. One studio configuration offers a combined kitchen and living room with a bedroom off to the side but without a door. Another apartment configuration comes with a “bonus room” — one the size of a bedroom but without a window or closet that would legally make it such.

“It’s a funky building setup,” Valcourt said. “So, how do you use the middle of the H? Because the building’s a big H. So, how do you use that? You take a little bit from the sides for the units and a little bit from the side from you and you get left with a long, narrow unit. It’s kind of broken up. You got some columns.”

The first floor of the old building will have a few residential units but mostly offices.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Providence Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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