Since Maria Rojo de Steffey formed Almar Contracting LLC with business partner Alfonso Elias in 2011, the firm has grown quickly and now boasts 20 full-time employees

While Rojo de Steffy and Elias wear different hats – she serves as president and he handles dual roles as vice president and chief of field operations – they are in synch when it comes to the type of restoration and remodeling work the company tackles.

“We look for projects that are different, and that’s what gets us excited,” Rojo de Steffey said.

Restoration and remodeling contracts for apartments and related housing make up a large part of the company’s ongoing bread-and-butter work. Rojo de Steffey, Elias and the Almar team have worked on projects for several non-profit organizations in the area, including Cascade Behavioral Health, REACH, Habitat for Humanity and Home Forward.

One of the company’s most recent community involvement projects was with Kenton Women’s Village, which provides transitional housing for homeless women along with on-site supervision and counsel provided in cooperation with Catholic Charities. While students and future residents built 14 tiny houses for the village, Almar Contracting built a communal bathroom and communal kitchen using shipping containers.

Rojo de Steffey, a former Multnomah County Commissioner, sees the project as a great example of how people and local businesses can come together to help the community.

“When we moved into … working more projects for non-profit organizations, that really touched us,” Rojo de Steffey said. “Social service and diversity are hand-in-hand and the work these nonprofits do is amazing.”

For Rojo de Steffey, the concept of community extends to her company, another sign of her mother’s influence.

“Almar Contracting is more like a big family,” she said. “We work with our people if they need time off for something. It shows them that we want to take care of them and their kids. It creates loyalty, and that shows in what we do together. Our projects are their projects, too.”

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Bill Hart and Maria Rojo de Steffey own stakes in state-certified Minority Business Enterprises involved in the building industry, but are short on development experience because of lack of opportunities and know-how.

However, that is changing for Hart, African-American principal of Portland-based Carleton Hart Architecture, and Steffey, Hispanic president of Portland-based ALMAR Contracting. As partners in Multi-Cultural Development Group LLC, they are learning how to develop projects and mentor others. They’re also contributing to the effort to secure extraordinary MWESB participation on an $8 million affordable housing project in Northeast Portland.

The Miracles Central development will have 47 units of affordable housing for low-income individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Hart and Steffey are part of the development team that includes Portland-based Guardian Real Estate Services and Tualatin-based LMC Construction.

“I consider this experience as a way to untap the knowledge that comes in these larger projects,” Hart said. “If you’re doing something with a public project and it’s affordable, there are a lot more regulations and ways to control costs that are new and different to me.”

One of the challenges for an MBE developer, Hart said, is to secure financial backing, particularly for affordable housing projects where government reimbursements are made after goals are met. While money was not an issue for Hart or Steffey, other minority business enterprises can struggle to fund their investments, Hart said.

A bigger challenge for him was understanding regulations for income requirements, utilities and how much can be charged for rent.

“You’re doing something different with a public project, and there are a lot more regulations on how to control costs,” he said. “That’s new and different to me.”

Steffey, meanwhile, is hoping to pass on what she learns – first to her younger partner, Alfonso Elias, who will be able to take over the business at some point, she said.

“We’re hoping to build a minority-owned company that can do more of this development,” she said. “We are thrilled to be a part of it.”

Steffey also will share her knowledge from gaining state MWESB certification with firms that could potentially earn project contracts, she said. The process requires detailed accounts of financial records and verification of investment of time and money by qualifying parties. Steffey needed seven months to navigate the process, she said.

“There are other minority vendors who would love to get certified, but it’s a tough process,” she said. “I know how to get through it.”

The development team’s diversity will help it pursue a goal for 50 percent minority participation, said Dan Steffey, Guardian’s senior vice president of development and Maria Rojo de Steffey’s husband.

Miracles Central, chosen by the Portland Housing Bureau over two other proposals, will be owned and operated by the Miracles Club and Central City Concern, Dan Steffey said.

“I think what you’ll hear when you talk to city folks is getting beyond 20 percent minority contracting is tough,” he said. “It’s always been a concern of mine that we’ve always had policies for minority participation, but we’ve never moved the needle.”

LMC Construction has worked with Guardian for 10 years, and achieved minority participation rates upwards of 35 to 40 percent, LMC President Chris Duffin said. This project is different, he said.

“We are taking it one step further,” he said. “Not only are we focusing on high turnout participation, but we’re also putting together a team that is as diverse as our subcontractor pool.”

The project, now in the design phase, will go out to bid in November. The partners are identifying potential minority-owned and women-owned firms to be placed on the preferential bidders list, Duffin said. Those firms will receive direct invitations to bid, he added.

“We’ll spend time with them before the project goes out,” he said. “We make sure their bids are complete. If they need help estimating or understanding prevailing wage, we will offer up our help and expertise.”

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It’s a vicious circle.

Alcohol and drug addiction can cause social wreckage, including eviction and crime. Addicts who manage to get clean often can’t secure housing because of their pasts, and can end up on the streets and in abusive behaviors that cost communities millions of dollars a year.

Housing is a key ingredient in the breakup of that cycle, according to Herman Bryant, executive director of the Miracles Club – a nonprofit that supports individuals recovering from addiction.

“A lot of times what happens is that some individual relapses because they don’t have a place to go,” he said. “Not everyone is totally ready to continue to be homeless and stay clean. What we’re trying to do is (help) individuals so they can reach the full potential of becoming a productive member of society.”

To that end, the Miracles Club – together with Central City Concern and Guardian Real Estate Services – is working to build in Northeast Portland a new permanent housing facility that will cater to individuals recovering from alcohol and drug dependency. The project team believes Miracles Central will expand the city’s deficient stock of affordable, drug-free living options, and also set the stage for more.

The $11 million project calls for construction of a six-story building at 1306 N.E. Second Ave. The 47 housing units will be available to people earning 50 to 60 percent of the area’s median family income, thanks to $7 million in tax increment financing from the Portland Housing Bureau.

Guardian learned of the available funding in 2012, and immediately began compiling a development team it believed could raise the bar on social equity. The firm’s proposal was chosen instead of two others submitted to the PHB.

Dan Steffey, senior vice president of development for Guardian, pointed out that Miracles Central won’t be a treatment center or transitional housing, but rather stabilized housing for people already in recovery.

“It’s not transitional housing, but it’s a step along that spectrum toward gaining independence and moving on,” he said. “The demand is huge. It’s a question of affordability, and it’s a question of: How do you meet the needs for those residents? If you’ve been involved in alcohol and drugs to the point that you’ve destroyed your life, you’ve probably got some history to the point that most landlords won’t be interested in renting to you.”

For that reason, Bryant said the Miracles Club’s program is founded on forgetfulness. The nonprofit will work with CCC to provide counseling and peer-mentoring services on the ground floor.

Currently, 882 people are on CCC’s waiting list for alcohol- and drug-free housing – 118 of them signed up after Jan. 1. When the organization opened its alcohol- and drug-free family housing waiting list this month, it received 50 applications on the first day and had to close enrollment just as quickly; it had only 88 units available.

Transitional alcohol- and drug-free units that do open up are filled again within two to three days, and have an average occupancy rate of approximately 97 percent.

“Because addiction is a lifelong illness, (most people in recovery) feel they will be best served to live in a community where there are peers, and people who will assist in recovery efforts,” said Sean Hubert, senior director of housing and employment for CCC. “We’ve studied the reasons why people relapse, and we’ve found it very important to offer recovery housing options.”

Miracles Central will add approximately 21 studios, 22 one-bedroom units, and four two-bedroom units to the mix. It will be the second facility for the Miracles Club, which already operates a 40-unit apartment building on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Bryant said residents in the King neighborhood initially held reservations about the recovery-oriented affordable housing facility there, but added that the Miracles Club showed that it was a good neighbor. Alan Silver, chairman of the King Neighborhood Association, said that comments from residents reflect that assessment.

Partnering with a 35-year-old organization like CCC (which has numerous assets in its portfolio) comes with other added benefits for the Miracles Club – namely, through property management.

“This is another instance of Miracles being able to lean on others, as well as work with others, so we can continue to pursue the experience of becoming asset managers ourselves,” Bryant said.

Guardian, meanwhile, has brought Carleton Hart Architecture, LMC Construction and ALMAR Contracting to the project. The official team is Multi-Cultural Development Group LLC, which is a partnership featuring Guardian Real Estate Services, CJD Holdings LLC, ALMAR Contracting and Carleton Hart Architecture executive Bill Hart. Steffey said he’s hoping to push minority participation to 50 percent; the city’s minimum requirement is closer to 20 percent.

Guardian and its partners will purchase the land for the project from the PHB, and expects to close on the deal by the end of the year. The company hopes to begin construction around the same time.

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Editor’s note: This story has been changed to clarify the social services that will be included in the building.

Guardian Real Estate Services is working with Central City Concern and the Miracles Club to develop a mixed-use building with 47 apartments and a facility providing services for people recovering from substance dependency, on Portland Housing Bureau-owned property at 1306 N.E. Second Ave.

The bureau made available the 10,000-square-foot lot, along with approximately $7 million in tax increment financing dollars from the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area, through a Notice of Funding Availability in 2012.

Jaymee Cuti, spokeswoman for the Portland Housing Bureau, said it selected the Guardian team after receiving three proposals for the site. The approximately $11 million Miracles Central project will include a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio apartments, and serve mostly individuals earning 50 to 60 percent of the area’s median family income.

Additionally, the Miracles Club together with Central City Concern will provide on-site services for people in recovery from alcohol and drug dependency. Ground-floor space will be devoted to peer mentoring activities.

Carleton Hart Architecture is the project’s lead architect; LMC Construction is the general contractor. Carleton Hart recently applied for early assistance from the Bureau of Development Services.

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