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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