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.

The post Los Colibris project approved for Portland’s OMSI District appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Colas Development Group has been selected to enter exclusive negotiations to build a $70 million hotel and conference center in south downtown Portland, according to a press release issued by Portland State University on Tuesday.

The Portland-based developer will have the inside track on building a 150-room hotel and conference center alongside the future Performing Arts + Culture Center. PSU will act as the overall developer of the project.

The hotel and conference center will complement the 3,000-seat Performing Arts + Culture Center, which will be owned by the city of Portland. The new hotel building will replace the existing University Place Hotel & Conference Center, which was completed in 1970 at 310 S.W. Lincoln St.

The projects will “help elevate Portland as a cultural destination, reignite investor confidence, activate south downtown, strengthen PSU’s signature performing arts program and energize the city’s arts ecosystem,” PSU stated.

The city of Portland and PSU have moved forward on a plan to replace the Keller Auditorium as the city’s premier venue for Broadway shows and other entertainment. A recent market feasibility study conducted by Hunden Partners found Portland has insufficient demand for two similar venues, and preferred the PSU site.

No decisions have been made about the future of Keller Auditorium.

Colas Development Group will work alongside HMS Developments, a firm led by Ndamukong Suh, the retired NFL star and Portland native who has launched several entrepreneurial projects.

“We believe downtown Portland’s best days are still ahead,” Andrew Colas, president and CEO of Colas Development Group and Colas Construction, stated in a news release. “This is more than a development project. It is an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of our city.”

Colas added that his firm and HMS Developments are bringing together “locally headquartered leadership, private investment and a shared vision for Portland’s future.”

Neither a contractor nor an architect has been chosen yet for the project.

Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group, said hotel-conference centers tied to universities have worked well in other cities such as Austin, Texas.

“I think that’d be a positive, definitely,” Goodman said.

The exclusive negotiating agreement will remain in place for at least six months. PSU stated that the next step is “dependent on the city of Portland and its elected officials providing confidence that the project will move forward.”

Colas Development Group is an outgrowth of Colas Construction, Oregon’s largest minority-owned contractor that was founded in 1997 by Andrew’s father, Hermann Colas Jr.

Colas Construction has emerged as a force in public contracting. The firm has built affordable housing, including the 206-unit Hazel Ying Lee Apartments at 3000 S.E. Powell Blvd., commercial projects such as Alberta Commons, and renovations to the Oregon Convention Center.

The development arm is newer but also busy. Alongside Beam Development, Colas Development is developing Steelhead, a 3,500-seat capacity concert venue in Portland’s Central Eastside. The facility for concert giant Live Nation, now under construction, is scheduled to open in summer 2027.

HMS Developments previously developed the Weidler, a 101,600-square-foot Slabtown multifamily project that was completed in 2023.

The post Colas business gains edge for $70M development in Portland appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Affordable housing and Lake Oswego might seem to be a contradiction in terms, but in one of Oregon’s most expensive and exclusive suburbs, officials broke ground Wednesday on a small apartment project dedicated to providing units at below-market rates.

A few dozen dignitaries and industry officials busted out ceremonial golden shovels for El Nido, a 55-unit development on Boones Ferry Road near Lake Oswego’s Lake Grove neighborhood.

The $32 million project is Lake Oswego’s second affordable housing project funded by Metro bonds. The first, Mercy Greenbrae at Marylhurst Commons, was completed with 100 units in May 2024.

“I’m very pleased that this project is in Lake Oswego,” Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West said. “Affordable housing sites should be distributed throughout the county.”

Metro purchased the site in 2023 from the city of Lake Oswego for $2.3 million. Before that, the parcel had long served as construction staging for the Boones Ferry Road project, Lake Oswego Mayor Joe Buck said.

Using the land for affordable housing is “life changing, and it’s the most impactful thing we could do,” he said.

Construction commenced after developer Hacienda Community Development Corp. successfully legally challenged a decades-old 25-foot setback requirement from an adjacent road that severely constrained the site’s buildable area.

“I thought, we’re going to be left with a dining room table in the middle,” joked Ernesto Fonseca, chief executive of Hacienda CDC. “Clearly, that’s not going to work.”

The building will outlive today’s troubled times, he said, noting “so much persecution of minorities in this country.”

“This will pass,” Fonseca said, while the building will continue to provide affordable housing well into the future. “This will be here for a long, long time ahead.”

El Nido’s design team is a partnership of Mackenzie and Access Architecture. Colas Construction is serving as general contractor alongside subcontractors including J.A. Mechanical and SOS Exterior Remodeling.

Andrew Colas, CEO of Colas Construction, recalled that Hacienda CDC first hired the Black-owned contractor in the late 1990s. Hacienda took a chance on Colas Construction for a project with two six-unit buildings when Colas had not yet tackled a project that large, he said.

“There was always an RFP written that said you shouldn’t try,” Colas said, referring to a request for proposals.

Colas said he had worked with the subcontractors on increasing their capacity to take on bigger jobs, including co-signing for a line of credit in one case.

El Nido — Spanish for “The Nest” — is part of Metro‘s drive to build thousands of affordable housing units funded by the $652.8 million regional housing bond passed by voters in 2018. The regional government is on track to build 5,600 affordable housing units, well above the initial goal of 3,900 homes, Metro Councilor Christine Lewis said.

“We’re overdelivering,” she said Wednesday. “We’re killing it.”

Ten units at El Nido will provide permanent supportive housing with services for residents. One apartment, to be used by the property manager, is not a regulated affordable unit, leaving El Nido with 54 affordable units.

The post Ground broken on El Nido housing project in Lake Oswego appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Project name: The Hazel Ying Lee Apartments

Location: Portland

Completion: August 2024

Size: 125,890 square feet

Cost: $55,271,925

Owner/Developer: Home Forward

Architect: Holst Architecture

Engineers: ABHT Structural Engineers, KPFF, Samata Consulting Engineers

General Contractor: Colas Construction

Submitting Company: Colas Construction

Other Key Participants: Portland Housing Bureau

Subcontractors: Able Fence, Acousti-Level, Affordable Electric, All About Flagging, All Seasons Insulation, Architectural Metalcrafters, AT Publix, Authority Dock & Door, Building Material Specialties, Cascade Radon, Cascade Tower & Rigging, Compaction and Recycling, Cosco Fire Protection, CSL Structures, DDN Interior Supply, DE-EL Enterprises, DeWitt Construction, Eagle Striping Services, Eastside Paving, Elemental Energy, Exteriors Design, Grant Painting, Great Floors, Huntco Supply, Hunter-Davisson, Interior Technology, K&D Services of Oregon, Keywest Retaining Systems, Klinger Masonry, Lanz Cabinet Shop, M&M Construction Services, McCoy Millwork, McDonald & Wetle, MK Fall Protection, Mt. Hood Steel & Wood, Northwest Masonry, Northwest Scaffold Service, Oregon State Bridge, Outdoor Play & Amenities, Pacific Landscape Services, Paulson’s Floor Covering, River City Glass & Window, Ross Recreation Equipment, Santiago Concrete, Sawtooth Caulking, Schindler Elevator, Standard TV & Appliance, Superior Interiors, Tapani Plumbing, Timber Technologies, Ultra Star, VPI Quality Windows, WH Cress

The Hazel Ying Lee Apartments, a 206-unit affordable housing development in Southeast Portland’s Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, has transformed a largely vacant lot into a community-centered living space that sets new standards for affordable housing design.

Designed by Holst Architecture and built by Colas Construction, the project features cost-effective wood-frame construction over a taller ground-floor podium that accommodates loft-style units and shared amenities. Named after the first Chinese American woman to fly for the U.S. military, the four-story complex features an innovative X-shaped layout that maximizes density while creating protected courtyards and pedestrian pathways. The distinctive design, which earned the Portland Design Commission‘s Design Excellence Award in 2021, reflects the neighborhood’s character with multicolored brick and white fiber-cement panels. The overall aesthetic is eye-catching, with curved facades and colorful brick patterning giving it an almost sculpture-like quality.

The development serves households earning 30 percent to 60 percent of Area Median Income, including 30 units dedicated to families emerging from homelessness. Unlike typical affordable housing, it offers larger family-focused units and amenities including a playroom, playground, basketball court and computer lounge.

Construction posed significant engineering challenges, requiring more than 130 deep foundation piles driven 100 feet into Portland’s unstable soil. Colas Construction, a Black-owned firm, erected its first tower crane for this project, noting it is the first ever by a Black or brown contractor west of the Mississippi.

The apartments feature air conditioning and free Wi-Fi in common areas, with a large laundry room containing over 24 washers and dryers. With a Walk Score of 89, residents enjoy excellent access to public transit.

Sustainability was prioritized throughout development. The building achieved Earth Advantage Platinum certification and includes rooftop solar panels and all-electric systems supported by the Portland Clean Energy Fund.

In partnership with the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization, the complex provides culturally specific services supporting immigrant, refugee and BIPOC families.

To honor the building’s namesake, Home Forward gave child residents two books: “The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee” by Julie Leung, connecting residents to Lee’s legacy as a Cleveland High School graduate who made history during World War II, and “A Kids Book About Construction” by Andrew Colas, reinforcing a legacy of inspiration and opportunity.

The project team achieved 45 percent workforce diversity on the project; the goal was 20 percent. Apprentices had a key role on the development, responsible for 18.5 percent of project work hours.

The post The Hazel Ying Lee Apartments appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

In Southeast Portland, construction crews have topped out a three-story, 62,700-square-foot affordable housing development.

Colas Construction is serving as the general contractor for Centennial Place, at 3800 S.E. 164th Ave. Scott | Edwards Architecture provided the design.

The 71-unit project, developed by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, is intended to serve people with mental illness as well as families with at least one child enrolled in the Centennial School District. Plans call for 18 of the apartments to serve households earning 0 to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI). The remaining 53 apartments will be for households earning up to 60 percent of AMI.

“The topping out of a project is always exciting,” Scott | Edwards Architecture associate Hayley Purdy stated in an email. “But there is something about projects like Centennial Place, that serve a vital role in the community and take a proactive approach to sustainable design, that make the moment feel extra special.”

The structure is designed to have a mix of gabled and flat roof. Recently, crews prepped the flat-top portion to be solar-ready. A fall protection system was also installed for building maintenance crews to use when working on the roof.

The different roofing systems have become a special point of attention during construction, Colas Construction superintendent Andrew Milette said. Due to the structure’s U shape and courtyard design, the way it carries the shear loads is unique, he added.

A gabled roof, with peaks and valleys, works much differently than a flat roof. However, use of both kinds was not as much of a challenge but rather a nuance, Milette said, that creates different conditions throughout the building.

Since construction kicked off in June 2021, crews have had to grapple with an ever-changing supply market. That’s been more of a challenge, Milette said.

“It’s something that has been very volatile through construction,” he said.

Items anticipated to have an eight-week delivery time saw that jump to 16 to 20 weeks. In the case of the exterior siding, supplier James Hardie briefly shut down its plant in Summerville, South Carolina, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centennial Place project team had to play a waiting game, Milette said.

It was all about trying to respond as quickly as possible – and so far, that tactic has paid off, he said.

The siding was purchased and delivered to the site several weeks before it was needed. A critical piece in the acquisition of materials, Milette said, has been finding a middle ground to store materials or having the manufacturer hold them before use.

“Doing that has helped keep cost to a minimum too,” he said, “because we’re seeing so much material (price) escalation.”

The Centennial Place project team is on track to complete work in October 2022. Earth Advantage gold certification is being targeted.

The post Topping out three stories of affordable housing appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The winning proposal to develop Portland’s Williams-Russell block calls for affordable rental and ownership housing, low-cost retail and office space, and a central plaza and garden.

How the project team gets there is perhaps as interesting as the development itself. The effort is led by Black-owned firms, including an experienced local developer who recently went out on her own.

The project team is largely composed of firms based in North and Northeast Portland. They will answer to a newly created nonprofit corporation made up of local community leaders, most of whom are Black.

All the $71 million project must do is offer restorative justice to a Black community torn apart by decades of displacement, gentrification and neglect, provide affordable housing in an increasingly expensive urban environment, and reactivate a keystone block that was left vacant for decades by the same organizations whose wrongs are now being righted.

Enter Anyeley Hallova, who is coordinating the project team.

Hallova, founder of Adre, is leading the project alongside two affordable housing developers – Community Development Partners and Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives. Many of the principals involved have worked with each other before, but it is Hallova who must bring them all together.

According to her admirers, she’s uniquely suited to that task.

“She’s kind of masterful at coalescing disparate groups of people and galvanizing people around a vision,” said Tom Cody, managing partner at Project^. “She’s an incredibly good manager and coordinator, and she’ll bring those skills to something so collaborative and vision-based.”

Hallova founded Adre last year after 12 years as a partner at Project^. There, she earned a reputation for socially driven development projects, often with sustainable elements such as cross-laminated timber construction and strict energy performance goals. Hallova led development of the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters project, and was part of the team that delivered the Oregon Conservation Center for The Nature Conservancy.

The Williams-Russell project, also known as the Hill Block development, is part of Hallova’s mission to develop projects that benefit the wider community.

“I specifically started this company with mission-oriented projects in mind,” she said.

Hallova is quick to deflect attention to other project team members – housing developers CDP and PCRI, Colas Construction, LEVER Architecture and Hood Design Studio. Only Hood Design Studio – a Black-owned landscape architecture firm in Oakland, California – is not based in North-Northeast Portland. That means most of the project team is within walking distance of each other’s offices, and they share a sense of place.

“This is also our community, too,” Hallova said.

The vision for the development is set out in the project team’s response to a request for proposals from Prosper Portland and the project working group. The Adre-led team is proposing affordable rental and ownership housing, office and commercial space, and a public plaza and garden.

The project team’s plan calls for a five-story, 94-unit multifamily building. Rents would be restricted to levels affordable at 30 percent to 80 percent of area median income. The project team is also looking into state funding for a possible early education center on the building’s ground floor.

Separately, 22 for-sale homes would be available in attached one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations. Homebuyers would be required to complete education and counseling.

The housing developers plan to seek out persons who were displaced by the construction of Interstate 5 and what is now a sprawling Legacy Health campus.

“The goal of the preference policy is really trying to reach out to the community that was impacted by the local policy,” said Jessica Woodruff, director of development for Community Development Partners.

Gap financing from the Portland Housing Bureau and affordable-housing tax credits are expected to help finance the project, Woodruff said.

The commercial building would comprise approximately 41,000 square feet, conceptualized as a “communal office,” Hallova said. The building would function as a business incubator, with workforce training also possibly included.

“What’s great about this project is that we can create a beautiful new building, Class-A office space, but figure out a way to have affordable rents,” Hallova said.

The aim is to “create an ecosystem” for emerging businesses – particularly those owned by people of color and other historically marginalized groups, Hallova said.

“We see this not just as a place for established businesses to be in, but for new businesses to incubate and grow,” she said.

A measure of restorative justice is being sought for the Black community in North-Northeast Portland, where 171 families – 74 percent of whom were Black – were displaced by urban renewal projects in the early 1970s. Those projects were led by the Portland Development Commission (now Prosper Portland) and Emanuel Hospital (now Legacy Health), according to a Prosper Portland history.

The Hill Block site held a commercial center for the surrounding Black community during the mid-20th century before it was condemned and demolished. In the decades since, the 1.7-acre block has sat empty.

In 2017, Prosper Portland officials rediscovered a 1980 deed provision requiring Legacy to develop the site. That kick-started discussions on what should be done with the block.

Prosper Portland continues to provide support to the project working group and the project team. Legacy has agreed to convey the property to the Williams-Russell Community Development Corporation at no cost. The CDC will serve as the project team’s client.

“The powers that be have recognized this historic injustice and are giving the land back to the community and supported development on the site,” Hallova said.

The firms involved with the project are keen to right past wrongs.

The project team is “dedicated and poised to honor and represent those individuals that had land, property and generational wealth-building opportunities taken away from them when the development of the hospital and the interstate corridor occurred in the areas,” said Kymberly Horner, executive director of PCRI. “It is our mission and our goal to try to restore those injustices that occurred, and that is why we put our name in the ring to develop the site to honor the past and secure the future for those individuals and families to have a place to come back to and call home.”

The project team is aiming to create a model for restorative-justice development not just in Portland, but in other American cities where Black neighborhoods were displaced.

“If you came to the city of Portland to visit, you might want to come and visit and learn the history,” Hallova said.

The post Restorative justice project coming together appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Flooring underpins all of the other elements in a room. Whether it’s hardwood, laminate or carpeting, it’ll help set the space’s tone.

Dennis Stone, the owner of Wilsonville-based Techsource Enterprises Inc., recognizes the importance flooring can have on a first impression. Whenever people walk into a space, he said, it’s the first thing they notice.

Flooring “brings the room to life,” he said.

Before construction, Stone spent 16 years as a computer engineer. He traveled the U.S. and overseas troubleshooting computer systems. Stone said he longed for the day he could work for himself. Then a client offered Stone a contracting opportunity – which he accepted.

Later, in 1996, he started Techsource Enterprises as a contractor. Early on, he rehabbed foreclosed properties. Eventually, Stone transitioned his business to focus solely on flooring, which was his favorite part of the rehab process.

“It’s almost like you’re the closer,” he said.

Flooring is one of the last components of a project. By then, infrastructure has been set, plumbing and electrical portions have been fitted, and the paint has been applied.

“It’s the final piece,” Stone said. “It’s your touch to that space.”

Techsource Enterprises started out installing residential flooring and then 11 years ago shifted to commercial projects. The feeling of transforming an office space and bringing it to life has never faded, Stone said. It was what first attracted him to flooring, he added.

As with any endeavor, Stone said, money has been a challenge. At one point, he said, he sold his vehicle in order to make payroll and pay his employees.

“Getting the capital and getting people to believe in you,” he said, has been the most challenging part.

But along the way, Stone has been able to build more relationships.

One day, when eating breakfast outside of a restaurant in Lake Oswego, Stone was stopped by a man.

“I don’t know (if it was because) both (of us) being Black, he asked what I did,” Stone said. “I said, ‘I do flooring.’”

The man gave Stone his business card. It turned out to be Hermann Colas Jr., founder of Colas Construction. Stone later made a phone call and was able to get back-to-back contracts with Colas Construction.

“I am very grateful to him,” Stone said.

This past year, Stone worked on his first major project – the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters. The building has 19,800 square feet of carpet tile, hardwood and vinyl. O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders was the project’s general contractor.

Stone “just has a really solid business and accruement on the way he approaches the work,” O’Neill Construction Group owner Maurice Rahming said. “He knows the business and comes up with good recommendations. He usually has the answer for you – and different options.”

Rahming said there was a good indication that Stone was a team player, and then he proved it.

“Really solid guy and really solid company,” Rahming said.

So far, Stone said some of his most memorable projects are the Yacht Harbor Club Apartments, a job for Toyota of Corvallis, and hospital work for Kaiser Permanente and Veterans Affairs.

During this past year, even during the pandemic, the company has continued to grow, Stone said. He has six full-time employees and is bidding on projects nonstop.

Techsource Enterprises is one of the only African American-owned commercial flooring companies in Oregon. But that hasn’t widened the door of opportunity, according to Stone.

“Has it advanced me?” he said. “I don’t see that.”

The post Metro-area contractor finds niche as ‘the closer’ appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Albina Vision Trust will work with Edlen & Co. to develop in Lower Albina a seven-story building with 120 affordable housing units as well as an adjacent theater.

The residential building will serve families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of area median income. The theater will serve artists and youths, and connect the North Portland neighborhood to its rich cultural heritage, Albina Vision Trust stated.

Albina Vision Trust, a community nonprofit, will own the building. Edlen & Co. – the recently rebranded successor to Gerding Edlen – will serve as developer.

Colas Construction, Lever Architecture and Kidder Mathews are project team members as well.

The property is located between North Flint and Wheeler avenues north of the Moda Center. It is owned by Betsy and Rich Reese, who have committed to the project’s mission and goals, Albina Vision Trust stated.

“The Albina Vision team is determined to lead the redevelopment of Lower Albina and the re-rooting of Black people, families and culture there,” stated Rukaiyah Adams, chairwoman of the trust’s board. “That work includes making sure that we are reflected in the built environment and that we participate in the wealth generated by our presence as owners of our homes and business. We aim to thrive, not just survive – and it begins with this project.”

Albina Vision Trust was founded to reverse the 20th-century displacement of Black families in the area for projects such as Interstate 5, the Rose Quarter and the expansion of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

“Recovery from the present-day consequences of forced displacement, the theft of Black wealth and the pandemic-induced economic downturn will require us to lead with our values,” stated Winta Yohannes, managing director of Albina Vision Trust. “This modest but significant action to prioritize the arts, create affordable housing and ensure community ownership is how we move from talking about equity to seeing it in action.”

Mark Edlen, co-founder of Edlen & Co., said the firm was approached by the property owners about two years ago; they sought a project with affordable housing and transit. The firm wants to be part of helping right past wrongs alongside Albina Vision Trust, Edlen said.

“We share that belief and that’s why we’re partnering with AVT,” he said.

The proposed project addresses two realities, Yohannes wrote in an email.

“There is no longer a single neighborhood in Portland considered affordable for the average African-American family and … creative organizations and artists also continue to be priced out of the city despite their importance to the fabric of our civic and economic identity,” she stated. “For these reasons, it was important that we anchor our first project and Lower Albina’s rebirth with housing and a theater, which recognizes both the rich cultural heritage of the district and our aspirations for its future as a thriving arts district.”

The post North Portland project includes affordable housing, theater appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The consensus became clear among Oregon construction leaders during a recent panel discussion about ending discrimination and racism within the industry. They want to make their industry better, and they recognize that the effort is a marathon and not a sprint.

More than 400 people attended Wednesday’s event via Zoom. It was led by both Nate McCoy, executive director of the National Association of Minority Contractors’ Oregon chapter, and Mike Salsgiver, executive director of Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

“(We are here to) bring a closed-end to 2020 and a renewed interest in 2021 all premised on ending and eradicating discrimination and racism in the construction industry,” McCoy said.

The discussion focused on four pillars: zero tolerance, workforce education, recruitment, and institutional advancement and mentorship. Inroads must be made in these areas, speakers said. Also, business challenges need to be addressed, and a culture change needs to take place, they said.

Molly Washington, one of the panelists and of counsel at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, noted that the Black Lives Matter protests might have been a reawakening for some, but for others, it has been their lives and their families’ lives.

“We have to move forward from the idea that ignorance is even an option,” she said. “We have to be informed.”

Throughout the discussion, each panelist mentioned that general ignorance of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) community has been stifling the industry for too long.

The discussion established that educating the workforce about the history of injustices in the BIPOC community is an important step. Education at all industry levels serves to create a respectful environment and teach what will no longer be tolerated, speakers said.

In May, Andersen Construction executives didn’t learn that a hate crime had occurred on one of the company’s job sites until 20 days later. Only a social media post brought to light the appearance of a noose at the site, CEO Joel Andersen said.

“What it started to register immediately was how ill-prepared we were as an organization and really quite frankly as an industry,” he said. “All of the safety guards put in place in the industry to protect the workers failed. The foreman, out of sheer ignorance, didn’t understand the magnitude of this situation.”

Andersen said the industry is predominantly white, heterosexual men – people who have rarely been marginalized. That has led to a lack of understanding of when issues occur on job sites.

Instead of a zero-tolerance policy being one strike and you’re out, Andersen Construction is looking at a more educational approach. The focus will be on educating workers on what is not tolerated and helping them understand marginalized communities.

One of the ways workers can become educated is through bystander intervention and harassment prevention training. Providing this at every level of the industry will cause a shift away from discrimination, Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. Executive Director Kelly Kupcak said.

“We need bystanders to be front-liners and not sideliners,” McCoy said of workers who observe racism or harassment on job sites.

There has to be a commitment to inclusivity in order to achieve zero tolerance, said Jeff Moreland, president of Raimore Construction. The BIPOC community represents 40 percent of Raimore’s field staff and 70 percent of its management staff. That helps foster an environment of zero tolerance, he said.

One of the first steps to create an inclusive industry, Colas Construction President and CEO Andrew Colas said, is in recruitment. Conversations at that stage go hand in hand with the values a company holds, he said. If companies want to recruit from the BIPOC community, he added, it’s important for them to show people who look like them at different levels.

But to get there, recruitment strategies might need to change. Dave Drinkward, president and CEO of Hoffman Construction, said firms need to do a better job of making the industry more attractive. For a long time, Hoffman Construction’s leader of recruitment was a middle-aged white man, which Drinkward said probably turned away more people than he thought.

There has to be more focus on how people can make a career out of the industry, Drinkward said, noting he’s looking at institutional advancement and mentorship programs.

“I think the best way we learn is to teach and grow together,” he said. “And if we’re not in it to build competitors, then we’re not in it for the right reasons.”

The NAMC and AGC chapters plan to continue conversations on the topic monthly.

The post Contractors and others tackle racism, discrimination appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Specht Development and Colas Development Group are teaming up to develop a 48-acre section of the Gresham Vista Business Park.

The Port of Portland Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved a master development agreement with the two local companies. The partnership has the option to buy or lease Gresham Vista Lot 5 from the port, which owns the property.

“We have the option to buy; the port would prefer a long-term lease,” said Greg Specht, CEO of Specht Development. “Every deal is different. We have the flexibility to go in either direction.”

The Specht-Colas partnership will seek a user – ideally a manufacturing business, Specht said. “This deal with the port does not provide for speculative development,” he said. “It’s build-to-suit.”

The companies have formed a joint-venture entity, GV5, a limited liability company.

Specht Development and Trammell Crow previously built projects in Gresham Vista Business Park. The property also includes a synthetic diamond manufacturing plant built for De Beers Group by U.K.-based Gardiner & Theobald.

Colas Construction previously worked for Specht Properties on the renovation of the 220 NW 2nd Building to accommodate Prosper Portland‘s new offices.

“They did a bang-up job,” Specht said.

Andrew Colas, president and CEO of Colas Construction, did not return a message seeking comment. In a news release, he stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Specht, the Port of Portland and the city of Gresham on this unique development project. We believe this project will set a new standard in the importance of BIPOC Development Corporation inclusion in large-scale developments and could not be more excited to partner with Specht in this pursuit.”

The project will have strict diversity targets and require high-wage jobs. The average wage target is $53,890.

“That’s a high bar,” Specht said.

Predevelopment of the project comes as the industrial sector has been a bright spot in a weakening commercial real estate market. Specht, who has long maintained that a dearth of available land restricts industrial development in the Portland-metro area, believes Gresham Vista Lot 5 is special.

“It’s one of the best remaining greenfield sites for industrial development in the Portland metropolitan area,” he said.

The post Development deal reached for metro-area property appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.