A two-building development that will bring a total of nearly 200 units of affordable housing to Portland’s Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood advanced last week, as construction funding was approved for the first phase and notice of a Type II adjustment review was issued for the second.

Central City Concern and Related Northwest are teaming on the phased development of a pair of properties at Southeast Division Street and 115th Avenue. The first phase, the $15 million Division Street Apartments, will include 40 single-room occupancy units and 20 studios. The second phase, the $38.3 million 115th at Division, will include 138 apartments – a mix of studios and units with one, two or three bedrooms.

Both buildings are designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects and will be built by Walsh Construction Co.

Portland City Council last week approved construction financing not to exceed $8.475 million for the Division Street Apartments, at 11332 S.E. Division St. The project is the first of two to be awarded funding through the Portland Housing Bureau‘s 2018 notice of available funding for permanent supportive housing. All 60 low-barrier housing units in the building will rent for $500 per month; 40 will serve homeless individuals with mental health issues, and 10 will be reserved for individuals with severe mental illness.

According to Ryan Hood, a project manager with Related Northwest, the project team is planning to close on the property on May 28 and break ground at the beginning of June. Construction of the three-story building is expected to require about 13 months.

The four-story 115th at Division will rise on a 1.02-acre lot at 11518 S.E. Division St. The new building will feature a large central courtyard and 87 vehicle parking spaces. Shapiro Didway Landscape Architecture is the project’s landscape architect. A Type II adjustment review will address locating vehicle access from a driveway near the property’s southern end, as the Portland Bureau of Transportation will not allow curb cuts on Division Street.

Funding for the project will come from a $258.4 million housing bond approved by voters in November 2016. The development team is hoping to close on the property in late October and break ground shortly afterward, Hood said. Construction is expected to require about 16 months.

The building is primarily intended to serve households making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. Seven of the units are to be set aside as permanent supportive housing. The proximity of the building to the Division Street Apartments will allow for residents elevating out of permanent supportive housing units to remain in the immediate community by transitioning to living at 115th and Division. Further, both buildings’ proximity to Central City Concern’s Blackburn Center will allow residents to access that facility’s comprehensive services, which include health care, addiction treatment and employment assistance.

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The Portland Housing Bureau, Multnomah County‘s Mental Health and Addiction Services Division and Oregon Housing and Community Services are financially supporting a pair of projects that combine new housing with mental health services in an effort to fight chronic homelessness.

Together, the three agencies plan to invest more than $12 million to provide 98 new housing units and space for social services.

“The benefits of permanent supportive housing are well documented, and this is a proven strategy we will implement statewide,” Oregon Housing and Community Services Director Margaret Salazar stated in a press release.

The Division Street Apartments project is being developed by Central City Concern and Related Northwest, and designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects. The development will be built on a 1.08-acre parcel, currently vacant, at 11332 S.E. Division St., in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood. Plans call for 40 Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) units averaging 204 square feet, including a bathroom, as well as 20 studio apartments. Rent will be $500 per month for all 60 units, 40 of which are intended for homeless individuals with identified mental health issues.

The Findley Commons project is being developed by Do Good Multnomah and HomeFirst Development to serve veterans. It will be built on part of an existing parking lot at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, at 5415 S.E. Powell Blvd. Plans call for 18 SRO units and 20 one-bedroom apartments. The SRO units will rent for $350 per month. Also, 20 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers will be leveraged to support the one-bedroom units, which are intended for veterans earning no more than 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).

The Portland Housing Bureau last summer issued a Notice of Funding Availability and called for cost-effective proposals to create new supportive housing for homeless individuals experiencing mental illness. These two projects, according to the bureau, are the first in which capital funding to build affordable housing has been bundled with funding to provide services for vulnerable residents.

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