Construction crews will break ground next month on a 224-unit affordable housing development in the Hollywood neighborhood of Portland.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday authorized new construction financing of up to $33 million for HollywoodHUB. Financing consists of Portland Housing Bond money passed by voters in 2016 and American Rescue Plan HOME dollars. In addition, the project will receive Metro bond funds through the city of Portland.

“This is construction of an affordable housing project at the Hollywood Transit Center that leverages over $111 million of public and private financing and delivers 222 units of housing with a focus on serving families,” said Donnie Oliveira, deputy city administrator for community and economic development.

This is the final of 15 projects funded by the $258 million Portland Housing Bond. Other projects include Cathedral Village, Alder 9, Francis + Clare Place and more.

BRIDGE Housing is leading development of the affordable project, while TriMet provided the land. The 12-story, 120-foot-tall, 233,000-square-foot building will rise at the Hollywood Transit Center site on Northeast Halsey Street.

At the same time, TriMet is working on modernization improvements to the transit center, such as upgrading bus and pedestrian infrastructure. That work is already underway.

BRIDGE Housing hired O’Neill-Walsh Community Builders to construct the HollywoodHUB building, which was designed by Holst Architecture. Residential services within the building will be provided by Hacienda CDC.

HollywoodHUB will provide 222 units of affordable housing, plus two manager’s units. Seventy-one of the units will be restricted to households earning up to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI) and 151 units will be restricted to households earning up to 60 percent AMI.

As a result of ongoing outreach, BRIDGE Housing doubled the number of units and increased the percentage of two- and three-bedroom units, according to BRIDGE Housing. The development will include 43 studios, 53 one-bedroom, 95 two-bedroom and 33 three-bedroom units.

A total of 149 units will be funded by Portland Bond funds and 73 units will be funded by Metro Bond funds.

Amenities for the new building will include two community rooms, a community kitchen, a private meeting room, bike parking and an entry circulation plaza.

“HollywoodHUB is on track to earn the Earth Advantage Multifamily Gold certification with a broad range of sustainability features, including all-electric building systems and high-efficiency fixtures,” said Danell Norby, housing investment and portfolio preservation manager at the Portland Housing Bureau.

Construction crews will break ground on construction in October. The building is expected to be complete in winter 2026.

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Portland’s skyline is changing.

Several high-rises are finishing up and are under construction, including the 460-foot-tall Block 216 that is climbing the Portland skyline and Alamo Manhattan’s Block 41 – a 23-story tower popping up in South Waterfront.

Here are the next nine towers in Portland’s pipeline:

(Click the images for more information on each project)

[1] Pearl Block 24

Developer: Greystar
Architect: GBD Architects

Pearl Block 24 would be a 22-story (about 250 feet tall) tower with roughly 440 units and 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The project site is bordered by railroad tracks diagonally to the north, The Fields Park to the east, Northwest Quimby Street to the south, and The Abigail and The Holden of Pearl, a senior living tower under construction to the west.

The high-rise would include slightly more than 450,000 square feet and include a seven-story, angled bar-shaped portion and a three-story podium with about 300 below-grade parking spaces. The project last received design advice from Portland Design Commission on Oct. 20.

[2] The Phillip Apartments

Address: 555 N.W. Park Ave.
Developer: Fields Holdings
Architect: TVA Architects

Three design options are on the table for the eastern half of the historic Honeyman Hardware block in the Pearl District: An 11-story, half-block scheme; a 16-story tower; or a 19-story quarter-block scheme. Initially, a 23-story high-rise was proposed for the site, but after comments from Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission and the public, plans for the building were significantly scaled down.

The project last received design advice from the Historic Landmarks Commission at the end of September. In the meeting, the preferred option presented was the 11-story, half-block scheme with about 200 residential units. The structure consisted of an eight-story addition that would hover above the two-story Bindery Building on the block. The addition would have a penthouse suite on top.

[3] RiverPlace Phase 1

Address: 150 S. Montgomery St.
Developer: NBP Capital
Architect: GBD Architects

A 30-story, 344-unit tower is set to rise on the southern parcel of Block 1 in the approved RiverPlace master plan area. The development is phase 1 of a more extensive buildout of the 8.03-acre RiverPlace site adjacent to the South Waterfront Park.

The Bureau of Development Services projected the project to cost about $82 million during the land use process. The Portland Design Commission approved its final design in August. Most recently, a demolition permit was issued for the RiverPlace Athletic Club on the site.

[4] Sandy Pine

Address: 900 S.E. Sandy Boulevard
Developer: SolTerra Capital Inc.
Architect: LEVER Architecture

At 125 feet, Sandy Pine is anticipated to be Portland’s tallest mass-timber building. The Portland Design Commission approved the 12-story structure in June. The development will have 276 apartments (including six live/work units), 14,500 square feet of commercial space and bike parking, and 2.5 levels of below-grade parking for 178 vehicles.

The project is LEVER Architecture’s second attempt at a mass-timber tower in Portland. The first, Framework, a 12-story mixed-use building envisioned for the Pearl District, gained approval and even had building permits issued – but financial difficulties halted the project in 2018.

In its design review, Sandy Pine was valued at about $36 million. Framework initially was expected to cost $34 million.

[5] Welby 

Address: 1325 N.W. Kearney St.
Developer: Killian Pacific
Architect: Bora Architecture + Interiors

The Portland Design Commission approved the design of the 21-story, 280-unit multifamily building in May. The tower’s green facades could make it a standout building in the North Pearl District as it will stick out from the gray, black and brown tones of most skyward buildings.

Welby will have 5,500 square feet of retail space at ground level and 4-1/2 levels of underground parking. The Bureau of Development Services projected the project to cost about $106 million during the land use process.

[6] SW Park Apartments

Address 2059 S.W. Park Ave.
Project Owner: Park Avenue PSU LLC
Architect Tahran Architecture & Planning

A 12-story affordable housing development is set for the corner of Southwest Park Avenue and Southwest Clifton Street. The building will have 98 residential units.

Plans for the development initially called for an 11-story, 89-unit building, but in October, the Portland Bureau of Development Services reapproved it as a 12-story development.

Most of the structure will be prefabricated and use modular units with mass plywood panel flooring and ceiling systems. As planned, SW Park Apartments will be the tallest modular structure in the city.

[7] Modera Main Street

Address: 1155 SW 19th Ave.
Developer: Mill Creek Residential
Architect: Ankrom Moisan
Contractor: MCRT PNW Construction

The 17-story building set for Goose Hollow will be one of Portland’s largest multifamily developments. At nearly 435,000 square feet, the development will fill a full-city block and hold 337 apartments.

The building will wrap around a large-scale parking structure with 403 stalls that residents will share with Multnomah Athletic Club members.

The project is under building permit review with the Portland Bureau of Development Services.

[8] Press Block’s Full-Block Development

Address: 1621 S.W. Taylor St.
Developers: Security Properties and Urban Renaissance Grou
Architect: Mithun

The second phase of the Press Blocks development is underway in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood. The entire development comprises one-and-a-half city blocks at 1621 S.W. Taylor St., on the old Oregonian printing press site near Providence Park. Construction wrapped in summer 2020 on the eight-story, half-block, Canvas office building.

Now, it is the full block’s turn. The site will include a 24-story high-rise with 341 apartments as well as a three-story, 30,000-square-foot commercial building with retail space, live/work units and creative office space. The developments will be linked by an underground parking structure that will hold 473 vehicle parking stalls and secured bike storage.

Demolition began in September on the old Oregonian printing press building and will last roughly six months, according to a representative for Security Properties. The final Press Blocks buildout will take about three years to complete.

[9] Hollywood HUB Housing

Project Owner: TriMet
Developer: BRIDGE Housing
Architect: Holst Architecture

Hollywood HUB Housing would be TriMet’s first transit-oriented development under its new Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines. Plans call for a 12-story, 120-foot building capable of supporting 234 affordable units. The project, in part, is a reimagining of the Hollywood Transit Center.

The goal for the site is to create a seamless transit connection from the Hollywood MAX station across the Interstate 84 pedestrian bridge to the three bus lines that run down Halsey Street. The project’s scope includes a new pedestrian and cyclist connection to the end of the pedestrian bridge.

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Plans presented for Hollywood HUB Housing to the Portland Design Commission on Thursday call for a 12-story, 120-foot building with 234 affordable units. It is the second design advice hearing for the project; the first included a 13-story, 199-unit building scheme.

The project in part is a reimaging of the Hollywood Transit Center and is the first proposal under TriMet‘s Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines. The site along Northeast Halsey Street is owned by the agency, but BRIDGE Housing is the developer for the building.

As part of the project’s scope, a new pedestrian and cyclist connection would be added to the end of the Interstate 84 pedestrian bridge. The goal is to create a seamless transit connection from the Hollywood MAX station across the bridge to the three bus lines in front of the building along Northeast Halsey Street.

Last time, commissioners said that the building’s L-shape design — coupled with the plan for the shared driveway, outdoor area and inactive ground-floor uses — would be unsafe and create a hostile pedestrian environment, according to the summary memo.

Senior City Planner Tim Heron said, “while this is technically … a second DAR (design advice request) for this site, it feels like a brand new one.”

The building’s massing has transitioned to a C-shape with a courtyard in the cutout and has substantial relief along the north and south pedestrian transit connection planned.

“The new direction of the project is stupendous,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said. “It’s so much, it’s not even in the same universe.”

Before, the development team was constrained by a Difficult to Develop Area boundary bisecting the site. Dave Otte, applicant and principal/owner at Holst Architecture, said it pushed their original design into that “really shoehorned” L-shape.

Failure to keep the building within the boundary meant that the associated 30 percent boost in tax credit would be lost – about $10.2 million in tax credit equity.

What in part triggered the big massing shift was an agreement. The western and southern half of the transit site fell within the DDA boundary, established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bridge Housing Executive Vice President Kurt Creager said, however, in the case of the transit center site it was an uncommon situation. The DDA boundary did not follow the property line but rather the busways. The line was calculated using the postal zip code for the transit area.

To rectify this, BRIDGE and TriMet worked with Senator Ron Wyden’s office and consulted with HUD, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service and Oregon Housing and Community Services. An agreement was reached to allow for Low Income Housing Tax Credit to boost any development delivered on the site, regardless of whether it is in inside or outside the current DDA boundary.

Creager said while they are technically unable to change the boundary until the 2030 census, they have received “a favorable administrative interpretation,” endorsed by the IRS and OHCS.

The resulting resolution meant that the Hollywood HUB Housing project could be built in a C-shape, alleviating most of the commissioner’s prior concerns and be completed within a single phase (rather than the two-phased approach proposed earlier). It also allowed an additional 37 housing units to be added.

“I know it has a long way to go,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said, “but just the simple massing moves that have (been) proposed so far would make this a pretty outstanding building. So I think by the time they’re done this should be a real landmark for the neighborhood and for the city.”

The pedestrian and cyclist connection, referred to as the “paseo,” was extended to the full width (64 feet) of the vacated street between the building site and the businesses across the street. The connection would be built by TriMet and function as an amenity for the greater community. Within the paseo will be a stair and ramp connection to the pedestrian bridge.

Alongside the connection will be an entrance to the future Sullivan’s Gulch Trail, a roughly 5-mile-long trail in planning from the Central City out to the Gateway Regional Center. Plans for the entrance call for a 20-foot-wide path to allow for bicyclists moving quickly to get on and off the trail.

“I can’t wait for the Sullivan’s Gulch trail to open up,” McCarter said. “When that thing opens up and there’s people coming over the bridge, there’s people coming into the site from Sullivan’s Gulch, there’s people coming through the site from Halsey, it is going to be an amazing – a really pulsing urban place and that’s gonna be great to see.”

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