Construction of a three-story, 40-unit affordable housing development will start next month in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood, in the heart of the Jade District in Portland.

Gorman & Company is developing the 42,667-square-foot Jade Apartments in partnership with APANO Communities United Fund. The site is at 2905 S.E. 89th Ave., between 82nd Avenue and Interstate 205.

“What is really amazing about this project is that we were able to work with nonprofit APANO that’s been working for years in this neighborhood and had identified the site more than 10 years ago,” said Kevin Kellogg, Pacific Northwest market president of Gorman & Company. “We’re finally able to build housing on the site they wanted.”

The project team also includes architect SERA Architects, civil engineer BKF Engineers, structural engineer Aman Structural Engineering LLC, and landscape architect PLACE. The general contractor is a joint venture – Gorman & Company’s in-house construction team, Gorman General Contractors LLC, and minority-owned GSI Builders Inc.

The Jade will include 14 one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedroom units, and 15 three-bedroom units. Five units will be regulated for households making up to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI). All other units will be for households making up to 60 percent of AMI.

The three-story building will have two courtyards with a community room in between. Other amenities will include an outdoor play area, a community garden, a secure mail and package room, a secure bike room, laundry rooms on each floor, on-site property management and resident services offices, and on-site parking.

In front of the building, a road will be constructed with sidewalks to help residents travel to bus stops on Southeast Division Street, Kellogg said.

The project is designed to Earth Advantage silver standards. Also, the building will meet the Portland Housing Bureau’s green building standards. There will be a full solar array and battery backup system, heat-pump water heaters, a high-efficiency HVAC system, and an enhanced building envelope and insulation.

“Our goal is to power the entire building, including the units, with clean energy,” Kellogg said, adding that most of the energy will be generated on-site.

The total project cost is approximately $24 million. Funding is coming from the Portland Housing Bureau via the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, Metro‘s Transit-Oriented Development Program and affordable housing bond funds, Multnomah County general funds, and Oregon Housing and Community Services’ General Housing Account Program and Oregon Multifamily Energy Program, as well as funds from Banner Bank.

The building is expected to open in early 2026.

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O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders was very busy in 2018, and that hasn’t changed in the new year.

The partnership of general contractors Walsh Construction Co. and O’Neill Construction Group specializes in building affordable housing projects in the Portland-metro area, often with public or nonprofit partners. The latest collaboration fitting that bill is under way at 8118 S.E. Division St. There, ROSE Community Development, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and Metro are developing a new four-story mixed-use project dubbed Orchards of 82nd.

The 51,700-square-foot building will include 48 affordable housing units with one, two or three bedrooms. The ground floor will house APANO’s new headquarters and community amenities for residents. SERA Architects designed the building to Earth Advantage gold standards.

The project’s budget is $11.5 million. Some of that cost is being covered by grants from Oregon Housing and Community Services, the city of Portland and Metro. Metro bought the property in 2014 and leased an existing furniture store to APANO prior to the new development.

Currently, drywall, interior and exterior finishing, painting and other finishing touches are taking place. A temporary certificate of occupancy is expected to be received within the next 30-60 days, according to Walsh Construction project manager Kent Usher and superintendent Ben Bechdolt.

Cascade Management is handling leasing of the apartments, which will be rented in tiers to households of one to eight persons making no more than 30, 50, 55 or 60 percent of the median family income, respectively.

The project fits within the vision for the Jade District – an initiative spearheaded by APANO to revitalize the 10-square-block area around Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street. In 2011, Prosper Portland selected the Jade District as a Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative district. The district, according to its website, “focuses on community development work in the neighborhood.”

Ground was broken on Orchards of 82nd in October 2017. The project was originally known as The Jade, but the APANO board of directors voted late last year to change the name as a nod to the history of the area. It once featured a number of orchards and farms owned by Japanese-American families, but then much of that land was seized and the owners were interned during World War II.

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The Jade District, in Southeast Portland, could look a lot different if ideas presented in an urban design charette come to fruition.

The event came about after MultiCultural Collaborative, a self-described team of planning and business professionals, secured a $100,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. Then the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) last week brought together Prosper Portland (formerly the Portland Development Commission), the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, TriMet and Metro as well as community members to participate in the charette. Designers from Resolve Architecture + Planning, Qamar & Associates Inc. and Green Girl Land Development Solutions LLC showed attendees ideas to “Green the Jade.”

“This is to generate the vision plan,” said Anita Yap, partner in the MultiCultural Collaborative. “It is a conceptual master plan.”

Now that stakeholders’ input has been collected, a final report will be submitted to the EPA this fall.

“Only five communities in the country got grants, so this is a big deal for us,” said Suenn Ho, principal at Resolve Architecture + Planning. “We were able to bring in really strong presence from the Vietnamese community. We got that voice in front of the jurisdiction representatives.”

The designers focused on areas around Southeast 89th Avenue and Brooklyn Street, Southeast 82nd Avenue and Woodward Street, and Southeast 85th Avenue and Division Street.

Organizers had four main goals for the charette. Designers were asked to minimize gentrification, make streets safer, foster development of small businesses and increase parks and green space.

“What was so inspiring was that they hit all four goals,” said Khanh Pham, programs and strategy manager at APANO.

Many of the proposed projects focused on creating parks and slowing traffic in the area. But the focus on small business development was one aspect that helped broaden the audience of the charette, Pham said.

“As community members we originally envisioned it as an entirely environmental project,” she said. “What we found most valuable was the interconnections of how greening the Jade is about small businesses. Trees are nice, but jobs – that is something that piqued people’s interest.”

Charette organizers hope that economic development will help minimize gentrification. Land values in the area have increased, and many parcels are now more valuable than the structures that sit on them.

With neighborhoods zoned for multifamily units, the area is primed for redevelopment.

“It’s about local economic development,” Pham said. “On 82nd (Avenue) and beyond, we are seeing a lot of gentrification issues. We are looking at how we can keep some land permanently affordable.”

Giving the community a voice in that redevelopment and the path it takes was a key aspect of the charette.

“When we team up with designers and they listen to the neighborhood (residents), they tend to be very surprised,” Yap said. “The design is much more complex and thoughtful.”

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Finding Portland’s Chinatown is a challenge for area residents and visitors alike.

“One of the more popular questions we get is: Where is Chinatown?” said Scott Steele, director of marketing and communications for the Lan Su Chinese Garden. “We always talk about the restaurants that are still nearby and Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA). But we also talk about the Jade District out at (Southeast) 82nd (Avenue).”

The Lan Su Chinese Garden, at 239 N.W. Everett St., is one of the few buildings in Portland’s Chinatown that has a distinct Asian flavor. Many of the buildings around it bear little difference from other structures in the city.

“(The gardens) are designed to incorporate the Chinese architecture,” Steele said. “We were truly built for the location we are at. It is really designed to complement the buildings around it.”

Yet few of those surrounding buildings resemble architecturally what many people consider Chinese. Plus, more Asian businesses and residents in Portland now occupy the Jade District than Chinatown.

That isn’t likely to change much under the proposed design guidelines for the Chinatown/Japantown Historic District. The Portland City Council is set to vote in August whether to approve the guidelines, which have been in the works since early 2016. The proposed standards emphasize a more flexible attitude toward signage, balconies, open courtyards and rooftop amenities like gardens. However, architectural changes won’t be drastic.

“You’ll see more balconies, rooftop spaces and a more subtle change to the built environment,” said Brandon Spencer-Hartle, senior planner for Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. “You won’t suddenly see a lot of pagodas and tile roofs. We are looking to keep what makes our Chinatown a little different.”

Rather than encouraging a radical redesign of the area to make it look more like other Chinatowns, the guidelines aim to create a more streamlined aesthetic, according to Spencer-Hartle. The rules will focus on allowing more flexibility on the first three to four floors and allowing alterations that may have been shot down in the past.

This plan is OK with many district stakeholders.

“We want to protect the integrity of the buildings,” said Helen Ying, board member of the Portland Lodge of the Chinese American Citizen Alliance. “We want to tell the history of what our Chinatown is.”

The core of Portland’s Chinatown ranges from West Burnside Street to Northwest Glisan Street and from Northwest Third Avenue to Northwest Fifth Avenue. The area features a large gate, including a pair of sizable lion sculptures, at Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street. Also, ornate streetlamps help give the area an Asian feel.

Nevertheless, Chinatown looks much different from those in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. Aside from the gate, the streetlamps and a smattering of buildings with tile rooftops, little in Chinatown differentiates it from any other part of Portland. While classic Chinese architecture often has covered walkways, rooftop gardens and open courtyards, Portland’s Chinatown is just as likely to have a parking lot or a tech startup’s office.

“It’s more diffuse,” said Joann Dao Le, principal at DAO Architecture. “From a physical aspect, it is not packed with Asian or Chinese businesses.”

Spencer-Hartle added, “The casual passerby won’t know they are in a different district. A hundred years ago there would have been definite change. Not so much today.”

Prior to World War II, the area now considered Chinatown was dominated by Japanese who began immigrating to the area in the late 1890s and lived in structures built by early European immigrants. The city’s Chinese population largely lived to the south near what is now Keller Auditorium.

“During (World War II), Japantown was decimated by the internment policies,” Le said. “Slowly the Chinatown moved north of Burnside. Especially Third and Fourth Avenue became known as Chinatown.”

The area also has served as home to large Jewish, African-American, Greek and Italian communities. The hodgepodge of communities that have called the region home has left the area with a largely European architectural aesthetic.

Even once the city’s Chinese population migrated to the area, few people actually lived there largely because of a lack of residential units and a reputation for crime and homelessness.

“Other cities’ Chinatowns have a lot more people living there,” said Suenn Ho, principal at Resolve Architecture + Planning. “That makes a big difference.”

Ho contributed to projects in 2006 to improve the streetscape along Third and Fourth avenues. She designed bronze plaques highlighting the history of the area.

“This is not just a Chinatown,” Ho said. “Each of the plaques was located in specific areas that reflect the place that was referenced. They intended to talk about the diverse cultural history of the area.”

The project designers looked to incorporate the important Asian history of the area, and improve its use. Many cities’ Asian areas, for instance, have alleyways that serve as secondary retail areas for small family businesses. Portland’s streetscape doesn’t allow that kind of design, so planners settled for removing curbs from streets and using plazas to reference what a typical Chinatown would be.

“We wanted it to be a welcoming Chinatown,” Ho said. “The area can be utilized in a multitude of ways.”

While efforts to retain Chinatown’s history will continue, no one should expect the area to ever look like the districts that permeate much of the West Coast, Ho said. Many cities’ Chinatowns were created via efforts to attract non-Asian tourists rather than pay homage to authentic Asian architecture.

“Dallas wanted us to come and build a Chinatown for them; they didn’t have one,” Ho said. “The touristy nature of San Francisco is where the gate is. The money is coming from tourists, which perpetuates its own touristy thing because people want to make money.”

In Portland, Chinatown is likely to look more like the rest of the city as areas become gentrified and redeveloped. While it won’t have pagoda roofs and dragon décor, the goal is to make an experience that will be unique to the area and respectful to its history.

“We are not wanting to make it pretend like it’s Disneyland,” Ying said. “We want to tell the history of what our Chinatown is. That is what we want to focus on, not attracting tourists.”

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Years after the Jade District, in Southeast Portland, was targeted for investment by the city, the neighborhood is about to see some returns.

The largest change on tap is the Jade Apartments and Community Center, a 48-unit affordable housing development planned at Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street. The project is a joint venture of ROSE Community Development and Metro, which is donating the land.

The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon plans to occupy some or all of the office space on the building’s ground floor. The organization this week is embarking on a fundraising drive to help pay for the move, said Todd Struble, manager of the Jade District program for APANO.

“It fits in with our strategy of affordable housing and keeping affordable housing in the neighborhood and keeping the residents that are here,” he said.

The Jade District is one of the targets of the city’s Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative that began in 2009. The program aims to jump-start economic development in diverse areas where commercial activity has lagged. Other districts receiving attention include Alberta, Cully, Division-Midway, Parkrose, Rosewood, St. Johns and 42nd Avenue.

“It’s a way of doing urban renewal differently,” said Amy Fleck-Rosete, who manages the Portland Development Commission‘s Jade District efforts.

At the same time, city officials and neighborhood advocates are working to make sure residents aren’t overtaken by redevelopment. A multipronged approach is under way to ensure neighborhood residents and businesses don’t get pushed out by gentrification.

The PDC offers grants to improve storefronts and signage at local businesses through the Prosperity Investment Program.

“They’re really focusing on making sure the businesses that are in the area can stay in the area and participate in the market changes that are coming,” Fleck-Rosete said.

Neighborhood business advocates are also working quietly behind the scenes with landlords to secure longer leases for established businesses.

As Portland grows, neighborhood advocates expect the model of midsize, mixed-use apartment buildings seen throughout the city to come to the Jade District as well.

“We see that development marching east,” Struble said. “We haven’t seen that development quite yet, but we think we will in the future.”

At the same time, Struble said, residents want to make sure that existing housing in the neighborhood stays in place.

“Across the board, Portland needs more housing, and right now we’re in a place where we want to preserve as much housing as we can in the district,” he said.

A key to the Jade District’s future is improving transportation infrastructure. To that end, TriMet is embarking on a $175 million project to make bus travel along a 14-mile stretch of Southeast Division Street “easier, faster and more reliable.” The agency is planning to upgrade bus stops, purchase longer buses that have room for 60 percent more passengers and reconfigure traffic signals to accelerate bus commutes.

The targeted portion of Division Street extends from the Gresham Central Transit Center across Tilikum Crossing and through downtown Portland to Union Station at Northwest Fifth Avenue and Irving Street.

Construction is expected to begin in 2018, with service commencing in 2021.

Neighborhood residents and APANO are also pushing for safety improvements after two pedestrians trying to cross Division Street in December were struck and killed by motor vehicles. One victim, Rong Zhao Zhang, 65, was killed while returning home from work at Wong’s King Seafood Restaurant. Zhang was part of the Jade District’s vibrant Chinese immigrant community.

APANO is asking regulators to consider a “road diet” to narrow Division Street and slow traffic along a portion of it. The group has also suggested installing a crosswalk at 87th Avenue and Division Street, adding street lighting in the corridor and posting culturally responsive street signage as well as performing neighborhood outreach.

Some of the pedestrian crossings, particularly across 82nd Avenue, rank among the city’s most dangerous, Struble said. The area is also deficient in parks and other public spaces, so children often end up navigating the streets.

“We’re essentially asking youths to (use) some of the most dangerous crossings in the city of Portland,” he said. “Infrastructure improvements are things our residents have regularly asked for.”

Local groups are trying to help Jade District businesses in other ways. APANO and the Portland Community College Small Business Development Center recently held a restaurant training program in Cantonese; the focus was how to pass a Multnomah County health inspection. At times, cultural misunderstandings have cropped up between inspectors and restaurant owners in the neighborhood, Fleck-Rosete said.

APANO also organizes the Jade District’s annual Night Market each August. The event, featuring food and retail vendors, attracts approximately 20,000 people to the neighborhood.

“It’s been a great way to draw folks to the district,” Fleck-Rosete said.

The city is simultaneously supporting programs in the Jade District and Old Town Chinatown. Aided by its central location, Old Town Chinatown has seen several major redevelopment proposals come forward recently. Guardian Real Estate Services, for example, recently proposed a 10-story, full-block mixed-use project on Block 33 at 125 N.W. Fourth Ave.

The two neighborhoods have a complicated relationship. Some Chinatown residents moved to the Jade District in recent years as the community grew and the price to live in close-in Portland increased.

The Jade District and Old Town Chinatown have their own distinct identities, Fleck-Rosete said.

“The Jade District doesn’t want to take away from the history and the culture of Chinatown,” she said.

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Metro is aiming to pull off the difficult task of increasing affordable housing stock while boosting use of public transit and creating a walkable environment in Southeast Portland. To meet those goals, the regional governing body is partnering with ROSE Community Development to build the $16 million Jade Apartments and Community Center at Southeast 82nd Avenue and Division Street.

Project plans call for demolishing an existing former furniture store and then building 48 affordable housing units and more than 5,000 square feet of retail space – all within walking distance of a proposed bus rapid transit line that would run from Portland to Gresham.

“We want to hit ground by 2017,” said SERA Architects associate designer Gauri Rajbaidya, who is overseeing design of the mixed-use building.

Metro is donating the land for the project while ROSE Community Development Corporation is overseeing development. The structure will be funded, in part, by Oregon Housing and Community Services; Home Forward will provide rent subsidies to tenants. The project also could get money from the Portland Housing Bureau.

“We are still working on getting funding from the Portland Housing Bureau,” ROSE Community Development Executive Director Nick Sauvie said. “Every indication from them was really positive. They see the importance of the site, but we don’t have commitment yet.”

The bureau will likely make a final decision next spring, he added.

Under the current plan, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) would own the first floor of retail space. It plans to rent out space to small businesses and keep some of the outdoors area dedicated to community events.

“We want to retain a lot of the community element,” APANO Associate Director Duncan Hwang said. “It also complies with Metro’s idea of activating the streetscape. There is a huge demand for that.”

The apartments are intended to house people with moderate and low incomes in the area.

“(Most of) the units will be for those with incomes of 60 percent of the median family income,” Sauvie said. “Twelve units will be for those earning 30 percent of median family income.”

When the idea of putting a bus rapid transit line between Portland and Gresham was first floated, Metro saw it as a chance to combine the goals of keeping housing in the area affordable while also improving the area’s transit lines.

“In the past couple years affordable housing has really emerged as a bigger area of concern,” said Jon Williams, Metro project manager for transit-oriented development. “We have looked at how we can use our dollars to improve the area housing picture.”

The development is being built to encourage tenants to use mass transit. In fact, the complex will have only 12-15 parking spaces for residents. Other parking spaces will be for retail use, as mandated by city codes.

“We thought it was a chance to cement that it’s a walkable area by having a high density of affordable housing,” Williams said. “The trade-off is that if we try to put more parking we could only get 12 or 15 units on the site.”

The site’s small size made satisfying neighborhood concerns about parking, public transit needs and housing affordability a significant challenge for project planners.

“Parking is always an issue,” Rajbaidya said. “Metro wants to provide this to promote TriMet, meaning most of the residents would use TriMet. So trying to fit all of those things in a site that is rather small makes it a bit difficult.”

Another challenge is that the project team must work with multiple agencies. Southeast Division Street falls under the jurisdiction of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Southeast 82nd Avenue also doubles as Oregon Route 213, so the Oregon Department of Transportation is involved in anything along that thoroughfare.

“We have to cater to the state, and Division (Street) is under PBOT, so it’s a challenging site,” Rajbaidya said. “Within that tiny, little piece of land there are a lot of different dynamics that have to be considered.”

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