After overseeing $109 million in projects that brought 263 apartments and commercial space in five buildings to Lents, Prosper Portland is moving forward on a second round of development in the neighborhood.

Preliminary plans include a new multifamily building on a vacant lot and renovations to the existing Brewery Blocks property, at 5716 S.E. 92nd Ave., that is home to Zoiglhaus Brewing Co.

The projects have been long in coming. Palindrome Communities, a Portland development firm led by Chad Rennaker, was chosen as the developer after a 2014 request for proposals.

The program for what Prosper Portland is calling Lents Town Center Phase II has not been finalized. The agency will host a public open house on Monday from 6-8 p.m. at Wattles Boys & Girls Club, 9330 S.E. Harold St.

Prosper Portland and Palindrome Communities are considering construction of a 200-to-250-unit multifamily development on a 4.4-acre property on Southeast 92nd Avenue between Harold and Ramona streets. Portland’s inclusionary housing policy will apply, providing a complement of affordable housing.

“There’s no prescription here yet,” Prosper Portland spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. “The investment is real, and certainly we want to have that engagement as we move into Phase II.”

The first-phase multifamily units are effectively fully leased, said Alison Wicks, Prosper Portland’s Lents project coordinator. The first phase included 204 units at various levels of affordability, 57 market-rate units and two managers’ units.

The Phase I commercial space is approximately 50 percent leased, Wicks said.

Prosper Portland developed Lents Commons. The Asian Health & Service Center developed its own building. Rose Community Development developed the Woody Guthrie building. Palindrome Communities developed the two-building Oliver Station project.

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Hundreds of people turned out for a celebration held Wednesday to mark the opening of the Asian Health and Service Center, a cultural, educational, health and social service hub in the Lents neighborhood. The three-story, 30,000-square-foot building contains treatment space for physical and behavioral health, the Asian Cancer Resource and Support Center, a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose room, a healing garden, and small multipurpose rooms for classes and group programs. The building also holds a ground-floor commercial space occupied by Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic.

The Holst Architecture-designed project was built by O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders, which broke ground in early 2017. The building features a distinctive metal sunscreen structure along the south façade consisting of prefinished aluminum attached to color-matched steel columns. The building’s southwest corner contains a three-story curtainwall system, which provides ample daylight for a stairway from the ground-floor lobby to the third-floor public spaces.

The building is one of four in the Lents Town Center urban renewal area to receive partial funding from Prosper Portland. Others include the now-complete Lents Commons and Oliver Station mixed-use projects as well as Woody Guthrie Place, a mixed-income apartment project now under construction.

The development team includes Asian Health and Service Center, Housing Development Center, Mark Sherman Consulting and Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic. The project team includes civil engineers KPFF Consulting Engineers, ABHT Structural Engineers, MEP engineers MFIA Inc., and NNA Landscape Architecture.

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A nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between Asian and American cultures is building its first permanent home in the Lents neighborhood. The Asian Health & Service Center will contain physical and mental health care space, offices, and community and event space. The project is one of several in the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area that have received partial funding from Prosper Portland.

O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders began work this past spring on the Holst Architecture-designed project, at Southeast 91st Avenue and Foster Road. The building consists of three stories of structural steel over a slab-on-grade, post-tensioned concrete foundation. Crews are slated to top out the building late next week. They will then begin concrete deck pours, to be followed by commencement of steel stud framing in early 2018.

The 28,000-square-foot building’s ground floor will house a commercial space to be occupied by a Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, as well as multiple consulting rooms, a waiting room and a main lobby. Its second floor will contain open-office desk pods, office space and conference rooms, which will be made available for community use.

The top floor will feature a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose hall for community events as well as consulting rooms, a resource library, a commercial kitchen and an outdoor terrace with a movable storefront for all-season use.

Completion of the project is slated for May 2018, at which point the ground-floor tenant improvement will begin. O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders and Holst Architecture are also serving as the respective general contractor and architect for the build-out, which is expected to require one month of work.

The project team also includes ABHT Structural Engineers, MFIA Inc. Consulting Engineers (mechanical, electrical and plumbing design), KPFF Consulting Engineers (civil engineering) and Nevue Ngan Associates (landscape architecture).

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The keystone intersection of Southeast 92nd Avenue and Foster Road in Portland’s Lents neighborhood is a cacophony of beeping construction equipment and passing traffic.

Crews from Bremik Construction and subcontractors build on a vacant lot. Traffic on Interstate 205 provides a constant hum that is occasionally joined by the high-pitched whine of a MAX green-line train whizzing by.

Few pedestrians bother to join the chaos, except construction workers bringing equipment back and forth where the New Copper Penny – a rough-and-tumble bar – once stood.

For many years, the Portland Development Commission has been trying to make Lents happen. The agency has poured millions of dollars in loans and grants into the east Portland neighborhood.

Now the key question facing the neighborhood is whether it can stand on its own. After all of the city’s efforts, can private developers take the baton?

Lisac Brothers Construction is the latest firm to gain a foothold in Lents. The Clackamas-based company purchased a 0.38-acre property at Southeast 93rd Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard from the PDC in April 2016 for $500,000.

Lisac Brothers plans to construct a commercial building with a restaurant or pub, along with a small food-cart pod in the first phase. A second phase would consist of a 12-unit apartment building.

The biggest project is coming from Chad Rennaker’s Palindrome Communities. It’s at work on two separate blocks on 92nd Avenue between Foster Road and Woodstock Boulevard. Plans call for 120 affordable apartment units and 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space in two buildings in the project known as Oliver Station.

Rennaker also is a partner in Zoiglhaus Brewing, a restaurant and brewpub that is becoming a central gathering place for Lents residents.

The PDC owns a large parcel of about 3 acres that fronts Harold Street along 92nd Avenue. The property is targeted for future development, likely with a housing component, said Leila Aman, Lents project manager for the PDC.

However, work on that Harold Street property will wait until the projects under way are stabilized, Aman said.

“I wouldn’t expect that to happen for another few years,” she said.

At 9101 S.E. Foster Road, the PDC is itself developing a 54-unit multifamily building after Williams & Dame walked away from the project in June 2016. The PDC, acting as developer for the first time, broke ground this past October. The building also will hold 7,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The agency plans to reserve half that space for locally owned businesses that will contribute to the streetscape, Aman said.

The Asian Health & Services Center is planning to build a new headquarters at Southeast 91st Avenue and Foster Road. Designed by Holst Architecture, the project will include 34,200 square feet of commercial space. Ground is expected to be broken this spring.

Public infrastructure is growing too. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is leading the Foster Road Transportation and Streetscape Project that extends from 50th to 90th avenues. Crews will widen sidewalks in Lents to 9 feet, up from 5 feet, install marked crossings and bike lanes, and add trees and lights. The project team is aiming to reduce traffic fatalities and contribute to a pedestrian atmosphere in the area.

Throughout the urban renewal area, plans call for widened sidewalks and streetscape improvements.

“It’s going to create a much more hospitable, safe and fun pedestrian environment,” Aman said.

Zoiglhaus looms large in the neighborhood. The 200-seat restaurant opened in 2015, and the brewing operation has attracted praise for its unusual lineup of mostly German-inspired beers.

“That development has really proven to be a game changer for this part of town,” said Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the PDC.

East Portland is one of the densest places in the entire nation for breweries, which planners like because they generate street-level activity.

“Putting a brewery in that spot was definitely something the community wanted and something the PDC wanted as landlord,” Zoiglhaus co-owner Alan Taylor said.

But before Zoiglhaus, no brewery had taken a chance on Lents.

“It’s definitely a growth neighborhood,” Taylor said. “It’s been a good spot.”

An amateur baseball team, the Portland Pickles, began playing at Walker Stadium in Lents Park last summer. Taylor said he noticed a modest pregame bump in sales on Pickles game nights. The neighborhood could become the next Williams Avenue, Alberta Street or Mississippi Avenue, he added.

There are some challenges to the transformation. I-205 effectively cuts the neighborhood off to the east. Nor is it as close to downtown as some of East Portland’s bustling districts, like Alberta or Hawthorne. The business district is small – only a few blocks – and surrounded by single-family residences.

The PDC and other city agencies are looking to create a corridor from Lents into the heart of Portland. The PDC is keeping a close eye around Southeast 67th Avenue and Foster Road, where there are signs of life.

“There’s kind of this growing small business district that’s coming out,” Aman said. “We’re looking at that area as well – from an urban corridor perspective, that is the corridor that leads to the center.”

Some small businesses are popping up near 92nd Avenue. Dimitry Kuzmich opened NW Pro Gear, a bicycle shop and snow sports retailer, in 2014. Kuzmich said he’s excited for the neighborhood’s transformation but also concerned his business could be priced out.

“It’s definitely been changing,” he said. “It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood. I’m looking forward to the construction being done. “

The location draws business from Washington residents looking to avoid sales tax, as well as Gresham and Clackamas residents, Kuzmich said.

Running a small business in Lents has its challenges. The storefront has been broken into three times in the last year alone, Kuzmich said, prompting him to install a metal gate and video surveillance.

And then there’s the homelessness issue. Lents residents and business owners say the homeless have returned in force after an earlier sweep of the Springwater Corridor Trail, which runs through Southeast Portland.

“The homeless people haven’t been helping, because they constantly deter people from using the Springwater trail,” Kuzmich said.

Joel Rebik has lived in Lents for seven years and repairs bikes at NW Pro Gear. He’s likewise frustrated by the enduring effects of homelessness in the area.

“I can’t send my daughters out on the bike trail,” he said. “It’s totally useless to them. People tell me I shouldn’t use it, either, but I’m going to use it.”

The bike shop’s customers sometimes come in armed after riding on the Springwater Corridor Trail, Kuzmich said.

The PDC sees Lents as an appealing location for affordable housing.

“For a multitude of reasons, and this includes our partnership with the Portland Housing Bureau, we’re creating a substantial amount of affordable housing,” Aman said. “There is a role here.”

If all goes as planned, the neighborhood will be reinvigorated via multifamily housing, modern storefronts, food carts and an environment more conducive to walking and biking.

“You’re going to see an extremely different pedestrian environment,” Aman said.

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Three developers backing projects in Lents recently asked for, and received, $6.3 million in Portland Development Commission loans in the face of higher construction costs and a tight lending environment.

The PDC’s board on Feb. 10 approved the additional loans to encourage Palindrome Communities LLC, Williams & Dame Development and Asian Health & Services Center to move forward with a cluster of projects at Southeast 92nd Avenue and Foster Road.

The unanimous vote came as Palindrome approached the April 3 expiration of its option to purchase the New Copper Penny site at 5932 S.E. 92nd Ave. All three developers pleaded for more money to address increased construction costs and a lack of private financing. The extra money also will allow Palindrome to purchase and develop a highly visible corner parcel that is home to a Chevron gas station.

At the same time, PDC commissioners made clear that the additional loans would be the projects’ final line of credit.

“This is the most we’d be willing to do at this point,” Commissioner Aneshka Dickson said.

Added Commissioner William Myers: “If we come to an agreement on this, this’ll be the last time.”

With the additional $6.3 million, the PDC’s commitment to the developments has grown to $19.2 million.

The developers are aiming to transform a keystone Lents intersection that is anchored by the New Copper Penny, a long-established bar, and the gas station.

Palindrome Communities plans to demolish the New Copper Penny and add a mixed-use building on the site, and another on land occupied by the Chevron and a parcel owned by the PDC. The bar is a neighborhood icon, but it has drawn repeated shooting incidents and police calls in recent years.

The new buildings would boast 126 rent-restricted affordable units and 19 market-rate units, along with 29,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space.

Williams & Dame, doing business as 91st and Foster Development LLC, plans to construct a four-story mixed-use building with 16 affordable units and 38 market-rate units, 9,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a public courtyard.

The Asian Health and Services Center plans to add a building with 30,000 square feet of commercial space for AHSC offices, clinic and community space, and 4,600 square feet of leasable commercial space.

Local residents have long pined for renewal in the neighborhood after years of false starts. There are at least some signs the urban renewal area is coming to life.

In September, Palindrome Communities’ Chad Rennaker, who previously created PINTS Brewing Co. in Old Town, opened a German-inspired brewpub, Zoiglhaus Brewing, at 5716 S.E. 92nd Ave. The PDC contributed more than $1 million to the brewpub project.

Rennaker said the brewpub and mixed-use development are part of the same vision for Lents.

“It’s a community that’s on the rise,” he said. “It just needed a few things to kind of spark it. We wouldn’t do a brewery in a location like that unless there were going to be other opportunities for mixed-use development.”

Zoiglhaus has been hailed as a much-needed space for community events and socialization in Lents.

“It’s a good asset to the community and it’s starting to build the identity of Lents as a healthy business district within Portland,” said Nick Christensen, a former president of the Lents Neighborhood Association.

Christensen said residents want more businesses and more rental housing, both affordable and market rate. The projects backed by PDC address those needs, he said.

“It’s really going to help preserve the affordability of the neighborhood while also providing jobs and improving the economy,” he said.

Christensen said he supports the PDC providing additional money to get the projects up and running.

“In the grand scheme of things, PDC spent more than $100 million in Lents over many years without many results – whereas these projects are going to have significant results,” he said.

Lents is getting its own sports team too. The Portland Pickles will begin play June 3, competing in a wood-bat baseball league. The Pickles’ opening season follows renovations – funded in part by the PDC – to Walker Stadium at Lents Park.

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The Portland Development Commission’s board this week approved loans for three projects that promise to bring new life to the Lents neighborhood.

A total of up to $3.4 million in predevelopment loans and up to almost $13 million in development loans will go to the Asian Health and Service Center, Palindrome Communities LLC and Williams and Dame Development.

After hearing staff presentations and discussions on the proposals, the board voted unanimously to approve loans for all three. They were selected by the PDC in January from a field of applicants interested in developing PDC-owned land in the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area.

Jina Bjelland, the PDC’s director of real estate and lending, told the PDC board that the urban renewal area for Lents will expire in five years and that funding is needed to entice development.

“No developer would move forward without PDC funding,” she said. “We have about $3 million at risk from a $60 million budget.”

Although there is some risk in the loans, she said, funding will come from other capital sources and deed restrictions will give some control to the PDC.

Board member Charles Wilhoite is OK with the risk.

“It’s a signature first step,” he said, and board member Mark Edlen agreed.

“It’s really great to see these three projects move forward in Lents,” he said.

A predevelopment loan of $786,800 and a development loan of $3.05 million will go to the Asian Health and Service Center to develop property at 8931 S.E. Foster Road. Early plans call for a mixed use, built-to-suit facility on PDC-owned property. The development will include community meeting space, office space, a medical clinic and two market-rate commercial spaces. The plan also includes tuck-under and surface parking.

Williams & Dame will receive up to $1,256,077 for predevelopment and $4.75 million for development on 0.63 acres at the northwest intersection of Southeast Foster Road and 92nd Avenue. The initial development idea calls for construction of a mixed-use building with market-rate and affordable housing units, ground-floor commercial space and surface parking.

Palindrome Communities’ plans for 1.07 acres of property, also at Foster Road and 92nd Avenue, call for a mixed-use building – including affordable residential units, ground-floor commercial space and surface parking. Palindrome Communities also intends to buy two more parcels nearby – commonly known as the New Copper Penny and the Chevron Station properties – to include in the project. The Chevron property is in negotiations, Bjelland said, and the New Copper Penny land is under contract.

Chad Rennaker of Palindrome Communities said the PDC board’s approval of the three projects was “a pivotal day” since he and his wife moved to Portland 30 years ago and first lived in the Lents neighborhood.

“We have seen the ups and downs of Lents – mostly downs,” he said.

Trevor Rowe, vice president of construction at Williams & Dame, said his company has been in weekly meeting for months with the PDC to come up with the deal.

“Our first task was to engage with the neighborhood and listen,” he said. “We want a high-quality project.”

Dr. Erik Szeto, board chairman of the Asian Health & Services Center, said his organization serves 65,000 local residents, 25 percent of whom are minorities, and will help pay for construction costs.

“We create jobs, provide meals and health education,” he said. “We will have a capital campaign and will bring $7 million to the project.”

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The Portland Development Commission introduced its new budget for fiscal year 2015-16 to the Portland City Council earlier this month. For the first time, the budget is tied to the agency’s new strategic plan, said PDC executive director Patrick Quinton.

“This budget is the first budget you’ll see that begins to implement our new strategic plan, and it’s broken down by funds as required by law,” Quinton told city commissioners.

Action plans for Old Town Chinatown and Lents urban renewal areas are at the top of the list, Quinton said.

The Old Town/Chinatown Five-Year Action Plan, approved by City Council in August, calls for waiving the city system development charges for construction of up to 500 units for renters who earn up to 100 percent of the region’s median family income. The aim for the development subsidy – estimated at $7 million over the next five years – is to trigger diversification of the neighborhood’s housing stock, according to city officials. Currently, 72 percent of apartments in Old Town are restricted to low-income renters, compared to 6 percent citywide.

Old Town’s five year plan includes several “measures of success” that include:

• a net gain of five new retail stores;
• the creation of 500 new living wage jobs in the district;
• the creation of 500 new middle-income housing units;
• the rehabilitation of five buildings completed or under way ;
• the identification of a district parking strategy;
• the implementation of four annual neighborhood events using public space;
• the development of marketing collateral to promote district; and
• the implementation of Community Livability Grant projects.

The five-year plan for the Lents Urban Renewal Area calls for five town center redevelopment projects built or under construction, two West Foster redevelopment projects, and complete construction for the upper Garden at Leach Botanical Gardens and the Urban Grange at Zenger Farms. Other goals include serving 100 business and property owners through PDC grant and loan programs, and providing 75 families with financial assistance to buy or remain in their homes.

The PDC has just under $300 million in total resources for the coming fiscal year, Quinton said, with the bulk of resources on hand.

“Debt proceeds from bonds already issued – about $180 million – has been growing over the last few years because some projects have not moved forward as quickly as hoped,” he said.

But with “pay-as-you-go” short-term debt, the PDC doesn’t have to issue long-term new debt, Quinton said.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz said she would like to see housing in neighborhoods included in next year’s budget, an approach Quinton agreed with.

Commissioner Nick Fish questioned whether any money allocated for the Old Town Chinatown would be subject to settlement of lawsuits against the city.

Fish was referring to long-standing lawsuits filed against the city related to expenditures in the utility department, said to his chief of staff, Sonia Schmanski. But Quinton said there is no connection.

“Our money is outside that,” Quinton said. “Our priorities are clear with those properties and we expect to get full value and development.”

The proposed PDC budget has $213 million in expenditures, Quinton said, which leaves money that will roll over into future years.

“If we need additional expenditures beyond the $213 (million), we have money to do so,” he said.

Half of the money on hand is in the broad category of property redevelopment.

“The bulk sits on a handful of projects like the county health building with line items for specific projects,” Quinton said.

The PDC held two open houses earlier this year to get feedback on its updated strategic plan. The plan’s first three objectives are to increase citizens’ access to healthy, complete neighborhoods; create opportunities for high-quality employment; and increase opportunities for minorities and low-income residents to foster wealth creation.

The proposed budget includes several changes related to six urban renewal areas, including a reduction in tax increments in the River District URA budget; no longer collecting tax increments in the Willamette Industrial URA budget; ending and no longer collecting tax increment resources to the Education URA budget; increasing the area and extension in the final date to issue debt for the Central Eastside URA; and increasing the area for the North Macadam URA.

The Portland City Council will vote to accept the budget on May 27.

The entire proposed Portland Development Commission budget can be viewed .

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The Lents neighborhood is gaining three new mixed-use developments and one commercial space as part of a city effort to expand the Lents Town Center.

The Portland Development Commission on Tuesday announced it has selected three teams to move forward with negotiations and timelines for development of several PDC-owned properties in the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area.

Two development teams – Rose CDC and Williams & Dame – will construct mixed-use buildings on a 1.36-acre lot bounded by Southeast 91st and 92nd avenues and Reedway Street and Foster Road.

Rose CDC’s development will consist of market-rate apartments as well as retail and office space; it will be located at the parcel’s south end. The PDC did not specify what Williams & Dame has planned for the north end.

Project partners REACH CDC and Asian Health and Services Center were chosen to develop 0.72-acres at the intersection of Foster Road and 91st Avenue. When completed, the building will be a combination of a community center, health services, a preschool and senior housing.

The PDC selected Palindrome Communities to develop two parcels of land – one 0.96-acre property sandwiched between Foster Road and Woodstock Boulevard and one 3.48-acre lot bordered by Interstate 205 to the east and 91st Avenue to the west.

The 3.48-acre parcel will be a “mixed-use, multi-building development” and the smaller parcel will be a commercial development.

The PDC did not announce a development schedule.

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A Portland development group catering to the Latino community has received federal and state tax credits to help pay for two new projects as well as rehabilitation of an existing building.

Hacienda Community Development Corp. last week received an $18 million New Markets Tax Credit Program deal from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, according to Mayor Charlie Hales‘ office. Hales was involved in the process of securing the money by completing interoffice work that shaped the deal and qualified the group for the tax credits, according to Sara Hottman, deputy public information officer for the mayor.

The tax credits are made up of $10 million in federal and $8 million in state funds, according to the mayor’s office.

The money will go toward construction of a new office for Hacienda CDC, construction of the Portland Mercado and repairs to the Ortiz Community Center.

The new office will sit at the corner of Northeast Killingsworth Street and Cully Boulevard, adjacent to the Ortiz Community Center. The building will bring together 40 staff members now divided between three offices, and will relocate employees to a space in the middle of their largest affordable housing campus.

The 14-year-old Ortiz Community Center holds a Multnomah County health clinic and other county-oriented social services programs. It also serves as a community center for residents of the affordable-housing community.

The Portland Mercado, now under construction in the Lents neighborhood, will host about 20 businesses as a public market and business incubator for the Latino community. It is scheduled to open in spring 2015.

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Land parcels and financial incentives are available for developers interested in helping expand the Lents Town Center.

The Portland Development Commission on Wednesday issued a request for interest to encourage construction of new businesses, residences and other investments on six sites totaling approximately six acres.

“We have quite a bit of money budgeted to support this thing,” said Anne Mangan, senior communications coordinator for the PDC. “We can do things like grants, tax incentives, gap financing and loans. The ideas the developer comes up with will determine how the money is deployed.”

This development opportunity is part of the Lents Five-Year Action Plan approved in May by the Portland City Council; the goal is to stimulate development that will “positively change the reputation and vitality” of the area, according to the news release.

Mangan said that PDC staffers are looking for “innovative proposals that fulfill our goals for district identity, community partnership, social equity and amenities that serve the neighborhood.”

Walking tours of the six sites will be led by PDC staffers on Friday, Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. and Friday, Nov. 14 at 9 a.m. for developers interested in responding to the RFI.

Interested parties can register for the walking tour either by contacting PDC senior project coordinator William Thier at 503-823-3193 or visiting .

The PDC also is receiving input from citizens about amenities they’d like to see in the Lents Town Center.

More information is available at .

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