A nonprofit’s latest affordable housing project is redevelopment of a former motel property in Southwest Portland. Jamii Court will be a 96-unit complex at 10450 S.W. Barbur Blvd., in the West Portland Park neighborhood.

Metro purchased the Portland Value Inn in 2021, and it was leased by Multnomah County as a homeless shelter until mid-2025. The motel was demolished this past fall.

Construction of Jamii Court started in November. Project completion is anticipated in late 2027.

The five-story, 95,833-square-foot building is being developed by Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH). The project team also includes LRS Architects, civil engineer Janet Turner Engineering of Lake Oswego, structural engineer Stonewood Structural Engineers, landscape architect Marianne Zarkin Landscape Architects, and general contractor O’Neill/Walsh Community Builders.

The total project cost is approximately $43.4 million, with most of that covered by Metro and the Portland Housing Bureau.

The building will be on the 1.1-acre property’s south side and face Barbur Boulevard; the parking lot will be on the north side, CPAH spokesperson Cara Jack stated in an email. There will be three interconnected masses: the Barbur‑facing volume, the east–west bar, and the knuckle that links them. The Barbur mass will align with the street, while the bar mass will follow the site’s east–west axis.

“The Barbur façade is intentionally pulled back from the roadway to create a welcoming entry along this civic corridor and to establish a meaningful frontage,” LRS Architects associate principal Calista Fitzgerald stated in an email. “Together, these massing elements create several distinct placemaking spaces across the site: the Barbur‑facing stoop, the north plaza at the connecting knuckle, and the south courtyard, which is tucked between building volumes and protected from Barbur Boulevard traffic.”

The design incorporates three Islamic elements: jali, the qibla, and specific colors.

Jali is traditionally a perforated stone or lattice screen featuring geometric patterns. A triangular motif was applied selectively to key vertical circulation elements that mark entrances and exits, Fitzgerald stated.

Window bays are angled in alignment with the qibla — the direction Muslims face when praying. This subtle orientation adds depth and meaning to the facade while reinforcing cultural resonance, Fitzgerald stated.

Traditional colors of Islam — green, white, blue and gold — will be incorporated throughout the complex. Window bays will be framed with two shades of green, and the graphic pattern on the angled “woof” wall (both a wall and a roof), will be outlined in gold. These colors will also appear in the interior design.

“Blue creates a continuous thread from the waiting area and drive aisle through the plaza, into the lobby, and ultimately to the water feature” in the south courtyard, Fitzgerald stated.

Building materials were selected with a 50‑year building life in mind to minimize long‑term life‑cycle costs while supporting sustainability (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum) and resiliency goals for the project. Exterior materials will include phenolic panels, fiber‑cement siding with a ceramic coating, European-style vinyl windows and aluminum storefront glazing.

Interior materials were selected for sustainability, durability, and reduced maintenance: low‑VOC paints, carpet tile, a walk‑off carpet, and rubber flooring. Gypsum board, including abuse‑resistant panels in corridors and other high‑traffic areas, will help minimize long‑term wall repair needs, Fitzgerald stated.

CPAH partnered with social services organization HAKI to engage the Islamic community in Southwest Portland in development of the project.

“Their input directly influenced the selection of the building name — Jamii Court, with ‘Jamii’ meaning ‘community’ in Swahili,” Fitzgerald stated.

Also, community members’ feedback shaped the designs of the community spaces and influenced the decision to include larger units, ensuring the building will support multigenerational living, Fitzgerald added.

The building will include 25 studios, 24 one-bedroom units, 29 two-bedroom units, nine three-bedroom units, and nine four-bedroom units.

The apartments will be available to households earning a wide range of lower incomes, including 49 units for people earning up to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI), 22 units for up to 40 percent of AMI, 15 units for up to 50 percent of AMI, and 10 units for up to 60 percent of AMI. Also, 39 units will come with rental assistance. CPAH will provide resident services.

Urban League of Portland will provide services — including case management and health care referrals — for occupants of the 15 permanent supportive housing units.

The building will include two community rooms: a larger one with a kitchen connected to an outdoor plaza (south courtyard), and a smaller one with a lending library and computer stations. The outdoor plaza will include grilling equipment, seating and a water feature. There will also be bike parking, dedicated service space, loading spaces, on-site laundry space, a parcel locker, on-site property management, and controlled building access. There will be 32 parking spaces, 17 of which will be ready for electric vehicles.

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A design competition to reimagine a portion of Tom McCall Waterfront Park will kick off this summer and run for six months. The tentative plan is to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) in July, Portland Parks & Recreation spokesperson Mark Ross stated in an email.

Interested firms will need to propose a design team, including a qualified architect/landscape architect of record (registered in the state of Oregon).

RFQ responses are expected to be judged in the fall. That process will result in a short list of three design teams. They will then be invited to respond to a request for proposals (RFP), which will have more detailed evaluation criteria, Ross stated.

The city’s goal is to reimagine how Portlanders and visitors connect with the Willamette River by redeveloping the park’s bowl. At this point it would include improving river access, adding flexible park spaces, and restoring river edge ecology.

Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) has hired architect search specialist Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) of London to manage the competition.

Portland-based social impact consultancy Interplay will lead the competition’s community engagement strategy, including focus groups, public events and feedback sessions.

PP&R has also formed a Waterfront Park Bowl Project Advisory Committee (PAC) made up of 18 individuals to help inform project decisions. PAC members will confirm community priorities for the project site, provide input on the design competition process, review and deliver feedback on design criteria and programming, provide advisory input during design development, and more.

The project team will work with the PAC and the Technical Advisory Committee to develop details of the competition’s scoring system and design criteria, Ross stated.

Jurors will be selected by MRC and PP&R.

Through community engagement, PP&R heard that some people believe there is limited access and visibility of the Willamette River. Community members also believe the lawn is under-activated with a lack of opportunities for play and recreation, food and beverage options, and restrooms. For the bowl specifically, there is a strong demand for water activities such as swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding, as well as a desire for a reimagined seawall, terracing, stormwater management and flood resilience. This information was shared with the PAC and the Technical Advisory Committee earlier this month.

At this time, funding for the project includes a $750,000 2040 planning and development grant, which Metro awarded last year.

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Construction has begun on a memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery, in Southeast Portland.

More than 3,100 people of Chinese ancestry were from the 1880s to the early 1900s, mostly in the cemetery’s southwest corner (“Block 14” on maps), according to Metro. When Multnomah County took ownership of the cemetery in 1928, officials began pushing to have the Chinese section cleared of graves. Eventually, the area was paved over, and a maintenance facility was built there. The building was later demolished, and Metro became the property owner in 2007, according to Metro.

The new Lone Fir Chinese Memorial is intended to honor the memories of the people who were once buried at Block 14, Metro stated.

Crews started work last week on the project, which is being overseen by Metro’s Parks and Nature department. The site is around 1.2 acres of the cemetery, which is mostly within Southeast 20th and 26th avenues and Southeast Stark and Morrison streets.

Landscape architect Knot Studio is leading a multidisciplinary project team that includes contractor Paul Brothers Inc. of Boring. Allied Works, a subconsultant, designed the memorial walls and spirit tablet pavilion – one of the memorial’s key features, Metro spokesperson Cory Eldridge stated in an email. Other contributors to the project include historical researchers, archaeologists, interpretive designers and artists as well as civil, structural and electrical engineers, and others.

Much of the construction will be concentrated on the site’s western edge, which was never used as a cemetery and can accommodate sufficient digging to support a large structure, Metro stated in a press release. A curved walkway and plantings in the site’s central portion will help discourage visitors from walking in the area most likely to hold human remains.

Screened windows in the memorial walls will draw from traditional Chinese design.

“The leaf pattern of the screens was inspired by a graphic detail in the original burial ledgers the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association discovered in 2004,” Eldridge stated.

A new, circular altar will include a trough of sand for burning incense sticks. The top will be engraved with the words “we honor you as though you were present” in Chinese calligraphy. The phrase was on the plaque of an altar that formerly stood at the site’s east end, according to Eldridge.

A Portland-based artist team, Qi You and Sophia Xiao-fan Austrins, has guided development of art for the site. They presented opportunities for community members to – frequently food, which people would leave as offerings to the deceased, Eldridge stated. Clay creations will be cast in bronze and mounted around the site.

Lone Fir Cemetery will remain open during construction. However, to ensure visitors’ safety and allow the contractor access, the cemetery’s southwest portion will close temporarily. The walkway from Southeast Morrison Street will be closed, and the original cemetery access from Southeast 20th Avenue will be used exclusively by construction crews. Also, some internal cemetery roads will close temporarily.

Construction is expected to wrap up by early 2027, with a grand opening to follow in the spring.

Metro expects the total project cost to be approximately $6 million. Funding is coming from a $475 million bond measure approved by voters in 2019 and from Multnomah County.

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A cohort of affordable homeownership projects is emerging in Portland, Milwaukie and Gresham, funded by Metro’s affordable housing bond, that aims to give lower-income residents and people of color a starting rung on the homeownership ladder.

The program is spread among six separate projects totaling 158 units. Metro has committed to date $19 million, or less than 3 percent of the $652.8 million housing bond voters approved in 2018, to homeownership projects.

Nevertheless, it represents an effort by public officials and private developers to expand affordable housing beyond the rental market.

“This particular type of investment is really critical to addressing our region’s housing crisis,” said Patricia Rojas, regional housing director for Metro. “Homeownership is a pillar of the American dream, and it’s a tool that people have been able to use for economic mobility and for building generational wealth.”

The projects are beginning to make their way through permitting processes and into construction. Community Development Partners has submitted an early assistance request to build eight townhomes at the intersection of Northeast Alberta Street and Mallory Avenue in Portland.

The project across the street from the developer’s offices in Alberta Abbey is CDP’s first venture into the tricky world of affordable homeownership. Developers say financing affordable homeownership projects generally is more difficult, with fewer funders and more complications.

“Homeownership is harder to pull together compared to rental housing,” said Sarah Schubert, Northwest development director for CDP. “There’s fewer sources out there. There’s a lot of legal structuring.”

The projects use a variety of funding mechanisms, including Metro bonds; funds from the state Local Innovation and Fast Track Homeownership Program, or LIFT, administered by Oregon Housing and Community Services; local system development charge waivers; and construction loans.

CDP plans to make the three-story Alberta townhomes available to homebuyers at 65 percent of the area median income. Prices are expected to be around $275,000, but that is subject to change according to federal income rules.

“We’re pretty excited about this project, even though it’s small,” Schubert said. “It’ll be a learning experience and helpfully we can replicate it in other areas. We think it’s an important project for the community.”

Scott Edwards Architecture is designing the Alberta Alive townhomes project, which is being co-developed by Self-Enhancement Inc.; no general contractor has been selected.

CDP owns the property, which is currently used as a small surface parking lot. It’s part of a portfolio of socially minded housing projects from CDP and SEI called Alberta Alive that also includes rentals. Some of the projects are on land donated to the Portland Housing Bureau by the Strong family, a prominent Black family in the Alberta neighborhood.

The project originally envisioned rental and homeownership properties on the same lot. But CDP found it made sense to split the projects, which have separate funding mechanisms.

“The homeownership and rental combined didn’t pencil out,” Schubert said.

CDP is interested in building more homeownership projects, the developers said.

“This is a competitive edge we should have over our peers,” said Thomas Eldridge, a CDP development manager who is working on the townhomes project.

Local government housing agencies are increasingly asking for a homeownership component in their requests for proposals, Eldridge said. CDP is eyeing another opportunity in McMinnville that calls for a homeownership component, he said.

The Alberta lot has room for up to 20 units, but local residents made clear that they wanted a less-dense housing project, CDP officials said.

The townhomes will be awarded according to the city of Portland’s North/Northeast Housing Strategy Preference Policy, which weighs the applicant’s historic ties to the neighborhood and the effects of urban renewal and displacement.

“This is a project that’s in North-Northeast Portland, that’s in an area that had a thriving Black community that’s been gentrified,” Schubert said. “It’s pretty significant to be able to provide homeownership opportunities.”

Metro is also looking to boost homeownership by historically marginalized groups that were kept from owning homes by redlining and other barriers.

“That historic practice has had lasting impacts,” Rojas said. “It’s important that we try to reconcile that.”

Metro has awarded funding to projects in jurisdictions that have reached certain affordable housing goals, officials with the regional government said.

The projects use a community land trust model. That places limits on how much appreciation homeowners can realize, providing some protection against a new owner reselling the property for fair-market value.

“They can’t just flip it like a market property,” said Jimmy Oporta, housing coordinator for Metro. “It is intended to maintain its affordability and pass it on to the next homeowner, or maybe even to the next generation of people within that same family.”

The other projects are:

• Carey Boulevard, 53 townhomes from Habitat for Humanity in the University Park neighborhood. Just over half the homes will be for owners at or below 60 percent area median income, and the rest will be pegged to between 61 percent and 80 percent AMI.
• Shortstack Milwaukie is focused on “missing middle” housing, including duplexes, triplexes and cottage courts. The 15-unit project in Milwaukie’s Ardenwald neighborhood will use mass timber to construct two-story homes.
• In Gresham, West Coast Homes and Habitat for Humanity are building 11 two-bedroom townhomes at a mix of income levels. The project is in the Rockwood town center area.
• Twenty affordable homes at Myrtlewood Way, formerly known as Glisan Townhomes, at 17640 N.E. Glisan St. The units range in size, including 13 three-bedroom homes of 1,237 square feet; 5 four-bedrooms of 1,550 square feet; and 2 five-bedroom units of 1,655 square feet.
• In the Hillsdale neighborhood, Gooseberry Trails will have 52 units from Habitat for Humanity ranging from two to five bedrooms. The 5-acre development will feature shared green space, a playground and potentially a community garden. Construction began in July.

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The Metro Council last week approved three requests by Portland Parks & Recreation for grants – via the 2025-2027 Regional Flexible Funds Allocation program – to pay for projects.

Approximately $4.86 million will go to trail construction from North Columbia Boulevard to Columbia Park.

The regional North Portland Greenway Trail provides a continuous route for active transportation, recreation, and access to residential, industrial, commercial and nature areas. This project will help fill gaps in the trail as well as create a safe, accessible bicycle and pedestrian connection between Chimney Park and Cathedral Park.

The project features on-road (neighborhood greenways on North Portland streets) and off-road (paved, multiuse trails in Baltimore Woods Natural Area and Cathedral Park) bicyclist and pedestrian facilities. It also features a safe, grade-separated bicyclist/pedestrian bridge at North Columbia Boulevard – a “high crash corridor,” according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Also, $2.27 million will go to the Marine Drive Trail.

This PP&R project will help fill a major gap in the 40-Mile Loop by replacing dangerous on-street bike lanes with a designated bike path. This segment (nearly 1 mile) will provide trail users unparalleled views of the Columbia River and Mount Hood. When completed, trail users will be able to enjoy nearly 14 miles of uninterrupted off-street trail along the Columbia River from Northeast 33rd Drive to the Sandy River in Troutdale.

And finally, $1.9 million will go to the North Portland Greenway: Kelley Point Park.

Kelley Point Park is a historically and culturally significant place due to its location at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. It is also the future northern terminus of the planned North Portland Greenway Trail. While much of the trail is already built within the park, there is a 1,400-foot gap that currently forces trail users onto the road. That will end after the trail is extended to the 40-Mile Loop and Marine Drive Trail.

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Crews have broken ground on a 144-unit affordable housing complex in Washington County.

Related Northwest‘s Terrace Glen Apartments will be in Metzger, a census-designated place near Washington Square. The project – the developer’s first in the suburban county – is being paid for in part with Metro housing bond dollars.

There will be a couple of four-story buildings around an inner courtyard. Apartments will range from studios to four-bedroom units. Rents will be from $483 to $1,408 per month.

Terrace Glen will be the fourth affordable housing project in Washington County to benefit from the Metro bond. The funds are administered by the county’s Housing Authority.

“It’s affordable housing projects like Terrace Glen that alleviate the burden of housing instability and increasing rent costs for our community members,” Washington County Board Chairwoman Kathryn Harrington stated in a news release. “Terrace Glen is going to make a big difference in the lives of 144 families.”

Related Northwest is part of New York-based real estate giant Related Companies. Related Northwest has previously worked with partners such as Central City Concern and the Portland Housing Bureau. Related has previously completed Cedar Commons in outer Southeast Portland. Crescent Court Apartments is on track to wrap up in Southeast Portland in May and Cathedral Village Apartments in St. Johns is set to open in late summer.

“With the lack of supply of affordable housing, we are proud to be able to bring such an integral development to the community of Tigard,” stated Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related Northwest.

Terrace Glen pairs housing with on-site services. The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization will support self-sufficiency, EngAGE Northwest will provide arts education to the multigenerational population and HomePlate Youth Services will provide services to homeless youth between 18 and 24 years old.

Walsh Construction is serving as general contractor for Terrace Glen. C2K Architecture designed the development. GLI Advisors is managing construction.

In addition to the housing bond, financing is being provided by Citibank, US Bank, Metro (via its Transit Oriented Development Program) and Oregon Housing and Community Services.

Construction is scheduled for completion in June 2023.

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The future of Willamette Falls is moving ahead slowly, with construction of an overlook delayed into a second phase.

Local governments involved in the Willamette Falls Legacy Project agreed at a Feb. 4 meeting to embark on a first phase that would include habitat restoration and public-access improvements at the Oregon City landmark.

An overlook designed in 2020 would be built in a future phase at an estimated cost of $12.5 million, the Legacy Project announced.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has owned the property since purchasing it from Washington developer George Heidgerken in 2019. A tribal spokeswoman initially said she was not aware of a news release issued by the Legacy Project – a group of government agencies including Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro and the state of Oregon.

“I think we’re seeing the culmination of a true collaboration,” Oregon City Commissioner Rachel Lyles Smith said at the Feb. 4 meeting.

The Legacy Project stated that project staff will work on phase one design and “continue engaging with tribal governments to inform the design, resulting in permit-level drawings.” The local governments also stated they would support “Grand Ronde’s priorities for private development.”

The tribe has not detailed any plans for private development. In response to inquiries from the 91��Ƶ, the tribal government issued a written statement.

“As the host tribe we are a tribal people who are the descendants of the keepers of the falls,” Communications Director Sara Thompson stated Friday. “We’re blessed with a connection to Willamette Falls that has been passed down through generations and are committed to bringing healing and restoration to this place. Our hope is that the Riverwalk project will introduce visitors to this amazing landmark on the Willamette River and the rich history tied to it. Through the different phases of this project, we hope to give people a love and appreciation of this place that will be handed down through future generations.”

Money from Metro’s 2019 parks and nature bond measure, the Willamette Falls Trust and additional contributions from Oregon City and other project partners will provide the funding for a second phase, according to the Legacy Project.

“We’re making really great strides forward for something that’s going to benefit everyone at the table,” Smith said. “And it’s going to benefit Oregon. This is a destination site and it makes me excited.”

A large fire caused damage at the vacant property in December. A man was arrested and charged with arson and other crimes, The Oregonian reported.

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Metro’s $5 billion transportation measure has emerged as perhaps the hardest-fought local ballot issue, and one that has split real estate and construction interests.

The measure would approve funding for a series of infrastructure projects, most notably construction of a light-rail line from downtown Portland to Bridgeport Village in Tigard. It would be paid for by a payroll tax on employers with more than 25 workers, something that has led to fierce opposition from big business, including Nike and Intel.

The ballot issue, Measure 26-218, has attracted some sharp critics, ranging from a well-known local economist to the well-heeled Portland Business Alliance. It has also caused splits in the business community and among companies involved in real estate and construction.

In favor: construction companies such as Stacy and Whitbeck and Colas Construction, which have extensive experience with major public contracts, along with major unions including the Local 48 Electricians PAC.

Opposed: Commercial real estate brokers and investors including Melvin Mark Brokerage Co. and Harsch Investment Properties.

It’s not a mystery why commercial real estate and construction interests are on opposite sides of Metro’s transportation plan, Portland pollster John Horvick said.

“Clearly, the union and construction guys have an interest in big construction projects, and the commercial real estate guys are worried about payroll taxes,” said Horvick, political director for DHM Research.

The measure appears to be on track to be closely decided. A poll conducted by DHM Research and commissioned by OPB found the measure leading in a close contest, with 47 percent in favor and 42 percent opposed. The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters in the Portland metro area from Oct. 7 to 11.

“The measure’s close,” Horvick said. “If it narrowly passes, that wouldn’t surprise me. If it failed by 12 points, that wouldn’t surprise me.”

Tax measures tend to tighten as an election nears, Horvick said. “It’s just a lot easier to get people to no than it is to yes.”

At stake is years’ worth of construction jobs. The Southwest Corridor light rail project alone is expected to cost $1.8 billion, with $975 million coming from the bond measure and the rest from federal and other leveraged funds. The project would also require rebuilding the Vermont and Newbury trestle bridges on Barbur Boulevard.

The Metro measure would also fund improvements to deteriorating state highways such as Tualatin Valley Highway and 82^nd Avenue, electrifying Trimet’s bus fleet and paying for students to take city buses.

Metro spent years putting together a group of projects from around the region that would attract political support. Still, the measure was only barely ahead in Multnomah County, with 55 percent support, and well behind in Washington County, where many of the projects are concentrated.

“That’s a real warning sign — that in the most tax-friendly jurisdiction it’s barely over 50 percent,” Horvick said of the Multnomah County survey results. “In Washington County, where most of the money would be spent, it’s underwater.”

In Washington County, 43 percent were in favor and 45 percent were opposed.

Commercial real estate firms have joined other business groups in opposing the measure:

• Harsch Investment Properties donated $25,000 to the Stop the Metro Wage Tax PAC on Sept. 17, public records show. Jordan Schnitzer’s company manages 3.5 million square feet of office and industrial property in the Portland area. A message left for a Harsch spokeswoman was not returned.
• Melvin Mark Brokerage Co., which owns or manages 3 million square feet of office space in metro Portland, donated $10,000 to the Stop the Metro Wage Tax PAC on Sept. 21. Melvin Mark also did not respond to a request for comment.
• Developer Vanessa Sturgeon donated $1,000 to the political-action committee on Oct. 14. “A tax on wages during an economic crisis is a really bad idea,” Sturgeon said in an email.
• Law firms Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt and Davis Wright Tremaine each donated $10,000 to the Stop the Metro Wage Tax.

The political action committee has sent cheeky mailers with the message “Packy Never Forget,” referring to an elephant that died at the Metro-owned Portland Zoo in 2017.

Construction and labor have been the strongest backers of the pro-Metro side. Among the campaign’s biggest boosters:

• Stacy and Whitbeck Inc. gave $150,000 to the Get Moving PAC in August. The company, based in Alameda, California, has built previous light-rail lines in Portland, including the MAX Orange line. A company spokeswoman did not respond to a message seeking comment.
• Local 48 Electricians PAC donated $100,000 to the get moving PAC on Aug. 24.
• HNTB Corp., a Kansas City, Missouri, engineering firm with a Portland office, donated $65,000 to the committee on Oct. 19.
• Hamilton Construction Co., a contractor based in Springfield that focuses on public infrastructure projects, donated $10,000 to the PAC on Oct. 13.
• Colas Construction Inc. donated $2,500 to another pro-ballot measure group, the Infrastructure Jobs are Good Jobs PAC, on Sept. 14.

The Associated General Contractors of Oregon-Columbia chapter has stayed out of the fray, taking no official position on Measure 26-218.

While the Metro measure directly stands to affect billions of dollars in projects, industry officials are also watching other races, including Portland’s mayoral election, which has a community activist, Sarah Iannarone, challenging Mayor Ted Wheeler.

AGC Oregon-Columbia Executive Director Mike Salsgiver said he’d like to see more balance in the state Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats.

“Supermajorities in either direction don’t tend to serve the public very well,” he said.

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Construction has begun in North Portland on the North Rivergate Boulevard Overcrossing – a bridge over railroad tracks intended to relieve traffic congestion caused by trains blocking roads.

The $25.8 million project will provide a crossing over North Rivergate Boulevard in the Rivergate Industrial District. Railroad traffic can affect vehicle circulation in the area for up to four hours a day, the Portland Bureau of Transportation stated in a news release.

A combination of federal, state and local dollars, including a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant that was given to the Port of Portland in 2016, are being used to pay for the project. Metro, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the city of Portland (transportation system development charges) are also contributing money.

The general contractor for the North Rivergate Boulevard Overcrossing is Vancouver, Washington-based Cascade Bridge. Participating subcontractors include McDonald Excavating, Northstar Electrical Contractors, JBL Signs and Roger Langeliers Construction Co.

Rivergate Boulevard is now closed from North Lombard Street to North Time Oil Road. Traffic is being detoured from North Burgard Road to North Time Oil Road for the duration of the closure – about a year, according to PBOT‘s expectations. Local access to the properties within the closure area will be maintained via new access roads for the construction period.

The bridge is scheduled to be completed in spring 2021.

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A regional effort to bolster the ranks of women and people of color in the building trades gained a key backer after the city of Portland this week committed to supporting the Construction Career Pathways Project (C2P2) framework plan.

The city is among 16 municipalities and public agencies collaborating via an owner work group convened by Metro to devise a strategy for increasing career opportunities for traditionally underrepresented communities in the skilled construction workforce. The stakeholder group was convened in 2018 and met regularly through August 2019 to develop a framework plan that would create a consistent regional approach to recruit, train and retain a diverse workforce.

Now, after a phased process that has included conducting a workforce market study, engaging stakeholders, and drafting and finalizing the framework plan, officials are gathering endorsements from the agencies involved in the project in order to move into the final phase – implementation of the framework plan.

“(That) is really where the rubber hits the road for us,” said Raahi Reddy, director of Metro’s diversity, equity and inclusion program, before Portland City Council on Wednesday. “We will work together with the agencies that have adopted this framework to coordinate our efforts and to make sure that we are holding ourselves and our projects accountable to the public.”

The group has engaged with industry partners, including contractors, labor and apprenticeship groups and community organizations, to develop the framework and determine how best to effectively enact the plan. Other agencies that have so far adopted the plan include Metro, Multnomah County and Prosper Portland.

The framework plan consists of seven points public owners should integrate into their practices in order to make improvements in construction workforce equity. Among those are setting minimum workforce participation goals based on a percentage of work hours performed on a project – including 20 percent by apprentices, 14 percent by women, and 25 percent by people of color – as well as implementing jobsite anti-harassment and culture change strategies, utilizing software to track progress on goals, and committing funds to increase diversity.

An accompanying tool kit provides further details and guidance for public owners in implementing the points recommended in the framework plan.

In signing the framework plan, the city is committing to continuing to collaborate with the stakeholder group and aligning with the minimum workforce participation goals over the course of a seven-year ramp-up period.

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