The first project within the OMSI District has a green light. The Portland Design Commission on Thursday approved the design of a five-story, 100-unit affordable housing development, Los Colibris, on tract A of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry campus.

Holst Architecture designed the approximately 86,500-square-foot building planned at 1701 S.E. Water Ave. The project is being developed by Hacienda CDC and Edlen & Co. OMSI is the landowner. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, landscape architect PLACE, and Colas Construction.

Portland Permitting & Development values the project at $36 million. No specific construction schedule exists at this time, Holst Architecture principal and owner Dave Otte stated in an email. The project team will next look to secure funding.

Previously, the project team received design advice during a hearing in November 2025.

The site’s primary challenge is its location adjacent to Interstate 5. A large, multiuse courtyard on the east side faces away from the freeway to give residents a space shielded from traffic noise, the project’s narrative states.

Landscaping will be intense closer to the building, Holst Architecture senior associate Dustin Furseth said, adding that color will also be a key component.

“We think something bright and colorful next to OMSI adds to the beauty of that area,” he said.

The building’s name, Los Colibris (“The Hummingbirds”), ties into the design, Furseth said.

“Hummingbirds have a neutral palette often with highlights of color, which I think is a nice way of thinking about how to add color and vibrancy to a project,” he said.

Overall, the building will have a neutral color with hints of color at the windows and more vibrancy on the massing at the courtyard and entry.

Building materials will include primarily fiber cement with options for texture and paneled direction. Metal panels might have deeper texture folding like chevrons able to reflect color, Furseth said. The design team is exploring custom accent colors for fiber cement.

Layers of glazing are planned at the front entrance and the community room.

The roof will hold heat pumps and mini splits. Most of the rooftop equipment will be relatively low in sightlines, Furseth said.

Commissioner Brian McCarter added that he’d like to see a buffer around the children’s play area.

The commission’s approval came with five design modifications and 12 master plan amendments. One condition requires a landscape buffer of at least 10 feet maintained for the length of the building’s south elevation, at the northern side of the western half of the Bull Run pathway. Alternative configurations would be considered through a staff-level type II design review. This will preserve existing trees to screen the ground-floor units as the Bull Run pathway develops.

Modifications were approved for zoning code standards. These include providing approximately 57.5 percent of frontage and a wide courtyard to create active public space, creating an arcade along the east façade, modifying window standards and uses on the ground floor, and using 50 percent of the roof area for solar panels.

Master plan amendments include changing the timeline of development of open space 2, reducing the extent of the Bull Run improvements associated with tract A, removing the 20-foot building setback above 50 feet in height for tract A, removing the building pass-through at tract A and shifting vehicle access to the north, relocating the private wastewater treatment plant to a location to be determined, delaying provision of the OMSI identity framework, transferring 2,000 square feet of floor area to tract A from other tracts, removing the building line requirement from the north side of tract A, reducing the ground floor height requirement for tract A, and adjusting the Southeast Old Water Avenue right of way.

The wastewater treatment plant will likely be relocated to the south on tract A or tract F, according to OMSI.

Artwork will be included in the project; OMSI plans to be involved in the process.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first look at plans for an affordable housing development at 1701 S.E. Water Ave., in the OMSI District. Approximately 100 residential units are proposed for the five-story Los Colibris (“The Hummingbirds”) building.

This is the first project within the OMSI Central City Master Plan, which was adopted in 2023. The project site, tract A, is in the Central Eastside Industrial District, between the main Oregon Museum of Science and Industry building and the Pepco workshop/warehouse. The Marquam Bridge looms to the immediate west.

Holst Architecture is designing the project for owner/co-developer Hacienda CDC and co-developer Edlen & Co. OMSI is the landowner. The project team also includes civil engineer KPFF, landscape architect PLACE, and general contractor Colas Construction.

The project is valued at $36 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

The proposal moves the site’s existing parking and loading access point to the north of the tract and places additional separation between the Los Colibris building and the master plan’s Open Space-2, where the OMSI waterfront education park is planned.

While the project is still in conceptual design, Holst Architecture is eyeing cross-laminated timber (CLT) for the building. The team is also looking to meet passive house standards for energy efficiency, focus on quality of light, and include vibrant colors.

Active ground-level uses would be mainly in the building’s middle and northern portions. They would include meeting rooms, a multipurpose community room with a kitchen, a lobby with mail space, office space for resident services, and property management offices. The project team proposes to keep the community room at the center of the building.

There is not enough programming to fill the entire ground floor, said Dustin Furseth, a Holst Architecture senior associate.

“I’m totally OK with having that community facility in the middle (of the ground floor) as long as there is floor-to-ceiling windows, so pedestrians have a visual connection to the greenway,” Commissioner Zari Santner said.

Some residential units are proposed for the southern end of the ground floor. Most would be situated on the west elevation, facing a garden and play area. However, two would face the Bull Run public right-of-way connecting to the greenway, four would face Water Avenue, and a two-bedroom unit would be at the corner of Water Avenue and the Bull Run area, a staff report states.

The Bull Run path is about 30 feet wide and runs along the south side of tract A, according to city spokesman Elliott Kozuch. The Portland Water Bureau owns the Bull Run, and beneath the path there is a pipe used to move water from the Bull Run watershed on Mount Hood to the Washington Park reservoir.

Commission Chair Brian McCarter suggested flipping the ground floor’s layout so the early learning center would be where the two-bedroom unit is currently. Then the early learning center would be on the more pedestrian-accessible side of the building.

“I do have a lot of concern about … the sequencing of Bull Run and the units (planned near) the property line,” Commissioner Joe Swank said.

Commissioners suggested a five-foot setback or elevation change. The design team agreed to examine how high the first floor could be constructed in accounting for the residential units situated near the Bull Run path. Landscaping would also provide a buffer for the units.

Active ground-floor space on the east elevation would be set behind an arcade – a series of arches supported by columns that create a covered walkway. The commissioners suggested a wrap-around canopy as an alternative.

The design includes an outdoor courtyard in front of the building and outdoor communal space in the back. This courtyard allows space for residents and their guests to gather and be partly sheltered from the noise of Marquam Bridge traffic.

“I think the courtyard is essential,” Commissioner Joe Swank said.

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