The Portland City Council voted 4-0 last week to authorize a $3.2 million Community Development Block Grant to help pay for an affordable housing project that will serve people with mental illness.

Construction is expected to start on the Park Hill Apartments next month, two years after the project was first conceived, said Sean Hubert, chief housing officer for Central City Concern.

Commissioner Nick Fish, before casting his vote, told project managers “congratulations to all of you.”

“I think we could subject this one to two weeks of due diligence, and we wouldn’t find one reason to criticize it,” he said of the project.

The $10.8 million development in the Lair Hill neighborhood will feature 39 residential units, including 14 reserved for households earning up to 30 percent of the area median income. The others will be set aside for households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. Eight of the total will serve as independent living units for people with severe mental illnesses. Priority for leasing the remainder will go to people who have completed Central City Concern courses and attained employment through the nonprofit’s Employment Access Center.

The project is being developed by CCC, with Gerding Edlen as the project manager. CCC is providing $200,000 for the project, and will operate the housing following completion.

The project is receiving financial assistance from a number of sources, including the state’s Addictions and Mental Health Services ($2 million) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Home Forward is providing 10 Section 8 vouchers.

Due to its location, the development was exempt from design review. The site at 110 S.W. Arthur St. was considered as a possible location for the Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp.

The two months the project spent in permitting was much less time than expected, Gerding Edlen senior project manager Sarah Zahn said.

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