As officials with the 1803 Fund and Black community leaders gathered Tuesday to lay out plans to redevelop Lower Albina, one message rang out: We own it.

Formed in 2023 and backed by a $400 million gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, the fund has spent $70 million to purchase two groups of properties in North Portland‘s Albina neighborhood.

Fund leaders laid out plans to transform portions of the neighborhood into a modern “Third Place” — apart from home and work or school — for the Black community to gather.

The properties include grain silos along the Willamette River near the Rose Quarter that will become part of Albina Riverside, a 3-acre site linking Albina to the waterfront. The other major area, known as The Low End, comprises approximately 20 tax lots and more than 7 acres along North Russell Street.

The Low End will have a mix of uses, including housing and spaces for art, culture, business and community initiatives. Plans for Albina Riverside are still being developed.

On Tuesday, the group held a press conference at a former craft brewery, 670 N. Russell St., that it now owns.

“Yes, we are rebuilding Albina,” said Rukaiyah Adams, CEO of the 1803 Fund. “But, really, what we are up to is transforming the region.”

The event functioned as a celebration for Portland’s Black community, and a promise to reinvigorate Albina — a historically Black neighborhood that was subjected to relocations, residential demolitions and racist urban renewal practices in the mid-20th century that made way for major infrastructure including Interstate 5, Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

“We cannot talk about Albina without talking about the pain that we have faced as a community,” said Ed Washington, a longtime resident and former president of the NAACP’s Portland chapter.

While details of the redevelopment were scarce, 1803 Fund officials said it’s critical that Black Portlanders now own much of the neighborhood, and will redevelop it as they wish, without heeding outside expectations about what Albina should or shouldn’t be.

“This is not charity,” Adams said. “This is investment.”

Mayor Keith Wilson sparked an exchange when he thanked the building’s proprietor for allowing the event to be held, apparently not realizing the building was purchased by the 1803 Fund.

“To Mayor Wilson,” Adams said, “we own this building. So, yeah, that’s the thing now.”

Yet a long road lies ahead for Albina boosters. Much of the neighborhood requires environmental remediation. The 1803 Fund released renderings showing landscaped public spaces, but a spokeswoman said it remains to be decided what buildings will be constructed on the properties.

Speakers noted that the announcement came at a precarious moment for Portland. President Trump’s threat to deploy the National Guard in the city’s streets appears to have receded for now, but many stakeholders feel the city still has a target on its back. The Trump administration rescinded funds dedicated to building highway covers over I-5 in Albina.

At the same time, the city’s growth spurt of the “Portlandia” era has stalled, attended by rampant homelessness, widespread commercial real estate vacancies and a general economic malaise.

Adams noted, without naming the president, that the Albina redevelopment comes as Trump builds a “gold ballroom” at the White House.

“This is a very let-them-eat-cake moment,” she said. “We’re about to own the damn cake.”

Wilson and City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney pledged to support to the plan, saying it could galvanize broader economic development.

“Albina’s renaissance will help fuel Portland’s renaissance,” Wilson said.

The group’s plan “reframes development,” Pirtle-Guiney added.

“It frames it as an act of restoration, an act of renewal,” she said. “This is going to have a transformative impact on our entire community.”

The post Black community ownership drives Albina redevelopment appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The team with a long-awaited plan to redevelop Centennial Mills, in Northwest Portland, will have to wait at least four more weeks for potential approval after design commissioners on Thursday punted on a vote.

Commissioners agreed to a request from Portland Permitting & Development staff members who said they need time to write a condition of approval regarding river access, and to tie up other loose ends.

Commissioners had appeared to be on the verge of approving the redevelopment scheme, and a staff report prepared for Thursday’s meeting recommended approval.

The proposal from a local group led by Lindquist Development would transform the largely vacant 4.4-acre parcel at 1362 N.W. Naito Parkway. Lindquist proposes to construct three buildings with 272 residential units and four retail spaces.

Two of the buildings would be five stories, while the remaining building would rise six stories in a five-over-one configuration. Plans call for including 174 below-grade parking spaces.

The developer also has set aside land for open space, including a woonerf — a shared roadway for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists — a plaza and a staircase that would provide Portlanders access to the Willamette River.

“This has an opportunity to be an iconic moment along the river,” Commissioner Tina Bue said.

The plan also dedicates space for a pedestrian bridge over Naito Parkway. But Kurt Schultz, principal and director of housing at SERA Architects, who is the lead designer for Centennial Mills, acknowledged that there’s no funding in place for the bridge.

Members of the public who testified on Thursday expressed concern about whether the river access would be good enough, and how to ensure Lindquist Development follows through with its promises.

Centennial Mills represents a unique opportunity to give Portlanders access to the river in Northwest Portland, said Sage Bachman, community outreach manager for the Human Access Project, a local advocacy group.

“In reality, there are very few ways for people to physically connect to the river,” she said.

Bachman added that the city’s Northwest quadrant is “completely lacking in public access to the river.”

For design commissioners, the remaining questions were largely aesthetic. Some commissioners said they were torn between a desire to honor the site’s industrial history, while allowing for some design flexibility.

Designers don’t necessarily have to use the darker colors of industry, Bue said.

“Is there a different way to look at color as a response to the environment instead of just harkening back to what was there before?” she said.

The project is up against a ticking clock: A zoning change that will limit the site’s buildable land area will take effect in December. If the project is not entitled by then, the new rule may affect the project’s feasibility, Schultz said.

The project’s extensive public space is “more than adequate,” Schultz said.

“We’re just trying to preserve buildable site area on a very constrained site, and we’re concerned about losing even more buildable area to open space,” he said.

The four-week delay until the commission will again consider the project is only the latest setback for Centennial Mills. Prosper Portland tried for years to entice developers to build on the site after the city took control of the parcel in 2000, only to be repeatedly rebuffed.

Previous developers to consider the site before eventually backing away include Lynd Opportunity Partners, Harsch Investment Properties, LAB Holding, Venerable Properties and Intrinsic Ventures. Finally, in September 2024, Prosper Portland sold the site for $1.25 million to 1362 Centennial Mills LLC (MLR Ventures), tied to Portland developers Tim and Lucas Ralston, washing the city’s hands of the troubled property. The Lindquist group soon took over from the Ralstons.

The Centennial Mills project team is tentatively scheduled to return before the Design Commission on Oct. 16.

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Redevelopment of a church campus is in the works in Northeast Portland. The Western Dominican Province, on behalf of Holy Rosary Church, has requested early assistance with the city to discuss options for four blocks of underutilized property in the Lloyd District.

The property’s management group, the Dominican Friars, has operated in the Lloyd District since 1893. The group envisions a multiphase project – including both affordable and market-rate housing – to improve its parish campus while contributing to the broader effort to reinvigorate investment in the people and infrastructure of Portland, the church stated in a press release.

In 2024, a request for qualifications was issued for the redevelopment of the land. The church and affiliated organizations proffered to prospective developers the land it owns within blocks 62 and 67 for affordable and market-rate housing. From this process, Cairn Pacific was selected to develop the market-rate housing and Gorman & Company was selected to develop the affordable housing.

The conceptual plan also includes the improvement of church facilities on blocks 68 and 211. Urbanist Housing Solutions LLC of Vancouver, Washington is the owner’s representative working on behalf of the Western Dominican Province. The organization, based in Oakland, California, is a faith formation and financial partner with each local Dominican parish, Kurt Creager, Urbanist Housing Solutions LLC’s president and founder, stated in an email. Friars are assigned to preach and administer in each parish. When financial support is needed, the group provides necessary assistance.

In 2022, Father Corwin Low (a former tech entrepreneur) recommended the church and the Western Dominican Province be more proactive in managing their commercial real estate assets, Creager stated. The goal was to maximize value to the community and create a sustainable financial endowment to support and enhance local church activities. The church established a property steering committee in 2022, with parishioners in the design, finance, construction and development professions to advise on strategy and industry best practices, Creager stated.

“Strategically, we plan on leading with affordable housing,” Creager stated in regard to plans for the site. “The affordable housing financing path, while never easy, is less fraught than market-rate housing, presently.”

The land, with one owner, allows for a “consolidated building” approach, according to Creager, in which the affordable units provided by Gorman & Company on Block 62 will satisfy the city’s inclusionary housing obligation for Cairn Pacific’s work on Block 67. By starting with affordable housing, there will be time for the market to recover and interest rates to moderate, enabling market-rate housing to proceed later, according to Creager.

For the first phase – affordable housing on Block 62 – two options will be presented to the city. The first is for a four-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space and both tuck-under and surface parking. The second option is for a seven-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space, ground-floor housing units and an adjacent parking structure with ground-floor retail space and top-floor amenity space.

The Miracles Central Apartments, on the southwest corner of the block, is not owned by the Western Dominican Province and will remain.

The project’s second phase would be replacement of the church’s educational, gathering and office spaces, adjoining the church sanctuary, on Block 68. A new three-story building and private courtyard would be constructed in their place.

The third phase – market-rate housing on Block 67 – would come in a 12-story building with ground-floor amenity/lobby space and above-grade structured parking.

The fourth and final phase would target Block 211. Plans call for construction of a seven-story building with ground-floor amenity/retail space and structured parking.

A 7-11 convenience store and associated parking, on the northwest corner of the block, are not owned by the Western Dominican Province and will remain.

Holst Architecture has worked with the church organization on the conceptual design of each phase. Gorman & Company and Cairn Pacific will need to select their preferred architect of record to take their respective sites forward into schematic design, construction documents and plan sets. No decisions have been made in that regard.

Walsh Construction is providing some preconstruction services to Gorman & Company for the affordable housing project. Both developers will need to select their preferred contractor.

Construction is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2027 for the affordable housing on Block 62 with completion in 2028 and then start in 2030 for the market-rate housing on Block 67 with completion in 2032. Factors such as system development charge waivers offered by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Gov. Tina Kotek could accelerate the market-rate schedule, Creager stated.

The Western Dominican Province applied for early assistance on Sept. 3; a meeting has not been scheduled yet.

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Project name: University of Oregon (UO) Portland Multi-Building Campus ProjectLocation: Portland

Completion: September 2024

Size: 251,380 square feet

Owner/Developer: University of Oregon, Portland

Architects: Housing (27^th Avenue, 30^th Avenue) – Holst Architecture; Oregon House – Peter Meijer Architect; Library & Learning – SRG Partnership; Highland Hall – Lever Architecture; Portland Campus Center – Opsis Architecture; Innovation Building – TVA Architects; General Campus and Holman Apartments – Soderstrom Architects (exterior), PLACE (landscape architect)

Engineers: Housing (27^th Avenue, 30^th Avenue) – Interface Engineering; Oregon House – KPFF, ColeBreit Engineering; Library & Learning – Holmes, Interface Engineering, Samata Consulting Engineers; Highland Hall – Valar Consulting Engineering, Arris Consulting, Reyes Engineering; Portland Campus Center – Catena Consulting Engineers, Interface Engineering; Innovation Building – ABHT Structural Engineers, Interface Engineering, Capital Electric; General Campus – Capital Engineering & Consulting

General Contractor: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Submitting Company: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Other Associates/Key Consultants: General site – Sav A Tree; Highland Hall – O-LLC Lighting Designers, University of Oregon Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory; Innovation Building – Jensen Hughes (code consultant), Tenor Engineering (acoustics), m.thrailkill.architect (specifications)

Subcontractors: A2 Fabrication, Allegion Access Technologies, Asbestos Abatement Contracting, Bell Hardware of Portland, Berrien Concrete, Brandsen Hardwood Floors, Bratcher Painting, Building Material Specialties, Chown, Clean World Maintenance, Columbia River Painting, Concrete Inspection Services, Culver Glass, Curtis Restaurant Equipment, Dallas Glass, Davidson’s Masonry, DeaMor Associates, Detailed Touch Painting, Diverse Works, EC Company, Excalibur & Associates, Faustrollean Fixture, Finish Line Concrete Cutting, Floor Solutions, Flynn BEC, Fred Shearer & Sons, Funax Cleaning Services, Gibson Door & Millwork, Harlen’s Drywall, Hermanson, Interior-Exterior Specialist, J.S. Perrott & Co., Janelle Waltz, Johnson Controls, Lanz Cabinet Shop, Legend Custom Woodworking, Linear Floor Installers, Matrix Industries, McDonald & Wetle, McKinstry, Metro Access Control, Michael’s Precast Concrete, Mid Valley Glass & Millwork, Ness & Campbell Crane, NW Construction Services, OEG, Paragon Tile & Stone, Pavement Maintenance, PBS Supply, Pdx Pressurewash, PDX Refinishers, Performance Contracting, Pioneer Sheet Metal, Pioneer Waterproofing, Prestige Tile & Stone, Pure Safety Group, Pye-Baker Fire & Safety, RDH Building Sciences, Refa Erection, Reyes Engineering, Rubenstein’s Contract Carpet, Savatree, Sawtooth Caulking, SDB Contracting Services, Sharon Maxwell, SI Contracting, Skyline Construction Services, Spectrum Custom Interiors, Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Superior Interiors, Super Metal Fab, T Gerding Construction, Teufel Nursery, The Johnson Collective, Thermobond Buildings, Town & Country Fence Co. of Oregon, Valley Shades, WH Cress, Weitman Excavation, Western Partitions, Western States Fire Protection, WFJ Janitorial Services, Zeeland

The University of Oregon has breathed new life into the former Concordia College campus in Northeast Portland through a comprehensive project that reimagines the historic property for modern educational needs.

Howard S. Wright partnered with UO on the transformative initiative spanning more than 14 separate refresh projects, working alongside 23 different architects and designers to create contemporary residential, educational, research and administrative facilities. There were more than 500 craftworkers onsite, with craftperson hours totaling 122,964.

At the heart of the renovation is the UO Portland Campus Center, originally constructed in 1953. Opsis Architecture led a dramatic transformation that removed solid walls from previous additions to visually connect formerly disconnected spaces. The team replaced a concrete bearing wall with steel columns and relocated networking systems to a prefabricated concrete shelter to ensure campus resilience during seismic events.

The Innovation Building, designed by TVA Architects, represents a sustainable approach that retained much of the existing structure while creating naturally lit corridors flanking open design studios. The former chapel now serves as Innovation Commons, featuring custom pivoting steel frame walls that transform the space from intimate presentation areas to a large event hall. A key feature of the space is the platform, which functions as both a stage and a backdrop for storage.

Perhaps most distinctive is Highland Hall’s transformation from a former gymnasium into the new home for the Department of Architecture. Lever Architecture preserved the building’s historical significance while incorporating innovative sustainability features. Highland Hall’s new entry vestibules, two new seminar rooms and partial height dividing walls between studios are constructed from 7-inch-thick mass plywood panels reclaimed from a test structure at the TallWood Institute’s A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory at Oregon State University. The project team noted that this is the first project they are aware of to reuse mass plywood panels at this scale. The renovation also included extensive envelope upgrades exceeding current energy codes.

All projects were completed with minimal disruption to campus operations, ensuring students could occupy housing buildings ahead of academic years 2023 and 2024.

The university emphasized exceeding minority, women and emerging small business participation goals by enhancing accessibility to bid packages and tailoring them to accommodate smaller firms’ needs. The team more than doubled the goal, with an average of 19 percent MWESB participation.

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Sturgeon Development Partners is reshaping Oregon’s real estate landscape with a focus on innovative, sustainable spaces that foster vibrant communities. With a diverse portfolio spanning mixed-use, residential, and commercial developments, the company has built a reputation for transforming underutilized properties into community-centered spaces.

A prime example of this is the redevelopment of the Premier Gear and Machine Works Building in Portland’s Slabtown district. Acquired in 2017, the 68,646-square-foot industrial site was converted into Class A office space, enhancing the area’s commercial appeal. Sturgeon also demonstrates its commitment to sustainability through the Flatworks Building, one of the tallest cross-laminated timber structures in the western United States.

This eight-story, 130,000-square-foot office building on Southeast Grand Avenue incorporates energy-efficient features and green building practices, reflecting the company’s focus on long-term value.

Sturgeon’s approach goes beyond development, emphasizing community engagement. The company proposed transforming the Premier Gear Building into a mental health crisis center with housing, underscoring its dedication to addressing local challenges. Sturgeon’s inclusive approach ensures that each project reflects the needs of residents, making it a leading force in creating positive change.

Through thoughtful development and sustainable practices, Sturgeon Development Partners is making a lasting impact on neighborhoods and communities across Oregon.

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