In east Multnomah County, near the edge of the Columbia River Gorge, winds can sometimes become especially strong. The city of Gresham accounts for that in its development code.

The team building Archibald Grove Apartments, a 37-unit complex at Southeast Stark Street and 202nd Avenue, now knows that.

“There’s a 135 miles per hour wind load zone out here,” LMC Construction Superintendent Cameron Grieb said. “One block down it’s 120, so we had to completely re-engineer everything at a huge cost to the owners.”

LMC Construction is serving as general contractor for the project; it’s being led by Gibbins Kaplan Development, a relatively new firm founded by a pair of former executives from Williams/Dame & Associates. MWA Architects designed the complex.

Footings measuring 4 feet wide and 18 inches thick – far larger than the usual 18-inch-wide and 12-inch-thick footings used for three-story buildings of this type – were used for Archibald Grove.

“There’s a lot more hardware, a lot more hold-downs, a lot more straps,” Grieb added. “Even inside the floor system, I’ve never had to put hurricane clips and blocks on the floor joists before.”

Breezeways will connect the seven buildings at Archibald Grove and host apartment entrances, which will be shielded from surrounding street frontages. Wood framing is being used over slab-on-grade concrete foundations. Glass-fiber-reinforced concrete wall panels and metal panels are planned for the exterior.

On Monday, Precision Truss & Lumber began delivering roof trusses to Archibald Grove as a contingent of carpenters from Wood Mechanix continued to frame and sheath the buildings.

“Right now it’s just the framers,” Grieb said. “The plumbers want to work from the top and work down, and they should be in here soon.”

Grieb noted that Gibbins Kaplan Development did not necessarily choose the cheapest design or look to excessively value-engineer the project. He cited the roof as an example.

“It has huge gable ends,” he said. “If they went to a hipped roof type they would have saved themselves a lot of money. It’s a lot more lumber, a lot more braces, a lot more hardware. It’s going to give it a good look, but they could have saved a lot of money.”

Slightly north of the Archibald Grove project site, Gibbins Kaplan Development is working on a similar project – the 25-unit Douglas Grove Apartments. Both projects are expected to be completed by February 2020.

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