Seven projects have been awarded a total of $23 million for preservation efforts to keep affordable housing accessible in the city of Portland.

The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) last week announced the awardees of the Spring 2025 Preservation Request for Proposals (RFP) and the preservation of 484 affordable units within the seven projects across eight sites.

Capital improvements will extend the useful lifetimes of these buildings and increase energy efficiency and address livability and safety concerns for tenants. The RFP made available approximately $23 million in HOME, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) dollars, according to a PHB news release.

PHB regulates more than 17,000 affordable housing units in more than 400 buildings, with other projects in Portland regulated by Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and federal rental assistance agreements. Like any capital asset, over time, these buildings require reinvestment to continue providing safe, affordable housing, a PHB news release states.

Following a competitive solicitation process, the bureau will fund seven proposals and preserve at least 484 affordable units and 11 commercial units, with new regulated affordability periods of 60 years or more. The projects include health and life safety repairs, as well as improvements to modernize the buildings and increase livability for residents.

Four of the seven projects will incorporate energy-efficiency and renewable-energy improvements, made possible through funding from PCEF. These awards support the city of Portland’s Climate Investment Plan goal of reducing carbon emissions and help protect low-income communities from the impacts of the climate, according to the city.

Funded proposals are in the early stages of predevelopment. Projects include:

• 333 Oak Street — 333 Oak Street is a building with 90 affordable units. Built in 1909, it primarily serves seniors and people with disabilities with incomes up to 30 percent Area Median Income (AMI), with all units receiving project-based rental assistance. The project team includes developer Northwest Housing Alternatives, architect KASA Architects, general contractor Walsh Construction Co., and construction manager Whitman Development LLC. Work will involve elevator modernization, new windows, new LED lighting, a sprinkler upgrade, full plumbing repair and replacement of unit heating/cooling with heat pumps. The $15.9 million estimated project is scheduled to start construction in 2026;
• the Group 8 Project — Ruth Haefner Plaza and Holgate House Apartments, also known as the Group 8 Project, are two buildings built in 1971 and 1983, respectively, with 153 units combined. It will undergo a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversion. Both buildings serve primarily seniors and people with disabilities at or below 30 percent AMI, and all units will have project-based vouchers. The project team includes developer Home Forward, architect Holst Architecture and general contractor Walsh Construction Co. The project team is applying for a 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as public housing to LIHTC conversion/recapitalization, Portland Housing Bureau spokesperson Gabriel Mathews shared in an email.
• Building A (Ruth Haefner) will involve seismic reinforcement, a plumbing system replacement, elevator modernizations, structural masonry repairs with new sealing and insulation, HVAC installation in common areas and new windows. In unit kitchens and bathrooms will be remodeled, and there will be upgrades to ADA units.
• Building B (Holgate House) will involve a roof replacement, ADA upgrades, seismic upgrades, security/access upgrades and sprinkler upgrades. It will also involve replacing windows and replacing heating in common areas and units, as well as solar panels. The approximately $80.6 million project is slated to start construction in 2026.
• Taggart Manor — Taggart Manor is a 23-unit project built in 1960 and serves families in recovery with up to 50 percent AMI. The project is being led by Central City Concern. An architect and general contractor have not been selected. Work in the units will include new kitchen and bathroom appliances, water heater replacements, a lighting replacement and adding mini splits to the bedrooms. It will also involve a full-system electrical replacement, solar install and two EV charging spaces. The $2.2 million project is scheduled to begin in 2026.
• The Whitmarsh Building — The Whitmarsh Building is a 60-unit project built in 1912 serving lower-income, single-adult households, with units regulated at 50 and 60 percent AMI. The project team includes developer Innovative Housing Inc., architect LRS Architects and general contractor Bremik Construction. Work will involve sidewalk vault repair and sidewalk replacement, roof replacement, upgraded insulation and seismic bracing, as well as replacement of the rooftop HVAC, rooftop solar array and lightwell windows. The $5.2 million project is scheduled to start in 2026.
• McCuller Crossing — McCuller Crossing is a 40-unit project built in 2001 that serves low-income families and single adult households with units regulated at 60 percent AMI. The project team includes developer REACH CDC, general contractor Walsh Construction Co., and construction management by Housing Development Center. An architect has not been selected. The work will involve roof replacement, gutter replacement, siding/envelope replacement, window replacement, paint/flooring replacement in common areas and on the exterior and LED lighting in common areas. In-unit work will involve installing heat pumps and LED lighting. The $11 million project will start in 2026.
• Albina Corner — Albina Corner is a 48-unit project built in 1996 that serves low-income families and single-adult households with units regulated at 60 percent AMI. The project team includes developer REACH CDC, general contractor Walsh Construction Co. and construction management by Housing Development Center. An architect has not been selected. Work on the project will involve column repair or replacement, stair repair and water management, siding and window replacement, sealing of exterior masonry, adding a new trash enclosure, repairing the parking lot and replacing the common area lighting. In-unit work will involve adding new Energy Star refrigerators and finish/fixture upgrades. The $17.9 million project will begin construction in 2026.
• Villa de Mariposas — Villa de Mariposas is a 70-unit project built in 2004 and serves low-income families, with units regulated at 30 and 60 percent AMI. Hacienda CDC is leading the project. The design will be in-house. A general contractor has not been selected. Work will involve an exterior refresh, window replacement and mold remediation. The $4.25 million project will begin later this year or in 2026.

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Pursuit of the Living Building Challenge can require creativity, flexible thinking and a willingness to embrace alternatives to ideals. That is certainly the case for PAE Engineers‘ new headquarters building in downtown Portland. When limitations precluded creation of a net-positive-energy structure, the project team formed a unique partnership with a local nonprofit developer in order to meet requirements.

“Honestly, I think it’s one of the better stories of the project,” said Ed Sloop, a project manager and chief estimator for general contractor Walsh Construction Co.

The PAE Living Building is expected to become one of the largest commercial buildings in the world to gain certification from the International Living Future Institute. For that to happen, the building must demonstrate over one year that it is producing more energy than it consumes, producing more clean water than it consumes, recycling all wastewater produced on-site, and more.

The ILFI uses seven “petals” – place, water, energy, materials, equity, beauty, and health and happiness – to measure building performance. Energy petal requirements at first stumped designers from ZGF Architects, MEP engineers from PAE and project managers from Walsh Construction. Two years ago, the problem boiled down to simple math: A five-story, 58,000-square-foot building on only a quarter-block would have nowhere near sufficient roof space for enough solar panels to produce needed electricity.

“As a team we were all kind of disappointed we couldn’t do it all on site,” said Marc Brune, a PAE principal and a project team member. “There’s something that’s just elegant about the concept of really modeling it after a plant or tree that’s in the forest that’s doing all of its own energy production and water harvest.”

The building’s innovative solar array, with panels facing east to west and assembled in an undulating, articulated manner to maximize surface area, is projected to have maximum output of 133 kilowatts – only around one-third of energy needed.

“If it were a smaller building for the floor area you might be able to get away with it here,” said Walsh project manager Kent Usher, who recently oversaw subcontractor EC Electric‘s installation of the rooftop array.

The project site, in the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, limited potential solutions. Unlike the well-known Bullitt Center in Seattle, a certified living building also engineered by PAE that has solar arrays overhanging its roof edges, the PAE Living Building could not follow suit.

“Being a downtown historic district,” Usher said, “we had to keep it hidden and under the parapet height so you can’t see it from anywhere.”

Fortunately for the project team, version 4.0 of the ever-evolving Living Building Challenge allows off-site energy production solutions if they are within the same utility district as the project. And after looking around the district, the team targeted the Renaissance Commons affordable housing development on North Argyle Street in the Kenton neighborhood.

Developed by REACH Community Development Corporation and also built by Walsh Construction, the four-story, two-building complex was solar-ready; it already had the structural and electrical components needed to accept a solar array. And Renaissance Commons had three times as much roof space as the PAE Living Building would have.

“I happened to be working with Kent (Usher), who was in the same role on this other project,” Sloop said. “So, having knowledge of both projects – and the other project had a very large roof and a big footprint; I knew it had good solar orientation – so I just threw it out there.”

However, installation of the solar array at Renaissance Commons required financial support from PAE Living Building developer Edlen & Co. The firm, which has backed sustainable elements in many of its projects, agreed to cover the $670,000 cost of placing a 207-kilowatt array at Renaissance Commons.

In addition, the arrangement fulfilled a key requirement of the equity petal, which calls for donation of half a cent or more of every dollar spent on the project to a charity or ILFI’s Living Equity Exchange Program. In this case, REACH CDC qualified because of its affordable housing work.

“From my perspective, it’s really like a best-case scenario when you have a problem and you come up with a best-case solution,” Edlen & Co. partner Jill Sherman said.

REACH CDC’s CEO, Dan Valliere, said the nonprofit was simply taking advantage of an opportunity presented to it. REACH CDC agreed to pay for operations and maintenance of the Renaissance Commons array in exchange for being able to use the power generated on-site.

“We didn’t have to do a lot at the outset,” Valliere said. “It was a great opportunity to add a feature to the building with our partners doing most of the heavy lifting and still learn through the process.”

Meanwhile, the PAE Living Building will serve as an example of how project teams can creatively pursue living building certification.

“I personally think it’s a way of thinking of net-zero-energy production that has the potential to increase the benefit of it beyond the one-building footprint and into the broader community,” Brune said. “It can achieve the same goal as if you’re putting it on your roof, but with benefits for more people.”

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Downtown Beaverton is experiencing a rapid transformation.

While a new performing arts center, parks and hotels now dot the city center, residential projects also are joining the area. One is the Mary Ann, a 54-unit affordable housing building being constructed on a half-block parcel near Beaverton High School. Developed by REACH Community Development Corp., the four-story, 55,000-square-foot building was designed by Scott | Edwards Architecture to be Earth Advantage certified. Walsh Construction is serving as the general contractor for the project.

“When we engaged REACH on this and with their partners, the city of Beaverton has been very supportive and very involved through this process,” said Dave Mojica of Scott | Edwards Architecture. “They really wanted this development to feel market-rate.”

A relatively simple building footprint was selected in order to achieve cost-effectiveness. That allowed inclusion of a central HVAC system not often seen in buildings of this type.

“Being as clean and simple with the structure left us with the ability to have more money to spend on quality materials for the interior and the exterior of the building,” Mojica said. “It was really important to us that we’re not cheaping out from a materials standpoint.”

The exterior will have brick masonry cladding on the outside of the “C,” while the interior of the massing will feature warm, copper-toned metal cladding that resembles wood from a distance. Natural wood cladding and canopies will mark the ground floor, which will be distinguished by the lobby and a community room on the east side. Also, there will be a ground-level parking garage.

“It’s generally kind of a simple building diagram there,” Mojica said. “The idea being that creating quality finishes on the interior is something that will hopefully age well with time.”

The project is being paid for via a mixture of Metro bond dollars, federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credits. Units will be available to residents making an average of 45 percent of the area median income, said Alec Lawrence, a housing development project manager with REACH CDC.

“It’s all at 60 percent AMI and below,” he said. “The 9 percent (LIHTC) funding helps us achieve some lower, 30 percent rents and then we’re also doing the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit Program, so for the period that we have that tax credit we’re able to offer even lower rents.”

Ground was broken on the project in June 2020. Despite supply chain complications presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, work is proceeding smoothly and is expected to finish by September, Walsh Construction project manager Brandi Pine said.

“It’s gone really well considering there were so many things with COVID that were unknown when we really got going, plus the wildfires,” she said. “We had a lot of PGE work that we had to put in underground. There used to be the lines there and all sorts of utility lines. I feel all in all things are actually going really well.”

While prices for many construction materials continue to experience volatility, the Mary Ann project team avoided serious cost issues.

“We lucked out,” Pine said. “Our framing prices were up, but not like they are currently, when we were able to lock in our lumber. So, we didn’t end up with any issues on our budget with the lumber escalation.

“We’ve been pretty lucky. I know that for jobs coming down the pipeline there are definitely going to be some changes for sequencing and things like that.”

Currently, crews are installing cabinetry and flooring, as well as painting the top three floors, which feature wood framing. Meanwhile, interior work is taking place on the ground floor, which sits under a post-tensioned concrete podium. Mechanical systems are also being installed from the roof down, and masons are busy installing exterior cladding.

A full green roof will soon be installed atop a structure that is solar-ready but won’t receive any photovoltaic panels right away.

As for the building’s name, it comes from the property being owned previously by the Beaverton School District.

“Mary Ann was the first teacher in the city of Beaverton, and apparently she taught out of a cabin on the lot there on the high school lot,” Mojica said. “So being that it was property that was sold by the school district, they wanted that connection.”

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Construction mock-ups oftentimes have short lives. But increasing numbers of people in Portland’s building industry are finding constructive ways to reuse them.

Most recently, a mock-up used for the Wy’East Plaza affordable housing project in East Portland was built out and then donated to the Creating Conscious Communities with People Outside – aka C(3)PO – houseless community that spans two full blocks near Water Avenue in inner Southeast Portland. The idea of converting the former mock-up into a livable shelter was developed by REACH Community Development Corp. and then completed by Walsh Construction.

“It was in the planning from day one of construction that this would be developed in this way,” said Peter Clements, a REACH CDC project manager. “It’s such a well-conceived idea. The fundamental materials and cost of doing a mock-up is part of the project in every case. And the waste of that is kind of heartbreaking.”

The mock-up was delivered to C(3)P0 last week. A Walsh Construction crew donated its time and equipment to build out the pod and deliver it. The shelter used the same windows, siding and exterior paint used at Wy’East Plaza. Meanwhile, the interior was built out with drywall and paint paid for by REACH CDC. The unit was wired for electricity; two power outlets and a wall heater are inside.

“We do this on every project; we spend tens of thousands of dollars and we throw it away when we’re done,” Walsh Construction Superintendent Jay Nees said. “So, why not finish the other two sides and do something with it? REACH paid for it. They paid for us to finish it. It’s got power and heat. It doesn’t take long.”

In Portland, Carleton Hart Architecture Job Captain Julia Mollner in 2017 came up with a concept of converting construction mock-ups into shelters for the houseless community. She created the Useful Waste Initiative in collaboration with Portland State University’s Center for Public Interest Design.

“People are excited about having another option other than throwing the material in the trash,” Mollner said. “The thing that is slow is the awareness of having that option and not throwing it in the trash.”

Wy’East Plaza, a four-story, 175-unit apartment building, was designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects. This mock-up is the second one the firm has donated to the Useful Waste Initiative.

“They donated a mock-up before this one,” Mollner said. “That’s the specific connection on this mock-up.”

Eight converted mock-ups have been donated to the Useful Waste Initiative so far, and others are in the works, Mollner said. One of the first came from Andersen Construction‘s Fourth and Montgomery project completed last year.

“There’s a lot of need,” she said. “This is the first mock-up Walsh was involved in. They showed a lot of excitement for continuing on with the program.”

Mollner has been busy touting the program – even on her own time – to metro-area architecture and construction firms. Now it’s starting to produce results. And people like Dana Louis, who works with the C(3)PO community via her nonprofit Gather:Make:Shelter, are thrilled.

“Julia and I were talking, and there are so many steps between today and getting everyone into affordable housing, so this is part of that process,” Louis said. “So, we’re just really grateful for everyone who is helping us out. It’s really great.”

Louis helped oversee delivery of the Wy’East Plaza mock-up-turned-shelter to the C(3)PO site. The Walsh Construction crew needed extra time to figure out how to make the drop after finding Southeast Main Street blocked at Water Avenue by a Portland Bureau of Transportation crew tearing up pavement in order to perform work on new sidewalks. But that delay was only temporary. Around a dozen C(3)PO residents were on hand to watch Walsh Construction employees Darren Anstein and Roger Williams use a telescopic handler to carefully place the shelter. Grins spread across observers’ faces.

“People are so thankful for these steps, and it’s really been a huge game-changer,” said Louis, who noted that Multnomah County recently paid for the acquisition of 100 additional prefabricated shelters made by Seattle-based Pallet.

“People are getting jobs; people are productive; people are doing all kinds of things just with this amount of money,” Louis said. “So, everything else we get, it just makes everyone feel more respected. It ranges from people donating holey sweaters to construction materials. It’s really great when people understand that we all want this.”

Ankrom Moisan project architect Tonia Feliciano said it definitely won’t be the last mock-up the firm donates. Plans are to follow suit with affordable housing mock-ups in the works in Beaverton and other locations, she said.

“Mock-ups are useful for us not only for aesthetics and performance, but it’s great we can size them so it works for donations,” she said.

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For affordable housing projects, which rely heavily on public funding, efficiency is essential.

With that in mind, nonprofit developer REACH Community Development Corp. decided to make its so-called Wy’east Plaza, in Southeast Portland, a pilot project. Ankrom Moisan Architects and general contractor Walsh Construction drew up high-efficiency concepts for the four-story, 175-unit development.

“They wanted to do a large-scale project and they wanted to test out some ideas to see if that would move the meter,” said Mike Steffen, director of innovation with Walsh Construction.

Ground was broken in July 2019 on a 1.37-acre former parking lot at the corner of Southeast 124th Avenue and Ash Street. The team, on a single-minded mission to cost reduction, is scheduled to finish in July.

For instance, “advanced” framing is being used throughout the building. This entails using 24-inch, on-center spacing of wall studs, single headers, single top plates and other tactics to reduce the amount of lumber needed.

“You won’t walk in there and see eight studs next to each other,” Steffen said.

Every project starts with constraints anyway, added Michael Bonn, project manager for Ankrom Moisan Architects.

“In this case (cost) was one of the constraints,” he said. “How do we work around a sheet of plywood or a sheet of (gypsum board)? How do we minimize cutting and waste and speed up construction schedules? That was just the constraint we started with, and we tried to solve the problem.”

One of the biggest efficiencies is the use of only three floor plans for units – one each for studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units. Further, each floor plan is designed around the same two-foot modules used by most materials manufacturers. This allows for less waste and faster construction.

“One of the interesting things was the kitchen, dining and living room take up a side of each apartment,” Bonn said. “That leaves the other side for bed, bath and closet. And it allowed us to make a larger closet than we might have had because of the leftover space between the bathroom and the bedroom.”

The resulting walk-in closets are unusual for apartments smaller than 600 square feet on average.

“Having that extra storage space is kind of unheard of,” said Tania Feliciano, an Ankrom Moisan associate. “It was exciting to see that we could get that in a compact-sized apartment; you’re not losing space to circulation.”

Additionally, ceilings will be 8 feet instead of 9 feet. This further reduced the amount of materials needed and shortened the building by four feet. Plus, drywall installers won’t need to cut sheets.

With narrower units, interior corridors became shorter and the amount of building skin was reduced. Residences will still be suitable, Steffen said.

“We actually undertook a pretty lengthy process where we rethought the unit plans to simplify them and make them every bit as functional and livable as any other project,” he added.

Even the property is relatively ideal, according to Steffen.

“This is an awesome site,” he said. “It was flat and there were no buildings or nasties in the ground. I call it an unencumbered site, and you don’t find those in Portland anymore.”

In combination with Lean construction methods that led to an efficient and integrated planning process involving earlier-than-usual input from subcontractors, each unit’s cost will be slightly more than $111,000. That is lower than for virtually any Portland-area affordable housing project built over the past three-plus years or now under construction.

“We kind of dug into Lean a bit and had a Lean consultant,” said Jay Nees, a Walsh Construction senior project manager. “The idea in construction is to lessen the distance – you kind of batch things. It keeps everybody moving and it’s a very collaborative process. It’s not a big start, stop and react, go back; it’s less siloed.”

Jason Roberts, managing design principal with Ankrom Moisan Architects, also is a fan of this process.

“I love the guys who build the building actually being in the room,” he said. “There are so many times I’ve been on a jobsite in construction and if you have a chance to talk to a sub they’ll readily (ask) you, ‘Why would you design it this way?’ So we got with them at the beginning and gave them the chance to be the designer.”

One tangible result is a huge drop in requests for information.

“We went through this process with each of them, and we are eight months in now and we have 31 RFIs,” Roberts said. “After eight months that is kind of remarkable.”

Walsh Construction applied some of its efficiency techniques to a 24-unit affordable housing project it completed in Oregon City last year. Another Lean construction concept, target value design, was used as well. That meant modeling the project prior to design.

“We modeled different unit mixes inside of that building form so they could model it financially,” Steffen said. “And coming out of that process we were able to put a target cost budget together for their pro forma and that was actually the budget for the project. It was a really aggressive budget.”

The final construction budget of $19.5 million helped the project come in roughly 39 percent under the state cost limit on a per-unit basis. That exceeded the project goal by 9 percent.

“We got the cost benefit out of it that you saw in those numbers, but we’re pretty certain we can take it further,” Steffen said.

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A major affordable housing developer has requested an exemption to proposed legislation that would decouple Oregon’s tax treatment of opportunity zone projects from federal tax benefits.

Legislators are considering a bill that would eliminate state tax benefits for one year while the federally recognized opportunity zones play out in Oregon and across the nation.

While most opportunity fund investments in Portland have flowed to large and expensive market-rate projects, some affordable housing developers are using opportunity zone benefits to attract investors.

“We are using opportunity zones – mostly in affordable housing deals,” said Cynthia Parker, chief executive of BRIDGE Housing, one of the West Coast’s largest developers of affordable housing.

Parker submitted written testimony to the Oregon Legislature lobbying for an exception for affordable housing if the bill, House Bill 4010, is passed.

“Since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, BRIDGE has worked diligently with investors to educate and promote usage of the (opportunity zone) program for the benefit of affordable housing developments,” Parker wrote. “We strongly recommend that a carve-out be made that would allow (opportunity zone) investors to receive tax benefits from both the federal and state if the underlying Qualified Opportunity Zone Business were an affordable housing development.”

A carve-out would create a 10 percent to 20 percent increase in yield for investors, Parker estimated. That makes it appealing for socially minded investors.

“It’s going to be a special-impact investor who wants to make a difference,” Parker said. “It’s not a deep subsidy; it was never intended to be a deep subsidy.”

BRIDGE Housing is seeking investors for an affordable housing project in Southwest Portland’s RiverPlace area, Parker said.

The so-called “decoupling” bill would dent the tax benefits for investors in Portland’s opportunity zone, which has received national attention for its location in highly desirable areas including downtown, portions of the Pearl District and Central Eastside Industrial District.

By reducing the tax benefit investors could expect, it could also make it more difficult for affordable housing developers to raise funds.

Democrats and tax-fairness critics have blasted opportunity zones for offering capital gains tax benefits that go to wealthy investors. Critics argue that many opportunity zone projects would still get built without the subsidies.

“Who’s going to not invest because they got a haircut?” said Bennett Minton, a tax policy watchdog with Tax Fairness Oregon. “Either the projects work or they don’t.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, did not directly answer questions about Parker’s carve-out request. Nathanson serves as chairwoman of the House Revenue Committee.

“The conversation is ongoing about the opportunity zones legislation and the issue remains in flux,” she stated in an email. “I remain committed to a conversation about the value of opportunity zones.”

In Portland, opportunity zone investments have so far gone to large market-rate projects including the Block 216 mixed-use tower, the PAE Living Building and a proposed Sturgeon Development Partners office building.

Opportunity zones offer a number of tax benefits. Primarily, they encourage investors to hold onto a property for 10 years to avoid capital gains tax.

Other affordable housing developers are watching and waiting. Dan Valliere, CEO of REACH Community Development Corp., said the nonprofit is not actively pursuing opportunity zone funding. He questioned whether opportunity zones will help spur investment where it’s most needed.

“The way it’s structured now, there’s very little accountability to make sure this is creating social impacts,” Valliere said. “They’re just standard real estate investments, which is fine. But it doesn’t really make sense to give it a tax benefit.”

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Under construction for a long while now, Renaissance Commons (formerly called the Argyle Street Apartments) is due to open in Portland’s Kenton neighborhood later this year.

The building is rising at 2133 N. Argyle St., on property left over following construction of TriMet‘s MAX yellow light-rail line along North Interstate Avenue.

The vast majority (185) of the 189 units at Renaissance Commons are intended to house current or former North or Northeast Portland residents who were displaced in recent years.

MWA Architects designed the complex, which is technically a single structure. However, it closely resembles a pair of separate buildings connected by a second-story sky-bridge. The building will have a total of 151,555 square feet of floor space.

General contractor Walsh Construction is building the project for developer REACH Community Development Corp. Ground was broken in early 2019, and completion is expected by June.

Currently, crews from several subcontractors are on site performing interior and exterior work. Some include: sheet metal technicians with Pioneer Sheet Metal, electricians with O’Neill Electric, drywall installers with Bridgeport Interiors, HVAC specialists with Jacobs Sheet Metal, finish carpenters with RDF Builders and masons with Kraft Masonry. Tapani Plumbing, Vale Insulation and KO Construction also are working on the project.

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A development bonus being considered by the Portland City Council would allow developers to build apartment buildings with no parking in exchange for providing deeper affordability.

For buildings with at least 50 percent of units rent-restricted at 60 percent of area median income, developers would not have to meet parking minimums.

The bonus is already available to projects within 500 feet of frequent service transit or 1,500 feet of a light-rail station. The proposed amendment would eliminate parking requirements for deeply affordable housing throughout the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said the aim of the proposed amendment, and others, is to entice such development throughout the city.

“The intent is to expand affordability,” he said at Wednesday’s council meeting.

New affordable housing buildings often include some parking for residents’ use, although typically fewer spaces are provided than at comparable market-rate apartment buildings. There is also affordable housing in historic buildings throughout downtown and Old Town Chinatown that do not have parking.

“For affordable housing, we do have parking sometimes,” Dan Valliere, CEO of REACH Community Development, said in an interview. “It depends a lot on the affordability level and the location. At a close-in location, sometimes that’s not necessary.”

The no-parking bonus is likely to raise opposition from neighbors concerned about street parking and density. Proximity to transit can make a difference, Valliere said.

“The majority of people that rent affordable housing apartments that REACH manages do not have a car and are able to not have a car because the majority of our units are located close to transportation,” he said.

The amendment would be part of Better Housing by Design – a city zoning project to encourage denser development in multi-dwelling zones. Those zones are by land area only 8 percent of the city, but tend to be near transit – a mapping analysis found 89 percent of multi-dwelling zone properties are within 1,500 feet of frequent service transit.

Parking has been an obstacle to development of affordable housing, according to a city analysis. Structured parking typically costs around $40,000 per space, and takes up area that could be used for housing, according to the city.

Affordable housing developers have broadly supported the Better Housing by Design proposal.

Valliere said it often makes sense to build some parking. At times, REACH goes beyond parking minimums. But any flexibility is welcome, he said.

“We appreciate the option not to require any number of spaces,” he said.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has expressed concerns, saying Better Housing by Design fails to address Portland’s history of racist zoning.

“I still believe if we pass this as is – not even addressing the amendments – that we are once again solidifying racially discriminatory policy and reaffirming that past bad practices continue on,” she said.

Hardesty also criticized program aspects that discourage demolitions in historic districts and in some cases apply to only one property. An amendment pitched by Wheeler would rezone the Anna Mann house in Laurelhurst for use as an 88-unit affordable housing project.

“Writing exceptions for individual properties are very problematic to me,” Hardesty said.

Commissioners heard more than three hours of public testimony on the proposal Wednesday, but did not take a vote. The council will again take up the matter on Nov. 21. It will be the third hearing for Better Housing by Design after an initial council hearing on Oct. 2.

Written testimony will be accepted until Nov. 21, but commissioners closed the record on oral testimony.

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A grand opening celebration was held Saturday for a new affordable housing building in Vancouver, Washington.

Isabella Court II is the second of a two-phase affordable housing project by developer REACH CDC. It contains 49 apartments available to families experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. The four-story building is adjacent to the original Isabella Court, which opened in 2016 and provides 49 affordable housing units to seniors aged 62 or older.

“I’m excited for the inter-generational community that will develop here between our two buildings,” said Dan Valliere, CEO of REACH CDC, in a statement. “This new community creates many opportunities for collaboration, mutual support, and mentoring for the families moving into this new building.”

The new building includes 34 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom apartments. Rents will be affordable to families earning 50 percent or less of median family income, currently $43,950 or less annually for a family of four. A project-based rental subsidy from the Vancouver Housing Authority will make 30 of the units affordable for households earning 30 percent of MFI.

Isabella Court is REACH CDC’s seventh apartment community in Southwest Washington and the first to incorporate money from the City of Vancouver Affordable Housing Fund approved by voters in 2016. The $13.9 million project was designed by MWA Architects and built by general contractor Team Construction.

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Several months after installation of a massive dry well, construction of the Argyle Street Apartments, in Portland’s Kenton neighborhood, is in one of its busiest stages.

Crews are framing walls, installing mechanical and electrical and plumbing systems, placing windows, and wrapping the building with a weather barrier expected to help the project gain Earth Advantage gold certification.

Walsh Construction is the general contractor for the affordable housing project at 2133 N. Argyle St. REACH Community Development Corp. is developing the project, which was designed by MWA Architects.

Plans call for a single four-story building; however, the complex will more closely resemble a pair of buildings connected via a three-story sky-bridge spanning a ground-floor breezeway. The 189 apartments will be studios, or have one, two or three bedrooms.

Crews are working their way through the building from the ground floor up, Walsh Construction project engineer Scott Rascoe said. MEP subcontractors are not waiting for framing crews to get more than one floor ahead of them, either.

Currently, Wood Mechanix carpenters are framing the second story. Tapani Plumbing and O’Neill Electric employees are working on the ground floor while KO Contracting workers are installing double-glazed vinyl windows.

Use of prefabricated wall panels by Pacific Wall Systems of Olympia, Washington, has significantly reduced the number of carpenters needed, according to Rascoe. Instead of a crew of 30 to 40 carpenters framing walls by hand from scratch, barely half that number are not only framing walls, but also installing joists and sheeting walls, he said.

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