The Vera is gaining a neighbor.

BRIDGE Housing‘s 203-unit affordable housing structure opened in Portland’s South Waterfront District in June 2020. Now, general contractor Walsh Construction is building for the real estate developer a similar structure at the corner of Southwest River Parkway and Moody Avenue.

RiverPlace Phase II will have 178 apartments – a mix of studios and units with one, two or three bedrooms. The units will be available to residents with incomes up to 60 percent of the area median income.

“We’ve got 50 units of family housing, which is always desirable,” said Nicole Peterson, a BRIDGE Housing senior project manager.

Also, 20 units reserved for veterans will be rented out through Veterans Affairs via project-based vouchers.

The Phase II building will have five stories of wood framing over two levels of post-tensioned concrete. The ground floor will have a mixture of office space, retail space and residential space, while the upper stories will hold apartments and community spaces. A second-level outdoor courtyard will be enclosed on three sides and open to the south, where a Pacific Power facility exists.

“We’re targeted to be done in the fall of next year, and it’s been going pretty well,” Walsh Construction project manager Brian Johnson said. “The biggest limitation being it’s the last block to build in this space. It’s about as tight as it gets. You’ve got the streetcar on two sides, you’ve got The Vera, and then PP&L doesn’t really want us to put stuff in their yard.”

The RiverPlace Phase II building, like The Vera, was designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects. A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating will be sought through the LEED for Homes program. Johnson said the intent is to lean on the energy component to reach that goal. Even without an active photovoltaic array, the efficient building envelope (designed by RDH Building Science) and judicious use of high-quality windows and materials, insulation and brick masonry cladding should allow that to happen.

“How many bike racks you have – OK, that’s helpful,” Johnson said. “But if you really want to talk about the intent of sustainability, figuring out a way to reduce energy usage in buildings is number one. So, you start there.”

The material usage aspect of LEED is “pretty straightforward,” he added.

“We’ve got a lot of great local supply, and wood framing helps us out there,” he said. “And then you get points for the location. Just by virtue of using this site, the transit-oriented development, the amenities, you chalk up a whole bunch of points. It’s a good place to build, and it’s challenging, which is probably the reason it’s the last block to get built here. But it’s compelling.”

Because of site constraints, the building will feature panelized wall systems built by Pacific Wall Systems of Olympia, Washington. Also, motorized scaffolding will be used on all four sides of the building for installation of cladding.

“It would be nice to have a panel company a little closer, but capacity is also an issue,” Johnson said. “There is so much work going on right now, getting a partner is everything. They’ve been taking wood material for two months and have started putting the panels together, so we should see them middle of August.”

Nobody has inventory of almost anything, Johnson added. That has become a fact of life for teams tackling projects of all sizes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s funny in a way because it’s kind of followed the flow of construction,” he said. “For a while there you couldn’t get form ply, you couldn’t get a bunch of wood material, you couldn’t get engineered wood material, you couldn’t get dimensional wood material.”

These days, flooring materials are difficult to procure because the cost of international shipping has tripled in recent months, according to Johnson. Also, there is a dire shortage of paint caused by a lack of polymer compounds normally manufactured in Europe and Asia. Even overhead doors suddenly experienced a 25 percent price increase overnight.

Currently at the RiverPlace Phase II site, carpenters with Whitaker/Ellis are building formwork and preparing to pour the second concrete deck, while mechanical, electrical and plumbing subcontractors Tapani Plumbing, Affordable Electric and American Heating are starting to work on the ground floor.

“We are finding ways around it and that’s where we have to work as a team,” Johnson said. “We have to be open with communication and say here’s what’s available now. And let’s look at options and see if we can be flexible. We certainly knew we would face challenges, but we couldn’t know where.”

The project’s financial partners include: the Portland Housing Bureau, Prosper Portland, Oregon Housing and Community Services, Home Forward, Metro, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Bank of America and Barings Multifamily Capital.

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BRIDGE Housing, one of the largest providers of affordable housing in Oregon, is expanding into the RiverPlace area of Portland’s South Waterfront District. There, general contractor Hoffman Construction is on the verge of topping out a 13-story apartment tower that comprises the first phase of .

This $19 million project will provide 203 affordable apartments. Construction of the second phase – a six-story, 177-unit mixed-use building, will begin as soon as public funding from state and local sources is secured.

“We’ll be topped out late next month,” Hoffman Construction superintendent John Sullivan said earlier this week of the first building. “On the interior of the building we are working the interior framing. We’re substantially complete on second, third and fourth floors, fairly well along on those three floors. And we’re waiting to get dried in on the roof, so we’re doing a temp roof on seven.”

Recent rains are affecting scheduling, Sullivan added.

“We’re going to get that streak of bad luck and seasonal weather here,” he said. “We’ll have material on site starting tomorrow for that roof, and as soon as we get a four- or five-day window, we’ll build it.”

Ninety of the apartments in the first building will be reserved for households earning 30 percent of the regional median family income or less, including 70 with project-based Section 8 vouchers. Ten more units will be dedicated to homeless veterans in the Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing program. The other 113 apartments will serve households earning up to 60 percent of MFI.

Ankrom Moisan Architects designed the building, which will be constructed to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design gold standards.

Tenant amenities will include a playground and landscaped courtyard, two laundry rooms, a community room with a kitchen, a residential services office with extra program space, a conference room and a community classroom.

Crews broke ground on phase one in January, and completion is expected by mid-July 2019. Early next year the BRIDGE Housing leasing team will begin reaching out to prospective tenants, said Christine Paglialunga, a BRIDGE real estate development professional.

“We’d love to have early occupancy on the lower floors, maybe by late June,” she said. “We’ll start all of our leasing processes after the start of the new year; we’ll start our marketing and get our staff together at that time.”

Financial partners include the Portland Housing Bureau, Oregon Housing and Community Services, Prosper Portland, Home Forward, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, National Equity Fund Inc., KeyBank Community Development Lending and Barings Multifamily Capital.

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Affordable housing developers have a new, streamlined design review process as the result of a pilot project approved by the Portland City Council on Wednesday.

The proposal from Commissioner Dan Saltzman creates an alternative to Type III design review for projects subsidized by the Portland Housing Bureau. Instead, developers may opt to go through a new “Type IIx” design review process that does not require a public hearing.

The City Council’s move effectively creates a two-track design review process – a longer, Type III track for market-rate housing and an abbreviated Type IIx review for affordable housing.

The new process is designed to accelerate projects such as a 12-story one proposed by Innovative Housing Inc. at Northwest 14th Avenue and Raleigh Street in the Pearl District. That project would have 93 units, including 44 for tenants with “very low income” – up to 30 percent of the median family income, said Kurt Creager, director of the Portland Housing Bureau.

Another project that could soon benefit is RiverPlace Parcel 3 from Bridge Housing and Williams & Dame Development. Plans for that project call for 203 affordable units and 162 market-rate units along with 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

“Both (projects) have an extreme amount of public value,” Creager said.

City commissioners unanimously approved the new design review process after airing some sharp questions.

The changes were welcomed by affordable housing developers. A faster timeline will aid development of affordable units, said Julie Garver, IHI’s housing development director.

“That will definitely be really helpful for affordable projects,” she said.

IHI may choose to go through the Type IIx process, Garver added.

“I think there’s a good chance; we still have to discuss it with the Housing Bureau,” she said.

The changes should accelerate the review process and reduce costs, REACH Community Development CEO Dan Valliere said. The nonprofit company last year in partnership with the Housing Bureau developed Gilman Court, which has 60 affordable units in the Gateway District. REACH also is redeveloping the Bronaugh Apartments, a downtown historic building at Southwest 14th Avenue and Morrison Street.

“This action won’t lower the standard of quality in any affordable housing project, but it will allow it to go faster, which is a great thing,” Valliere said.

A quicker, cheaper process may even prompt developers to add more affordable units, he said.

Any help is welcome for affordable housing developers, who typically run tight economic margins with each project.

Commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting portrayed the design review change as a short-term measure to address the city’s declared affordable housing emergency, and they pledged to revisit the program in October, when they will decide whether to extend it.

“Let’s give it a try,” Mayor Charlie Hales said.

Instead of a public hearing before the Design Commission, most proposals would be heard by Bureau of Development Services staff. Only if an appeal is lodged would the projects go before the Design Commission or the Historic Landmarks Commission.

Applicants will still have the option of choosing a more thorough Type III design review if they prefer.

At least 20 percent of units must be affordable to use the Type IIx process, and only projects subsidized by the Housing Bureau are eligible. Saltzman agreed to change the minimum threshold of affordable units from five to 20 percent, after being nudged by Fish and Tad Savinar, vice chairman of the Design Commission.

Critics said the resolution limits public participation and includes few safeguards to ensure developers will follow through with the affordable units.

“This will do nothing to expedite the process in a meaningful way, but it could leave the city with incompatible uses or mangled historic structures,” said Peggy Moretti, executive director of Restore Oregon, a historic preservation group.

Moretti warned, “What is approved during our housing emergency will outlive all of us.”

John Czarnecki, principal of New Traditional Architecture, said design review should be thought of as an integral part of development costs, rather than as an additional expense. The new process risks “downgrading the quality of our neighborhoods,” he said.

“We’re backing off of the standards that we have established,” he said.

Rebecca Esau, principal planner with the Bureau of Development Services, attempted to allay the concerns.

“In no way are we lowering the bar of design and design quality,” she said.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who voted for Saltzman’s proposal, questioned what prevents developers from winning design approval, and then forfeiting public funds to build luxury condos.

“What’s to stop a developer from doing a bait and switch?” she asked.

Creager responded that the city could use property liens or claw-back provisions to ensure developers follow through with affordable units.

“We’ll be mindful of that risk,” he told Fritz.

Commissioner Nick Fish, even as he voted for the resolution, expressed concerns about limiting public hearings for projects. He said important design modifications have come as a result of public discussions.

Residents pay attention to development, especially in key locations, Fish said.

“Portland really cares about the look and feel of their city,” he said.

Creager said the Housing Bureau aims to reduce the additional costs that are imposed during design review. He cited as an example an affordable housing project that was asked to switch to 18-gauge steel cladding, thicker than the proposed 22-gauge steel. “That’s a $395,000 difference in the project” that made no visible improvement, he said.

City officials said Type IIx design review would save developers thousands of dollars, with fees ranging from $5,000 to $9,000, down from $9,000 to $31,000 for a Type III design review.

Fish asked for reassurance that there would be no loosening of quality standards under the new process.

“That’s something we can commit to because that’s what we do,” said Paul Scarlett, director of the Bureau of Development Services.

Paul Grove of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland also spoke in support of a cheaper, faster review process.

“These costs, although they may not seem like much to some, are very impactful to the viability of a project,” he said.

The City Council in October declared a housing emergency. Portland home prices increased the most in the nation in 2015, and rents have risen sharply as well. The median sale price jumped 11.4 percent to $278,000, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index and CoreLogic, a real-estate data firm.

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The Portland Development Commission is moving forward at RiverPlace Parcel 3, and finishing nearly two decades of work to develop the North Macadam urban renewal area.

“We’re sort of nearing the end of our participation in that area,” said Eric Jacobson, senior project manager for the PDC. “This is a key part to making it a complete neighborhood by adding the affordable housing.”

The plan is to construct on RiverPlace Parcel 3, a 2.01-acre site at 2095 S.W. River Parkway, two buildings with a single level (173 spaces) of parking below grade. One building will be six stories with retail and grocery space at the ground level and five levels of apartments (162 units). The second building will be 12 stories with retail, residential amenities, 65 spaces of parking for grocery shoppers and 10 stories of affordable apartments (204 units).

The property has sat vacant for a number of years. The PDC and the Portland Housing Bureau earlier this year selected BRIDGE Housing Corp./Williams & Dame as the development team. The architect will be Ankrom Moisan Architects.

The project’s estimated total cost is $93 million, with at least $19 million coming from urban renewal funds. Stakeholders hope that construction begins by the end of 2016 and finishes within 20 months.

The PDC, the Portland Housing Bureau and the development team have entered into a due diligence and negotiation phase with the goal of reaching a purchase and sale agreement for the property. The intent is to bring the agreement before the PDC’s board by the end of the year.

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A new $93 million project to provide 365 apartments, most of them in the affordable range, is being planned for the South Waterfront area in the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area.

The project was announced by the Portland Development Commission and the Portland Housing Bureau after it selected a request for proposal from the team comprised of the nonprofit Bridge Housing Corporation and Williams & Dame Development.

Plans call for 162 market-rate units and 203 affordable housing units, 238 parking stalls and 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail at a 2.01-acre site at 2095 S.W. River Parkway. Ankrom Moisan Architects will serve as the project architect.

The RFP called for a minimum of 200 affordable housing units for families who earn up to 60 percent of the median family income, with up to 90 of the units reserved for households earning less than 30 percent of the median family income ($24,250 or below for a family of four). Home Forward has committed to dedicate 80 rent-assistance vouchers to the project, including 10 units for homeless veterans.

City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the city’s Bureau of Development Services, said he feels confident the city and the development team will reach a satisfactory negotiation, but couldn’t say how long that process would take.

“This is offering hundreds of new affordable housing in a great neighborhood with lots of amenities,” he said. “It feeds into great schools, (and is) close to great transportation access that will be even better when Tilikum Crossing opens.”

Saltzman said reaching this point in planning the new apartments is the result of  several years of effort by the city and stakeholders. He emphasized that the project is in line with the city’s commitment to diversity neighborhoods and keep affordable housing from being pushed to the outskirts of the city.

“They will be able to take advantage of all the Central City has to offer with some of the best schools in the city,” he added.

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