A nonprofit’s latest affordable housing project in an area of Portland affected by gentrification is advancing.

The three-building Avenue Plaza apartment complex, at 5025 N.E. Eighth Ave., is being deconstructed to accommodate construction of the new five-story, 78-unit Nicole Sandoval Building. Its address will be 5015 N.E. Eighth Ave., near the intersection with Northeast Alberta Street.

There will be 35 two-bedroom units, 39 one-bedroom units and four studios in the 79,442-square-foot building. Twelve of the units will have accessibility features.

Of the 78 apartments, 22 (via U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development assistance) will be for individuals earning up to 50 percent of area median income, according to owner/developer Sabin CDC, and the other 56 will be for people earning up to 60 percent of AMI.

The project team also includes development consultant Edlen & Co., architect Scott Edwards Architecture, civil engineer Janet Turner Engineering of Lake Oswego, structural engineer VALAR Consulting Engineering of Clackamas, landscape architect DELA STUDIO, and construction manager/general contractor LMC Construction.

The building is named for Nicole Sandoval, a former resident in one of Sabin CDC’s properties and former chair of its board of directors. She also is an artist and children’s entertainer known as Nikki Brown Clown.

“She was instrumental in a key transition period for Sabin when I came on as executive director,” Sabin CDC’s Mary Schoen-Clark said. “Her support was really important during those days.”

The long-term, primarily Black residents of Avenue Plaza provided the motivation for Sabin CDC to tackle the project, Schoen-Clark said. Due to the rising cost of living in the Alberta Arts District, residents started to move out.

Sabin CDC’s long-term strategy is to ensure Northeast Portland residents can continue living in the community. Previously, the nonprofit delivered the Harvey Rice Heritage affordable housing development featuring the Isaka Shamsud-Din complex (on Northeast Killingsworth Street) and Charlotte Lewis complex (on Northeast 72nd Avenue). Two other projects are in the works.

One of the tasks for the design team was to ensure the Nicole Sandoval Building will fit within the Alberta Arts District, Scott Edwards Architecture project architect Sander Kohler said. The building will have a brick façade on the front and fiber cement siding with a board and batten pattern on the back.

Sabin CDC also charged the design team with the task of designing an energy efficient building able to spare residents from the burden of utility costs, Scott Edwards Architecture principal Hayley Purdy said. In fact, tenants won’t pay for any utilities.

In work with the Energy Trust of Oregon through its Path to Net Zero program, the design team identified many sustainable items for the building. These will include a ground source heat pump (the HVAC system), a 114-kilowatt solar array on the roof, a hot water heat pump system with storage tanks, a battery backup system, an efficient building envelope with increased insulation, triple-pane windows, all Energy Star appliances, full on-site stormwater retention including native plants, LED lighting, and more.

A monitoring system will be used to collect data from solar and geothermal systems in a format easily accessible by staffers, according to JT McElrath, cultural events and communications coordinator for Sabin CDC. That will allow system adjustments to ensure efficient energy use.

In addition, peak shaving will go one step further by accounting for when demand for electricity is high and companies’ rates are highest.

“By lowering our demand on the grid at these peak usage times, we lower our utility bill and provide less strain on the electrical grid,” explained Nathalie Hansen, assistant to Schoen-Clark.

The building won’t be net zero due to site constraints, according to Purdy. However, it is expected to receive certification in the Path to Net Zero high-performance tier. The project team is also targeting NGBS (National Green Building Standard) Green certification at the emerald level.

For seismic resiliency, the building will have a post-tensioned slab between the first and second floors. Several areas on the first floor will connect to the battery backup system and be shelter-ready.

Also, there will be 78 bicycle parking stalls, and the site is one-quarter mile from mass transit.

Construction is expected to cost $36 million. Sabin CDC declined to disclose the full project cost.

Funding is from Heritage Bank, Beneficial State Bank, Network for Oregon Affordable Housing, Enterprise Community Partners, Fairview Trust, Oregon Housing and Community Services, Portland Clean Energy Fund, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Metro.

Deconstruction of the three Avenue Plaza buildings began early last month. Sabin CDC is working with the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability on a commercial deconstruction pilot project, Hansen said. Portland YouthBuilders, OregonServes and Meticulous Deconstruction are participating in the effort.

The team has salvaged ovens, fridges and doors from the Avenue Plaza buildings, Hansen said. Windows have been removed and repurposed at a nursery. Studs and ceiling joists have also been salvaged. Some two-by-fours will be used for an accessory dwelling unit Sabin CDC is building in partnership with the city. Some materials are going to the ReBuilding Center in North Portland.

“We’ve also reinvested a lot of material that was on-site into our existing properties,” Schoen-Clark said. “That’s been a nice legacy moment for the existing buildings.”

Construction of the Nicole Sandoval Building is expected to be completed before it receives residents in January 2028.

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Nearly 20 years since previously tackling new construction, developer Sabin Community Development Corporation is embarking on a new affordable housing expedition.

Sabin CDC, based on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland, was formed in 1992 when neighbors started to see gentrification in the area. Its mission has been to provide long-term affordable housing options for low-income and median-income households, with a focus on Black residents.

The Harvey Rice Heritage Center project, named after Sabin CDC’s longtime board chairman, will bring a total of 41 affordable housing units to Northeast Portland. Two separate properties will gain developments; each one will be named after a local artist (Isaka Shamsud-Din and Charlotte Lewis) who has work displayed in the Portland Museum of Art.

Gentrification impacts

Much of Northeast Portland has experienced upheaval in the past decade, Sabin CDC Housing Director Loulie Brown said. Roughly 30 years ago, the broad inner area (Sabin, Woodlawn, Vernon, King, Humboldt, Boise and Eliot neighborhoods) was roughly 60 percent Black with a median income of $36,000, according to . Now it’s around 71 percent white with a median income of $70,000, according to the and .

Meanwhile, approximately 76 percent of residents in Sabin CDC housing identify as Black or multiracial and have incomes that average less than 50 percent of the median. There are even some folks that have no income, Brown said.

That reality led to the origin of the Harvey Rice Heritage Center project.

Sabin CDC was awarded low-income tax credits for the project in August 2020. Scott | Edwards Architecture was then brought in to perform the design work and P&C Construction was hired as the contractor. Partnership groups Community Vision and Iron Tribe Network have also aided the project.

Folks with disabilities, Brown said, face many barriers to housing that aren’t just income-based. With an aging residential population, Sabin CDC wanted to make sure the new buildings could accommodate them.

“That’s a void that Community Vision makes a herculean effort to fill,” Brown said.

Iron Tribe will then help support people who are transitioning from group living to individual housing. Also, trauma-informed design is being used for the Isaka Shamsud-Din and Charlotte Lewis buildings.

The Isaka Shamsud-Din

A four-story, 29-unit building is planned for the corner of Northeast 14th Place and Killingsworth Street. Currently, the lot holds a two-story, nine-unit building that will be demolished. The new structure will consist of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units as well as a 1,250-square-foot community room.

The Isaka Shamsud-Din will be painted terra-cotta and have a varied board and batten exterior. It will be a more playful take on the traditional form of cladding and reminiscent of Shamsud-Din’s work, Scott | Edwards Architecture architect Hayley Purdy said.

Instead of long, poorly lit corridors typically seen in affordable housing, the building will have large windows in both hallways and units, Purdy said.

The size of the community room is not typically seen in affordable housing. But Sabin CDC wanted a space that residents and community members could use for classes. It even will have a kitchen and a partition to divide the room into two spaces if needed.

“This building will feel very bright and welcoming and a place that feels special for the tenants to call home,” Purdy said.

The Charlotte Lewis

Two three-story buildings – with a total of 12 units – and a courtyard will be constructed on a lot on Northeast 72nd Avenue, next to Cully Park.

The design of the Charlotte Lewis is more residential in nature so that it will fit in with the single-family structures of the neighborhood. The exterior will be straight edge shingles painted light gray with gable roofs.

A unique layout will be used to serve families: The first floor will have single-story apartments, while the second and third floors will hold two-story apartments. Each one will have its own private entryway on the outside.

To accommodate the layout, Purdy said the team shifted the buildings’ locations. Then team members found spots where they could place pops of pastel colors from the Charlotte Lewis palette.

Project challenges

Like any affordable housing project, many needs had to be met in order to land the tax credits and accommodate groups involved. However, the Isaka Shamsud-Din building, in particular, is a bunch of puzzle pieces coming together, Purdy said.

Two months into design and schematics, the team learned a two-foot dedication was required along 14th Place and a three-foot one on Killingsworth Street.

“Unfortunately, we found out about the dedications after the owner had committed to the number of dwelling units provided for the federal tax credits,” Purdy said, noting that once tax credits are secured for a project, its programming can’t change.

In addition, the site is also along an urban corridor. Altogether, it required the team to pull back the façade facing Killingsworth Street. That was tough, Purdy said, because especially with affordable housing there isn’t much flexibility to absorb such changes.

The Charlotte Lewis site didn’t come with any surprise dedications. Instead, its main challenge was to move an existing driveway in order to accommodate the new building’s layout.

Currently, the goal is to break ground in November or early December, Brown said.

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