The Portland City Council on Wednesday evening voted to approve an ordinance that will allocate $55.9 million to the Portland Housing Bureau‘s budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Unbudgeted bureau funds total more than $106 million.

Appropriations will be made to three Portland Housing Bureau funds: $40.4 million to the Housing Investment Fund, $4.8 million to the Tax Increment Fund, and $10.7 million to the Inclusionary Housing Fund. Separately, $4 million will go to the city’s general fund.

“Each of these tranches, we would develop programs for that,” said Donnie Oliveira, deputy city administrator for community and economic development. “In some cases, we would develop best practices.”

Options also include issuing a request for proposals from organizations to help allocate the funds, looking to see if the city has the capacity to disperse these dollars directly, or potentially partnering with Multnomah County.

“Each one of these would require us to contemplate the best way to get the dollars out as fast as possible, and as efficiently as possible,” Oliveira said.

Councilor Loretta Smith suggested the funds be dispersed directly from the city, rather than via programs. Creating programs would slow the process and the funds may not go out until September, she said.

The funds will not be allocated until July 1 at the earliest, according to Oliveira.

Unspent housing funds total around $137 million, Smith said. However, $106 million was the original amount identified, Chief Financial Officer Jonas Biery said.

“An additional amount of around $24 million was reflected in the city administrator’s memo a month or so ago, which were funds that were unbudgeted to be spent in this year, different from the original $106 million, which was sort of unbudgeted in future expenditures,” Biery said.

Some of the unbudgeted funds have already been allocated to the Housing Investment Fund, Biery said.

A proposed amendment by Smith to allocate $2.5 million for homeownership development opportunities to Self Enhancement Inc. and Williams & Russell failed.

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Project name: Dr. Darrell Millner Building

Location: Portland

Completion: June 2024

Size: 75,504 square feet

Cost: $23,884,074

Owner/Developer: Community Development Partners in partnership with Self Enhancement Inc.

Architect: Carleton Hart

Interior Designer: Carleton Hart Architecture

Engineers: Humber Design Group, DCI Engineers, NV5

General Contractor: LMC Construction

Submitting Company: LMC Construction

Other Associates: City of Portland Bureau of Development Services/Commercial Inspections, Portland Housing Bureau

Subcontractors: 2C Building Services, AA Asphalting, ALMAR Construction, Andersen Mechanical, Astound Business Solutions, Authority Dock & Door, Building Specialties Northwest, Choice Finish Carpentry, Clair Co., Coles & Bett Environmental Consulting, Comcast Business Services, Compaction and Recycling Equipment, Dallas Glass, DE-EL Enterprises, Eagle Striping Services, Earth Advantage, Exteriors Design Contractors, Forensic Waterproofing Consultants, Frontier Metal Fabrications, Frontier Roofing & Construction, GeoTech Foundation Company West, Guardian Management, Guardian Real Estate Services, Huntco Site Furnishings, J&S Masonry, Jacobs Heating & Air Conditioning, JB Insulation, Jet Industries, Lanz Cabinet Shop, LaRusso Concrete, Lauzon Contracting, LJP Construction, Merit Contractor of Oregon, Mid Valley, Northwest Masonry Restoration, Partner Engineering and Science, Patriot Fire Protection, Paul Brothers, Pilot Development dab US Mailboxes, Point Monitor, Polaris Electric, Polygon US, Prairie Electric, Precision Countertops, Quality Cleaning Service, SDB, Sign Wizards, Standard TV & Appliance, Stephen Waldroup Construction, TerraCalc Land Surveying, TK Elevator, Union Construction, Urban Resources, VPI Quality Windows, WH Cress, Whitaker Ellis Builders, Wood Mechanix Construction

The Dr. Darrell Millner Building, located on North Interstate in the Overlook neighborhood, offers 63 apartments specifically designed for families with ties to what was once a prominent African American community. The project aligns with the Portland Housing Bureau’s N/NE Preference Policy, ensuring those with generational ties to the neighborhood can rebuild connections.

Developed through a partnership between Community Development Partners and Self Enhancement Inc. under the Alberta Alive initiative, the building prioritizes households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income – between $35,400 and $70,800 for a family of four. The development includes 15 one-bedroom, 23 two-bedroom, and 25 three-bedroom units, with 75 percent of apartments featuring multiple bedrooms to accommodate families.

Named for Dr. Darrell Millner, a pioneering scholar who championed the history of Black Oregonians, the building represents more than just housing. The ground floor features 2,500 square feet of neighborhood-serving commercial space, bike parking, car parking, and several art murals. The building’s design blends brick, glass storefronts, and custom metal panels. Special attention was given to acoustics, with modified wall construction increasing sound insulation from the busy North Interstate Avenue. A mural on the north face of the building celebrates the power of education in breaking the cycle of generational poverty, honoring Dr. Millner’s life work.

Certified Earth Advantage Gold, the development maintains high standards for energy efficiency and environmental responsibility.

The project faced several challenges during construction, requiring coordination with the Department of Environmental Quality for soil sampling and with Portland General Electric to temporarily shut down nearby power lines during exterior cladding installation.

Residents benefit from proximity to The Alberta Abbey, located about a mile away, which provides community space for activities and workshops.

Self Enhancement Inc. oversees resident services including after-school programs and adult programming in financial management, credit repair, and home ownership.

The project had a unique evolution, originally designed as an affordable home ownership development. When COVID-19 derailed those plans, the Portland Housing Bureau put out a request for proposals to transition it to affordable rental housing.

The project achieved 30.97 percent MWESB participation. LMC Construction actively fostered partnerships with the DMWESB contracting community. A key example of this was the collaboration with ALMAR Contracting, a local firm owned by Alfonso Elias, a former LMC employee. LMC engaged ALMAR for work on the project and also provided mentorship to an ALMAR foreman.

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The partnership between Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI) and Community Development Partners (CDP) has resulted in transformative projects that provide affordable housing and essential services to underserved communities in Portland. By combining SEI’s expertise in youth development and community support with CDP’s experience in real estate development, the collaboration has created sustainable, mixed-use developments that promote long-term success for residents.

A key initiative is Alberta Alive, which revitalizes historically Black neighborhoods in North and Northeast Portland. Within this initiative, the Ronnie Herndon Building and the Paul and Geneva Knauls Building provide affordable housing for low-income families and veterans. Another major project, the Strong Family Apartments, is a four-story, 75-unit building set to open in 2026, honoring a longtime North Portland family while addressing critical housing needs.

Additional efforts include The Dr. Darrell Millner Building, offering 63 affordable housing units with on-site services to support displaced residents. The project reflects SEI and CDP’s shared commitment to social equity, ensuring that development goes beyond housing to create thriving communities with access to vital resources, economic opportunities, and lasting stability for residents.

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A four-story affordable housing proposal has underwhelmed Portland Design Commissioners.

The approximately 85,000-square-foot building, developed by Community Development Partners and Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI), would be located on the corner of North Alberta Street and Williams Avenue in Portland’s Humboldt neighborhood. It would provide 75 affordable homes in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

It is fourth affordable housing project that SEI is codeveloping with Community Development Partners, along with 5020 N. Interstate that is under construction in North/Northeast Portland.

The Holst Architecture designed project is valued at $24 million by the Bureau of Development Services. A central courtyard is planned for the development along with ground floor residential services, a community room and lobby, and 32 surface parking spaces.

While commissioners liked aspects of the project, like the material quality, a lot left to be desired, they said during Thursday’s meeting.

“What I am I think having problem with is that you (the team) are touching on all of these issues that are related to the guidelines,” Commissioner Zuri Santner said. “But they are in a sort of minuscule ways – they’re not generous.”

For example, due to the building being recessed for ground floor residential units along Alberta Street, the team is requesting a modification to not include street trees with the overhanging roof. However, Santner said, in the void of trees, there needs to be adequate landscaping in a variety of sizes, not just the groundscape proposed.

Commissioner Chandra Robinson said for those ground floor units it needs to feel like someone cannot just reach in. Typically, what makes a successful ground floor residential unit is that it is lifted up many feet and pushed back with there being some kind of guardrail or handrail and landscape screening with it, so residents feel they can keep their curtains open.

“But as (the units) are right now,” she added, “windows will be locked and the curtains will be drawn 24/7 and just be a little bit blank.”

As proposed Thursday, the building’s exterior design would be a combination of dark brick, light and grey fiber cement siding with metal accent panels, which commissioners said made the building feel “introverted” and not residential. The development’s corner on Alberta and Williams bridges two heavily commercial zones with residential behind.

Commissioners encouraged the team to add balconies or Juliet balconies to give the building more of a residential feel. Chair Commissioner Brian McCarter said, “that would just soften this building a little bit into that realm of a residential building and not an institutional building.”

The development aimed at African-American families would bring much-needed housing to the Humboldt area. Sahaan Mckelvey, director of community and family programs at SEI, said that affordable housing in the community is scarce.

“We know that a number of individuals from the African-American community cannot afford to live in this geographic space because of the lack of affordable housing available here,” he added.

Thursday’s meeting was a design advice hearing meant to provide initial guidance. The project is expected to proceed to a Type II design review, which would be overseen by Bureau of Development Services staff.

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