A Portland-based business has purchased a 160-unit apartment complex in Vancouver, Washington, for $35.45 million.

Mark Desbrow’s Green Light Housing snapped up the Carriage House Apartments in a transaction that values the Southwest Washington asset at $221,563 per unit.

Green Light has transitioned from developing market-rate housing into developing and operating affordable housing, Desbrow stated in a news release.

“We have now added a workforce housing acquisition and development platform and are thrilled to expand this work into Washington state with Carriage House Apartments,” stated Desbrow, Green Light’s founder and managing partner.

The seller was Jackson Square Properties, a San Francisco-based investment group.

CBRE‘s Joe Nydahl and Josh McDonald represented both the buyer and the seller.

Well-located Vancouver multifamily properties continue to draw investment, supported by strong fundamentals, limited new supply and continued population growth, according to CBRE.

“Carriage House represents exactly the kind of opportunity that continues to attract strong investor interest in the Vancouver submarket,” stated McDonald, a CBRE executive vice president.

CBRE Debt and Structured Finance team members Nick Santangelo, Micah Springston and Matt Thorp sourced accretive financing through Fannie Mae‘s Multifamily Affordable Housing Program at a 75 percent loan-to-value ratio, CBRE stated.

Carriage House Apartments was built in 1993 at 4714 N.E. 72nd Ave. in Vancouver. Its units have two or three bedrooms. Amenities include a swimming pool, a fitness center, a clubhouse, a gated entry and surface parking.

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For more than 30 years, the Farmworker Housing Development Corp. has provided affordable housing solutions for farmworkers in Oregon. Established in 1990, FHDC focuses on developing well-designed, sustainable housing that meets the unique needs of this essential workforce while fostering strong communities.

A notable example is Colonia Paz II in Lebanon, Oregon, which provides 116 affordable homes for farmworker families and other workforce households in Linn County. FHDC’s first housing project, Nuevo Amanecer, opened in 1994 despite initial opposition, offering 50 families stable housing and laying the foundation for the organization’s long-term commitment to farmworker communities.

FHDC’s work extends beyond housing. By collaborating with local organizations, it ensures residents have access to health care, education, and social support services. This holistic approach aims to create opportunities for families to thrive, addressing both immediate housing needs and long-term well-being.

Through innovative design and partnerships with public and private entities, FHDC continues to develop housing that reflects the dignity and contributions of farmworkers. Its work exemplifies mission-driven development, creating safe, stable housing that enhances the lives of farmworker families and strengthens the communities they support.

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Lincoln City, seeking an injection of economic vitality and workforce housing, is making available eight developable properties ranging in size from less than an acre to 6.5 acres.

The coastal city on Feb. 1 issued a request for expressions of interest in the properties. The city’s urban renewal agency is seeking a developer or developers to build workforce and mixed-income housing on certain parcels and mixed-use buildings on others.

“Much like other small coastal communities, we need workforce housing,” said Alison Robertson, director of Lincoln City’s urban renewal agency. “Of course, the more workforce housing we can incorporate the better, but we want to have mixed-income communities.”

The city cobbled together the properties over several years. Then officials waited for the economy to improve before offering it to developers, Robertson said.

Lincoln City officials hope the developable offerings will help jump-start the local economy.

“Attracting developers to the coast is always a challenge,” Robertson said. “There’s just not enough happening. So we’re all trying to entice them by putting our best foot forward.”

The largest of the properties available is a 6.5-acre subdivision known as Fernwood that was platted but not built. The site is vacant but with some infrastructure in place. A private road, Fernwood Loop, was built. Water and sewer lines are also in place and stubbed out to each lot. Conduits for electricity, telephone and cable are in place. A defunct development plan anticipated 65 townhomes.

The property is in the northernmost portion of Lincoln City. City officials anticipate offering the “roughed in” road in as-is condition with the expectation a developer would finish the road, although it has no known defects, according to the city.

Fernwood is zoned for single-family or multifamily construction.

Another property – the only one with a building – is a twin-bay fire station. The single-story building at 914 S.W. Fourth St. is zoned for general commercial use. Lincoln City officials envision an adaptive reuse project with a brewpub, a coffee shop or other food business in the building, possibly along with a bike shop or other tourism-centered business.

As with most Oregon coastal communities, Lincoln City has struggled to grow. The population of Lincoln County, which includes Lincoln City, Newport and other towns, has grown by only about 100 people per year since 2010. The county had 46,685 residents in 2016, according to a Census Bureau estimate.

Lincoln County has a large population of baby boomers who are rapidly reaching retirement age, said Josh Lehner, an economist at the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.

“Lincoln County is going through this transition, and it’s more pronounced than in most other counties,” he said.

In recent years, Lincoln County has had more deaths than births, although relatively strong in-migration has supported some modest population growth, Lehner said.

“The working-age population, although it’s shrinking today a little bit, we don’t expect it to shrink forever,” he said. “The outlook is bright or at least relatively bright. I think what Lincoln’s going through is more of a transition period than a permanent decline.”

Lincoln City’s overall residential vacancy rate is only 6.6 percent, compared to 8.6 percent in rural Oregon, according to the Census Bureau. Lincoln City also has many houses that are used part-time as vacation rentals or second homes.

Lincoln City is prepared to offer a variety of incentives to developers, according to the request. Sale or lease write-downs are possible, along with deferral or financing of system development charges.

Possible deal structures include standard purchase and sale, ground lease, joint venture or a sale and lease-back scenario, according to the offering.

“The city recognizes that we are not developers,” Robertson said. “We really are looking at private-sector and nonprofit developers to come forward.”

Responses to Lincoln City’s request for expressions of interest are due by 2 p.m. on March 15.

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