Community, Construction, New Residence, View of Montavilla

Mass Timber Affordable Housing on NE Glisan

Site work is underway for a new eight-story mixed-use building at NE 99th Avenue and Glisan Street. Designed by Access Architecture of Vancouver, WA, the building is named TimberView due to its predominantly wood-framed construction and scenic top-floor outdoor terrace. The mass timber structure will provide 105 affordable housing units with ground-floor commercial space.

Located in Portland’s Gateway District, this property occupies a 9,583-square-foot corner lot that once supported a single-family residence. Demolition crews deconstructed that house and detached garage in 2012. Heavy equipment recently leveled the ground, preparing the land for imminent construction. Additionally, workers removed some large trees from the property this week. However, several new street trees will surround the site after crews install the wider sidewalk as a part of this project.

TimberView building, rendering courtesy of Access Architecture

Developers working in the Gateway District create projects with larger urban-scale designs that emphasize public transportation and efficient use of land. The scale of the new structure will match the adjacent building on this block, all built within the last decade. The bar-shaped building will relocate the site’s entrance from NE Glisan to 540 NE 99th Avenue, in the center of the building. When completed, this mid-rise tower will offer a full range of apartments, from Studio to three-bedroom units.

Expect construction work to begin soon with cranes lifting cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor panels atop glue-laminated timber beams and columns. This type of construction can assemble faster than other projects using concrete. Vendors create many elements of the building’s structure off-site, facilitating a quick assembly at the property. When completed, this site will provide a healthy addition of affordable housing.

By

Jacob Loeb

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