Work is underway to prepare the property at 8413 NE Hassalo Street to support four new townhomes. Demolition specialists recently removed a garage on the large corner lot, clearing the way for the new housing on NE 84th Avenue. The developer will utilize a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) process to split the 4,825-square-foot parcel into four distinct lots for individual sale, retaining the 1,768-square-foot 1908-era two-story home on a separate 5,321-square-foot tract. This project adds four new housing units offering future buyers nearly 1,200 square feet of living space while preserving a classic house.
Portland Maps image with MV News illustrations showing 8425 NE Hassalo St outlined in red and approximate location of 8413 NE Hassalo St lot division in dark blue
Area developer, Rees Bettinger, purchased the 15,700 square foot century-old property in May, splitting two adjacent lots, selling the undeveloped 8425 NE Hassalo Street parcel east of the house to NW Development for another housing project. Cascade Homes NW is assisting the new owner of 8413 NE Hassalo Street, Novus Cottages LLC, in developing the corner property while preserving and improving the existing single-family residence. A property line adjustment submitted in June will carve out a new 4,825-square-foot parcel from the north portion of that project site. That change will create a 50-foot-wide lot off NE 84th Avenue that will narrow at the rear to allow space around the back of the existing home. That northern property will host the four new three-bedroom townhomes. Each unit will have two full bathrooms upstairs for residents and a half-bath on the main floor.
Crews are currently remodeling the older house, adding two new bedrooms and one bathroom to the second story and updating the exterior envelope of the building. Now that crews have removed old cladding, passersby can see the signs of closed-off windows and other adjustments made to the old home over its long stint in the Montavilla area. Future housing will surround the once-greenery-rich corner lot, providing housing density without compromising the existing primary structure that helped define the area. People will continue to see housing density in this Residential Multi-Dwelling 2 zoned section of the neighborhood, which supports multifamily housing up to four stories tall and has minimum housing unit requirements for redevelopment.
New townhouse’s addresses: 1122 NE 84th Avenue 1124 NE 84th Avenue 1126 NE 84th Avenue 1128 NE 84th Avenue
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.
In late July, Oregon Metro purchased a 1.46-acre property at the intersection of SE 90th Place and SE 89th Avenue. Crews recently installed a chainlink fence around the sloped lot and cut back the overgrown greenery that dominated this parcel. Over the next two years, Metro’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) team will collaborate with partner developers to introduce new affordable housing at the site, which will incorporate open neighborhood greenspace. In the coming months, deconstruction specialists will raze the dilapidated 1928-era home at 2815 SE 90th Place and demolish the metal-clad barn on the property. The next phase of pre-construction work will build on previous community engagement to guide the development team in meeting area residents’ needs.
Portland Maps graphic with 2815 SE 90th Place outlined in blue
The nearly 100-year-old 720-square-foot building faces the curb-less SE 90th Place on the high point of the property. The small single-story home sits atop a daylight basement that opens up to the south of the property. Vehicles access the barn from a gravel road segment of SE 89th Avenue that currently extends along the property’s entire western frontage and 100 feet south. The City of Portland has not accepted this unimproved road into its maintenance network. However, work on The Jade apartments across the street will include paving on its half of the street and sidewalk installation along the new workforce-priced housing’s frontage. Andrea Pastor, Metro’s Senior Development Project Manager of Housing and TOD, explained that Metro is coordinating with Gorman & Company to extend the street paving work across the whole road width when they do their road construction for The Jade apartments. The asphalt surface will terminate at a new curb on the eastern edge of SE 87th Avenue near where the new fence line marks the property’s edge. This enhanced infrastructure will provide a more stable roadway constructed to city standards for people rolling or walking through this area. When completed, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) can then take over street maintenance, filling a long-disruptive gap in the street network previously made rough by potholes and wheel ruts.
SE 89th Avenue’s gravel road with potholes
A 2018 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded study titled “Greening The Jade” identified the unimproved segment of SE 89th Avenue north of SE Brooklyn Street as a prime redevelopment opportunity for sustainable housing and a public park. Pastor said that this put the 2815 SE 90th Place property on Metro’s watch list for a future acquisition. “We saw it come up on the market and we were able to approach the seller pretty quickly, and they were open to it,” recalled Pastor. She explained that Metro fenced its property to keep people safe as they clean up the field from its former uses and to prevent individuals from entering the unsafe structures on the site. Redevelopment will take a few years as the TOD team plans for housing at the site and seeks development partners.
Pastor explained that Metro’s regional housing bond, approved by voters in 2018, successfully spent its $652.8 million budget delivering affordable housing in three counties. However, the region lacks a replacement for that program, and the Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) program funds are allocated through the middle of 2027, possibly delaying the construction for two years without some creativity. “We are left wondering about other resources. If you think about it in established funding routes, looking at a rental project that has to have tax credits and LIFT, we would be looking at maybe mid-2027 for groundbreaking,” said Pastor, noting that speedy housing development is critical to Metro’s goals. “We are definitely exploring options for moving faster than that because we know we’re in a housing emergency, and we need as much housing as quickly as possible. We’re interested in thinking about what are some alternative models we can pursue in terms of financing. Can we move quickly, prioritizing quality of course, but cost efficiency and speed?”
2815 SE 90th Place
Pastor explained that Metro purchased the land along SE 89th Avenue using an allocation provided by the Oregon State legislature for a revolving acquisition fund around 82nd Avenue. “With all of the improvements happening on 82nd, including the planning of the new transit, we wanted to prioritize the area. So we made a specific legislative ask back in 2023 for some funds to buy land near 82nd,” said Pastor. “We have been basically looking and making offers on properties in the area for the last couple of years.” She notes that Metro has often owned land around transit with the intention of developing it. “We are trying to think of ourselves as a regional land bank specifically aimed at building affordable housing near transit. Our program focus has shifted in the last few years, but we’re really not doing anything that different from what Metro has been doing in this space for decades.”
As Metro adjusts its programs, the staff will look at ways to extend the useful life span of public investment. “In the past, we’ve typically just written down the value of the land and conveyed it to the developer if they’re doing affordable [housing]. The program has basically been trying to spur development, but now we are trying to make this idea sustainable. It’s simply not that sustainable for us to continue to give land away for free,” said Pastor. She explained that they are consulting development partners to explore how programs can deliver housing while potentially repaying public investment. Repayment could become part of the project lending structure, or developers could pay back Metro’s investment over a period of time. “It could be 15 years. It could be a ground lease. We’re open to structuring those deals in a number of different ways, but in a way that we can make this a revolving fund of money that is able to continually buy new properties along this corridor. The $5 million that we received is nowhere near enough to really meet the need for how much housing we really need,” Pastor said.
Metro expects to work with a single developer on this new project in the Jade District. Still, it could offer a mix of multifamily or single-family units with affordable home ownership options. The sloped lot and land dedication to PBOT for the modern streets and sidewalks reduces the buildable land to around an acre. So the vast open lot will not support a large housing complex. They also anticipate providing some on-site parking to minimize the impact on neighbors from the increase in housing density. However, incorporating green space into the development is a key consideration. They are communicating with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, which owns the lot to the south of this property. It serves as a natural stormwater detention area where plants and soil help absorb the area’s rainwater. It also contains a sewer pump facility that requires 24-hour security for community safety and asset protection. Depending on the City’s flexibility, designers could incorporate green space on Metro’s land to extend into the City-owned land without compromising security.
Property with new fence
Portlanders in the area can anticipate future Metro conversations about 2815 SE 90th Place as they determine the appropriate development path. They will also consider leasing the land to an organization with suitable insurance and liability coverage to use the site until construction begins. In the short term, neighbors will see the unsafe structures removed and eventually a new paved road on SE 89th Avenue. The construction phase relies on a yet-to-be-determined development partner’s ability to secure funding and deliver a proposal that meets Metro’s goals for affordable transit-oriented housing at this site.
Promotion: Check out East Portland News as it continues to advocate for and report on outer East Portland. You will find frequently updated articles and an archive of more than 5,000 stories written over the past 20+ years alongside a robust Community Calendar of events.
Framing crews have made significant progress on the 40-unit complex at 2905 SE 89th Avenue. This joint venture between APANO and Gorman & Company will transform a 1.1-acre property into affordable family apartments in a dual courtyard configuration. Construction will continue on The Jade apartments throughout the year, with an anticipated opening date in 2026. The developers intend to create a healthy and sustainable community with solar panels providing the bulk of residential power and families having ample access to green space.
Fifteen units in the new apartment building will offer family-sized accommodations with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The developers will also create 14 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom flats, each with a single bathroom. Residents can access various site amenities, including a bike room, package lockers, and resident services offices. People can also use a community room, two courtyards, and outdoor areas with a garden and play area for children. Larger apartments have in-unit washer and dryer appliances. The building offers laundry rooms on each floor for the rest of the residents.
Renderings courtesy Gorman & Co
The developers will reserve all units in the three-story building for people earning 80% or below the median family income (MFI) for Portland. That commitment keeps rents from exceeding levels set annually based on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) calculations, but does not fit what people consider low-income housing. Based on 2023 numbers, one of the development’s three-bedroom apartments would cost up to $2,347 monthly. At those rates, these homes support the working families often priced out of modern apartments west of Interstate 205.
A 2018 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded study of the Jade District identified the unimproved segment of SE 89th Avenue north of SE Brooklyn Street as a prime redevelopment opportunity for sustainable housing and a new public park. APANO is the fiscal sponsor of the Jade District Neighborhood Prosperity Network (NPN) and used the 2018 data with community input to pursue development opportunities in this area. With the help of Gorman & Company’s nearly 40 years of experience creating housing, APANO will begin work on what was envisioned for this part of the Jade District seven years ago.
The Jade apartments Aug. 7th, 2025
This area contains a multitude of housing with buildings around the site ranging from farmhouses to multifamily buildings. The architect worked to create a design matching its environment while still providing the desired housing density. “The building will have a residential character, and we’ve subdivided the masses to be consistent with the other buildings in the neighborhood,” explained Kevin Kellogg, Gorman & Company’s Market President for the Pacific Northwest. People will access the apartment’s upper floors through a central stairway, and a courtyard facing an open-air walkway connects the units. “Each of the courtyards has a unique character. One of them, we call the living room courtyard, and the other one is the family room courtyard,” said Kellogg. The ground floor will house the site’s accessible units and its 32 on-site parking stalls, half of which are partially covered by solar panels.
Renderings courtesy Gorman & Co
The developers are targeting a Net Zero certification for the building, making it environmentally friendly and resilient to changing weather conditions. “Our goal is for it to be as low maintenance and energy efficient as possible,” said Kellogg. The environmental goals also align with APANO’s goals for the Jade District. “We’re working to build the most climate-friendly, transit-rich, and affordable neighborhood we can. We feel this complements our work at PCC, Canton Grill, and the Orchards,” explained Duncan Hwang, Community Development Director at APANO.
Framers comple 3rd floor framing including a covered exterior hallway looking into a courtyard Sept. 15, 2025
This apartment complex will become the fourth housing project in the Jade District for APANO. The organization is interested in having a mixed-income neighborhood, and this project fits the need for workforce-priced housing. Other projects built by the organization or in development support lower-income renters. APANO often partners with other organizations in creating and managing developments. In this case, Gorman & Company will provide asset management and compliance, with APANO providing resident services.
In addition to improving housing availability in the area, this project will create public right-of-way improvements. Towards the end of the project, crews will construct new sidewalks along the frontage and build a portion of the paved street. These infrastructure upgrades will move the area closer to completing a disconnected street and sidewalk network that inhibits travel along SE 89th Avenue. Walkable access is a primary feature of this building, which is blocks away from the Fubonn grocery store and frequent public transit. Look for continued improvements to this area as work progresses on The Jade apartments.
On July 31st, the City of Portland approved a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) application at 1004 NE 70th Avenue, creating four new lots. Rees Bettinger Properties recently constructed three single-family homes behind the 1950-era single-story house at this address. Each new two-story structure offers an open-concept main level with two bedrooms and a stacked laundry closet on the second floor. Each bedroom has an ensuite bathroom with a walk-in shower. The architect placed a half-bathroom under the staircase on the first floor that extends out beyond the eastern wall of the center two units, adding another three feet to those washrooms.
Exhibit C from Decision Notice for LU 25-036927 MLDS showing new lot configuration
The new homes, nearing completion, will offer residents just under 1,000 square feet of living space in almost identical floor plans. People can enter the new detached houses from a shared pathway along the property’s southern edge, and sliding glass doors at the north of the new structures lead to a back patio space. The “U” shaped kitchens feature a breakfast bar facing the center of the home and a dining area off to its side. The MHLD created four lots with an easement for utility lines and the walkway. Power for all homes comes in off the overhead lines to the front house, where electricians placed the power meters. The new structures have their utilities run underground. Demolition crews remove a semi-attached garage on the home’s southeast corner to allow adequate access to the back units.
Left rendering show 1000 NE 70th Ave and 996 NE 70th Ave design. Right is 992 NE 70th Ave. Renderings courtesy of Rees Bettinger Properties
The developer, Rees Bettinger, created a cottage cluster arranged development on NE Holladay Street that wrapped up construction in 2024, and has another recently completed project underway that added four townhouses on the same street. He often works to preserve and improve existing homes while adding more residential inventory to the area. This approach to housing infill has the added benefit of retaining material investments in a structure and maintaining some of the existing streetscape’s age and scale. However, the NE 70th Avenue property is between several new homes built in the last two decades, so matching the adjacent structures is less of a concern.
The homes at this property should go on sale sometime this year after crews complete the interior work and painters cover the primed siding.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.
Work is underway on three connected townhomes along a cul-de-sac section on SE 93rd Avenue. The two-story buildings took the developer over three years to start work, with plans dating back to May 2022. Demolition crews removed the existing 1944-era single-family home at 2421 SE 93rd Avenue in early 2023, and the site sat vacant behind construction fencing for another two years until work resumed this summer.
2421 SE 93rd Ave May 2022
2421 SE 93rd Ave March 2023 after crews razed house leaving only the foundation
Sunstone Homes submitted the original permit applications to construct the three townhouses near SE Division Street and Interstate 205 on a 63-by-75-foot lot. Each new residence offers around 1500 square feet of living space with two full bathrooms and one half-bath for each townhouse. Each home includes an attached single-car garage taking up nearly half the building’s frontage but fitting in with Portland’s rules. Portland’s updated parking and onsite vehicle storage rules restrict excessive attached garages on street-facing walls. It says the length of the garage wall facing the street may be up to 50 percent of the total length of the street-facing building facade. However, if any or all the units in a multiunit development are less than 22 feet wide, the limitation applies to the total length of the street-facing facades.
Onsite parking could be an advantage to selling these homes, according to some area real estate sellers who still see buyers interested in the option. This street also has an abundance of on-street parking as the Interstate 205 Multi-use-path runs along the opposite side of SE 93rd Avenue, and no homes are located east of the street until the other side of the I-205 freeway. This location is also ideal for transit riders as the cul-de-sac turnaround abuts a SE Division Street TriMet FX bus station. Additionally, the MAX light rail Green Line station is south of SE Division Street, a few hundred feet away.
Portland Maps image showing lot and cul-de-sac
As a formally dormant project, this is an indication that builders are willing to spend on housing in this current market. There are dozens of similar projects in the area that are also waiting to break ground, some of them vacant lots like this one on SE 93rd Avenue. This project could be the start of a new construction wave that Portland is trying to cultivate. Especially after City officials temporarily suspended System Development Charges (SDCs) for most new residential projects. SDCs are one-time fees charged to new development and redevelopment that increase demand on public infrastructure. The money collected improves utilities, roads, and parks. That new policy will apply to projects approved from August 15, 2025, to September 30, 2028, or until builders create 5,000 new units of housing. This short-term measure will eliminate a considerable cost for builders, but not necessarily enough to make all paused projects profitable.
People should expect work to continue on the SE 93rd Avenue townhomes through the summer, with crews likely completing the properties later in 2025.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
Starting August 4th, demolition crews working with Multnomah County’s Homeless Services Department will begin preparing the site at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue to support a new sober shelter that Do Good Multnomah will operate after construction completes in the 2025-2026 winter season. With the reconstruction of SE Mill Street adjacent to the property complete, and road crews wrapping up repaving on SE 82nd Avenue in this area, contractors will have unobstructed access to the site to install 38 single-occupancy, shed-style shelters with supporting sanitation and cooking facilities.
Multnomah County purchased the former recreational vehicle dealership at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue in December 2022 for $2.015 million. This 34,000-square-foot parcel was the second Montavilla location the County bought that year for temporary shelter services. The other shelter, Oak Street Village at 333 SE 82nd Avenue, opened in February and is currently operating at full capacity. The Joint Office of Homeless Services — now renamed the Homeless Services Department — has held several community meetings, with the most recent meeting in April announcing that Do Good Multnomah would operate the site as a sober shelter. Presenters explained that residents and staff are subject to drug testing, and policy strictly prohibits the possession of non-prescribed intoxicants on the property.
Selecting a sober format meets a specific need for people transitioning into stable housing who are in recovery from substance use disorder, and it better matches community desires for the site, which is located near two schools. The project designers will set back the new seven-foot-high chain-link fence on SE Mill Street to allow for more sidewalk-adjacent plantings, providing a buffer space and allowing for greater resident privacy beyond the plastic fence inserts that will obscure sightlines from the street.
Feb 2025 Design – courtesy JOHS
Workers will remove sections of the asphalt pavement in the parking lot to create green spaces and a pet relief area for residents. Portable units that will house showers, bathrooms, a kitchenette space, and a laundry facility for residents are placed along the SE 82nd Avenue frontage to create a sound barrier from the busy street. On-site parking is available for staff and service providers only. This site will not provide space for residents to park personal vehicles. Some neighbors questioned the original placement of the trash enclosure on the property, and updated designs relocated it away from the fence line, but still made it accessible for trash haulers.
As work on the site progresses this summer, Homeless Services Department staff will collaborate with community partners on a Good Neighbor Agreement, a process anticipated to take two months. Demolition work will take place through August with a planned completion date around the 22nd of that month. Electricians, plumbers, and other tradespeople will follow to install the below-ground routed services that will support the installation of the portable sleeping pods and the six support buildings.
Disclosure: The Author of this article servers on the board the 82nd Avenue Business Association which will work with Multnomah County on a Good Neighbor Agreement for the site.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.
Framing is near complete on eight townhomes along NE 78th Avenue as the developer readies the property for a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) that will create independent properties with a shared center driveway that dips below grade. The six homes in the back stand three stories tall and have attached garages. However, the off-street units hide their height by sitting several feet below ground, but their roofline is still visible over the low-slung roofline along the street.
Wilde prefers projects that offer detached homes and have off-street parking with garages. However, this predesigned project he purchased was a compromise that provided infill density with some parking and distinct properties for each home, avoiding the need for condo-style Home Owners Association fees. Wilde explained that MHLD simplifies the infill development process and creates a better housing product for buyers. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. It really makes the land use process more efficient. I think it’s going to help with housing affordability in Portland when we don’t have to spend as much time and money on simple land use.”
87 NE 78th Avenue
89 NE 78th Avenue
91 NE 78th Avenue
93 NE 78th Avenue
95 NE 78th Avenue
97 NE 78th Avenue
99 NE 78th Avenue
101 NE 78th Avenue
The six back units offer around 1,400 square feet of living space with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. The two street-facing units provide residents with under 1,000 square feet of space and two bedrooms but do not have an attached garage. Soon, crews will begin focusing efforts on the inside of the eight townhomes after they seal the exterior with windows and doors. People should expect activity on the site to continue this summer, with the new homes on NE 78th Avenue listed for sale later this year.
On April 24th, demolition crews began removing the modest 1956-era single-story home at 1542 SE 84th Avenue to make way for a duplex with onsite parking. Developer Ethan Knudson is on the second iteration of redevelopment plans, adjusting designs around Portland’s rules to include attached garages in the new housing.
Knudson bought the deteriorating property last summer, intending to build two detached single-family houses. Ahead of developing plans, his team met with the Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D) staff to review their proposal and understand what is allowed on the 50-foot-wide lot. “I had a conversation with [city staff], a whole land use team, and the people who handle this for me. We initially sat down with them, and I said, ‘I need garages because this is not two blocks from everything.’ People are going to have to drive,” said Knudson. “And the city said, ‘We don’t allow garages on skinny houses anymore.'” Knudson explained that the city had told him the restriction was regarding street-facing vehicle storage on slender homes and that he could instead build a shared driveway between the two 15-foot-wide houses with garages in the back of each residence. After his architect had created those plans, they checked back with city officials to ensure they met their approval. Knudson said that another group of city staff told them that his designed garages would not work because vehicles had insufficient space to turn around behind the homes on either side of the center driveway.
1542 SE 84th Ave before demolition (Jacob Loeb)
That new information meant that architects would need to redraw the plans, and the design team had only one option for a project that included attached garages. Portland’s updated parking and onsite vehicle storage rules restrict excessive attached garages on street-facing walls. It says the length of the garage wall facing the street may be up to 50 percent of the total length of the street-facing building facade. However, if any or all the units in a multiunit development are less than 22 feet wide, the limitation applies to the total length of the street-facing facades. The duplex’s common wall construction removed the need for a five-foot setback from the adjoining property line, allowing each home to span 20 feet, making a 10-foot wide garage permissible.
This change in design will add to the floor space of the units, and each home will remain on its own lot, but the structures will touch. Knudson is working with Zed Design to create distinct looks for the two homes, visually separating them. “I’m going to make sure the frontage still looks the best we can, like independent houses, so that it doesn’t look like a duplex,” said Knudson. The builders will do this through the use of different siding materials and other architectural elements.
1542 SE 84th Ave during demolition (Jacob Loeb)
The three-bedroom homes will have two full bathrooms on the second floor, one each serving as the owner’s ensuite, and an open-concept first floor with half-bathrooms. Knudson says he likes to minimize the long front hallway –often found in skinny homes– making space for a sizable entryway with seating to put on shoes and coats. The previous design with parking in the back would have allowed for more activity at the front of the houses. Now, the living room sits at the back of the main level with a fireplace and sliding door leading to a backyard patio. Designers placed the C-shaped kitchen in the middle of the ground floor behind the garage and across from a walk-in pantry. The larger front bedroom above the garage offers a walking closet with natural light, and residents will have a full-size laundry room on the second floor.
84th Ave Duplex floor plan and elevation by Zed Design courtesy Ethan Knudson
Knudson is working with his team to create an interesting driveway leading to the attached garages at the front of the duplex. He explained it would feature a decorative finish similar to what people apply inside high-end garages but on the outside slab. The team wants the project to stand out but priced at an attainable rate for home buyers with a growing family who need more bedrooms and a place to park the family car. In Knudson’s experience as a developer, not having onsite vehicle storage is a detractor for home buyers. “Losing those garages knocks off $100,000 in value for the whole development. Garages are super important, even if it’s just for a storage unit. A lot of people don’t actually use a garage as a garage,” remarked Knudson.
1542 SE 84th Ave demolished (Ethan Knudson)
With the old building removed, KL Excavation crews will begin leveling the lot and preparing the site for underground utilities and foundation work. Knudson plans to finish the homes with stone countertops and custom cabinetry. He says his experience and connections help keep costs down while providing quality finishes for his housing. Knudson looks forward to working on more projects in the area and is excited for local residents to see the expanded housing he is offering, which he anticipates will blend in well with the neighborhood.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
On April 11th, project leaders and development participants gathered to celebrate the opening of Glisan Landing at NE 74th Avenue and Glisan Street. The event occurred as residents continued to move into the two buildings offering 137 affordable housing units. Transforming a 1.65-acre underutilized commercial property into housing required many partner organizations, and the 2018 voters approved Metro Housing Bond. The project also faced funding constraints beyond the developer’s expectation after Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) determined the project was not exempt from the higher labor rates of prevailing wage rate laws.
The property once housed a grocery store but later became the transmission facility for the Trinity Broadcasting Network before Oregon Metro bought the site in 2019. In June 2023, demolition crews razed the single-story building. They began constructing the first two buildings focused on housing with storefront space for Stone Soup culinary training center and supportive ground floor resident amenities. A third building under construction on the south end of the site will house the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s (IRCO) free preschool in a single-story structure. In December 2024, residents started moving into the first building, offering 41 units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). Catholic Charities of Oregon runs Beacon at Glisan Landing apartments at 7450 NE Glisan Street. That nonprofit jointly owns the four-story PSH building with Related Northwest as part of the public-private partnership that made this project possible.
Related Northwest partnered with IRCO for the 96-unit C-shaped building Aldea at Glisan Landing. That four-story development recently started moving people in and is nearly 50% leased. It features many family-sized units with secure ground-floor parking containing enough stalls for its higher-capacity residences. However, developers constructed this site with the support of Metro’s Transit-Oriented Development Program (TOD), which stimulates high-density housing development within frequent transit corridors like NE Glisan Street, accommodating residents who live car-free. Aldea reserves its units for people earning at or below 60% Area Median Income (AMI). That threshold is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determined rate by region adjusted by family size. The leasing company will also hold 15 of Aldea’s 96 units for people earning up to 30% AMI. Operators also reserve all of Beacon at Glisan Landing’s 41 PSH units for people making up to 30% AMI.
Although designed for income-restricted residents, this complex features amenities not seen in many market-rate units east of the City center. Residents have access to indoor and outdoor exercise equipment, a youth reading room, a computer lab, a teen lounge, and a fiber studio with sewing machines and work tables. Residents can access onsite laundry rooms on each residential floor, and in-unit washers and dryers are available in the three and four-bedroom apartments. The fenced central courtyard contains play equipment and a garden trail alongside seating. A ground-floor breezeway at the south gap between the two parking garages leads to the preschool and its adjacent community garden space. Designers wanted to connect the residents with the community in the building while allowing neighbors living outside Glisan Landing opportunities to interact with the site through its natural spaces. The building features several exterior murals by Jeremy Nichols (Plastic Birdie), with two visible from NE 75th and 74th Avenues. Muralist Alicia Schultz (Vine & Thistle) produced interior artwork warming the space for residents. Colorful punched metal screens obscure the parking while letting air flow through the courtyard.
Glisan Landing is a loosely integrated complex with shared spaces, but independent lots contain each building with differing ownership and financing. Related Northwest and its partners arranged the development’s structure to treat each building as an autonomous project with separate funding, general contractors, and other considerations. This approach has several operational benefits, but it also has the potential to save on labor by avoiding prevailing wage requirements for public works projects. Contractors hiring labor for government-funded projects over a specific budget are often required to pay a rate based on the average wage paid to similarly employed workers within a particular occupation. The prevailing wage requirement ensures that low-bid rules on government-funded projects do not use the power of public money to suppress labor rates. However, many affordable housing projects with participation from for-profit developers are not always financially sound when paying the prevailing wage. Consequentially, officials exempt completely affordable development from paying the prevailing wage. “Affordable housing will be non-prevailed if it’s 100% affordable, meaning 60% AMI or lower, four stories or less, and no ground floor commercial,” explained Stefanie Kondor, Executive Vice President of Related Northwest.
The development group’s experience with affordable housing led them to think BOLI would not require a prevailing wage workforce for the affordable housing buildings. However, two months before closing on the project, Kondor says BOLI informed the team that the free preschool was considered a commercial use and that the whole Glisan Landing complex would need to pay prevailing wage labor rates. It was challenging for the team that was looking at a ten to twenty percent increase in building costs, but they were able to bridge the gap and break ground. “We prevailed when we were prevailed,” remarked Kondor. Still, she feels Oregon has some work to do with its interpretation of prevailing wage rules. “The question becomes, is a preschool considered ground floor commercial, even if we’re not charging the residents to take care of the kids? Is that a commercial use, or is that a residential use benefiting the residential community?” said Kondor. “I think that is why you’re not seeing a lot of co-located preschools, and it’s a shame.” Studies often identify accessible childcare and early education as essential to improving a family’s success and future prosperity.
The Related Northwest team took on the budget challenge and continued with their plan, offering a high-quality, affordable housing development. “Even though we are for-profit, we are mission-driven. Every person in my office was formerly a nonprofit person,” explained Kondor. The group pursues projects based on their experience in the region and the guidance from nonprofits they partner with. Stefanie Kondor wanted to work on Glisan Landing because of her appreciation of the Montavilla neighborhood, and she is currently working on a project in her hometown of Seaside. “The places where we develop are places that we would want to live ourselves and want to be, that we feel that we can add value, that we can do something special,” said Kondor.
The Northwest division of Related develops housing projects in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The group wants to take on more development in Portland and other areas of Oregon. However, the 2018 Metro Housing Bond has depleted its $652.8 million budget, significantly exceeding the delivery of its planned 3,900 affordable housing units. Taxpayers will continue to pay off the bond for over a decade, inhibiting another bond issuance without impacting the tax rate. If the community wants more affordable housing developments like Glisan Landing, Kondor feels that the region will need to recreate the funding conditions created by the 2018 Metro Housing Bond. “The partnership with Metro and Portland Housing Bureau came together with resources. If it was just one of them, I don’t think you could accomplish this [type of development]. Metro donating the land, they contributed TOD funds, infrastructure funds, and Metro bonds. The Portland Housing Bureau administers the housing bonds, and they do the property tax exemptions and the SDC (System Development Charge) waivers. All of those things really help make the project come to fruition.”
Kondor also attributes Glisan Landing’s success to the work of the stakeholder committee and support from local organizations like Vestal Elementary School, which has already seen enrollment expand due to the families moving into the housing complex. The Montavilla community will see more people living in NE Glisan as this building changes the dynamic of the street to support more human-scale and family-oriented activities.
Crews are nearing completion on the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at 8358 NE Holladay Street Unit # B as other workers conclude framing work on the four townhouses next door. On January 22nd, Portlands Permitting & Development (PP&D) staff approved a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) application to create four distinct lots for the new two-story townhomes that will replace the garages that once served the single-family-home at the corner of NE 84th Avenue and Holladay Street.
This project took shape a year ago as developer Rees Bettinger looked to add housing to the corner lot while preserving the original 1940-era home. Work on the ADU progressed quickly, with crews completing much of the building’s exterior before cement masons poured the foundation of the four townhomes. With the MHLD approved, the site will offer future residents five properties with the rear townhome units accessible from a shared walkway to the east of the structure connecting with NE Holladay Street.
Floor Plan from LU 24-103864 MLDS
The townhomes each contain under 1,200 square feet of living space with similar floor plans. The main level’s open layout places the “L” shaped kitchen in the northwest corner near the rear sliding door that leads to a small patio space on the western side of the homes. A kitchen island has space for counter seating from the living room side and helps define the kitchen space from the rest of the main room. The southern walls support a pantry, a half-bath washroom, and an under-staircase storage area containing the water heater. The second floor has two standard-sized bedrooms with a full bathroom accessed from the hallway near a stacked laundry closet. An “owner’s” third bedroom features an ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet.
Draft rendering of townhouse building from side, subject to change. Courtesy Rees Bettinger
Crews are on pace to complete this project in the middle of 2025, with the listing for the original home with ADU potentially happening ahead of the townhome’s completion. Outside of landscaping, work should transition inside the structures within the coming months, and new residents could start living at this site before the end of the year.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.
Neighborhood news site focused on buildings and changing businesses
