Central Eastside News

[sopdx]

https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/...A/4824553_did/

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by sopdx

https://www.portlandmaps.com/detail/...A/4824553_did/

Will be interesting to see this proposal develop. I can see this being called the Bottle Blocks. Also, they MUST rejuvenate and incorporate the old 7Up sign (perhaps with 7Up's money?)

[pdxsg34]

Couple updates:

Permits were issued for the 550 MLK project at 540 SE MLK Blvd:

540 M L K - New 7 story (5 over 2) mixed use 132 unit apartment building with basement, parking and associated site work. w/21-084386-MT

The Volta office project at 1709 SE 3rd Ave was recently completed:

CORE AND SHELL IMPROVEMENTS FOR 2-STORY BUILDING; DEMO PORTIONS OF EXTERIOR WALL TO CREATE NEW MAIN ENTRANCE AND PARKING ENTRANCE; SEISMIC UPGRADES; ENVELOPE UPGRADES; w/20-124557-MT

The Alder 9 project at 888 SE Alder St is back on the boards (under review) with a new partnership backing as an affordable housing project. The existing building at this site burned down last year:

ALDER 9 - New 9 story mixed use building with 159 residential units, basement, roof deck, and ground floor common, service provider, and management spaces *** w/18-261145-MT ***

"Related Northwest and Centro Cultural are partnering to develop 159 units of new construction affordable housing. Fifty-three units will serve households earning 30% AMI or below, including 25 integrated permanent supportive housing units, and 42 family-sized units. Est completion winter 2024.

The Flatworks project at 240 SE Grand Ave appears to be pivoting from office to apartments:

A Pre-Application Conference to discuss a new 8-story 120,000 square foot residential building with ground floor retail and 64 spaces of below-grade parking accessed from SE Pine St. Loading will be accessed from a separate entry on SE Pine St. A similar project for this site was previously approved as an office building (LU 20-124363 HR AD).

The SE 8th & Pine Apartments project appears to be back on the boards and is now under review again:

Construct seven-story mixed-use 143 unit apartment building with some commercial shell on ground floor and associated site work. **w/22-154915-MT**

The design commission recently approved the Sandy Pine project at 900 SE Sandy Blvd:

DZ HEARING - It is the decision of the Design Commission to approve a Design Review for a 12-story, 125¿ tall mass-timber high rise building with non-standard improvement to the SE 9th frontage in the Central Eastside subdistrict of Central City. Approval of the following Modification requests:1.Maximum Building Setback - To not meet the 10¿ building setback along a portion of SE Sandy; up to an additional 5¿ setback for approximately half (22¿) of the 45¿ long frontage (Section 33.140.215.C).2.Ground Floor Active Use ¿ To not meet the 12¿ distance from the finished floor to the bottom of structure above for 12% of the required 50% ground floor frontage along SE Oak (Section 33.510.225)...

The Fairfield Skylar Grand project at 465 NE Davis St is now complete:

New 8 story mixed use building with 1 level of underground parking. Approximately 170 apartments on levels 2-8. 5,500 SF of retail on ground floor. Amenities include a lounge, fitness, leasing, bike storage and bike lounge, pet area and wash.

The Multiple Pathways to Graduation Building at 1530 NE Glisan St (adjacent to Benson HS) is now under review:

Construct 3-story building w/basement parking level, generator and related site work. **w/22-117848-CO, 22-117850-MT, 22-122725-ZP**

[maccoinnich]

Thank you for all the updates.

[tworivers]

550 MLK is U/C. Another parking lot bites the dust.

[pdxsg34]

Does anyone know what happened to the "mobility hub" proposal on Sandy? I thought it was an interesting idea, but I'm guessing several factors might've killed it (funding, pandemic, crime/homelessness?)

https://bikeportland.org/2019/11/20/...forward-307915

[maccoinnich]

If I remember correctly it was going to open to coincide with a conference, that presumably never took place.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by tworivers

550 MLK is U/C. Another parking lot bites the dust.

Thrilled to see this. Just driving by the CC (across the street from this) the other day and thinking that area needs some more life. Some of those blocks, like this one, are pretty pathetic looking to be right across from a major CC. This will really help

[maccoinnich]

Notice of a Type II Proposal for Francis and Clare Place at 330 SE 11th Ave

[PhillyPDX]

Regarding the SE 8th and Pine apartments noted above: I drove past today and site looks cleared and fenced off. I haven’t been by there in a while, so not sure if that’s a recent change or not. Between the current appearance of the lot and recent permit application, looks like this is a go once permits are approved.

[maccoinnich]

It hadn't really occurred to me what a change to that stretch of Sandy, between the 8th & Pine Apartments, Sandy Pine, the 1010 SE Ash Apartments and Soho House.

[maccoinnich]

Affordable housing development poised to rise



Portland City Council on Wednesday approved up to approximately $30.3 million in construction financing for a 159-unit affordable housing project in the Buckman neighborhood. Alder 9 is being developed by Related Northwest and Centro Cultural.

The ordinance authorizes allocation of $27.2 million from the 2016 Portland affordable housing bond and $3.1 million in Central Eastside tax increment financing. Those dollars will add to more than $56 million from Citibank, Bank of America, Metro, Oregon Housing and Community Services, and the development team.

Related Northwest, Centro Cultural and equity investor Bank of America formed the Alder Street Housing Partners Limited Partnership to acquire the development site and construct the building. Alder 9 will be at 888 S.E. Alder St., near public transit and grocery stores.

The nine-story building will hold 55 studio apartments, 62 one-bedroom units, 36 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units. They are intended to serve adults aged 55 or older, and their families. Fifty-three units will be for people earning up to 30 percent of area median income, and 106 will be for people earning up to 60 percent of AMI. In addition, 25 will be permanent supportive housing (PSH) units and 46 will receive support from federal project-based vouchers.

...continues at the DJC.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the DJC.

Am I missing something with the financing on this? I'm calculating this to cost approximately $543k per key if this building only has 159 apartments. That seems pretty high.

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Am I missing something with the financing on this? I'm calculating this to cost approximately $543k per key if this building only has 159 apartments. That seems pretty high.

Affordable housing costs significantly more to develop than market rate housing. I'm not sure if 543K/unit is an accurate figure but it wouldn't shock me

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

Affordable housing costs significantly more to develop than market rate housing. I'm not sure if 543K/unit is an accurate figure but it wouldn't shock me

I guess I'm coming from the point of view that I can build a hotel at 1/4 that cost and fully furnish it. I understand that these apartments are going to be larger than the typical hotel room (that's my industry), but even with high end finishes, my properties usually end up around $150k per key.

[maccoinnich]

Notice of a Type II Decision for Francis + Clare Place.

[AdamUrbanist]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

I guess I'm coming from the point of view that I can build a hotel at 1/4 that cost and fully furnish it. I understand that these apartments are going to be larger than the typical hotel room (that's my industry), but even with high end finishes, my properties usually end up around $150k per key.

Large units are definitely a driver, but it's also the fact that affordable projects rarely max out a site. Usually the available funding sources don't support it. There's also a lot of little things that add up. Holding costs while developers apply for funding over several successive cycles, the overlapping requirements of different pots of public money, union labor, preference for first cost over long term maintenance costs, specialized service oriented amenities, etc, etc.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by AdamUrbanist

Large units are definitely a driver, but it's also the fact that affordable projects rarely max out a site. Usually the available funding sources don't support it. There's also a lot of little things that add up. Holding costs while developers apply for funding over several successive cycles, the overlapping requirements of different pots of public money, union labor, preference for first cost over long term maintenance costs, specialized service oriented amenities, etc, etc.

Is any of this public record we could dig through? I'd be curious to look through a detailed budget.

[maccoinnich]

Notice Of A Type II Proposal for changes to 830 SE Pine.

[Rob Nob]

850 SE Pine: Since when does building code allow you to use an exit passageway for anything but exiting? It does not allow for other uses to be accessed through the passageway (bike room, dog wash, elect. equipment). It doesn't even allow for electrical conduit or sprinkler pipes unless they are part of serving the exit passageway itself. OSSC 1023 "An exit passageway shall not be used for any purpose other than as a means of egress"