PORTLAND, OR - The Portland City Council on Wednesday agreed to redevelop a U.S. Army Reserve center in Southwest Portland as housing for low-income and homeless people. With the council's 5-0 vote, Community Partners for Affordable Housing was given the green light to design and build a 110-unit complex that will include rentals and homes for sale for people with mixed incomes as well as permanent supportive housing for homeless single adults and homeless families with special needs.
The vote came in spite of a well-organized and vocal protest by neighbors of the Sgt. Jerome Sears U.S. Army Reserve Center at 2730 S.W. Multnomah Blvd. They are mainly concerned that the high-density project in their small neighborhood would increase traffic and create safety problems for pedestrians. "The housing proposal before you could alter the character of our little neighborhood," said Michael Henderson, a neighbor of the site.
Sheila Greenlaw-Fink from Community Partners for Affordable Housing said need for this type of affordable housing is great in Portland and it would serve a deserving groups of future residents. "These are the people who serve you your lattes in the morning," she said. "They are us. They are not different, they are not scary." Congress ordered the Sears center closed in 2005 as part of a consolidation of military bases across the country. The property is valued at $3 million and will cost the developer $1.5 million because of the affordable housing benefit.
Two weeks ago, the council delayed their vote on the project to consider whether the housing could go elsewhere so the four-acre property could be used by the city's Transportation Department, Water Bureau and Office of Emergency Management for a west side emergency response center. The center, which the council agrees is needed, would include offices and equipment storage in case an earthquake took out the city's bridges. All of the city's equipment is stored on the east side of the Willamette River.
In the end, the council decided to move forward on the housing option. Housing Commissioner Nick Fish, who led the process to secure the site, noted that the Sears property would not be available to the city for another four years. By then, he said, he believes the emergency management agencies will already be operating elsewhere on the city's west side. The council agreed to look for another site over the next 18 months.
The city is in year four of a 10-year plan to build more affordable housing and service centers that target homelessness. The council wants to build 2,200 units for homeless people by 2015 and members believe this project will help meet that goal.
Source: OregonLive.com