The Portland Housing Bureau recently selected NHC member BRIDGE Housing to develop 61 affordable apartments for low-income families at the N. Williams Center in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, Ore. The community will serve very low- and low-income families and give priority to those who have been displaced in North and Northeast Portland.
Expected to break ground sometime in mid-2017, N. Williams Center will have four stories and feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Other site features include a children’s area, gathering spaces for residents, a chicken coop and community gardens. Art and garden programs will be provided to developmentally disabled residents. Additional supportive services will be included to increase the financial stability of all residents.
“While the neighborhood has a rich cultural heritage, many longtime residents have been priced out and displaced,” BRIDGE Housing President and CEO, Cynthia Parker, who has deep roots in the region, said in a press release. “We’re proud to be part of the solution and are committed to bringing quality and affordability to Northeast Portland.”
According to “Housing Landscape 2016”state data, 22 percent of Oregon’s low- and moderate-income working households spend at least half of their income on housing costs and renters are more likely to face severe housing cost burden, with 25 percent spending more than half their income on housing. The N. Williams Center development will help alleviate the strain of finding affordable housing that many displaces families in the region have experienced.
The N. Williams Center development received an allocation of $4.5 million in local and federal funds from Portland’s Housing Bureau and will leverage 40 project-based Section 8 vouchers from Home Forward, Portland’s public housing authority.