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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
August 19, 2015 The Page 3 INSIDE Week in Review page 2 This page Sponsored by: L ocal N ews pages 6-7 O pinion M etro page 9 photo by T ravis P hillips /P ortland C ommunity R einvestment I nitiatives Maxine Fitzpatrick of Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives addresses her organization’s successful application to build new affordable housing on a long vacant lot at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just south of Fremont Street and give preference to residents who have been displaced from the neighborhood. Promise Fulfilled City to develop affordable housing on MLK O livia O livia T he P ortland O bserver On Monday, Portland May- or Charlie Hales and Com- missioner Dan Saltzman made good on a promise by announc- ing the selection of a housing non-profit serving the African American community along with a black owned contractor and architect to develop new affordable housing to serve people with roots in the area who have been displaced. A long vacant property at Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between Cook and Ivy streets, is envisioned to produce 40 to 70 units of affordable rental housing with a preference policy for people who have been displaced by gentrification. The site would also provide ground floor com- by pages 8-13 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT C lassifieds C alendar F ood page 14 page 15 page 16 mercial retail space to benefit the Northeast community as well as its historically Afri- can-American residents. “Even though this is just one site, it is the beginning,” said PCRI Executive Director Max- ine Fitzpatrick, responding to the organization’s long term goals of mitigating involuntary displacement of black residents from north and northeast Port- land. PCRI’s project team in- cludes co-developer Gerding Edlen, general contractor Co- las Construction, and Carleton Hart Architects, which were all selected following a request for qualifications by the Portland Housing Bureau. “This is an important op- portunity to provide access to affordable family rental hous- ing in a neighborhood that has experienced displacement and gentrification in the past several decades,” said Fitz- patrick. “Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives was formed as, and continues to be, a solution to involuntary displacement. The project will help ensure everyone can expe- rience the stability, safety, and dignity that a home provides.” The affordable housing plan follows public outreach led by the Housing Bureau and a commitment by Mayor Hales to allocate an additional $20 million in affordable housing support to offset gentrification in north and northeast Portland. The effort followed a back- lash from an earlier Portland C ontinued on P age 5