August 19, 2015
The
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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
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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