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MAX WON'T CROSS RIVER FOR 16 DAYS May 10, 2001 | Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Author: BILL STEWART of the Oregonian Staff | Page: B04 | Section: LOCAL STORIES 394 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1400, grade level(s): >12 Read News Document Listen with webReader

Focus Summary: Buses will ferry riders during the project related to the Interstate line

Starting late Friday, Portland's east-west light-rail line will have a kink in it for 16 days as construction crews install switches for the new Interstate MAX line.

No MAX stations will be closed, but the rails will be torn up immediately west of the Rose Quarter Transit Center. A fleet of buses will shuttle commuters and others across the Willamette River.

A similar shuttle --Tri-Met prefers to call it a "bus bridge" --hauled passengers recently when upgraded switches were installed at Lloyd Center.

Fred Hansen, Tri-Met general manager, said Wednesday that Friday's start of the new project is being pushed to 11 p.m. to accommodate fans who plan to attend a soccer match at PGE Park and a hockey game at the Rose Quarter.

Hansen said that once the work starts, train passengers can use the buses to get from the Rose Quarter to Old Town/Chinatown, the two MAX stations closest to the construction site. Or they can stay on the buses as far south as Southwest Sixth Avenue and Jefferson Street.

The idea behind the rambling bus route, Hansen said, is to let some people avoid a second transfer.

On the construction project, in addition to installing the first rails for Interstate MAX, crews will be changing the alignment of the old MAX tracks just west of Interstate 5. The current curve is abrupt. When the rails are placed in a gentler curve, they also will be raised about two feet to eliminate part of the dip that trains encounter on their way to the Steel Bridge.

In the platform area for the Rose Quarter stop, the north platform will become the one used for westbound trains, while the middle track will be converted to special events to eliminate some confusion.

Also on Wednesday, the Tri-Met board awarded the last large Interstate MAX contract to F.E. Ward Constructors. The segment is from the Kenton neighborhood to the Portland Expo Center.

The low bid of $30.6 million includes a twin track bridge and elevated structure that will be 34 feet wide and 3,850 feet long. Four other bids ranged as high as $46.8 million; the engineers' estimate was $34 million.

Interstate MAX is expected to open in 2004.

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INTERSTATE MAX MAY CROSS ONE OF CITY'S LONGEST SPANS February 26, 2001 | Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Author: Reports written by BILL STEWART and FRED LEESON - The Oregonian | Page: C03 | Section: PORTLAND ZONER | Column: ABOUT TOWN 509 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1180, grade level(s): 10 11-12 Read News Document Listen with webReader

Focus One of the longest bridges in Portland has been proposed for the northern area of the Interstate MAX project.

The twin-track bridge would be 34 feet wide and 3,850 feet long. It would start in Kenton, just north of Argyle Street's intersection with Denver and Interstate avenues. Going north along on the east side of Denver Avenue, the bridge would cross above Columbia Boulevard, an industrial area, the Columbia Slough, and Schmeer Road.

At that point, the bridge would cross above Denver Avenue and Victory Lane, ending just north of the road to Portland International Raceway or Portland Expo Center.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard bridge office in Seattle, the bridge clearance at the Columbia Slough would be 87 feet wide, or 7 feet more than the minimum set by Congress. Vertical clearance, set by Congress at 30 feet above the zero level for the Columbia River, would be 42 feet. The high water line is 18 feet.

Both the Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Quality plan to accept public comments on the proposed design until March 14. Areas open for discussion include possible fisheries effects, clean air issues and Oregon water quality standards.

The Interstate MAX light-rail line, now in its first stages, will stretch 5.6 miles north from the Rose Quarter area. It will cost $350 million and is scheduled to open in late 2004.

The Portland Parks Bureau citizens' committee will launch a new master planning process Tuesday to figure out future needs of West Delta Park and the Heron Lakes Golf Course.

The planning is expected to continue through the summer and lead to improvements, such as construction of a clubhouse for the golf course, in 2002.

All residents are welcome to attend the advisory committee meetings. The first will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Heron Lakes Clubhouse, 3500 N. Victory Blvd. Subsequent meetings will be at the Kenton Firehouse, 8105 N. Brandon Ave.

The 14-member advisory committee, composed of neighborhood and recreation advocates plus representatives from business and government, hopes to complete its recommendations by mid-May.

Teens enrolled in the Self Enhancement Inc. program will provide dinner and entertainment for more than 100 North and Northeast Portland senior citizens at "A Banquet Honoring Our Elders" from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The event is intended to help teens appreciate the lives and contributions of those who came before them. The students raised money and food contributions for the free dinner for senior citizens from nearby retirement and nursing homes. The banquet will be at the Center for Self Enhancement, 3920 N. Kerby Ave.

The Community Cycling Center seeks volunteers to help with a swap meet and bike festival March 3 and 4 at the DoubleTree Hotel near Lloyd Center.

Helpers are needed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The organization also needs volunteers to help transport bikes from the cycling center to the hotel on Friday evening.

Volunteers will receive free T-shirts and admission to the event. Call 503-288-8864 to register.

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N. Portland condos fail to generate excitement Development is part of a “preference policy” aimed at making up for urban renewal missteps in the past November 19, 2016 | Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Author: Brad Schmidt The Oregonian/OregonLive | Page: 01 | Section: A 1037 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1140, grade level(s): 9 10 11-12 Read News Document Listen with webReader

Focus Portland may fail in its inaugural effort to provide homeownership opportunities to black residents displaced from gentrifying neighborhoods north of downtown.

The reason? Hardly anyone wants to live in the tiny, well-appointed condos that government leaders agreed to subsidize.

This spring, the Portland Housing Bureau and regional government Metro approved subsidies of nearly $660,000 for a new development along North Interstate Avenue. The 12-unit project is set to open next year, making it the first opportunity under Portland’s newly created “preference policy” aimed at atoning for past urban renewal sins.

But the Jarrett Street Condos haven’t resonated with the very people who are supposed to benefit. Units range in size from just 387 to 556 square feet.

“At this point, we’re very concerned,” said Garner Moody, who is developing the project.

Portland housing officials remain upbeat but emphasize they will recoup city money if the condos aren’t sold to approved buyers. Portland has set aside $5 million for other homeownership projects with larger units. Those developments won’t open until 2018.

“It is a learning process. I wouldn’t say that we underestimated or overestimated” demand, said Javier Mena, Portland’s assistant housing director. “We didn’t know.”

City officials’ new focus on gentrification in North and Northeast Portland stems from the gradual displacement of black residents in some of the city’s historically segregated neighborhoods. Portland leaders allowed urban renewal that razed blocks of homes as far back as the 1950s, then failed to deliver affordable housing promised in 2000 as part of a new Interstate urban renewal district.

Making up for those missteps has proved more difficult than expected.

Two years ago, facing controversy over subsidizing a Trader Joe’s grocery store, Portland leaders acknowledged their role in the “destructive impact of gentrification and displacement on the African American community.” In the aftermath, officials devised a new housing plan — informally called the preference policy — offering wronged residents a right to return or stay in their neighborhood.

More than 1,000 people applied. Officials set aside 65 spots for the first round of homeownership programs, nearly all of them going to black residents. A qualifying condo buyer can’t earn more than about $41,000 a year, individually, or $47,000 for a family of two.

At first, city officials planned to work only with nonprofits Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives and the African American Alliance for Homeownership. But this spring, officials added more money for the privately developed Jarrett Street Condos.

Portland housing officials don’t usually subsidize condos and haven’t previously approved so-called “micro units.” They initially rejected Jarrett Street but reversed course when the developer scaled back its profit margin, records show.

The project is now rising at the corner of busy Interstate and North Jarrett Street, a three-minute walk to the nearest light-rail stop. A model of density, the three-story building occupies a 3,900-square-foot lot where a small home once stood.

Much of the project has been fabricated at an off-site factory, providing a short construction schedule. That was particularly appealing to city officials hoping to deliver units quickly.

Sale prices are set at about $164,000 to $204,000, roughly half the median price of Portland-area homes. But because the condos are so small, the cost per square foot reaches $425.

“For this project, we are comfortable with the square footage prices,” said Andrea Matthiessen, a housing bureau manager, calling Jarrett Street “unique.”

What the units lack in size, they make up for in amenities. City officials havetouted the project’s “high-end finishes,” which include quartz counter tops, white tile showers, dark laminate flooring, stainless steel appliances and modern cabinets with soft-close drawers.

Even so, the units aren’t popular.

When it came time to tally interest in the city’s various housing options by a September deadline, 52 people responded. None listed Jarrett Street as a first choice, records show. Only four picked it as a backup.

“These units are too small for this pool of applicants,” Moody said. “It’s not looking likely that we’ll be able to sell the units. And that’s too bad, too, because it’s a swinging deal.”

If eligible residents move in, the city’s construction subsidy will convert into down-payment assistance for buyers, ranging from about $33,000 to $41,000 off the purchase price. If people don’t move in, Moody and his business partner, Michael Coyne, must repay the money.

City officials and Moody said theythought the condos would be appealing, despite the small size, based on anecdotal assurances from various nonprofit leaders. They also believed buyers would welcome a monthly mortgage payment equal to, or cheaper than, rent at neighboring properties.

But Cheryl Roberts, executive director of the African American Alliance for Homeownership, said it’s not surprising buyers have shown limited interest. Roberts pointed to her own experience as a black homeowner: after raising four children, her grandchildren are now frequent visitors.

Small condos may appeal to some buyers — singles, millennials or empty nesters, for instance — but those aren’t necessarily the same people looking for homes through the preference policy.

“When you’re talking about targeting the people that were displaced out of Northeast, you’re talking about a different folk,” she said. “I don’t know if that was very well thought through.”

At this point, it’s not clear what will happen to the Jarrett Street Condos. A decision is expected in the next three months, and Moody may end up walking away from his deal with the city.

“We don’t want that to happen,” he said.

Moody said he’s hopeful 12 buyers may yet emerge from the preference policy. Mena, the deputy housing director, said that remains the goal. But officials already have worked their way through much of the larger 1,000-person list.

If the deal falls apart, Moody must give back the city’s nearly $460,000 subsidy. He could also turn down a $200,000 grant from Metro that requires long-term affordability for the condos.

Moody said he could easily sell the units on the open market. In fact, he thinks sales prices could increase by 15 percent.

He’s probably right. A few years back, Portland’s urban renewal agency greenlit a nearby condo project with no long-term affordability requirements. Called K-Station, it offers some of the same fancy amenities as Jarrett Street, in a larger building, and it’scloser to light rail.

One condo sold in 2013, for $305 a square foot. It’s up for sale again.

The going rate? $491 per square foot.