Centennial Place
DEVELOPMENT SCOPE
New construction of a 71‐unit affordable housing community that serves families at risk of homelessness and individuals experiencing serious mental health issues.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cascadia Health delivers integrated mental health and addiction services, primary care, and housing to promote hope and support the well-being of the communities it serves. Located in East Portland’s Centennial neighborhood, Cascadia’s Centennial Place provides deeply affordable homes to two resident populations who struggle with housing instability: very low-income families and people with serious mental illness. The three-story building contains a mix of smaller units and family-sized apartments.
Cascadia is partnering with Centennial School District and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Services program to market the homes at Centennial Place to qualifying families and to connect residents with essential services. Eighteen units have a rental preference for people with serious mental illness and are priced at levels they can afford. Residents have access to voluntary supportive services, including Cascadia’s whole health care services and Multnomah County’s mental health services, to help them achieve personal goals and stay stably housed.
Creative Solutions
Finance. Centennial Place was financed with a mix of sources including low income housing tax credit equity and Oregon mental health housing funds. Fueled by impacts of the Covid-10 pandemic, construction prices and interest rates soared after funding was awarded. HDC worked with Cascadia and its project partners to mitigate the resulting funding gap through value engineering and by securing additional sources, including a grant from Oregon’s Market Cost Offset Fund. HDC’s asset management team supported Cascadia to ensure lender and investor reporting requirements were met during the project’s critical lease-up period.
Design and Construction. Scott Edwards Architecture designed a three-story, U-shaped building, which embraces a landscaped courtyard and play area. Residents enjoy access to a community room, laundry rooms on each floor, and two Wi-Fi-served homework rooms. Sustainability features such as a centralized heat-pump hot water system, mini splits for unit heating and cooling, and solar arrays qualified the project for Earth Advantage Platinum certification. Construction occurred during a time of global supply shortages. The construction team, led by Colas Construction, prevented costly delays by strategically timing delivery of materials and storing some on site.
Photos by Josh Partee.
SPONSOR
Cascadia Health
LOCATION
Portland, Oregon
HDC ROLE
Financial structuring and construction management
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
→ Scott Edwards Architecture
→ Colas Construction
→ Oregon Housing and Community Services
→ Oregon Health Authority (OHA)
→ Chase Bank
→ Enterprise Community Partners
→ Energy Trust of Oregon
FUNDING SOURCES
→ Low income housing tax credit equity (9%)
→ Solar tax credit equity
→ Construction and permanent loans
→ Oregon Multifamily Energy Program
→ Oregon GHAP funds
→ Oregon Market Cost Offset Fund
→ National Housing Trust Fund grant
→ OHA mental health housing grant
→ Energy incentive funds
→ Deferred developer fee
SQUARE FEET
Residential: 46,028
Common and Other Space: 19,856
Total: 65,884
COST
Construction: $16.9 million
Total Development: $24.2 million
TIMELINE
Fall 2019 to Winter 2022-23