Housing Services:
Headwaters Apartments

The Portland Development Commission has completed development of a new middle-income, rental housing development called the Headwaters Apartments.

The development is located just off Southwest Barbur Boulevard at 30th Avenue, on the site of the old Eagles Lodge. The PDC project (100 units) is part of a larger project which includes private development of 14 for-sale row houses and 56 rental units affordable to senior citizens.

Several neighborhood improvements will accompany this development:

• A buried creek running under the property and beyond, which is a headwaters to Tryon Creek, will be daylighted.
• The community will have scenic vistas to the creek and improved water quality as a result.
• The city will improve the adjacent wetlands, and enlarge and improve the traffic triangle at 30th and Dolph Street with landscaping, creek access and interpretive signage. This will help restore habitat, reduce pollution from storm water runoff and provide additional creek access.
• The city will install a 4-way stop sign at SW 30th and Dolph Street and eliminate a short cutoff west of the traffic triangle, improving traffic flow and allowing for improvements to the traffic triangle.
• The adjacent streets will be widened and improved to provide new on-street parking, landscaping and sidewalks around the property.

Photo credit: © Russ Widstrand

Neighborhood Input Helped Shape the Project

PDC and the developer (Winkler Development Company) have worked with neighbors and have incorporated their input into many elements of this project.

Why This is Important

• The development is less dense. PDC and the developer proposed far fewer units on this property than is allowed by zoning. The commercial zoning allows for a large retail center (such as a “big box” retailer) or a housing development with nearly 400 units—more than twice as dense as what is proposed.
• More parking is provided. PDC and the developer are creating roughly 170 parking spaces, or one per bedroom. The city’s zoning code requires no minimum parking for sites located less than 500 feet from a transit street (Barbur Blvd.) with 20-minute peak hour service. (Tri-Met’s #12 bus on Barbur Blvd. has 15-minute peak service.)
• The City of Portland has earmarked the approximately $100,000 in parks fees to be paid by PDC for the project specifically for improvements to nearby Spring Garden Park. (Normally these fees become part of the overall Parks budget.)
• A traffic signal will be installed at the intersection of Barbur Blvd and SW 30th Avenue.

Project Design

The Headwaters Development master plan calls for an attractive, inter-generational, mixed-income housing development that will provide an appropriately scaled transition to the adjacent neighborhood from Barbur Blvd.

It will provide quality workforce housing at rental rates that are affordable to middle-income households.

As an environmentally sustainable development using green building practices, the development is intended to attract residents who care about the environment and neighborhood livability. These residents are expected to frequent local shops and restaurants.

The development encompasses the goals of the Multnomah Neighborhood plan, including its vision for higher-density housing along transportation corridors, water quality improvements, parking design, and street and sidewalk improvements.

Photo credit: © Russ Widstrand

 

Publications

• Headwaters Apartments Project Public Participation Plan (PDF, 284 kb)
  
  
• Headwaters—Housing Development Proposed for Multnomah Neighborhood
  (PDF, 2,780 kb)
  
  
• Concept Plan—Headwaters at Tyron Creek (PDF, 1,020 kb)
  
  
• Good Neighbor Agreements (GNA)
  
  • GNA - Construction Phase (PDF, 655 kb)
  • GNA - Occupancy Phase (PDF, 838 kb)

PDC contact

• John Warner, PDC Senior Development Manager
  503-823-3240