Affordable housing development slated for Northeast Glisan Street in Portland
A developer with potential City Hall aspirations is moving forward with plans to build eight stories of affordable housing on Northeast Glisan Street.
Curtis Rystadt said project officials expect to break ground on the cross-laminated timber building in August, though he expressed concerns over whether the city could get approvals done quickly enough to keep the development on schedule, a common frustration among local businesspeople. He did not provide cost estimates.
The project went before the Design Commission in mid-January, and Rystadt said some changes to the lower level were proposed out of that review. But overall Glisan Tower, as it’s called, will plunk 105 units of subsidized housing on the corner of Northeast 99th Avenue and Northeast Glisan Street, with an address of 9919 N.E. Glisan St.
Project documents cast the project as an opportunity to “provide a desperately needed city resource as an engaging building in a vibrant area of city.”
Two organizations will coordinate housing referrals for Ethiopian, Eritrean and Latino community members, who make up a significant part of the Hazelwood neighborhood, according to project documents. Those organizations are the Ethiopian & Eritrean Cultural Resource Center and Project Access Now.
Access Architecture is the Glisan Tower architect. The ownership team is composed of Cascade Management Inc., PANO, LLC and C & J Property Development LLC. Project officials are seeking at least LEED Gold certification for the building.
“I want to solve problems,” Rystadt said. “Quite honestly, I may run for mayor in a few years, when I get this thing done.”
