Vancouver projects eye affordable housing

Isabella Court, a 49-unit complex for low-income seniors, is the first of the three housing projects to get off the ground. On Friday, members of Reach Community Development and other project partners gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony at 3112 N.E. 62nd Ave.

The Portland-based nonprofit Reach inherited the Isabella Court project after merging with Affordable Community Environments in 2013. Reach owns and manages affordable housing around the metro area, including 34 apartment buildings, but Isabella Court will be its first construction project in Vancouver.

Nearly one-third of the nonprofit’s tenants are seniors. Isabella Court will be for those age 62 and older who earn 60 percent or less of the area median income, which in Clark County is about $62,000 per household.

Rents for one-bedroom units will be $730. Two bedrooms units will cost $866, with some of the units subsidized through Section 8 vouchers. The four-story building will have a large community room, lounges, fitness equipment and a community garden. MWA Architects, which created the initial renderings of the building, has previously designed senior housing projects that focus on sustainability and energy efficiency.

The 3.41-acre property near the Grocery Outlet store was farmland until the 1960s, and when Reach first acquired the property there was a horse roaming around.

Isabella Court will take up about 1.7 acres on the north side of the property, leaving room to build a similar project on the rest of the land, said Ben Sturtz, housing development program manager with Reach.

The nearly $12.5 million to fund the project came from multiple sources including the city of Vancouver, Clark County and the state Department of Commerce. Isabella Court is slated to be completed in a year.

“We need more projects like this to move forward much more quickly,” Leavitt said.

Near Kyocera

On the south side of Fourth Plain Boulevard, next to Kyocera Industrial Ceramics, Columbia Non-Profit Housing is planning a 30-unit apartment complex that would serve homeless people with mental health challenges. It’s a “much-needed” project, said the nonprofit’s executive director, Kris Hanson. The application for funding through the state’s 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program is due in January, Hanson said.

The Vancouver Housing Authority owns the land at 6221 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. and will be selling it to Columbia. What the project, called Merriweather Place, will look like is still to be determined. Meyer Group Architects came up with a preliminary design that includes first-floor office space for Lifeline Connections and Community Services Northwest, which provide mental health and chemical dependency services.

Both of those agencies will help identify potential residents, Hanson said.

Near Vancouver Plaza

Second Step Housing, in partnership with the Vancouver Housing Authority, is applying for funding to build a 30-unit affordable apartment complex at Northeast 78th Avenue and Fourth Plain Boulevard, near Vancouver Plaza. Units at The Meadows will be set aside for those with physical or developmental disabilities, households with children, veterans, homeless youth and those with mental illness who earn 60 percent or less of the area’s median income.

“Thirty units? I think that’s going to go quick,” said Debby Dover, Second Step’s executive director. “It seems like a drop in the bucket, but I know it’s going to help.”

The nonprofit bought the 2.7 acres a couple of years ago and has been waiting on funding. In total, the project will cost a little more than $6 million, Dover said. Second Step should hear next month whether it will get money from the state Housing Trust Fund.

Although the property is at the eastern edge of the Fourth Plain revitalization area, Dover thinks it’s a good addition to the Ogden neighborhood. A fence was installed because people have been accessing the land — a grassy field with trees — that’s adjacent to businesses and residences. People were camping in the area and dumping refuse: old tires, sofas and televisions, Dover said.

The Meadows will include three two-story buildings, along with a community room and possibly a computer lounge. Dover hopes the buildings can be designed so that they face a central green space and play area for children.

This is the nonprofit’s second apartment project after the 25-unit Aurora Place was developed in 2007 a few blocks from where The Meadows will be. Dover said Second Step aims to break ground on the project in late 2016.