Construction is scheduled to start in the next few weeks on Terracina Vista, a new affordable housing development in Gresham, Oregon.
USA Properties Fund and Northwest Housing Alternatives are partnering on the 92-unit community that’s along a MAX light-rail line and close to shopping centers, schools, health providers, and two freeways.
“We’re encouraged by this collaboration and the opportunity to provide much-needed affordable housing options to our community,” said Gresham mayor Travis Stovall. “Housing for all is one of Gresham’s strategic plan priorities, and projects like this bring us closer to that vision”
The city of Gresham, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), and Oregon Metro are subsidy lenders on Terracina Vista.
WNC is the low-income housing tax credit investor on Terracina Vista. The construction lender is Capital One, and the permanent lender is Citi Community Capital.
The $43 million development is the second in Oregon for USA Properties Fund, which has more than 90 affordable and market-rate apartment communities in California and Nevada. The developer and partner Northwest Housing recently completed and has started leasing The Canopy Apartments at Powell, a 169-apartment community in nearby east Portland.
The state’s far-reaching and forward-looking efforts to address the critical shortage of affordable housing, including through legislation and local bond measures passed by voters in recent years, attracted USA Properties to Oregon, according to Geoff Brown, president of USA Properties Fund.
“Oregon has been working hard on developing more affordable housing and ensuring lower-income residents have a quality, safe place to call home,” said Brown, who knows the Portland area well, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Willamette University in Salem. “In a short time, we have already developed strong relationships in the region and enjoy working with Northwest Housing Alternatives and Oregon Housing and Community Services.”
Terracina Vista will be home to residents earning less than 60% of the area median income—about $67,680 per year for a family of four. Rents will be announced closer to the completion of Terracina Vista but will be hundreds of dollars less than nearby market-rate apartment communities.
Notably, almost half of the apartments in Terracina Vista will have three bedrooms, helping meet an often-overlooked and underserved group of renters—families.
“Northwest Housing Alternatives is committed to increasing access to safe, stable and affordable housing,” said Trell Anderson, executive director of the nonprofit. “Our investment in Terracina Vista is one more step forward in addressing the critical housing crisis in the Portland metro region and helping some of our most vulnerable community members. Affordable housing serves as the foundation for building a better future, from improving health to the overall well-being of residents.”
OHCS, the state housing finance agency, is a key partner in the development.
“The need for affordable housing across the state is one of the most pressing issues many Oregonians are facing day in and day out,” said Andrea Bell, director of the agency. “Incomes have not kept up or adjusted for inflation. Our collective mandate is to continue to come together and prioritize the creation of housing developments like Terracina Vista.”
