Shaver Green apartment building in Portland will be sustainable and

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), May 16, 2008 by Sam Bennett

A once blighted piece of commercial property in Northeast Portland that was home to a used appliance store will be the site of a $16.2 million green, affordable apartment building.

Groundbreaking will be held today at 4011 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. for the Shaver Green Building, which has been designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold or platinum certification, while meeting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development income level requirements.

Occupants of the 85-unit building must earn at or below 60 percent of Multnomah County's two-person household median income of $32,580.

Shaver Green will aim for 60 percent or better performance beyond the Oregon Energy Code, and will have a solar roofing system. It will also use recycled and prefabricated materials. Crews will recycle 95 percent of construction and demolition waste, and the 89,000-square-foot building will have a system that uses storm water for irrigation.

Armstrong Stafford LLC is the developer, Yorke and Curtis is the general contactor, and DECA Architecture is the design firm.

"Very few, if any, residential developments in the U.S. offer buildings that are sustainable, innovative and also accessible to those meeting minimum income standards," said Wayne Armstrong, managing member of Armstrong Stafford, which owns Armstrong Development.Rents at Shaver Green will be $710 for each of the 59 one-bedroom units, $848 for each of the 25 two-bedroom units and $981 for the single three-bedroom apartment. Ten of the apartments will be permanent supportive housing, or housing for those who are earning up to 30 percent of median income.

Armstrong said his development company is selecting finishes and building materials to achieve LEED goals and to keep cost as low as possible, while building living spaces that will last and remain affordable for at least 60 years.

"Our hope is that through this development, we can encourage other affordable housing developers to incorporate more sustainable elements," he said. "We intend to demonstrate that a sustainable, high-quality building can have an impact beyond the local and regional green building market," he said.

The development is being financed by Armstrong Stafford, as well as city, county and state agencies.

Rolanne Stafford, a partner in Armstrong Stafford, said such housing is needed in Portland."There are many hard-working and responsible people in Portland who are finding it difficult to keep up with the rising cost of housing," he said.

The construction team includes: Froelich Consulting Engineers and TM Rippey Consulting, structural engineers; MGH Associates, civil engineering; Alder Geotechnical, geotechnical consultant; Hunter- Davisson, mechanical systems engineering; Brightworks, LEED consultant; Brocks Energy Associates, energy modeler, and Professional Roof Consultant, waterproofing consultant.

Armstrong is the owner of Armstrong Development Inc., which has 19 years of experience in commercial construction, general contracting and development in California, Washington and Oregon. The company has completed bid-build and design-build projects for 24 federal and state agencies.