337 Cumberland Ave | PHDC Affordable Housing | Portland

Max

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From this week's Housing Committee meeting materials, no renderings that I can find:

Portland Housing Development Corporation (PHDC) is requesting $500,000 in Affordable Housing Development funding to construct a new six story, 60 unit building at 337 Cumberland Avenue. The site is currently owned by Youth and Family Outreach (YFO), who will lease it for 90 years to 337 Cumberland Avenue, LP, who will be the development owner. The first floor will include expansion space for Youth and Family Outreach; the new space will allow the organization to support 49 additional children (for a total of 107 children). The upper five floors will contain 60 apartments with a mix of apartment types and a blend of income targets. The five upper floors will be comprised of 19 studio apartments, 16 one-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom apartments, and 10 three-bedroom apartments.
 
Some "renderings" (sketches) of the proposed building

337b.JPG

337A.JPG
 
Thanks for sharing, Cosakita. Looks like a great scale for this part of town.
 
This project is back (As 331 Cumberland Avenue)


Plans call for a 5-6 story, 60-unit affordable housing building. The difference this time is that the new building will extend all the way to the corner of Cumberland and Preble and demolish both the former Maria’s Restaurant and the Youth & Family Outreach building (the former church) which will relocate to the ground floor of this new building.

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Glad to see this is back - assuming there will be significant push back on the former church on the corner.
 
Glad to see this is back - assuming there will be significant push back on the former church on the corner.

I don't think it will be hugely controversial. It's not a historic building or in a historic district and it's been owned by YFO for many years.
 
LOL ... they can sell the building for $1 and require it be moved if people are that worried about it.

Also ... proposed 5-6 stories in actuality will turn into 3-4 stories just like the building on the corner of Middle and Franklin,
 
looks like there might be a roadblock on the horizon....
On May 29, Board Member Ashley Keenan submitted the attached email to Historic Preservation Staff and Chair O’Brien indicating an intent to nominate 331 Cumberland Avenue, also known as the Preble Chapel, as a locally-designated landmark (Attachment 1). To initiate the nomination, one additional member of the Historic Preservation Board would need to sponsor the nomination. Below is a brief summary of the materials submitted by Member Keenan in support of the nomination (Attachment 1), procedural guidance, and pertinent sections of the Historic Preservation Ordinance (Attachment 2). The below does not include a substantive discussion of the proposal, which would follow were the nomination initiated. The owner of the chapel, Youth and Family Outreach, has been notified about Member Keenan’s nomination.
 
Does anyone know the history of the Preble Chapel and whether it is historically significant or not? I specialize in commercial buildings only! :)
 
Am I getting the sense that the motive behind the PHC is when a development comes up on a property, lets save it even though it's not in the historic district to stop it.... Landmarks and PHC hand in Hand
 
Jeez, looks kind of upscale and they even wet down the streets for a gleaming effect the way they do in fancy car commercials. But I can't imagine anyone walking around in this area wearing a suit. Far from it.
 
Those would be the Feds, LOL. HPC started the paperwork on saving the church
 
Should be at least 3 stories taller. They'll probably end up cutting a floor instead. Someone wants to save the church, they should sell it for $1 for the stipulation that it needs to be moved. The End.
 
Worth noting that the Historic Preservation Board opted not to advance a proposal to reclassify the chapel as a contributing building. Youth & Family Outreach is actually the applicant for this development, and they own the chapel. So from a legal and site plan perspective there's nothing preventing them from razing the chapel.

The zoning for this particular parcel is 85 feet so really they couldn't go much higher without a zoning change. Then of course they'd be into the realm of steel-frame construction which as we know is a much higher cost for an affordable housing developer and non-profit social services center to bear.
 
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Should be at least 3 stories taller. They'll probably end up cutting a floor instead. Someone wants to save the church, they should sell it for $1 for the stipulation that it needs to be moved. The End.

While I agree it should be taller (I get they're trying to transition to the neighborhood by restricting the height to 85' but I don't think a taller building here would disrupt a transition given the expanse of the Portland St intersection and the garage that extends down Preble, just past the intersection) they are maximizing the allowable height (someone can correct me if I'm wrong)

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They are at 74' as proposed and adding another floor would bring the building to 86' at the roof line so I'm guessing they could have requested a waiver for one more foot or are financially maxed out at 6 floors.
 

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