Five acres once owned by a Southwest Portland church are now being transformed into 52 affordable townhomes, giving larger families a rare shot at homeownership in the Hillsdale neighborhood. The Gooseberry Trails project is already under construction, with homes planned for buyers earning as much as 80% of the area median income.
Greater Portland Bible Church sold the property to Habitat for Humanity in 2021 for $1.63 million. As reported by OregonLive, Gooseberry Trails broke ground in March and is expected to provide housing for about 230 people.
A Family-Sized Project In Hillsdale
The Portland Housing Bureau says the development will include seven two-bedroom homes, 20 three-bedroom homes, 20 four-bedroom homes and five five-bedroom homes. Forty-five of the units will have at least three bedrooms, while five single-story homes will be fully accessible under ADA standards, according to the Portland Housing Bureau.
The homes will be sold below market through a shared-equity model. Proud Ground will hold the land in a community land trust, allowing buyers to build equity while keeping the homes affordable for future buyers instead of turning the development into a one-generation discount.
How Church Land Became Affordable Homeownership
Habitat for Humanity Portland Region describes Gooseberry Trails as its largest community to date, and the project combines public money, nonprofit financing and donated or discounted land. Funding includes $5.4 million from Metro's housing bond, state support, federal American Rescue Plan funds, system development charge waivers and Habitat's own financing, according to Metro's project profile.
The development is part of the region's broader effort to turn a voter-approved housing bond into actual homes. Metro's latest annual report says the $652.8 million bond has produced or enabled roughly 5,400 homes completed or underway across 64 projects, a scale that still falls short of the region's housing needs.
The Price Gap Is Still The Story
That need is especially visible in Hillsdale, where the typical market-rate home costs far more than many local households can manage. OregonLive reported that the regional median market-rate home was priced at about $564,900, while Habitat's affordability policy limits a buyer's monthly house payment to no more than 34% of household income.
Construction is moving in two phases, with 21 homes expected to be completed by November 2027 and the remaining 31 scheduled for November 2028, the city says. The project will also preserve roughly 40% of its nearly five-acre site as shared greenspace, including a planned playground and possible community garden.
Gooseberry Trails will not solve Portland's affordability crisis by itself, but it does show what can happen when a church property, public subsidies and a community land trust line up. In a city where buying a home increasingly feels like a private-club benefit, 52 family-sized addresses are about to become a little less exclusive.
