A Portland neighborhood group wants city leaders to hit the brakes on a planned 14-story affordable housing tower slated for the base of the Broadway Bridge. The Pearl District Neighborhood Association voted unanimously to pause construction of the apartment building planned for the corner of Northwest Johnson Street and Northwest Ninth Avenue, and the board has asked local elected officials to delay the project before it breaks ground.
According to NW Examiner, the association's board emailed a letter to Mayor Keith Wilson and Portland City Council members in October laying out four conditions for its support of the project. As reported by KGW, the board requested a delay so the city can re-evaluate public safety concerns and neighborhood livability before construction moves forward.
The neighborhood association raised four concerns tied to the development's feasibility and the current conditions of the site and surrounding area, per the same NW Examiner report. One condition calls on the city to reassess current neighborhood economic, social and public safety conditions, while another demands a neighborhood livability and safety plan with measurable goals and a clear timeline. A third condition asks for clear and safe pedestrian access to essential services for the building's future residents.
Questions About Home Forward's Track Record
The board also questioned whether Home Forward is capable of fulfilling its duties as a project partner, according to KGW. The neighborhood association's letter states the agency has not demonstrated satisfactory management of its existing Pearl District properties, per NW Examiner's reporting. Home Forward and the Urban League of Portland are set to own the finished building, with the Urban League serving as the project's services partner, according to Home Forward.
The project is planned on 14 acres that formerly housed a U.S. Postal Service center at the base of the Broadway Bridge, KGW reports. Holst Architecture and Colas Construction were signed on to design and build the project, and building permits are currently under review according to Portland Maps, per the same KGW account.
How Big Is the Building? Sources Disagree
Exactly how large the tower will be depends on which account you read. Home Forward describes it as a 14-story, 230-unit affordable rental housing development, while KGW's reporting describes 229 affordable housing units spread across 14 floors. NW Examiner's account of the neighborhood association's position describes a 219-unit building, and a Portland Housing Bureau floodplain notice cited by the city describes a proposed 231-unit building. The discrepancy remains unresolved across public sources.
What is consistent is the project's mission: Home Forward says the development is intended to serve residents earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. Plans call for an early learning center, a workforce development resource center, and a community room overlooking a second-story roof deck, according to Home Forward's project description.
Timeline and Financing Questions Linger
Portland Permitting & Development staff approved the Parcel 4A high-rise on April 15, 2026, according to Next Portland, which reports the project is expected to be completed in 2028. Home Forward says the project remains slated to break ground in late 2026.
Separately, a report from the Robert Miller Substack states the project's estimated cost has risen 14% to $168 million, or $733,598 per apartment, and that the state's anticipated October 19 financing closing date had come and gone with no closing on the public record as of that report. The same account says the sponsor paid its architect in June to remove the learning center from the design and put apartments on the ground floor instead, though that detail has not been independently verified against Home Forward's own project description, which still lists an early childhood education center among the planned amenities.
The tower is one piece of a much larger vision for the area. Prosper Portland, the city's economic development agency, says development of the broader Broadway Corridor redevelopment is now under way, with new streets under construction to support high-density, mixed-use development across 34 acres between Old Town and the Pearl District. A Colorado-based developer, Continuum Partners, had originally been slated to build on the site before pulling out of those plans in 2021, according to Willamette Week.
