Cascadian Terrace

Cascadian Terrace

PORTLAND, OREGON

Cascadian Terrace rehabilitates and preserves a fifty-year-old, 103-unit affordable housing community in Northern Portland, Oregon. The four-story, concrete-framed and brick building was originally constructed as a dormitory for the adjacent Portland Community College. Residents are very low income and an extension of the HAP contract maintains their rents at affordable levels. Nonetheless, the fixed income of the residents—typically limited to social security disability and retirement benefits— results in a lot of food insecurity, particularly at the end of the month.

To address the need for healthier food, CDP is constructing a commercial kitchen where the old dormitory dining hall kitchen used to be. Partnerships with several different organizations will deliver fresh produce and prepared foods for residents, hot meals from an on-site catering operation, and cooking classes for residents taught by resident staff and volunteer chefs.

An extensive budget for the arts will include art classes for residents and resident-and community-driven selection of art for the building’s common areas. Cascadian Terrace is our first development to partner with A Black Art Ecology of Portland, a black-centered arts and culture project built upon the Arts and Culture section of the People’s Plan developed by the Portland African-American Leadership Forum. The remodel will include new raised beds for resident vegetable gardens, and a 77-kilowatt solar array on the roof. Energy use at the property is expected to be reduced by 30-50%.