Alberta Abbey
NE PORTLAND, OREGON
Goal: Preserve and enhance the Alberta Abbey as a historic community arts hub by supporting the arts foundation and fostering creative organizations.
Located in the heart of Northeast Portland, the Alberta Abbey building is the former Mallory Avenue Christian Church, originally built in 1949. In 2013, the church was rebranded as the Alberta Abbey and became a performance and event center operated by The Alberta Abbey Foundation, a non-profit organization formed to foster and promote the arts within the community and provide affordable commercial space to creative organizations.
CDP acquired the property with the goal of preserving the arts foundation and community space, with the additional goal of incorporating it as a programs hub for the Alberta Alive development, a partnership between CDP and Self Enhancement, Inc.
In 2020, CDP completed a renovation of the building, which included the build out of several commercial spaces, a cafe and lounge space for events, structural and mechanical system upgrades, and also listed the project on the National Registry of Historic Places.
DEVELOPMENT
CDP acquired the Alberta Abbey building in 2013. The Seller of the property had help found the Alberta Abbey Foundation to master lease and operate the building, but between a small and fragile Board of Directors and the Seller lacking the time and physical presence to invest the energy needed, the building and organization were both struggling to survive. The building also had potential to be listed on the national historic registry, potentially providing long term preservation of the important community asset as well as providing a conduit for historic tax credits which could bring valuable financing for improvements to the table. CDP was able to lead the renovation of the building along with the land-use process in order to have the building listed both locally and nationally as a historic landmark. CDP also entered into a new long term master lease with the Alberta Abbey Foundation that provides the non-profit with a long-term option to acquire the building at a predetermined, discounted price that is well below actual appraised value. The medium-term vision is for the Alberta Abbey Foundation to conduct a capital campaign to gain ownership of the building in order to have permanent control over the community asset.
PARTNERS
CDP is proud to partner with these organizations, who are critical team members that share our mission of enhancing quality of life for the communities in which we work.
Alberta Abbey Foundation
Since its inception in 2015, Alberta Abbey’s mission has been to nurture the arts and sustainably address the need for affordable art spaces in NE Portland by providing affordable education, gallery, studio, and performance space to community members of all ages.
