Fairhaven Gardens
SALEM, OREGON
Goal: Preserve and renovate a critical affordable housing development and incorporate a significant community gardening element to provide education, gathering, and food harvesting opportunities for residents.
Fairhaven Gardens preserves a fifty-year-old, 87-unit affordable housing community in Salem, Oregon. The ten residential buildings and new community center spread over the site’s four acres. Residents live in the midst of a community garden and urban farm, fruit orchard, and edible landscaping with berry bushes and fruit trees, as well as native plants chosen to attract pollinators. A new greenhouse and support from the community allow the garden to thrive and give neighbors a chance to participate in community life.
Fairhaven Gardens, formerly Viking Village, is an extensive interior and exterior rehabilitation of a fifty year old community, preserving it as very low income housing and extending the HAP contract. It includes ten units of agricultural worker housing, and a partnership with the Salem Housing Authority dedicates five units to individuals transitioning out of homelessness.
A one-acre community garden features twenty raised beds, a greenhouse, two small orchards, berry frames, and in ground gardening or urban farming plots. Partnerships with the City of Salem and Marion-Polk Food Share have helped anchor the gardens within the community.
DEVELOPMENT
Financing was provided from the sale of 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Tax Exempt Bond financing in partnership with Citi Community Capital and Oregon Housing and Community Services, Oregon Agricultural Worker Tax Credits and support from the OHCS Low Income Weatherization Program. The existing HAP contract was renewed for 20 more years.
DATA
- Completion Date: 2018
- Total Development Cost: $17.8M
- Affordability: 60% AMI
- Total Units: 87
- Unit Mix: 9 0BD, 50 1BD, 24 2BD, 4 3BD
TEAM
- Developer: CDP
- Architect: Waechter Architecture
- Contractor: LMC Construction
- Property Management: Guardian Management
- Resident Services Partner:: CCH
WEBSITE
PARTNERS
CDP is proud to partner with these organizations, dedicated to bettering the lives not only of Fairhaven Gardens’ residents, but of those lower-income residents in surrounding communities.
Cornerstone Community Housing (CCH)
Since 1992, Cornerstone Community Housing (CCH) has been dedicated to providing quality, affordable housing for those with limited incomes, while offering services that foster personal growth and economic independence. Their mission is to build vibrant communities where every choice— from home layouts to communal spaces and safety features—centers on the needs of families. By fostering stability, CCH enables families to improve their lives through comprehensive resident services, including cooking classes, health coaching, budgeting workshops, and homework clubs.
Marion Polk Food Share
Marion Polk Food Share was formed as an independent nonprofit to help lead the fight to end hunger in Marion and Polk counties since 1987. Today, The Food Share collects and distributes food to a network of more than 100 partner-agencies. Every month more than 46,000 people – including 15,000 children – access emergency food through the Marion Polk Food Share partner work.
Support from the agencies and community makes it possible to distribute food to meal sites, food pantries, foster homes, low-income day care centers, shelters, and senior housing sites.
Salem Housing Authority
Established in 1969, Salem Housing Authority serves approximately 9,000 Salem area residents within Salem’s Urban Growth Boundary with both safe and affordable rental housing assistance.
Salem Housing Authority’s mission is to assist low- and moderate-income families to achieve self-sufficiency through stable housing, economic opportunity, community investment, and coordination with social service providers. They are committed to building stronger communities through public housing, housing choice vouchers, affordable housing, and supportive services.
