Westmoreland’s Union Manor
DEVELOPMENT SCOPE
Preserve and renovate a seven-story apartment building, built in 1962, that provides affordable homes for 300 low-income and very-low-income senior households.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The largest affordable senior housing project in Oregon, Westmoreland’s Union Manor (WUM) is home to 300 households, more than half of whom have incomes below 30 percent of area median. Built in 1966, WUM was the first project developed by Union Labor Retirement Association (ULRA), a nonprofit founded, in 1962, by leaders in Portland’s building trades movement to provide affordable housing and services for seniors. The seven-story building in southeast Portland’s Westmoreland neighborhood sits on a 6.6-acre site fronting Crystal Springs Creek and adjacent the Portland-Milwaukie light rail line.
As WUM neared 50 years of age, HDC worked with ULRA to preserve the project’s long-term affordability and to replace and upgrade deteriorating and out-of-date building systems. The preservation effort involved renewing WUM’s 217 Section 8 federal rent subsidies; adding 67 new rent subsidies through HUD’s newly launched Senior Preservation Rental Assistance Contract (SPRAC) program; and funding renovation work to improve energy performance and seismic safety, increase resident comfort, and give the building 50 more years of useful life.
Creative Solutions
Finance: To fund WUM’s renovation and preserve the long-term affordability of its 300 apartment units, HDC helped ULRA secure $44 million in new federal and private grants and loans, in addition to federal rent subsidies projected to be worth $144 million over 40 years. The project was one of only 12 in the country to be awarded subsidies (both new and extended) in the initial round of HUD’s SPRAC program. Rents at WUM will remain affordable to residents whose incomes, at the time the funding agreement closed, averaged 34 percent of area median.
Design and Construction: The $30.2 million property renovation resulted in significant safety, energy efficiency, and quality-of-life benefits. A new exterior envelope improved the building’s energy performance, increased the comfort of interior units, and blocked noise from a nearby highway and railroad. Seismic upgrades dramatically improved the building’s ability to withstand earthquakes. New HVAC, domestic water, and lighting systems will reduce project operating costs and improve living conditions for WUM’s elderly residents.
SPONSOR
Union Labor Retirement Association
LOCATION
Southeast Portland, Oregon
HDC ROLE
Financial structuring, predevelopment financing, and construction management
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
→ MWA Architects
→ Walsh Construction
→ Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
→ Oregon Housing and Community Services
→ Energy Trust of Oregon
FUNDING SOURCES
→ Low-income-housing tax credit equity (4%)
→ Construction-period bond
→ Permanent loan
→ Oregon Multifamily Energy Program funds
→ Other public funds
SQUARE FEET
Residential: 120,316
Common Space: 43,510
Total: 163,826
COST
Acquisition: $18.1 million
Construction: $30.2 million
Other Development: $13.9 million
Total Development: $62.3 million
TIMELINE
Summer 2013 to Summer 2017