By Elaine Oliver | Contributing Writer
If you’ve driven down NE 27th toward the stoplight at Lombard, you may have noticed a lot of construction. It is the site of Dekum Court Apartments, a new affordable housing complex and Phase Two of construction is well underway. Most recently, a large community center made of timber has taken shape and with it will be a covered basketball court for residents.
The site is a redevelopment of an existing affordable housing complex which contained 40 two-and-threebedroom units. The new site expands the housing capacity to 187 units and ranges from studios to four-bedroom units.
147 of the units are funded by a Metro Affordable Housing Bond and 67 by federal rental assistance. Most notably,40 units are one-for-one replacement homes for existing Dekum Court households where there was special care taken to not displace the residents during construction. Phase One of construction began in September 2022 and opened to new residents September 2023. Phase Two is projected to be completed by late summer 2025.
The homes were designed by Lever Architecture and are being constructed by Walsh Construction. The property was previously and will continue to be managed by Home Forward which is the designated housing authority for Multnomah County and the largest provider of affordable / subsidized housing in the area.
Dekum Court was one of the first projects the Metro Council approved for bond funding, awarding $21.03 million to the project. Among the factors the council considers in granting bond funds are a project’s plan for community engagement and strategies for advancing racial equity. As reported in Street Roots, many residents feel that the approach Home Forward took to Dekum Court allowed for redevelopment and focused on residents’ involvement.
“The project presented some very unique opportunities for us to make sure that we did not have any interruption in our tenants’ lives as we develop their new homes,” Home Forward CEO Ivory Matthews told Street Roots in November.
As affordable housing development increases in and around Portland, Dekum Court could act as a guide, Mathews says.
Elaine (she/her) is a former tech trainer turned ADHD coach and the Concordia News Ad Sales Rep. She is a passionate auntie, pitbull mom, and soccer player who has called Concordia home for four years. You can find her eating good food with friends or walking her lovable pitbull Charlie in the neighborhood.