Portland’s new affordable housing development includes units for families transitioning out of homelessness

Located in Portland, Oregon’s Pearl District, Vibrant! is a new affordable housing, high-rise development. Salazar Architect designed the building shell and interior common areas in collaboration with LRS Architects, which led the overall project management and design of the apartments.

Vibrant! includes 93 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, including 40 units that are set aside for families transitioning out of homelessness. The building’s exterior design forgoes the brown brick tradition of the district and instead opts for a combination of neutral and brightly colored metal panels.

Interior common areas were designed with a minimalist approach and simple materials including natural concrete floors and ceilings. The lobby’s flooring is stained in a blue hue that contrasts with the reclaimed oak wood walls that wrap around interconnecting management and social services offices, casual seating, mail boxes, and a bike room. The second floor features a playroom, a community room, a kitchen, and a computer room. Glazed garage doors lead to an outdoor playground. The building also includes a number of sustainable features such as a rooftop PV solar array, native plants, and a roof terrace.

Also on the build team: KPFF (structural engineer), Shapiro Didway (landscape architect), A3 Acoustics and 3J Consulting (civil engineer), Bremik Construction (general contractor).

The Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball team announced that it has reached an agreement with St. Petersburg and Pinellas County on a $6.5 billion, 86-acre mixed-use development that will include a new 30,000-seat ballpark and an array of office, housing, hotel, retail, and restaurant space totaling 8 million sf.

Engineers | Sep 15, 2023

NIST investigation of Champlain Towers South collapse indicates no sinkhole

Investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found no evidence of underground voids on the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse, according to a new NIST report. The team of investigators have studied the site’s subsurface conditions to determine if sinkholes or excessive settling of the pile foundations might have caused the collapse.

MFPRO+ Research | Sep 11, 2023

Conversions of multifamily dwellings to ‘mansions’ leading to dwindling affordable stock

Small multifamily homes have historically provided inexpensive housing for renters and buyers, but developers have converted many of them in recent decades into larger, single-family units. This has worsened the affordable housing crisis, say researchers.

Deciphering the Differences in Smart Lock Networks

Adaptive Reuse | Aug 31, 2023

New York City creates team to accelerate office-to-residential conversions

New York City has a new Office Conversion Accelerator Team that provides a single point of contact within city government to help speed adaptive reuse projects. Projects that create 50 or more housing units from office buildings are eligible for this new program.