North Coast Today

City of Astoria issued the following announcement on March 1

The City of Astoria and Edlen & Co. will be holding an Open House regarding the topic of Heritage Square Housing. There will be two open houses, held at the Astoria Armory, 1636 Exchange St, on March 14 and March 24 from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

HERITAGE SQUARE HOUSING OPEN HOUSE FLYER / SPANISH

City Council approved an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Edlen & Co. at the February 22, 2022, City Council meeting. This agreement allows the City and Edlen & Co. to negotiate the proposed development of Heritage Square. The Open Houses will offer the community an opportunity to provide comments regarding redevelopment concepts as presented at each open house. There will be no formal presentation as this will be an open house where representatives from Edlen & Co, Clatsop Behavioral Health, the project architect, and representatives from the City of Astoria will be in attendance to dialogue with community members.

“We are honored to have been selected to work with the City, local employers, the community, and our team partners to create more housing opportunities for lower-wage workers and others who are in desperate need of affordable housing options in Astoria,”  says Jill Sherman, Edlen & Co.

Edlen & Co.’s initial program concept includes the development of the easterly portion of the block with as many as 75 units serving households at 60% and 80% of median family income (MFI), with the possibility of some unrestricted units (i.e. no cap on income).  The ground floor of this building might include some mix of childcare, community space (including a community room facing the Garden of Surging Waves), residential lofts, and/or retail.

Edlen & Co. also initially proposed to develop a building with Clatsop Behavioral Health (CBH) in the smaller southwest corner of the block, incorporating 33 studio units serving CBH clients earning no more than 30% of MFI, along with wrap-around services.  In response to community feedback, Edlen & Co. and CBH have developed a new option that would incorporate the entire program (workforce housing, CBH, and ground floor uses) in the east portion of the block, leaving the SW corner of the block as parking. The SW corner surface parking could potentially serve both the housing and the public.  More information on this change will be provided at the open houses.

“Astoria’s affordable housing crisis, which particularly affects those at lower and moderate incomes, has worsened during the pandemic and shows no signs of abatement,” says Mayor Bruce Jones. “The Astoria City Council has maintained a goal of redeveloping Heritage Square with housing since 2017. While we cannot tackle all of our local employers’ needs for workforce housing at this site, we now have an opportunity to leverage State grants and Federal tax credits to take an important step toward providing vitally needed new affordable, workforce housing. We are pleased to be working with the Edlen & Co. team to achieve a project compatible with our local historic architecture which will serve our community for decades to come.”

In late 2021, the Astoria Development Commission discussed and subsequently issued a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) to develop workforce housing on the City of Astoria-owned Heritage Square property. A Mayor appointed committee reviewed the submittals by teams from Related Northwest and Edlen & Co., choosing the latter.

For more information, contact the City Manager’s office at 503-325-5824.

Original source can be found here.