Metro is working with the City of Lake Oswego and the Housing Authority of Clackamas County to bring new affordable housing to the Lake Grove neighborhood of Lake Oswego.
Metro recently purchased the 1.4 acre site, located at the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and West Sunset Drive. The site is expected to have capacity for approximately 50 new affordable apartments with a range of sizes from studios to three- and four-bedrooms. Apartments will be affordable to households with incomes of 60% area median income or less, with almost half the homes affordable to those earning 30% AMI or less. A request for proposals will be issued in early 2023.
From August through November 2022, Metro, the Housing Authority and the City collaborated on community engagement to inform developer selection. This involved a workgroup made up of neighbors and community members with experiences similar to those who will live in this housing (people who have been houseless, people on fixed incomes or with lower wage jobs, people with disabilities, people of color, immigrants and refugees, and others). The group focused on how this new housing can best serve people who will live there, as well as ways the housing can be a positive presence in the neighborhood and how people can welcome and integrate new neighbors. The group met six times to develop a statement of community values. This statement will be included in the funding solicitation in winter 2023, for developers to respond to in their proposals. Developer selection will be informed by how well each proposal expresses the community values.
There was a separate meeting in October 2022 to address neighborhood questions, concerns and ideas regarding this new housing; it was coordinated with the Lake Forest, Lake Grove and Waluga neighborhood associations. City and County staff heard input and responded to questions.