The Walls are Rising!

Construction has begun on IHI's newest housing development in the Eliot Neighborhood of Northeast Portland and it is starting to look like a building!  

Walsh Construction and Faison Construction, IHI's general contractors, started digging foundations in late September and raced the clock to get footings and foundation walls poured before the rainy weather started. This 50-unit project is on track to be completed by September, 2013.

Bright orange signs are popping up in the windows of the Modern Rich Building. They ask "What Would You Like To See?" and invite passers by to share their ideas about what kind of business or services would benefit the neighborhood. IHI owns and manages 21 commercial spaces in Portland - they typically stay 100% leased, but with the recent completion of the Modern Rich Apartments we have a few storefronts available. IHI's office is in Old Town and we feel a strong connection to this community, so we are being selective as we rent these spaces. We have leased to some great businesses that promise to contribute to the neighborhood's vitality and we want to continue identifying tenants that meet this criteria.

What Would You Like To See? was started by Mike Caputo and Joey Tomlinson in 2012. They figured out a way to solicit exactly the kind of information from community members that IHI is seeking for our new spaces. People walking by the vacant storefronts can access the What Would You Like To See? application via their smartphone or log onto its website and either make suggestions or vote on other people's suggestions for the commercial space. Then brokers and property owners, like Innovative Housing, can use this information to target the right tenants for the right spaces. Importantly, this great new service gives residents, workers, and shoppers in a neighborhood a place to share their opinions and help shape their surroundings. What Would You Like To See? is still in pilot mode (IHI is proud to be one of the first landlords to work with them) but we hope that very soon you will see their colorful signs everywhere and that you will log on to help create the community you would like to see!

Innovative Housing is pleased to announce that we have secured site control of the historic Erickson Saloon and adjacent Fritz Building in Old Town. We are planning to convert these historic properties, retaining as much of the original fabric and feel possible, into workforce housing.

The result will be very similar to what we did at the Modern Rich Apartments, but on a much larger scale (about twice as big!). We plan to create studio and one-bedroom units where brothel rooms once overlooked the famous Erickson Saloon. We will daylight the historic atrium that once housed the saloon's bar to create outdoor space for residents, much as we did at the Rich. And we will wrap apartments around a series of courtyards and lightwells to maximize living space while preserving a valuable piece of Portland's history.  

Each year at the Oregon Opportunity Network annual Gala, IHI is given the opportunity to honor one of its own as our Star Player for the year. This year IHI chose to celebrate Merri Gonsalves, our Benefits Specialist. Her accomplishments in the benefits arena are truly outstanding - she has a phenomenal success rate and has helped residents secure more than $63,000 of back benefits and an average monthly Social Security Disability Insurance benefit of $766. Merri also helps IHI residents access health care, Medicaid/Medicare, survivor's benefits, payee services, and in-home care. And she helps people understand and maintain their benefits, which is critical.

Merri Gonsalves receiving her Star Player award

Seven years ago, IHI received a phone call from a resident who was concerned that her neighbor's children were walking to school in cold winter weather without coats. IHI inquired and learned that the family could not afford coats for their children. That was the beginning of our Coats for Kids Campaign and we are proud that no child living at an IHI property has since gone without a winter coat. 

This is only possible thanks to the support of our donors. IHI extends its gratitude to the following individuals and companies who so generously contributed to IHI's Seventh Annual Coats for Kids Campaign:

Kerry and Bill Stevenson

Heritage Investment Corporation

Travis Adams and Sarah Carter Adams  

LMC Construction

Chris and Debra Jo Page

McMenamins, Inc.

Don Geddes

Walsh Construction

Lenny Jurden

Lyndon Musolf

Greenberry Construction   

Stewart, Sokol, & Gray

Income Property Management

Nelda Scott Newton

Amy and Joseph Alexander

John and Sarah Epstein

Denise and Alain Bohbot

Dee and Rod Norton

Katy Patricelli

Tierney and David Chappell

Brenda Fitterer

Carol Schug

George and Gina Horton

Lynn Bush