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Milwaukie planning staff gives progress report on Hillside, Bonaventure, Coho and other projects
Summary
Planning staff briefed NDAs and commissioners on several large Milwaukie developments: Hillside (affordable phase underway), Bonaventure senior housing, Coho (floodplain work), a downtown Chase Bank site conversion and smaller commercial openings downtown.
Planning Manager Laura Weigel updated the commission and neighborhood representatives on the status of several headline projects in Milwaukie.
Weigel said phase 1 of the Hillside development is under construction and includes about 275 apartments; the overall Hillside site is planned to contain roughly 600 units when completed. She said the phase-1 units are income-restricted at roughly 30 to 60 percent of area median family income and will include on-site supportive services; residents are expected to start moving in during 2026. Staff said the Hillside application first came through the city's land-use process in 2021.
Weigel described Bonaventure, a senior living campus off Russ Road in northern Clackamas County that includes independent-living, assisted-living and memory-care units; staff cited about 70 senior units and said the facility is close to opening, perhaps later this summer. The Bonaventure proposal had earlier land-use approvals that were delayed by the COVID-19 period, staff said.
Coho, a mixed-use project near McLaughlin and Washington, went through extended review because of federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain requirements, Weigel said. Staff reported the Coho site will contain about 95 units and that roughly 10 percent of units will be restricted at 80 percent of area median income for a 30-year period. Weigel said the project team is aiming to break ground this year.
Weigel also noted a recently approved downtown conversion of the former Chase Bank site into a multi-story residential building; the applicant has proposed a four-story building and retained an on-site parking lot with about 17 parking spaces and a secure bike room. Staff said the exact unit count for the Chase Bank redevelopment was not clearly stated on the meeting record and is "not specified" in the staff update.
Other small-scale developments and openings mentioned included an (earlier) food-park project at 1847 Boone Park and the recent openings of Grama and Keeper Coffee in a rehabilitated historic building downtown. Weigel said the food-park developer had started site work and that retail take-up downtown remained a market issue: the city cannot force tenants into commercial space and market demand ultimately determines occupancy.
Staff urged NDAs and commissioners to reach out with questions and said project pre-application notes, land-use applications and staff reports are posted on the city website for public review.
