From homeowners moving in to freshly broken ground, our sites across the Portland region are buzzing with activity. Have a look at where things stand this summer and what’s on the horizon.
Myrtlewood Way — Gresham
After more than two years of development, Myrtlewood Way is in its home stretch. Twelve of the twenty homes in the community crossed the finish line on June 17, passing final inspections from the city of Gresham and receiving Certificates of Occupancy (COs). With that milestone passed, site Superintendent Travis Schultz is excited to bring future homeowners on-site in July and August for their own walkthroughs and inspections.
Travis and his team worked meticulously through their punch-list — or as he calls it, “the nitpick” — in June, getting the first homes ready for COs with finishing touches like window screens and paint touch-ups.
The remaining eight homes in the site’s back four buildings, G through J, are quickly nearing completion. Crews are busy putting on the finishing touches, adding details like hardware and paint. Travis expects to receive the last CO for the site in September.
Complete with landscaping and irrigation, Myrtlewood Way feels like a finished neighborhood. Now, all that’s missing are the homeowners. Travis estimates that the first phase one homeowners will start moving in around August this year.
“This is the moment that everyone works for,” he says. “I’m proud that we’re at the end of this project. I’m ready to see 20 families in a safe place.”
West Lake Grove — Lake Oswego
We welcomed the first homeowners to West Lake Grove! The first family moved into this community in late May, and we welcomed two more in June.
The first two volunteer-framed buildings, 1 and 6, received COs in late May. Building 2 is close behind — it is on track to receive COs this month.
The site is now divided into an active construction zone (buildings 3, 4, and 5) and the completed area (buildings 1, 2, and 6), which feels more like a neighborhood every day. Site Superintendent Hector Orozco recalls welcoming the first family to their new home.
“It was so awesome to see them move in, with their kids with their bikes…especially because it’s a volunteer framed building, it’s extra special.”
Work is moving quickly on the active side:
Building 3, the largest on site with seven homes, was sheet rocked and sided in June. Cabinets, flooring, and millwork are underway now.
Building 4 got its paint coat in June, and volunteers worked on finishing flooring. They’re wrapping up millwork now.
Building 5 got trim work and paint in June. Now, volunteers are finishing interior work and installing hardware.
Volunteers have been powering finish work across the site, handling flooring, millwork (baseboards, door casings, windowsills, interiors doors), deck and handrail installation, and fencing.
For the rest of July, volunteers will be finishing decks and guardrails for buildings 4 and 5, and finishing fencing the rest of the community. Building 3 will get driveways and concrete pads poured. By the end of the month, Hector expects that all exterior painting will be finished. He expects building 3-5 to wrap up and get their COs in late fall 2026.
Twenty Fifth Terrace — SW Portland
The pace at this steeply terraced site has been remarkable. In just the last five months, all 17 homes have been framed, 13 have been drywalled, 11 have been painted, and all but three have their siding.
Site Superintendent Greta Brown says the remaining work falls into two distinct categories: home construction, which she says is 75-80% complete, and site construction — the roads, landscaping, and flatwork — which she estimates is 50-60% done.
In June alone, crews finished major mechanical work in every home, installing HVAC and electrical systems. Now they’re ready for insulation and drywall, which will be complete in July. By the end of the month, Greta expects all the homes will have drywall, cabinets, flooring, and trim in place. Flatwork will get going in mid-July, bringing patios, sidewalks, and driveways to the site.
Volunteer-framed buildings 2 and 3 have gone up quickly thanks to many helping hands. Now, volunteers are working on their interior trim, flooring, and paint. With volunteers’ dedication, Greta says, work has been moving fast.
“I’m in awe of the time and effort they put in,” she says. “It’s humbling. It gives you a sense of what humanity should be.”
Gooseberry Trails — SW Portland
Our largest community to date is moving into vertical construction! Crews worked all spring to finish the site development milestones necessary to get to this stage: finishing public roads, grading, and utility work to bring water and power access to the site.
This 52-home neighborhood will be completed in two phases. Construction will work from top to bottom at this serpentine site, starting with the outermost road and moving inwards. Phase one includes seven buildings, and we excavated three of them — 13, 14, and 15 — in May and June. Crews poured their foundations in June, so we’re ready to begin framing them in July.
For the rest of July, we will be busy excavating and framing! We will start excavation and foundation work for buildings 7, 8, 16, and 17. Building 13 will be trade-framed, and 14 and 15 will be volunteer-framed.
So far, volunteers have been doing site-setup work like building a shaded break area, picnic tables, maintaining erosion control, and remediating invasive weeds in the environmental conservation zone. But with framing coming up, the big volunteer work is right around the corner. Once framing starts, volunteers will be busy for months to come.
In the pipeline:
True North is moving into land development.
We officially closed on True North on June 30! This future community in North Portland will be one of our largest developments yet. After nearly four years of planning, we are assuming full control of these 2.9 acres of land donated by the City of Portland.
We are so excited to break ground at True North in July. We’ll begin by protecting trees, clearing the site and demolishing old structures, and removing an old underground oil tank.
Want to help build the next Habitat communities with us? Sign up for a volunteer orientation to get started!
