Cherry Blossom | Southeast Portland
Fall has settled in on Habitat build sites around the region, but the towering fir trees at our Cherry Blossom development are as green as ever. The first eight out of 31 homes at the Southeast neighborhood community have passed inspection and excitement is in the air as homebuyers prepare to take ownership with the help of Habitat’s homeownership team. Two more buildings are close to the finish line, as well, and volunteers are helping to install drywall and cabinetry in the remaining homes.
And landscaping is already underway.
“Landscaping for the first half of the site has already gone in and the irrigation is in place — it looks beautiful,” said Habitat Construction Project Manager Ian Gallager. “All the plants are getting really well established.”
All of the homes will be permanently affordable, allowing Habitat homeowners to build equity in their homes, while ensuring that the homes are affordable to the next buyer. This guarantees affordable neighborhoods in the future.
Foster | Southeast Portland
Work is bustling at all 15 buildings in our 40-home community in Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood, each in a different stage toward completion. Those farthest along have been painted, with cabinets and flooring installed, and trim work underway, with others in various stages of framing, plumbing, electrical and other mechanical installation.
The Foster community has been popular with volunteers, with groups onsite almost daily, working alongside professional framers to build new homes.
One big development for the site was the installation of concrete walkways, which is a major step toward completing the project. The development is about 40 percent completed, and on track to have homebuyers move in early spring.
Alder Commons | Southeast Hillsboro
Portland Youth Builders have put their elbow grease into Hillsboro’s Alder Commons this past month, helping with flooring, trim work, painting, hanging doors, pouring porch pads, and other work to finish Building 1 of the 8-home complex. Portland Youth Builders commitment to the project will continue until the homes are completed, which is expected in early summer. Licensed trade workers are moving forward as well, with cabinet installation, HVAC, and electrical and plumbing work.
Homeowners and volunteers, in collaboration with Oregon Peace Builders, celebrated a Peace Pole installation at Alder Commons in October. The pole is adorned with the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in 8 languages and joins more than 250,000 peace poles worldwide.
Habitat is also working with a consultant to plant native species and other plants to qualify Alder Commons for platinum backyard habitat certification, which will make it inviting to birds, insects, and pollinators. A more expansive project was recently concluded at Denney Gardens, also near Hillsboro.
Alder Commons is the only site open to volunteers on Saturdays, so if you’ve been interested in getting involved, but can’t come out on a weekday, register for a Saturday shift at volunteer.habitatportlandregion.org.
Denney Gardens | Southeast Beaverton
With construction work on all 31 homes at Denney Gardens near Beaverton wrapped up, attention turned to getting the parking lot and curbing installed. But not all the finishing touches are construction work. Native landscaping was installed in October and is taking hold just in time for the rainy season. Read more about the native landscaping project here: https://habitatportlandregion.org/native-landscaping-adds-beauty-to-new-habitat-homes/.
A huge thank you from all of us at Habitat for Humanity to our supporters. Thanks to you, we continue our mission to build more safe and affordable homes across the Portland region. Find out more about our current builds here: https://habitatportlandregion.org/homes
