Residents have started moving into Julia West House, a 12-storey affordable apartment building in downtown Portland that, at over 44 metres, has become Oregon’s tallest mass timber building. Built on a formerly underutilised 5,000‑sq‑ft lot that for decades was owned by the First Presbyterian Church of Portland, the tower delivers 90 furnished apartments — 60 studios and 30 one‑bedrooms — designated for households earning 30 per cent or less of the area median income, defined for a one‑person household as $26,070 in 2025.
The project was acquired from the church by Community Development Partners in 2024, and construction broke ground in February of that year. Holst Architecture designed the building, KPFF served as the structural engineer and Walsh Construction was the general contractor. Community Development Partners develops affordable housing across Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Company executives said Julia West House represents both a first use of cross-laminated timber for the organisation and the tallest development it has delivered. “It was the first time we had used cross‑laminated timber in a multi‑storey building, and it was the tallest building that CDP has ever developed,” Eric Paine, chief executive of Community Development Partners, said on The Urbanist podcast in September.
The tower is one of the earliest examples in Oregon of a Type IV‑B building following the state’s pioneering 2018 adoption of a mass timber building code. Before the change, heavy timber construction in Oregon had been capped at six storeys; the current code allows Type IV‑A buildings up to 18 storeys, IV‑B up to 12 storeys and IV‑C up to nine storeys. Engineers said the project demonstrates how engineered wood can be used economically to deliver high‑performance housing at a mid‑rise scale. “This project is a great example of how to economically build high‑performing, desirable housing for people who desperately need it,” Christopher Pitt, an associate engineer at KPFF, said.
Julia West House targets seniors and people who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour, reflecting local data showing older adults and BIPOC residents are disproportionately represented among Portland’s unhoused population. Onsite amenities include a community room, lounge, communal kitchen, rooftop patio, laundry facilities and secure bike parking, with offices for property management, resident services and case management to support tenants.
Financing for the development combined public and private sources, including a 4 per cent Low‑Income Housing Tax Credit allocation, USDA Wood Innovations funding and a grant from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund. Supporters say the blend of targeted funding, updated building codes and modern timber construction offers a replicable model for delivering affordable, sustainable housing in constrained urban sites.
City and sector observers described Julia West House as a test case for broader adoption of mass timber in affordable housing, noting the building’s compact footprint and the potential for faster, quieter onsite work with prefabricated timber elements. Community Development Partners and project consultants said lessons from the build will inform future timber projects aimed at addressing housing shortages while advancing low‑carbon construction approaches.
