Pearl Court Apartments

Pearl Court Apartments, completed in September 1997, is a full-block development at the edge of downtown in Portland's emerging River District, a neighborhood once occupied by 70 acres of vacant railroad yard between downtown Portland and the Willamette River. The building's 199 apartments rent at rates that residents earning 40 percent to 60 percent of the area median income can afford, and its proximity to bus and light rail lines allowed the developer to offer only 18 residential parking spaces (a ratio of 1 parking space per 11 units). The project was initiated by a private developer, Prendergast & Associates, in partnership with the Housing Authority of Portland (HAP), and received partial financing through an allocation of HAP's competitive tax-exempt bonds and equity from the sale of 4 percent low-income housing tax credits.


Image and case study courtesy of Urban Land Institute Development Case Studies.