Portland breaks ground on new homeless services center
Courtesy / City of Portland
The new Homeless Services Center, shown here in a rendering, will cost $25 million and take a year to construct.
The city of Portland on Tuesday broke ground on a new homeless services center that will provide 208 beds of shelter and support and ultimately replace the current emergency shelter on Oxford Street.
The new center, on vacant, city-owned land at 654 Riverside St., will take a year to complete and $25 million to construct. Developers Collaborative is constructing the facility and will lease it back to the city to operate.
Portland paid $6.5 million up front and the remaining amount will be financed through a 25-year lease. The Portland City Council approved using $3.5 million in city-allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover the upfront payment. The remaining $3 million was awarded to Portland from Cumberland County’s rescue fund allocation.
The city has said the Oxford Street emergency facility, which the city leases and can serve about 150 people, was not designed to serve in a permanent capacity and can only serve clients with mats on a floor.
“I’m pleased to be marking the milestone of beginning construction on this new facility as it means we will soon be able to serve clients in a more humane way that better meets their needs thus working toward the goal of reducing the overall need for emergency shelter services,” said Mayor Kate Snyder.
“While I am glad that we will have a new way in which to serve our most vulnerable people, it is not lost on me that the homelessness crisis is complex, multifaceted, and dynamic. We know that piecemeal, siloed responses by individual communities does not work. We are at a critical juncture in which real, workable, systemic solutions are needed."
However, the project has drawn criticism from some neighboring Portland residents and social service advocates. They've claimed the site is too far from the city's downtown — where the Oxford Street shelter is located — and too inaccessible by public transit.
In addition to shelter, the new facility will provide people experiencing homelessness with a range of services, including a full health clinic, day space, workforce training, housing counseling services, mental health care and substance use services. The city is partnering with several providers to provide the services on-site.
The center was approved by the City Council in June 2019. In February 2021, city staff issued a request for proposals from private developers to build and then lease the new facility for the city to operate. The council selected Developers Collaborative last June.
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