The African Youth & Community Organization's bid to permanently reside at the former Trinity Broadcasting site rejected by the Portland Housing Bureau
The Portland Housing Bureau’s (PHB) efforts to expand affordable housing came at a significant cost to at least one community.
The African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO) is set to lose its building after PHB rejected its bid for the former site of the Trinity Broadcasting Center where AYCO currently operates a community center. An estimated 20,000 community members receive services through the AYCO location, according to the organization.
Instead, PHB awarded the property to New York-based Related Companies/Related NW, in partnership with the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) and Catholic Charities.
On April 30, the Portland Housing Bureau released an open solicitation for affordable housing proposals. The solicitation included Metro Bond funds for capital construction and two parcels of land available for redevelopment proposals. The AYCO community center building, located at Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street and owned by Metro, was one of the parcels included in the solicitation.
AYCO submitted a proposal for the building in tandem with REACH CDC that was ultimately not selected. REACH Community Development is a private nonprofit community development corporation that has helped AYCO secure building space and funding in the past.
AYCO Executive Director Jamal Dar said PHB Director Shannon Callahan notified Dar that AYCO and REACH CDC had lost the bid Oct. 4.
Martha Calhoon, PHB communications manager, told Street Roots AYCO was one of five proposals for the property.
“AYCO succeeded in establishing a thriving center at (Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street), and it is the heart of the neighborhood, where AYCO communities are centric in our community, with no similar center nearby."
“Out of the five project proposals received, the proposal submitted by REACH CDC in partnership with AYCO ranked third, based on the criteria and parameters set forth in the solicitation,” Calhoon said.
While PHB rejected the bid, AYCO’s two-year lease has more than a year left.
“AYCO succeeded in establishing a thriving center at (Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street), and it is the heart of the neighborhood, where AYCO communities are centric in our community, with no similar center nearby,” Dar said. “When we are calling, what are these community members going to say? How do you explain to them that we’re being taken away from this space; we’re not going to be serving you in this place? Where are we going to go?”
Since the bid was rejected, Dar and REACH CDC CEO Dan Valliere said those involved with the decision-making process have been less than forthcoming with an explanation. Dar said PHB met with Dar and Valliere on Nov. 3.
“We have learned that (PHB’s) main focus was housing, especially permanent supportive housing,” Dar said. “Although the Metro community survey indicated that the community center is essential to this (Metro Bond Opportunity Solicitation), and we have collected over 1200 (surveys) of community input, the city plan was different from the Metro vision.”
Dar said he and Valliere are still unclear about how PHB scored the proposals and why AYCO’s proposal came in third. Their proposal included plans for affordable housing on the site.
“We are still planning to meet (Commissioner Dan Ryan) and the elect members and will ask more transparency questions,” Dar said.
Street Roots reached out to Ryan’s office on Oct. 20 with a request for comment on AYCO’s displacement but did not receive a response.
Valliere said AYCO and REACH CDC submitted a public records request asking for a copy of the proposal that won, some of the scoring sheets or other documentation of the selection process. Valliere said they’ve yet to receive a timetable for their release.
The Technical and Financial Feasibility Review Committee groups tasked with grading the proposals were composed of staff from several PHB departments, and funding partner representatives from Metro, the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the Oregon Housing & Community Services Department.
The committee reviewed proposals based on solicitation requirements and preferences, materials submitted and the evaluation criteria, Calhoon said. Street Roots subsequently requested exact information on how AYCO and REACH Community Development ranked within the criteria and parameters being examined but have not received a response from Calhoon at the time of publication.
In addition to the Technical and Financial Feasibility Review Committee groups, a Community Review Committee also reviewed and ranked the proposals. Each committee group was composed of housing professionals and community members. PHB declined to provide Street Roots with names or affiliations of committee members.
Metro staff is now reviewing the selected projects.
“Metro’s full concept endorsement process entails a comprehensive review and analysis of each project prior to issuing a formal concept endorsement letter for each of the locally selected projects,” Calhoon said. “That process is currently underway.”
Nick Christensen, the public affairs specialist for the Metro Council Office, said he expects Metro’s review of PHB’s recommended proposals will be complete this month.
In light of the ongoing lack of transparency and communication around the grading and selection process, Valliere said he’s concerned AYCO’s current use of the space wasn’t adequately factored into the deliberations.
“Our concern is that it really wasn’t highly valued in the system and that the decision-making process didn’t give much weight to that, which is really concerning,” Valliere said. “Now, maybe we’re wrong. Maybe they gave it more weight than we’re thinking, but based on what we heard, we’re worried that’s the case.”
Regardless of the process that led PHB to reject AYCO and REACH CDC’s bid, the local nonprofits are now left to pick up the pieces.
Losing their space on Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street will create a barrier to the services AYCO offers, AYCO UPLIFT Department Lead Nuradin Abdirahman said. AYCO UPLIFT provides tutoring and educational services to local kids.
“The community loves this spot, loves this building that we moved into recently,” Abdirahman said. “It’s next to so many different businesses that are around here. There’s two mosques that are around here, and so many of our community members live around here. We thought this would be the perfect place for them to go to. It’s heartbreaking that we have to find a new place to relocate.”
Ahmed Ali, AYCO cultural navigator, also said the change will impact community accessibility to services.
“Most of our Somali community and African communities are in the southwest location,” Ali said. “There are people that walk here from their homes. Just by removing that aspect from them by moving away is going to make everything difficult. We hope to find another location in this area. As I asked community members and informed them of the latest decision, they were also confused and didn’t really understand why. It’s politics I guess. It’s really hard to explain why someone deserves something more than the other person.”
Students who receive help through the UPLIFT program at AYCO said the news was a shocking disappointment to them as well.
“AYCO means a lot to me,” Yousur Bayali, a student, said. “They tutor me. They help me out with anything I need. Nuradin is kind of my mentor; he helps me out with a lot of stuff ... I never had a place I could go to where I could call AYCO until AYCO had this building. When I found out AYCO had this building, I was happy that there was a place I could go to where I could actually sit down to study and get help with stuff. Now that it’s gone, it’s kind of weird thinking about it.”
Before AYCO moved into the Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street building, Bayali had to set up virtual conference calls or text Nuradin and other AYCO leaders for help.
“They always had a building, but their former building was way further from my house,” Bayali said. “This one’s like 10 minutes from my house, which is pretty close, so I could always stop in if I needed help.”
With AYCO being displaced, Bayali will have to return to receiving help over the phone, at least until AYCO finds another building.
Dar recalls when AYCO first began the leasing process for their building. Metro sent out surveys to over 1,200 AYCO community members.
“They didn’t even know what a survey was,” Dar said. “I put in so much time to explain it in their own native languages. And each one of them were afraid to say anything in public because they didn’t want to get in trouble … I told them, ‘No, no, no this is different. This is going to be a place that we call home.’”
Now, the center is a hub for over 20,000 people in Portland and is widely recognized as a safe space. Moving, Dar said, will interrupt their progress.
“What will we say to them?” Dar said. “These communities deserve explanations.”
Calhoon said PHB is sympathetic to AYCO’s disappointment in its displacement but said Metro made it clear AYCO was a temporary occupant.
“AYCO is a tenant leasing the former broadcasting facility at (Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street), which is being razed within a few years to make way for 137 new affordable apartment homes,” Calhoon said in an email to Street Roots. “Metro has shared with us that they have been clear with AYCO throughout the process of temporary leasing and community engagement, that the project/developer selection process for the site would be a competitive one. Ultimately, the proposal they were part of was not selected through the competitive process led by PHB. We are sympathetic that this is a disappointment.”
Christensen corroborated Calhoon’s position that Metro told AYCO the leasing was temporary.
“Metro has been clear with AYCO, throughout the process of temporary leasing and community engagement, that the project/developer selection process would be a competitive one,” Christensen said. “We understand they have hoped and worked hard toward being able to build their Dream Center as part of the development of this site. The proposal they were [a part] of was not selected through the competitive process led by the Portland Housing Bureau, which received five total proposals. We are sympathetic that this is a disappointment, and hope AYCO will be able to find a permanent home.”
Simultaneously, PHB and Metro touted AYCO’s value as a partner to the city.
“AYCO has been an invaluable partner to the City and PHB in distributing rent assistance throughout the pandemic —particularly in our efforts to reach and engage with immigrant communities, people of color, and households with limited English proficiency,” Calhoon said. “We look forward to ways we may collaborate with AYCO in the future.”
Christensen shared Calhoon’s sentiments as well.
“Metro was pleased to make (Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street) to AYCO for lease during this process,” Christensen said. “AYCO has been a wonderful partner in Metro’s early community engagement for the new affordable housing to be built on this site. They have particularly helped us to reach and engage with immigrants, people of color, people with low incomes and people with limited English proficiency on the vision and values for this new affordable housing.”
Dar said AYCO and REACH Community Development’s blueprints would have provided 141 units of affordable housing and made the Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street location a permanent community center.
The selected bid will provide 137 units, according to Related NW representative Kathy Pape.
“IRCO, Catholic Charities and Related NW submitted a joint proposal response to the Metro Housing Bond opportunity to co-develop the project at (Northeast 74th Street and Glisan Street) and was awarded the contract by Portland Housing Bureau to develop 137 units of affordable housing, enriched community space and services for low income individuals including those from BIPOC and the immigrant/refugee communities,” Pape said.
Pape said Catholic Charities of Oregon and IRCO are partners with Related NE on the project.
“Both have strong track records in assisting refugees and immigrants,” Pape said. “IRCO, with a location at 102nd & Glisan, serves over 200 cultures with their culturally responsive services and has particular strength in assisting the African refugee and immigrant communities.”
To meet PHB and Metro’s qualifications for the proposal, Pape said Related NW needed to display proof that they could provide more affordable housing than the other proposals. “Affordable,” she said, is defined as 30% of the area median income (AMI) for 56 units and 60% AMI for 81 units.
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