230 Pearl District apartments, no parking

Neighbors question affordable housing project on post office site

Plans for a 14-story, 230-unit affordable apartment building at Northwest Ninth and Johnson streets, the first project on the former U.S. Post Office site, have raised a question: Where will residents park, seeing as the building will have no off-street parking?

Longtime Pearl District Neighborhood Association board member Judie Dunken, who is also a realtor, said adding so many housing units without parking “is just not feasible” and would burden surrounding residents and businesses. She is not alone among her peers, though the association’s planning and transportation committee has not yet addressed the issue.

The project, a partnership between Home Forward and the Urban League of Portland, has been awarded $37.5 million Metro Housing Bond funding and $4.5 million in tax-increment support.