Construction starting on upscale West End apartment complex

Posted: May 5 Updated: Today at 12:08 AM With 39 apartments priced at the market rate, the West End Place project is another sign of rising demand for upscale housing in Portland.

By Kevin Miller kmiller@pressherald.com Staff Writer

Developers will break ground Tuesday on an upscale apartment and retail complex in Portlands West End.

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Redfern LWS will break ground Tuesday on a four-story mixed-use development at the corner of Pine and Brackett streets in Portlands historic West End neighborhood. It will include 39 market rate apartments with first-floor retail.

Courtesy of Ryan Senatore Architecture

Located on the corner of Brackett and Pine streets, the $7 million West End Place will feature 39 apartments and two retail spaces in a four-story building. The project by developer Redfern LWS was endorsed last year by both the Portland Planning Board and the citys Historic Preservation Board, which reviewed the proposal because it is located in the West Ends historic district.

Tuesdays groundbreaking also marks a potentially significant shift in the rental market in Portland, where demand for upscale or market rate housing is rising.

With units renting for $1,300 to $2,500 a month, the West End Place project is the first new apartment complex in Portland in more than 20 years in which all of the tenants are expected to pay the full market rate for their housing. Apartment complexes built in Portland in recent years have included subsidized housing units reserved for lower-income individuals or families.

Portlands rental housing vacancy rate has hovered around 2 percent well below the 7 percent vacancy rate that is considered healthy. Housing officials have said that adding new rental units for Portlanders at all income levels is important to help moderate the citys rental rates, which have risen by double-digit percentages since 2010, according to a recent market survey.

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Construction starting on upscale West End apartment complex