At the Missing Middle Housing Fund, we are obsessed with finding innovations that help reduce the time and cost to build. Therefore, it came as no surprise that our team was ecstatic after recently touring a site of future housing innovation in our own backyard at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2.
The MMHF and Autodesk Research teams were fortunate to have a tour of the T2 development with Ken Anderton, Sr. Manager of Real Estate Development at the Port of Portland, as our guide. Big plans are underway to transform the approximately 40-acre former marine terminal overlooking the Willamette River into the Mass Timber Housing and Innovation Campus at T2 (MTHIC), creating a center for scalable housing innovation, which includes a mass timber innovation hub as part of the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC).
In 2022, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC) $41.4 million to expand Oregon’s emerging mass timber industry. This funding includes $10 million to spur the development of a factory for producing mass timber housing and approximately $14.6 million to support the University of Oregon’s Acoustic Research Laboratory (OARL), both of which will be located at Terminal 2. The OARL will be a state-of-the-art facility designed for conducting acoustics tests on floor/ceiling mass timber assemblies to facilitate industry growth. Additional funding sources for MTHIC to date include a $5 million grant from the Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and a $4 million Community Project Funding award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The campus aims to provide a curated experience in which tenants, including manufacturing and research partners, will operate independently with a shared vision for housing innovation and production, mass timber industry growth, and access to quality jobs and economic opportunity.
Additionally, the Tallwood Design Institute, a collaboration between the Colleges of Forestry and Engineering at Oregon State University and the College of Design at the University of Oregon focused on the advancement of mass timber and other wood product solutions, will work with the Port and other OMTC partners and industry leaders to improve mass timber product performance in the areas of structural strength, fire and weather resistance, and energy efficiency in the labs on the two university campuses. The new OARL at MTHIC will help to address some of the biggest barriers to mass timber projects today that include the time and cost it takes to perform acoustic testing of floor/ceiling assemblies.
The intention of the T2 development is to transform the site alongside the Willamette River, which once shipped forest products around the world, into a world class industrialized construction housing facility. The Port of Portland states that the development supports their mission to build shared prosperity and transform the region into a place where everyone is welcome, empowered, and connected to opportunity. At the MMHF, we share a very similar view - more affordable housing for Oregon’s workforce enables people, places, and economies to thrive.
What excites us most about the future MTHIC community is that it offers the resources that mass timber and other potential housing innovation companies need to further their research and design efforts. So many have incredible ideas that CAN change the system of traditional homebuilding today, but they fall short because they aren’t able to secure the funding or support they desperately need to prove out their concepts. Our housing underproduction crisis in Oregon is an all-hands-on deck situation. The future of T2 offers hope for those teaming up to take on the challenge.
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