Alberta Commons

This project is an urban retail shopping center with approximately 20,000 square feet of gross leasable space at NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Alberta Street. Natural Grocers, the anchor tenant, provides affordable commercial space to local businesses. Colas Construction, an African-American, family-owned business located in the neighborhood, was the general contractor for the project, and Majestic Realty was the developer.

Alberta Commons boosts economic activity in NE Portland by supporting surrounding local businesses and providing community benefits that were negotiated by a community-centered Project Working Group (PWG). The PWG process resulted in the formation of an Implementation, Monitoring and Accountability Committee (IMAC) to ensure the delivery of the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), providing oversight, reviewing the hiring plan, and engaging the target community with employment opportunities.

Project Background

Beginning in 1997 Prosper Portland assembled nearly two full blocks between NE Alberta and NE Sumner and between Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Garfield, following the goals in the Albina Community Plan (ACP) to revive commerce on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. by fostering the development of strong commercial nodes at key intersections.

The King Neighborhood Commercial Development Strategy (2000) envisioned a mix of neighborhood-scale commercial and retail uses for the assembled blocks. The strategy guided the development of the north block into two phases: I) the 36,000 sf Vanport Square commercial condominium project (16 independent commercial condominium units in two buildings) in 2008; and II) ten single family homes along Garfield, in 2012.

The MLK-South block was the second of the two blocks to be developed with an anchor retail tenant that would attract more foot traffic to the area and advance the strategy’s vision.