Ramada Inn Converting to Low-Income Housing

PORTLAND-Central City Concern is purchasing the 180-unit Ramada Inn at 10 N. Weidler in the Lloyd District here and will convert it into a low-income apartment building. The local nonprofit has agreed to pay Pacific Roots Investments Ltd. just under $5 million for the property and then invest another $3 million to renovate the property.The Portland Development Commission, the city’s urban renewal agency, will consider at its July meeting a low-interest loan to help Central City buy the building. Central City is also seeking sources of money for the renovation. Central City Concern is expected to close on its purchase July 9. Renovation is expected to take about one year. Monthly rents in the building are expected to be about $375 for single rooms with community kitchens, and about $450 for studio rooms with their own kitchens. The rates would make the rooms affordable to workers earnings between $7.25 and $9 per hour. In addition to unit rental revenue, Central City hopes to find a tenant for the building’s ground-floor commercial space, but may decide to move its administrative offices into the space if one cannot be found. Central City owns about 1,260 housing units in several buildings, many of them former hotels.