Las Adelitas: Building a Vibrant Community

Hacienda CDC to break ground on Las Adelitas, 142 new affordable homes in Portland’s Cully neighborhood

On Friday, March 12th at 9:30 am, Hacienda Community Development Corporation (CDC), community partners, neighbors and elected officials will officially break ground on Las Adelitas, a new, four-story, multi-family affordable housing development in the Cully neighborhood of NE Portland. Las Adelitas will bring new life to a site that for years was home to a strip club and a hot-bed of illegal activity, replacing it with 142 new affordable homes.

“Hacienda, along with our community partners, have been working for more than five years to redevelop this site in the Cully neighborhood,” said Ernesto Fonseca, CEO of Hacienda CDC.  “The road to get here has been bumpy, and the plot twist at the end was a pandemic. But the tenacity, hope and vision of the community have paid off. We couldn’t be more excited to put the first shovels in the ground next Friday and start construction on a building that will be home to over 400 people,” Fonseca added.

Las Adelitas was designed by Salazar Architects and will be constructed by LMC Construction at the corner of NE Cully Boulevard and NE Killingsworth Streets. Construction will start this month and the building will be complete in October 2022.

“Las Adelitas will be the largest redevelopment project to date in the Cully neighborhood,” said Kevin Kellogg, Hacienda’s Director of Real Estate Development.  “Many partners came together to make this affordable housing a reality, including the Portland Housing Bureau, Oregon Housing and Community Services, and the talented teams at Salazar Architects and LMC Construction.”  Funding for the project includes over $15 million from the Portland Housing Bond, a 2016 voter-approved initiative to build more affordable housing in the City of Portland.

“Rents are rising fast in all of Portland and Cully is no exception.  Las Adelitas means families will be able to continue to live in this community,” said Jaclyn Sarna, Hacienda’s Director of Youth and Family Services.

In addition to housing units, the building will include classroom space for Hacienda’s Portland Niño’s program, which aims to reduce academic and health disparities among Latino children by providing support for families with children from birth to age five.

Las Adelitas will include a mix of units, from studios to three-bedroom apartments. A portion of the units at Las Adelitas will be dedicated to individuals exiting homelessness and supportive services will be provided by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare.

The groundbreaking celebration will be from 9:30 – 11:30 am on Friday morning. Speakers at the event include: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler; Speaker of the House Tina Kotek; Portland Housing Commissioner Dan Ryan; Oregon Housing & Community Services Director Margaret Salazar; Hacienda Board Chair Peter Platt; and Hacienda CDC Founder and former Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey.

Attendees will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. The event will also be livestreamed on Hacienda’s social media.

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About Hacienda CDC:

Hacienda CDC is a Latino Community Development Corporation that strengthens families by providing affordable housing, homeownership support, economic advancement and educational opportunities. Hacienda owns 381 affordable housing units in North and Northeast Portland, Molalla, providing safe, stable homes for 1,500 individuals each year, over half of whom are children.  Hacienda embraces a holistic approach to development with programs in Community Economic Development, Homeownership Support, and Youth and Family Support Services. Hacienda is also developing Rockwood Village, 224 units of affordable housing in Rockwood, in partnership with Community Development Partners. Rockwood Village is set to open later this year.

About the name Las Adelitas:

During the Mexican Revolution many women, who became collectively known as Las Adelitas, took up arms and supported the fight for freedom alongside the men. These women played a variety of roles within the army including camp and medical care, soldier, spy, and some even commanded troops. They traveled with the army throughout the revolution, and unlike the men, they did it all on foot since they were not allowed to ride horseback. Hacienda honors these strong women at this particular site, reminding us that women have always been critical to social change and ongoing struggles for justice and liberty, in spite of the limits placed on them by society and the fact that their contributions are often overlooked by history. In addition, the site for this new housing community was previously home to an adult entertainment complex that harbored prostitution and human trafficking. Replacing an institution that used to exploit women with one that honors the legacy of strong, inspirational women is powerful to us and to the community.