For the Merwyn Apartments, a challenging first year

Published 12:30 pm Friday, February 25, 2022

The Merwyn has had a challenging first year offering lower-income apartments next to City Hall, but city and nonprofit leaders remain encouraged that the housing is serving an important need in the community.

Innovative Housing Inc., a Portland nonprofit, renovated the historic hotel building on Duane Street and opened to tenants last spring. The project created 40 affordable and workforce housing units in a housing market that has become increasingly out of reach for many.

Most of the units are studio apartments that serve lower-income workers and people who were previously homeless or in unstable living conditions. Four units are priced at market rate.

Behavioral issues, tenant turnover and management difficulties have contributed to concerns about adding more lower-income housing downtown. Innovative Housing and city leaders are optimistic, however, that the early challenges are normal growing pains that are expected to resolve over time.

The Merwyn is being used as an example by both advocates and critics of a workforce housing project proposed across the street at Heritage Square.

City Councilor Joan Herman, who represents the downtown ward, said it is important to keep perspective. The old hotel building was long seen as a blight just steps away from City Hall.

“We’ve got 40 housing units that weren’t there before, as well as a beautifully restored building,” Herman said. “The company is committed to providing good management, and I think they’ve shown that since the beginning, even though there was a rocky start.

“I think, really, that’s a huge accomplishment and a huge gift for the community.”

‘An affordable housing crisis’

Innovative Housing purchased the vacant and neglected building, also known as the Waldorf Hotel, from a demolition contractor. The nonprofit was able to restore the space and many historic characteristics. The final touch was completed earlier this year, with the re-creation of the canopy that covered the front entrance.

“We do have an affordable housing crisis in the Pacific Northwest, especially in towns like Astoria that have a lot of business in tourism,” said Julie Garver, the housing development director for Innovative Housing. “It’s great to be able to add to the housing stock and add in an income range that isn’t well served by most communities. It’s hard to finance housing like this, so to be able to get it is a real benefit for the community.”

Most of the units target people earning between 30% and 60% of the county’s median income —$15,330 to $30,660 annually based on 2021 data.

The higher priced units are designed to draw downtown workers, while the lower-priced units are aimed at people who are homeless or in unstable housing.

Leah Cooper, the director of operations with Innovative Housing, said the makeup of tenants at the Merwyn is currently weighted toward people earning 30% of median income because of the order on the waitlist.

“When there is opportunities for affordable housing, a lot of service providers will help get their clients into housing right off the bat,” Cooper said. “So you might have a population that is more vulnerable, harder to house.

“That first year can often be about helping people follow the leasing rules, live among strangers and find some community. We want to provide housing for everyone, but sometimes people are not a good fit.”

The nonprofit provides a resident services coordinator at other facilities it manages to help address those expected challenges, but that position does not exist at the Merwyn.

Cooper said the nonprofit tries to work with residents to prevent eviction, and partners with Clatsop Community Action to provide services and resources to struggling tenants.

Some of the behavioral issues caused people to move out of the building.

Cooper is hopeful that some of the worrisome behavior has eased, and that turnover will become less frequent. However, Cooper said turnover is not uncommon for the first year, and that it is similar to what the nonprofit has seen with other properties.

“So, it was not surprising to us,” Cooper said. “There was a lot of people that were very low income moving into (the building). And I think it speaks more to the lack of other options in the community. Astoria has a lot of folks that are living very marginally, either outside or very unstably housed.”

Cooper said that some people who moved in may not have had stable housing for a while. Sometimes, that comes with challenges that can be difficult for other tenants and the building, she said.

The nonprofit has also struggled to find building managers.

Since there are not a lot of other affordable housing developments on the North Coast, Cooper said it is difficult to find local people who have experience doing the work. She said people they have hired have had to move from out of the area, and that it has been a challenge to find the right fit.

While the income ranges at the Merwyn have parallels to the workforce housing being proposed for Heritage Square, there are key differences.

The workforce housing units at Heritage Square would target people at 60% to 80% of area median income — $30,660 to $40,880 annually based on 2021 data.

The supportive housing units at Heritage Square in partnership with Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare would target people at 30% of area median income. Unlike at the Merwyn, the supportive housing would include access to staff and services from the mental health agency.

An increase in calls to police

Astoria police examined calls for service at the Merwyn, and within a 150 foot radius, and found that calls have doubled since the apartments opened to tenants.

Since last March, police said, there were 217 calls to the area, compared to 100 calls the previous year.

Police Chief Geoff Spalding said that while many of the calls are to the Merwyn, the overall increase is not necessarily tied solely to the building.

Megan Leatherman, the city’s community development director, said the city has not received any formal complaints about the Merwyn. The Astoria Downtown Historic District Association has not received any, either.

Savannah Thomas, who moved into the Merwyn with her 4-year old daughter soon after it opened, said she is pleased with the way issues have been addressed.

She also drew a distinction between behavior in the neighborhood, particularly the Garden of Surging Waves, and the Merwyn. She thinks behavioral issues are often unfairly attributed to the Merwyn.

Thomas, who grew up in Warrenton, helps run Pat’s Pantry downtown with her father, Dennis. She said she would not be living at the Merwyn with her daughter if she did not feel safe. She said she enjoys being able to walk to work and come home to a nice apartment.

One of the things Thomas said she values most is seeing people living in a beautifully restored building who otherwise would not have the opportunity.

“To be able to live in a place like that, and feel like you’re in a place you deserve to be — and to be able to afford it — that is freaking cool in and of itself,” she said. “I think that’s really big.”