LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS Housing Committee chooses Bass BY SARA DONNELLY

On October 11, Portland’s Housing Committee approved a proposal from developer Peter Bass to convert the Sacred Heart School on Sherman Street into housing for artists (see "Portland Has a Heart for Artists", April 8), complete with a sculpture garden, common areas, and parking. This is the city’s inaugural effort to sell city property as permanent, affordable homes for artists. The two-story Sacred Heart School was built in 1927 and has been vacant since 2003, when the city moved the multicultural program once headquartered there.

Bass plans to transform the building’s empty schoolrooms into eight studio apartments each roughly 700 square feet in size, with separate basement workspaces of roughly 250 square feet. Units will cost between $125,000 and $140,000, according to the proposal submitted by Bass and his Portland company, Random Orbit, Inc. Aaron Shapiro, Director of the Housing and Neighborhood Services Division, says Bass’s proposal will undergo final tinkering at an upcoming monthly Housing Committee meeting, either in November or December, depending on the developer’s preparedness.

Bass was out of town on vacation and was unavailable for comment prior to press time.

According to city councilor and Housing Committee member Jim Cloutier, Bass beat proposals from the People’s Regional Opportunity Program (PROP) and Full City Projects largely because of his experience and his bid for the property. He offered the highest bid — $150,000 for the school, the price the city paid for it in 1999.

"It was kind of a close call," says Cloutier. "[Bass] has some experience with artists’ live/work space, which didn’t necessarily put him in the exclusively well-qualified category. He offered the most money, and he had kind of a good outline."

According to city requirements, Bass’s proposal must guarantee his units will be affordable live-work spaces indefinitely. Shapiro says crafting this last crucial requirement will be the main focus of the next Housing Committee meeting.