You won’t find “New Water Avenue” on any Portland maps — yet. Funding approved by Portland City Council has paved the way for the road on the east side of the Willamette River, which will serve as the main thoroughfare for the future OMSI District.

But what will the individual elements within the 24-acre waterfront redevelopment actually look like when all is said and done? New renderings are giving us an idea of the OMSI District’s first announced project: a historic hub for the urban Indigenous community and Native peoples of the PNW.

Timeline

Portland leaders signed off on a three-part redevelopment plan with groundbreaking possibly taking place mid-2025 (pending financing):

Phase 1: Reconfiguring streets, completion estimated by June 2027
Phase 2: Building 1,200 residential units — including affordable housing — and starting a new waterfront park designed in partnership with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Phase 3: Construction of more affordable housing, infrastructure, and parking

Mayor Ted Wheeler said the OMSI District will take over a decade to complete.

OMSI's parking lots won't be open expanses of asphalt for long. | Photo + rendering by ZGF Architects/OMSI

Funding

City commissioners unanimously approved spending $15.4 million to help Prosper Portland and the Portland Bureau of Transportation reconfigure Southeast Water Avenue, but OMSI and the city still need to raise around $7 million before construction can begin. The entire OMSI District is projected to cost private and public investors approx. $90 million.

Center for Tribal Nations

The Northwest Native Chamber is working to acquire the OMSI District’s largest available site as the future home of the Center for Tribal Nations. Its creation, along with an educational waterfront park, will “restore Native communities’ presence on the Willamette and address shared challenges of sustainability, resilience, and inclusion.” Intended as a place for business, recreation, and cultural activities, the center will welcome more than 20 tribal, intertribal, and urban Native organizations active within the Portland area.

“The Center for Tribal Nations is the first-of-its-kind, Native-led urban development that establishes a Native presence on the Willamette River, while creating space for a new era of Indigenous expressions of excellence," said James Alan Parker, executive director for Northwest Native Chambers.