Albina Vision Trust

What Albina Vision Trust does

Albina Vision Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2017 to lead what it describes as the largest restorative redevelopment effort in America across a 94-acre project area in Lower Albina along the Willamette River. Its mission is to buy back land, rebuild community, and re-root Black legacies in Portland's central city following decades of displacement from racist urban renewal and the construction of Interstate 5 in the 1950s-60s. The organization's core products are physical and programmatic rather than software: two affordable housing assets (Albina One, a 94-unit 100% affordable development that opened in 2025, and the 66-unit Paramount Apartments acquired in 2025), the Community Investment Plan planning framework adopted by the City of Portland in 2024, and program areas covering wealth building, clean energy and environmental sustainability, and a buildable I-5 highway cover.

The organization's underlying technology approach is restorative redevelopment combined with climate-positive urban design, including a pilot initiative for what it calls America's first climate-positive (carbon-negative) district at the 10.5-acre Portland Public Schools site. AVT operates a community-driven go-to-market model centered on the 3-year Community Investment Plan process, the Albina Rose Alliance partnership with the Portland Trail Blazers, and an annual Lower Albina Block Party. It generates revenue entirely through individual donations (online, mail, stock, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, donor-advised funds, estate planning), corporate event sponsorship, and large public grants. Notable secured public funding includes $488M federal (US DOT Reconnecting Communities), $25M Oregon State Legislature, and $5M Metro Regional Government, collectively underwriting the redevelopment pipeline. The organization is governed by a 7-member Board of Directors, supported by a 9-member Leadership Council, and operates with a 10-person staff led by Executive Director Winta Yohannes.

AVT serves primarily displaced Black Portlanders, working-class families, and Black-owned businesses in the Albina community. Its addressable beneficiaries include the planned 3,000+ residents to be housed through over 1,000 units on the PPS site, residents of existing affordable housing assets, and the broader community re-rooted through wealth-building partnerships with contractors such as Colas Construction, Berrien Concrete, and City of Roses Waste Management & Recycling. End-to-end resident services are delivered through a partnership with POIC (Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center).

Name

Albina Vision Trust

Legal name

Albina Vision, Inc (dba Albina Vision Trust, Inc)

Website

https://albinavision.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Albina Vision Trust is a Portland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit leading a 94-acre restorative redevelopment of Lower Albina, delivering affordable housing (Albina One, Paramount Apartments), a community-adopted investment plan, and a federally funded I-5 highway cover to re-root displaced Black Portlanders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development and Affordable Housing

NAICS

Other Community Housing Services (624229), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Community development
• Affordable housing
• Restorative redevelopment
• Urban planning
• Nonprofit community investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and monthly online donations, check donations, stock donations, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, and legacy gifts through estate planning. Tax ID: 82-3733402.
2. Government Grants: State Legislature allocated $25 million for acquisition, predevelopment and demolition. Metro Regional Government provided $5 million grant for waterfront parcels. Federal funding of $488 million for I-5 highway cover project.
3. Donor Advised Funds: Accepts grants from donor-advised funds held at community organizations or financial institutions.
4. Event Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorships for events like the Lower Albina Block Party.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Albina Vision Trust is a community-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit that buys back land, rebuilds community, and reroots Black legacies in Lower Albina, Portland through affordable housing development, restorative redevelopment planning, wealth-building programs, climate-positive infrastructure, and a transportation initiative to tunnel Interstate 5. The organization delivers and preserves affordable housing units (Albina One with 94 units and Paramount Apartments with 66 units), leads a 3-year Community Investment Plan adopted as the City of Portland's official framework, and partners with the Portland Trail Blazers through the Albina Rose Alliance. Programs include Wealth Building with Black-owned contractors, Clean Energy & Environment initiatives, and Transportation planning for a buildable I-5 highway cover.

Product overview

Albina Vision Trust operates as a community-driven non-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on the largest restorative redevelopment effort in America. The organization does not offer a traditional technology product platform but rather provides a portfolio of interconnected programs and initiatives: Albina One and Paramount Apartments (affordable housing developments); the Community Investment Plan (planning framework adopted by the City of Portland); and program areas covering Wealth Building, Clean Energy & Environment, and Transportation (including the I-5 highway cover project). The Albina Rose Alliance represents a strategic partnership with the Portland Trail Blazers. Together, these initiatives span 94 acres in Lower Albina with the goal of buying back land, rebuilding community, and rerooting Black legacies in Portland's central city.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Albina Rose Alliance: A deep-rooted partnership between Albina Vision Trust and the Portland Trail Blazers anchored in shared values, focused on restorative development in Lower Albina.

Products and services

• Albina One AVT's inaugural 94-unit family-centered affordable housing development located at 1771 N. Flint Ave in Lower Albina, Portland. 100% affordable units include on-site resident services from POIC (Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center). First development in the district welcoming families back after 40 years.
• Paramount Apartments Legacy structure from the Golden Age of the district acquired by AVT in 2025. Contains 66 units of naturally occurring affordable housing preserved without displacing current residents. Residents receive on-site resident services from POIC.
• Community Investment Plan A 3-year community-driven planning framework (2020-2023) that put community members in the driver's seat of defining what a redeveloped Lower Albina should look like. Created with planners, architects, artists, and economists. Received AZ Honor Award for Social Good in 2024 and adopted as official guiding framework by City of Portland in 2024.

Quantifiable outcome

• 94 affordable housing units delivered (Albina One)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Metro Regional GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023In 2023, AVT successfully secured a $5 million grant from Metro Regional Government to begin acquiring waterfront parcels along the Willamette River, beginning the process of scoping a waterfront park spanning from the Steel to Broadway Bridges.
• Portland Trail BlazersflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlbina Rose Alliance is a deep-rooted partnership between Albina Vision Trust and the Portland Trail Blazers anchored in shared values. The alliance focuses on four strategic areas: joint development strategy for Lower Albina including Rose Quarter; joint storytelling and communications; joint legislative strategy and advocacy; and joint celebration of community through events. As the two largest cultural anchors in Lower Albina, this partnership represents a new blueprint for civic participation and restorative development centered around children, play, and economic well-being of marginalized neighbors.
• Portland Public Schools (PPS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAVT secured right of first offer and right of first refusal on the 10.5-acre PPS headquarters campus. PPS Board agreed to binding resolution for 12-month timeline to identify a new home for their headquarters, clearing the way for AVT to acquire the parcel by mid-2025. This precedent-setting opportunity will create over 1,000 units of housing.
• Oregon Transportation CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Oregon Transportation Commission unanimously approved the creation of a work plan to explore AVT stewardship of governance and air rights over the eventual I-5 highway cover.
• POIC (Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPOIC provides on-site resident services at both Albina One and Paramount Apartments, supporting residents with educational and employment resources.
• Community Investment Plan Design TeamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-disciplinary team including Marc Norman (Ideas and Action), Kayin Talton Davis (Soapbox Theory), Brie Hensold (Agency Landscape and Planning), Josh Shelton (El Dorado Inc), Cleo Davis (Soapbox Theory), Mike Wilkerson (ECONorthwest), Othello H. Meadows III (The Meadows Group), and Dru Holley (Black Bald Films).
• Colas ConstructioncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMulti-generational Black-owned business anchored in Albina that served as general contractor for Albina One and is presenting sponsor of the 2026 Lower Albina Block Party.
• Good in the HoodminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization co-organizing the annual Lower Albina Block Party with AVT and Colas Construction.
• World Stage TheatreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization co-organizing the annual Lower Albina Block Party, including AVT x World Stage Theatre Jeopardy event.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Resurrection Project: Chicago-based nonprofit pursuing restorative community development — affordable housing, wealth building, and community-led planning in historically disinvested neighborhoods. Highly comparable operating philosophy and program mix.
• Grounded Solutions Network: National membership organization supporting community land trusts and shared-equity homeownership to keep housing permanently affordable. Comparable model component of AVT's community-owned, rerooting-focused approach.
• BRIDGE Housing: California-focused nonprofit developer of affordable and mixed-income housing plus community-serving commercial space. Comparable as a mission-driven nonprofit housing developer stewarding mixed-use, mixed-income projects at scale.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): National community development financial institution providing capital, grants, and capacity-building to local CDCs for affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Comparable on funding-model (grants/loans), scale of pipeline, and community-development mandate.
• Mercy Housing: Nonprofit affordable housing developer/operator with a national portfolio of mixed-income, service-enriched housing. Closely comparable operating model: builds and preserves affordable housing with on-site resident services for vulnerable populations.
• Enterprise Community Partners: National mission-driven nonprofit developer and investor that finances and builds affordable housing and community development across the U.S. Highly comparable mission (large-scale community-rooted affordable housing and equitable development) at much larger scale.
• HopeSF: San Francisco public-private partnership rebuilding distressed public housing sites into mixed-income communities without displacing residents. Closely comparable on the no-displacement, mixed-income, place-based redevelopment model.

Broad incumbents

• Habitat for Humanity: Massive-scale nonprofit affordable housing developer operating nationally and internationally. Comparable mission and beneficiary base but operates at materially larger scope and through volunteer-driven homeownership rather than large-scale rental redevelopment.
• Trust for Public Land: National nonprofit focused on land conservation and creating parks and green space for communities. Comparable on the land-acquisition-for-public-benefit mechanic that underlies AVT's 94-acre portfolio build.

Regional players

• Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA): San Francisco-based nonprofit advancing economic equity for Latino and other underserved communities through small-business support, affordable housing, and asset-building. Comparable on the community-rooted wealth-building, housing-plus-economic-development model, but with a different geographic and cultural base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/albinavisiontrust
• Xx.com/albinavisionpdx

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Albina Vision Trust