February Urban Design Panel - Reconnecting Albina Planning Project (RAPP)
The Reconnecting Albina Planning Project (RAPP) will create urban development strategies for Lower Albina that foster equitable and sustainable outcomes, centered on restorative development for Portland’s historic Albina and Black communities. Funded through a Federal Department of Transportation Reconnecting Communities grant, Reconnecting Albina is an approximately two-year project likely to be completed in the fall of 2026. The project will create an updated land use and transportation framework to support equitable urban development in Lower Albina.
Albina Vision Trust (AVT), the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), and Prosper Portland will collaborate to establish, align, and leverage partnerships and investments that support redevelopment opportunities in the district, including on the new I-5 highway cover being developed by the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Following an Open House event in December 2025, the project team is in the process of reviewing community feedback and planning another series of engagement events in the late spring/early summer 2026. This engagement, and subsequent analysis, will help inform the final project deliverables which include a Community Participation Plan (CPP) and a Development Framework Plan.
Speakers – City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
Cassie Ballew, City Planner, Urban Design
Cassie has over 15 years of combined experience in planning, urban design and architecture. Her experience includes work as an architectural designer, as a planner conducting permit and land use reviews and as an urban designer, working on the development of design standards, guidelines and concepts for large area plans in Portland. Cassie previously helped lead the development of the urban design framework and character statements for the River Plan South Reach, West Portland Town Center and Montgomery Park Area Plans.
Mike Serritella, Senior Planner, Transportation
Mike brings a decade of public-sector planning experience in Portland, building on a second career in teaching and education advocacy in New York City and Denver, Colorado. His interdisciplinary background informs a people-centered, equity-driven approach to urban design and transportation planning, with a focus on creating safer, more vibrant, and more accessible streets and public spaces.
At the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Mike has led major corridor- and district-level planning efforts including Northwest in Motion and North Portland in Motion, as well as key streetscape projects on N/NE Broadway and Willamette Boulevard. Across his portfolio, Mike integrates transportation, development, and public space design with community engagement and interagency collaboration to achieve practical, equity-focused outcomes.