O’Neill/ Walsh Community Builders LLC (OWCB) was hired to lead the construction management and general contracting (CM/GC) at the Portland Community College Southeast Center. The two firms, O’Neill Electric Inc. and Walsh Construction Co. formed a partnership in 2011, the joint firm, in turn, worked with Inline Commercial Construction, Inc. a state-certified MWESB firms (minority, women and emerging small businesses). The expanded campus has  two new buildings – a student commons and library – that includes the bookstore, tutoring center, the Women’s Resource Center, a Multicultural Center, new classrooms and science and computer labs. The buildings front SE 82nd Avenue and SE Division Street; each is three stories with active ground floor or commercial space to better integrate and serve the college and surrounding neighborhood and business community.

The Student Commons, which is a three-story, 66,000-square-foot structure houses an expanded bookstore, an Answer Center for all students services, five science classrooms/labs, six general purpose classrooms, four career technical education/computer classrooms and a new STEM center. In addition to the traditional library services, the three-story, 40,000-square-foot library facility contains the Student Computing Center, Student Learning Center (including tutoring services), Volunteer Literacy Center, four classrooms and study areas.

The Southeast Campus has more than doubled its size from 94,000 to 200,000 square feet and expanded its class offerings, allowing students to complete an associate’s or transfer degree without traveling to another campus. A rich blend of culture is reflected in the community Southeast Campus serves, including a growing number of Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Latino, Russian and Ukrainian families. Despite the expansion, the center maintains a small campus feel with close connections to local neighborhoods and businesses.