The Affordable Housing Thread

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

In the next couple of weeks the Portland Housing Bureau is going to announce a "Super NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability)", which will include $60 million of public funding. Both the City and Multnomah County will be making sites available for development.

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Super NOFA info. Five sites being made available:

• 10520 NE Halsey St.
• 6431-6445 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
• 2124 N. Williams Ave.
• 7104-7120 and 7126-7130 SE Foster Rd.
• 1010-1034 NE Grand Ave.

Apparently PHB is close to announcing which developers / project were selected as part of the Super NOFA.

[maccoinnich]

Housing crisis: City Club membership reverses position on single-family neighborhoods



In a reversal, the City Club of Portland has amended its report on housing affordability to include a recommendation to re-zone single-family neighborhoods for increased density.

The club voted by a "wide margin" to adopt a minority version of the report, said Mike Westling, who was a member of a club housing affordability committee that wrote it. He argued in favor of re-zoning residential neighborhoods to include more "middle housing" such as duplexes, triplexes and townhomes.

"Portland's residential zoning code was not brought down on stone tablets from Mt. Tabor," Westling said in prepared remarks at a club meeting.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[urbanlife]

I support seeing new middle housing to pop up in neighborhoods, if some old homes are going to be torn down, then it makes sense to push for them to be 2-4 unit housing to help organically increase housing.

[Abide]

That's great news. Maybe Portland can make a zoning move that will encourage cities to think about "missing middle" buildings in their residential zoning nation wide.

[maccoinnich]

Super NOFA info:

Portland Housing Bureau Awards $47 Million in Funding for Eight Affordable Housing Projects
The sum is the largest funding award in the Bureau’s history.




April 20, 2016 – The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) has awarded approximately $47 million in local and federal funds to eight proposed affordable housing projects. The six new developments and two renovation projects come as a result of the Bureau’s 2015 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), released last October, which made an unprecedented $61.6 million, 100 Project-Based Section 8 vouchers, and five publicly owned sites available for affordable housing proposals.

PHB estimates the award will result in 585 new units of affordable housing—and will preserve another 255 through renovation projects—including more than 120 total units for the lowest-income households (those earning up to 30% of the Median Family Income, currently $15,400 a year for an individual and $24,300 for a family of four).

“Taken together, these eight projects respond to the urgency of the housing emergency for the most vulnerable Portlanders, and integrate the kinds of services and programs that will bring greater security and long-term solutions to those most in need,” said Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau. “I commend the Housing Bureau for stretching itself and its resources to get here, and I commend our proposers for the creativity and resourcefulness they brought to meet the challenges we face.”

Citing the city’s housing emergency, Commissioner Saltzman directed PHB last fall to deploy all of its available resources, including urban renewal dollars budgeted for future years. The 2015 NOFA also featured unprecedented coordination among local public agencies, with land and other resources contributed by Multnomah County, the Portland Development Commission, and Home Forward.

“The affordable housing crisis is being felt all over Portland and Multnomah County. People are hurting and they need help," said Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury. "These projects will help us provide stable housing for some of our most vulnerable residents. We are committed to making sure people have a safe place to call home.”

Beyond financing considerations, the eight projects were selected according to their alignment with several current housing initiatives, including the N/NE Neighborhood Housing Strategy and the A Home for Everyone plan to end homelessness, as well as how they proposed to serve priority populations such as homeless families with children. Additionally, the three developments planned for North and Northeast Portland, which are expected to bring nearly 200 new affordable units to the area, will prioritize longtime and displaced residents of the N/NE Portland community for housing through the City’s new preference policy, unveiled earlier this month.

The selected projects come from REACH, Home Forward, Central City Concern, and California-based developers Meta Housing Corporation and Bridge Housing Corporation. The awarded projects include:



72Foster (REACH) – $5 million to develop 108 new affordable units on a PDC-owned property in the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area with resident services provided by Asian Health & Services Center, plus commercial space to support and enhance neighborhood businesses.

N. Williams Center (Bridge Housing Corp) – $4.5 million to develop 61 new affordable units for low-income families on Multnomah County property in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area, plus supportive services for residents and a possible partnership with Albertina Kerr to provide programming for developmentally disabled residents.

The Creators Collective (Meta Housing Corp) – $9 million to develop 76 new affordable units complete with arts and entrepreneurship programming for very low-income families, seniors, and Veterans on the PHB-owned King/Parks site in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area.

Block 45 (Home Forward) – $5.6 million for a mixed-income, mixed-use development with 127 affordable units on PHB-owned property in the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area, including units and supportive services for vulnerable populations such as chronically homeless persons and survivors of domestic violence.

The Henry (Central City Concern) – $12.9 million for seismic and capital renovations to preserve 153 single-room occupancy units currently serving vulnerable populations in the Central City.

Interstate (Central City Concern) – $2.2 million to develop 51 new affordable units in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area providing culturally specific recovery and employment support services to residents.

Stark I & II (Central City Concern) – $7 million to develop 162 new units of low-barrier housing on two adjacent parcels in the Hazelwood neighborhood.

Gladstone Square/Multnomah Manor (Home Forward) – $1 million to renovate and preserve 102 affordable units serving low-income families in two Home Forward-owned projects in the Lents and Montavilla neighborhoods.


In addition, Human Solutions has been granted an exclusive right to negotiate with PHB on their proposed mixed-use development on PDC-owned land in the Gateway Urban Renewal Area. As proposed, this project would include 40 affordable housing units for low-income families, including units reserved for refugee families and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The actual mix of site uses—office, retail, housing, and community facility improvements—will be determined through further negotiations.

“Given Portland’s housing and homelessness emergency, this unprecedented level of funding is helping move the needle by providing affordable housing for vulnerable Portlanders,” said PHB Director Kurt Creager. “The projects awarded today will leverage approximately $141 million in additional private and public funding, adding important new employment opportunities citywide.”

###

...via PHB.

[maccoinnich]

More information about the projects that were awarded funding, including images.

[tworivers]

Interesting and exciting to see something planned for the site on Grand where Joe Weston originally proposed his Cosmopolitan high rise. More info here [PDF]. Lever is listed as the consultant, LRS as architect of record, but -thankfully- it looks much more Lever than LRS.

[maccoinnich]

The talk on the closed facebook group "That's a Goddamned Shed" is that there will be a property tax measure this autumn seeking to raise $375 million for 0-30% MFI affordable housing. It's unclear to me over how many years the money would be raised.

[maccoinnich]

On the city council agenda next week:

498 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Jarrett Street Condominiums located at 5732 N Interstate Ave (Ordinance)

Someone is building condos(!) that sell for as little $164,000 (!!!).

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

On the city council agenda next week:



Someone is building condos(!) that sell for as little $164,000 (!!!).

Holy shit!

...$366 to $423 per square foot! Methinks some economies of scale would help affordability.

How about some prefab towers? Any takers?

[maccoinnich]

I'm not sure that funding affordable housing by way of making housing more expensive to build is the best idea. That business license tax hike was better.

Mayor Charlie Hales' Business Tax Hike Appears Dead. Will A Construction Tax Take Its Place?

IT WAS A WHOPPING 90 minutes into Portland City Council’s first hearing on Mayor Charlie Hales’ proposed budget Tuesday before the ailing elephant in the room finally died.

Taking pains to applaud Hales for his “extraordinarily collaborative” approach, Commissioner Nick Fish nonetheless announced he wouldn’t back the most controversial element of Hales’ new budget—one knocked by some for being notably noncollaborative.

After a week of speculation while he was in Europe, Fish confirmed he won’t vote for Hales’ proposed tax hike on businesses.

“I can’t support that position for a number of reasons,” he told the mayor. “One of the things I’m hearing from the community is it’s not so much the marginal increase [of the tax hike]…but it’s sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

With those remarks, Fish formalized what has looked likely since May 2, when Hales announced that, despite record revenues, he’d seek to increase the city’s business license tax by more than 13 percent. That hike would raise an additional $8.7 million a year, money Hales argues is absolutely necessary to fund a growing city’s growing challenges.

But it rankled Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Steve Novick in a year when Portland’s already got a $25 million surplus. Fish’s third vote in opposition is a nail in the tax hike’s coffin, assuming nothing drastic changes.

And now things get really interesting.

...continues at the Portland Mercury.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I'm not sure that funding affordable housing by way of making housing more expensive to build is the best idea.

Ugh.

It's a terrible idea. By making housing more expensive to build, they make condos more expensive to buy and apartments more expensive to rent. The same is true for office space, retail space, and so on.

It seems pretty obvious Ted Wheeler will be our next mayor. I wonder what his thoughts are.

[soleri]

The Atlantic wonders if Portland is becoming the next San Francisco when it comes to affordable housing:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...crisis/482988/

[Rob Nob]

And then there's this dire warning:
A guy just transcribed 30 years of for-rent ads

[maccoinnich]

Public Hearing: Tax Exemption Applications for 7 New Rental Projects

On Tuesday, June 7, the Portland Housing Advisory Commission (PHAC), the advisory group to the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB), will hold a public hearing to discuss six new applications being considered for approval for the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) Program, as well as a request to restructure a previously approved application.

The six new applications includes four projects in Northwest Portland, one in St Johns and one in Southeast Portland, for a total of close to 500 new units (100 of which will be affordable to households earning no more than 60% or 80% of median family income) combined.

The discussion will also include a request to restructure a previously approved application for the Vancouver Avenue Apartments in N/NE Portland. The change will increase the level of affordability restrictions from 60% to 80% of median family income.

Tax exemptions such as the MULTE are intended to encourage private developers to include affordable units and other public benefits in their projects. PHB administers the MULTE program and can approve up to $3 million of new tax exemptions per year.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7 from 4:25 – 4:55 pm during the monthly PHAC meeting at the Portland Housing Bureau offices in Downtown Portland, located at 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 500.

...via Portland Housing Bureau.

[maccoinnich]

Dan Saltzman eyes tax for affordable housing, but forecasts differ dramatically



Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman on Tuesday unveiled details of a new tax to pay for affordable housing -- with city officials offering dramatically different views on how much money the proposal would raise.

Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau, wants to implement a new 1 percent construction excise tax on residential and commercial projects.

"The lack of affordable housing is the greatest crisis facing our City right now," Saltzman said in a statement. "This proposed tax on new development will provide us with a dedicated funding source for the preservation and construction of much needed affordable housing."

Under state law, money generated from the residential tax must be used to spur affordable housing. But only half of the money from the commercial tax must go toward affordable housing, with the Portland City Council left to decide where the money would go.

Saltzman wants all the commercial tax money to go toward housing. But there's a huge gap in the financial projections.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Portland to ask voters for $250 million tax for affordable housing

Portland voters will be asked to approve a November tax hike to subsidize about $250 million worth of new or preserved apartments for low-income residents.

The tax proposal has been months in the making and represents what would be the single-largest financial investment in city history for affordable-housing construction, with the potential to eventually pay for upwards of 1,000 units. The push comes amid soaring housing prices and a declared "housing emergency" to grapple with homelessness.

Details of the bond measure remain unofficial, although the Portland City Council is set to vote on a formal plan June 30 at 3 p.m. City Council approval would send the tax to voters in the Nov. 8 general election.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[RED_PDXer]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the Oregonian.

I wish the state would just overturn that awful ballot measure that prohibited real estate transfer taxes. That way the individuals gaining a windfall (or even when not) from selling property pay the tax.

Perhaps there's another way to assess a tax on individuals or corporations selling property where a windfall is present for the sellers - a capital gains-like tax on profits?

I personally have little appetite for new property taxes, particularly when there are competing measures for public schools. I'm also annoyed that the City is purposely avoiding a broader geography that would lessen the tax burden. I doubt the benefits of affordable housing in Portland are isolated to Portland residents. So does this allow Gresham residents to move closer-in at similar rents that they are paying in Gresham in unsubsidized units? There appears to be some inequity in the proposed tax burden..

[maccoinnich]

Portland signals support for new construction excise tax



The Portland City Council signaled support Thursday for a new tax on development that would raise money for affordable housing.

The construction excise tax – made legal statewide when the Oregon Legislature allowed it earlier this year – would amount to 1 percent of the building-permit valuation for residential, commercial and industrial projects and apply to permit applications submitted after Aug. 1. The council is set to vote on the ordinance, sponsored by Commissioner Dan Saltzman, next week.

"The lack of affordable housing is the greatest crisis facing our city right now," Saltzman said.

Kurt Creager, director of the Portland Housing Bureau, said the tax could raise up to $96 million by 2035 and build as many as 960 housing units affordable to those making 60 percent of area median income or below.

Exempted from the tax are affordable housing projects serving those at or below 80 percent of area median income; public improvements subject to public contracting rules; and projects for schools, hospitals, places of worship, agriculture and nonprofit care. Affordable for-sale housing, accessory dwelling units and improvements worth less than $100,000 are also exempt.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

On City Council agenda for next week:

708 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Cathedral Flats located at 7220 N Burlington Ave (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

709 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Powell Apartments located at 3730 SE Powell Blvd (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

710 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Redwood Apartments located at 233 NW 16th Ave (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

711 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Koz 216X SW Yamhill located at 2161 SW Yamhill St (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

712 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Block 290/KOTI located at 1417 NW 20th Ave (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

713 Approve application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for 14th and Glisan located at 1402-1430 NW Glisan St (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)

714 Approve amended application under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption Program for Vancouver Avenue Apartments located at N Vancouver Ave and N Shaver St (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Saltzman)