Page 10
Commentary
Street Roots « March 6-12, 2015
City should meet affordable housing goals in North Macadam URA
BY WILL WHITE
Will White was senior
advisor to Sen. Jeff
Merkley from 2009 to
proposal now in front of Portland’s
2014. Prior to that, he
City Council will have a dramatic
was the director o f
impact on the nature of the
Portland’s B ureau op
community being created in the North H ousing and
Macadam district through the use of public Comm unity
funds. At issue is whether current city Development fo r five
years and executive
elected officials will fulfill commitments
director o f the nonprofit H ousing Development
made in 1998 when a Comprehensive Plan
Center fo r 10 years. This article is based on his
was passed to insure that the income profile
testimony to City Council on Feb. 26.
of any newly created neighborhoods would
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
■
match that of the city as a whole.
The North Macadam Urban Renewal Area River District URA. That did not happen.
was first proposed in 1997, When planning
PDC and Council adopted sound targets, but
for the district began in the late 1990s, I
then made three major mistakes:
was a member of the city’s advisory
1. It was decided that housing should
committee. Council members had learned
happen late in the development of North
earlier in the development of the River
Macadam - only after infrastructure had
District Urban Renewal Area (URA) that it
been paid for and for-profit developments
is essential to establish affordable housing
were built to create tax increment revenue.
commitments at the outset if a new
2. Sites for affordable housing were not
neighborhood is to provide homes to the full acquired in the early years when land was
range of Portland’s citizens. The
still cheap.
comprehensive plan of 1998 was adopted to
3. Development agreements negotiated
lock that approach into policy.
with property owners by the Portland
Urban renewal areas are specific
Development Commission (PDC) often did
geographic neighborhoods authorized by
not include requirements to build affordable
City Council and planned by the Portland
housing as part of the mix of planned
Development Commission (PDC). To create projects. When affordable housing was
funds to spur development in a newly
required of large landowners like Oregon
established URA, property taxes that go to
Health & Science University and Portland
the city, county, and school district are
State University, these commitments were
capped at the existing level. For 20 years,
later removed by PDC and the city.
any increase in tax revenue is invested back
In 2003, after five years of planning and
into the URA to support new development.
^development m the North Macadam URA, *
After 20 years, this increased level of tax
PDC and City Council took a second big
revenue again flows back to the city, county,
step away from creating a mixed-income
and schools - unless the life of the district
neighborhood. They abandoned the 1998
is extended by City Council.
comprehensive plan requirement that the
When it was first proposed in 1997, it was
North Macadam district should reflect the
the City’s intention for the new 130-acre
income profile of the city as a whole.
North Macadam district to replicate the
Instead of being bold and finding creative
earlier successful creation of a mixed
ways to come up with the needed funds, a
income neighborhood in the
weak “Constrained funding model” based on
available funding levels was adopted
for housing.
The city was able to find money to fund
roads, a streetcar, an aerial tram to OHSU, a
greenway, a hotel, and thousands of
condominiums and market-rate apartments,
but affordable housing targets were cut.
The target was lowered by more than half,
from 1845 to 754 affordable units.
Notably, while this lowering of the target
constituted a 59 percent reduction in the
amount of projected affordable housing, the
agreement included a crucial condition:
After the first 3,000 units of housing were
built in the district any further residential
development would match the income
profile of the city as a whole.
In 2012, Gray’s Landing, the district’s
first affordable housing building was finally
opened. It provided 209 apartments for
people of modest means, including much-
needed housing for 42 homeless veterans.
As reported by the Oregonian at the time:
“The 209 apartments represent about half
of the affordable housing called for in the
South Waterfront plan but arrived almost six
years behind schedule. Affordable housing
was intended as a key and early element of
the South Waterfront’s largely publicly
funded transformation from riverfront
industrial land to high-density urban
neighborhood.. . Reasons for the delay
include the recession, problems with
developers, and tax dollars that went first to
public works projects like the aerial tram
and the streetcar.
At present, nearly 3,000 units of
condominiums and luxury apartments have,
been built in North Macadam. Striking high-
rise housing units have risen near the
Willamette River, but only the wealthy could
afford to buy them.
No further affordable housing has been
built since 2012. Even the drastically
reduced targets of the “constrained funding”
plan have not been met. Four hundred
seventy-nine units of affordable housing
were to have been developed during the last
decade and a half, but we are now short of
that modest target by 270 units - a shortfall
of 56 percent!
The need for affordable rental housing
has never been greater. More than half of
the households with incomes below
50 percent of the area median
(only $35,000 per
year for a family of. four) currently spend
more than half of their income on rent each
month. To cover the cost of their housing,
they must cut back on expenditures for food,
medications, clothing, education and other
essentials.
The proposed fourth amendment to the
North Macadam URA now before City
Council marks our city’s third and final
chance to get the housing policy right in this
key downtown neighborhood. To fulfill the
commitments made by Portland’s elected
officials, the city must do the following four
thingsi
1. Develop 400 units of affordable housing
units on Parcel 3, a site already owned by
the City. Because nearly 3,000 units of
market rate housing have already been built
in North Macadam, we shouldn’t use Parcel
3 to build more market rate housing.
2. Stick to the goal reaffirmed by City
Council in 2003: additional housing built in
North Macadam beyond the first 3,000 units
must match the city income profile.
3. Accomplish this goal by setting aside
now at least three additional sites for future
affordable housing developments. Part of
this goal can be accomplished by acquiring
one or more affordable housing sites in the
development agreement currently being
negotiated for the 30-acre Zidell property -
the largest open redevelopment site in thé
central city. The City and PDC should also
work with both OHSU and PSU to negotiate
purchase agreements for sites that can
provide future housing that is appropriate to
Portlanders who work or study at these
institutions. OHSU and PSU have received
great benefits from the North Macadam
URA, and both have previously committed
to developing affordable housing on their
property.
Portland has a wonderful national
reputation for bold and progressive
accomplishments. A neighborhood
developed with immense city resources that
does not accommodate the hard-working
people who keep our city going falls far
short of that reputation. It’s time that we
finally do the right thing in North Macadam.
City Council should not approve the current
urban renewal amendment until a detailed
strategy has been adopted to create a true
mixed-income neighborhood in North
Macadam. Many experienced
housing developers and
policy experts
would join me in
offering to work
with PDC and City
Council to
accomplish these
goals.
ILLUSTRATIO N BY KATIE M A Y S