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The city of Portland is moving toward offering developers a 3-to-1 floor-to-area ratio bonus as part of new inclusionary zoning requirements.

Developers have a lingering question: What else you got?

The panel of experts convened by Commissioner Dan Saltzman met this past Tuesday with consultants and city staffers to give their thoughts on how to implement zoning code changes that would require multifamily developers to build affordable units.

Compliance with inclusionary zoning would allow developers to get a 3-to-1 FAR bonus, said Tyler Bump, an economic planner for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. That allows developers to add three stories beyond existing limits, or increase building mass by a similar amount.

鈥淚t allows you to build a bigger building, a taller building, in exchange for including affordable units on site,鈥� Bump said.

The 3-to-1 FAR bonus may not be enough on its own to make up for the lost revenue of inclusionary zoning, said Kira Cador, president of Rembold Properties, who is also a panel member.

鈥淚t depends on where in the city you’re building. It could,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淚 don’t know if it changes the economics of a pro forma so dramatically as to make it a wash at this point. But until we see an analysis, it’s hard to know.鈥�

Cador and other developers on the panel are waiting on an economic analysis from ECONorthwest. 鈥淚 feel like we’ve kind of come to a stopping point until we look at real numbers,鈥� she said.

When inclusionary zoning takes effect, the city may do away with a menu of 19 existing options for developers to get bonus FAR. These include amenities such as water features, daycares, below-grade parking and bike lockers.

City officials are not satisfied that the bonus incentives are working as designed, said Shannon Callahan, a housing policy advisor to Saltzman 鈥淪ome of them, you get a lot of height without having to do much with the building,鈥� she said.

The city is looking to shorten the list of bonus incentives, Callahan said. Instead of getting FAR for daycares and bike parking, developers will get bonus FAR for building affordable housing units.

The looming revamp of how developers can be granted bonus FAR may affect an existing market of bonus transfers from other properties. Bump said it’s unclear how the proposed rules would affect that market.

Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group and a member of the inclusionary zoning panel, said developers should be encouraged to build up to the height limit under the city’s zoning code, which varies across the city.

鈥淚f you’re building residential and you have 325 feet (of height limit), why build 175 feet?鈥� he said. 鈥淕et rid of the transfer and just build up to the height limit.鈥�

Goodman also cautioned against getting rid of the FAR bonus for subterranean parking.

鈥淵ou need to incentivize people to use below-ground parking,鈥� he said. 鈥淥therwise, you’re going to get people building above-ground parking, which should pretty much be a thing of the past.鈥�

State legislation that removed a previous ban on cities requiring inclusionary zoning gives Portland several options for developer incentives. These include waivers of system development charges, finance-based incentives and property tax exemptions.

Portland’s system needs to be flexible, said Cador. 鈥淭hey need to be creative because not every deal is going to pencil the same.鈥�

On Tuesday, the consultants from David Paul Rosen and Associates set out to run the committee through a series of data tables. Yet committee members were far more interested in discussing inclusionary zoning policy, and how it might affect development.

At one point, Lisa Bates, a Portland State University associate professor of urban studies and planning, gave Bump an editing tip on proposed code language. 鈥淵ou need an Oxford comma,鈥� she said.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Aug. 23. The Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to consider inclusionary zoning regulations on Oct. 28, with a City Council hearing likely to follow in December.