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The city of Portland is moving toward offering tax incentives to developers of brownfield properties.

The City Council has directed staff members to come up with a package of property tax breaks to encourage development of Portland’s approximately 910 acres of environmentally contaminated brownfield properties.

Commissioner Nick Fish, who sponsored the directive, said the tax breaks could be used for industrial or residential projects.

鈥淭he focus will be on job creation and affordable housing,鈥� Fish said in an interview. 鈥淲e anticipate the tax incentive will be structured so the tax incentive is greater if you give a greater public benefit.鈥�

For example, a developer would be eligible for a 50 percent property tax abatement for building market-rate apartments, with a bonus for affordable units and a further bonus for 鈥渄eeply affordable鈥� units.

鈥淲hen the incentive plan is up and running, it will be another tool in our kit to put these brownfields to productive use,鈥� Fish said.

Fish said he expects the program to be running within a year.

Local governments in Oregon were authorized to offer brownfield incentives by state legislation in 2016. The Oregon Brownfield Coalition 鈥� including the city of Portland, environmental groups and business organizations 鈥� lobbied for its passage. Cities, counties and ports such as the Port of Portland are able to offer incentives for brownfield development.

The city of Portland is the first municipality to move forward with brownfield subsidies.

In practice, the city of Portland would use tax breaks as the major incentive for brownfield development.

鈥淎 significant piece of our comprehensive plan is a big push to put brownfields to productive use,鈥� Fish said. 鈥淲e’re running out of land, so the next best thing is redeveloping brownfields for a productive use. Put this land back on the tax rolls and drive the jobs agenda.鈥�

Fish pointed to an ongoing success story: the brownfield reclamation of a Port of Portland-owned parcel in Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park that is now set to be a major Amazon fulfillment center.

BRIDGE Housing, a nonprofit organization, is familiar with brownfield projects and the costs involved.

鈥淲e’ve done quite a bit of development on brownfield sites,鈥� said Cynthia Parker, president and chief executive. 鈥淎s land becomes more elusive, it’s important to be able to reclaim some of these properties that have been polluted.鈥�

Several major construction firms, or their subcontractors, are capable of performing the necessary remediation work, she said.

鈥淲e have to remediate to the very highest standard because it’s for residential use,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re not afraid of it. It just costs money.鈥�

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also runs a grant program to help cities pay for brownfield cleanup.