By: Chuck Slothower//October 19, 2017//
Chuck Slothower//October 19, 2017//
Portland’s City Council on Wednesday approved a property-tax exemption for a multifamily development in Northeast Portland that will include 18 affordable units.
The exemption is part of the city’s Multiple Unit Limited Tax Exemption, or MULTE, program, which provides a 10-year property tax exemption in exchange for providing rent-restricted apartments for 10 years.
The project at 2821 N.E. Everett St. comes from Urban Development Group. Of the building’s 119 units, 18 apartments, or 15 percent, will be affordable at the level of 80 percent of area median family income.
The building will have 33 studio apartments (including five affordable units) and 86 one-bedroom apartments (including 13 affordable).
The city and Multnomah County will forego an estimated $210,000 of property tax revenue.
“Developers, who are taking full stock of their options, are choosing to opt in to these offsets,” Housing Director Kurt Creager told commissioners. “We think this is the beginning of a trend, and we’re very closely interested in all of their success.”
Portland has sought to persuade developers to include affordable units in projects that vested before the city’s inclusionary housing rules took effect on Feb. 1. Creager, pointing to Portland’s years-long pipeline of housing projects, said the Housing Bureau is open to any developer who wishes to opt in to MULTE.
“We remain open for business and will work with any developer with a project in the pipeline,” Creager said.
Separately, the City Council also set a formal goal to create 2,000 additional supportive housing units by 2028 as part of the Joint Office of Homeless Services. Supportive housing pairs housing units with intensive services to enable residents to stay in their homes.
Portland officials said supportive housing is the best way to get homeless people off of the streets for good.
“We can show other communities up and down the West Coast how to actually make progress on this seemingly intractable issue,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said.
Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said supportive housing could be expanded. “This is only a next step, and not a solution, to the need for supportive housing,” she said.
Multnomah County, which also contributes to the Joint Office of Homeless Services, was expected to approve a similar resolution at Thursday’s Board of County Commissioner’s meeting.