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Voters in the Portland-metro area said yes to affordable housing, overwhelmingly approving a $652.8 million bond measure.

Metro‘s bond won Tuesday with 65.6 percent of the vote. The money will be used to build or acquire affordable housing, or acquire land, in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, and the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Gresham.

鈥淭he outcome (Tuesday) helps to demonstrate how the greater Portland region is interested in addressing these issues at the regional level,鈥� Metro spokesman Nick Christensen said.

A statewide ballot measure, Measure 102, also passed, enabling public agencies to issue bonds for projects involving federal tax credits. Housing advocates said they could better leverage local dollars in concert with federal funding.

Metro will act as the aggregator of bond funds and set goals and guidelines for spending. However, individual deals will be decided by city and county agencies.

鈥淩egionally, it’s sort of an unprecedented collaboration around housing and housing affordability,鈥� said Sean Hubert, chief housing and strategy officer at Central City Concern, a nonprofit affordable housing developer.

The regional approach means affordable housing projects will be spread across the area, instead of each city and county taking an individual approach and perhaps leaving gaps in supply.

鈥淚t’s really groundbreaking,鈥� REACH Community Development CEO Dan Valliere said. 鈥淚t’s one of the first times nationally where you have a metropolitan-wide affordable housing measure. 鈥� It’s flexible, and we can make sure we’re developing it everywhere.鈥�

The Metro housing bond targets deep affordability, with approximately 40 percent of the dollars set to benefit renters at 30 percent or below area median family income.

鈥淭hat’s hopefully a good precedent for public policy,鈥� Hubert said.

The sheer amount of money will help make a dent in the problem, combined with new spending flexibility, Hubert said. Measure 102 allows federal low-income tax credits 鈥� the single largest source of affordable housing subsidies 鈥� to be paired with local bond money.

The timing of the bond sale has not been determined, Christensen said.

鈥淭he biggest thing is getting the bond sale done and the best value for the region’s taxpayers,鈥� he said.

Metro and affordable housing developers have prepared for the bond’s passage and are ready to move quickly, officials said.

鈥淔or us, it’s great because there are already a bunch of projects teed up around the region,鈥� Valliere said. 鈥淭hey were kind of waiting in line. Now some of those can move quicker.鈥�

Also on Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly approved issuing $158 million in bonds for Oregon City schools. The money will be used to relieve overcrowding by rebuilding Gardiner Middle School and remodeling Ogden Middle School, improve safety and security at schools, upgrade aging schools, and build new career and technical education facilities, according to the district.

Meanwhile election results also likely drove a stake through the idea of using the former Wapato Jail as a homeless shelter. Loretta Smith, one of the few local leaders to support the idea, was trounced by Jo Ann Hardesty, who opposed it. Gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler, who had reportedly voiced support for fast-tracking conversion of the Wapato Jail into a shelter, also fell short in his campaign against Gov. Kate Brown.

The Bureau of Development Services last week issued a $1 million demolition permit for the Wapato Jail facility at 14355 N. Bybee Lake Court. Jordan Schnitzer, president of the property’s owner, Harsch Investment Properties, did not return a call seeking comment on his plans for the property. Schnitzer has said he intends to build storage facilities on the property if it can’t be transformed into a homeless shelter.