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The need for affordable housing in the Portland-metro area continues to be great, and local industry professionals shared Thursday how new developments can best serve incoming tenants.

The Daily Journal of Commerce hosted a virtual Builder Breakfast event during which market leaders talked about the future of affordable housing.

A lack of such housing has persisted in the Portland-metro area. Around October 2020, there were approximately 54,000 low-income households in the Portland-Vancouver (Washington) metro area, . 鈥淔or every 100 of those households, there are 27 affordable units to choose from,鈥� the story stated.

Meanwhile, the days of cookie-cutter developments apparently are gone, according to speakers on Thursday. Instead, the focus is on serving the residential community 鈥� people who often are coming out of tough situations.

Creating a sense of place for the tenant population is important, Scott | Edwards Architecture associate Hayley Purdy said. If tenants don’t feel like they belong or have a home, they are more likely to abuse the property, she explained, and generate more maintenance for owners.

More affordable housing is being developed with tenants’ cultural and community needs as a factor. The primary focus is and should be addressing the 鈥渕assive inequities faced by low-income (people) and people of color,鈥� said Kevin Kellogg, director of real estate development at Hacienda Community Development Corp.

鈥淏y providing safe and healthy homes and neighborhoods where people can live without fear and enjoy the same opportunities that everyone else does,鈥� he added.

Hacienda was worked with a lot of Latinos, Kellogg said, and discovered that their spaces tend to be much more vibrant 鈥� encouraging group celebrations of important milestones 鈥� than those of other populations. Efforts to address this cultural need, he added, will affect the landscape, location, materials and the layout of the floor plan.

鈥淭here’s these subtle changes when we implement them (that) have a big impact on the success of the community,鈥� Kellogg said.

Another trend within affordable housing development is the inclusion of services within buildings. Tenants oftentimes deal with issues such as poverty, instability, mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment and more, said Jim Hlava, vice president of housing for Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare.

Hlava sees housing as a form of health care, and inclusion of services in or near the building helps the residents and adds a further connection to the place.

鈥淭he goal here is really to help people gain 鈥� better health and to be able (to) use that as a launching pad to move on in life,鈥� he said.

In Oregon, funding assistance for affordable housing is growing. Hacienda CDC primarily relies on low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds to pay for projects, Kellogg said, and then uses money from housing bonds to fill gaps.

More bond money 鈥� from Metro, the city of Portland and the state of Oregon 鈥� has become available. The Metro bond has already funded 2,045 housing units in 19 projects, and the Portland bond has funded 1,490 units in 12 projects.

鈥淚 think, especially over the next two years,鈥� Kellogg said, 鈥渨e will see substantial housing funding, along with 鈥� infrastructure transportation funding.鈥�