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As the 2025 legislative session approaches, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, other Democrats, and activists are developing legislation that would boost housing supply.

Details of the bill, or bills, have not been made public. But Kotek鈥檚 office has assembled housing wonks to hear feedback and press for consensus on the state鈥檚 next moves to encourage housing production.

The legislation comes as housing production in Oregon threatens to fall short of Kotek鈥檚 goal to build 36,000 new units per year. Meanwhile, housing costs continue to escalate, and Portland lost more than 3 percent of its population from 2020 to 2023 鈥� a drop some analysts have attributed in part to a lack of affordable housing.

The governor鈥檚 office has discussed additional measures to increase infill housing 鈥� particularly so-called 鈥渕iddle housing鈥� that bridges apartments and detached single-family homes 鈥� within cities.

鈥淭he state has had a few years to see how that goes,鈥� said Michael Andersen, director of cities and towns for the Sightline Institute, a Portland think tank. 鈥淒espite the fanfare, we haven鈥檛 produced that many duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes.

鈥淪ome of that is the market catching up to the new rules,鈥� he added. 鈥淪ome of that is cities catching up to the new rules. Some of that is we need to keep making it simpler to keep building these lower-cost homes.鈥�

Legislators in the 2024 session made it easier to expand cities鈥� urban growth boundaries for residential use. This time, Kotek is again looking to boost density within cities. Discussions this fall have centered on the next steps building upon House Bill 2001, a landmark 2019 law that allowed multiple units on one lot, loosening single-family zoning throughout the state.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very supportive of making sure that (housing) really can be built inside all of our existing cities and towns,鈥� said Mary Kyle McCurdy, associate director of 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Andersen said he鈥檚 focused on reforming local zoning rules that make apartment construction impossible on certain lot sizes.

In some cities, 鈥渆ven at their highest-density zones, they rarely allow even a three- or four-story apartment building to exist, once you look at the lot size requirements,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have all of these zones that are not written to be used by apartment builders.鈥�

The city of Portland is focused on securing infrastructure funding, city officials said. Some of Portland鈥檚 large-scale master plan projects, including the Broadway Corridor in Northwest Portland and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry District in Southeast Portland, need major investments in water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure to spur housing development.

鈥淭he city of Portland is hopeful that the Legislature will continue to make meaningful investments in public聽infrastructure to support housing development,鈥� Donnie Oliveira, deputy city administrator of聽community and economic development, stated in response to questions. 鈥淲e have some remarkable housing projects in the works across the city that would come to fruition much faster with state partnership.

鈥淵ou will also see the city focus on preserving affordable housing and more rental assistance and opportunities for first-time聽homeownership, as well as hopefully moving the dial on how to make commercial-to-residential conversions better pencil out as a tool to help revive our central city,鈥� Oliveira added.

Public officials have seized on office-to-residential conversions as a way out of the post-pandemic office space crisis, but that鈥檚 proved easier said than done. Conversions often require expensive seismic retrofits and other changes that render projects infeasible, according to developers.

Kotek鈥檚 housing policy analyst, Matthew Tschabold, is involved in the discussions. He is a familiar voice in housing debates; before joining Kotek鈥檚 office, he worked in policy for the Portland Housing Bureau. Efforts to reach Tschabold for comment were unsuccessful.

More accountability may be coming to cities that fail to reach housing production goals. State authorities are writing rules to implement legislation that allows the state to override local zoning where housing production is lacking.

鈥淭hat鈥檒l be important,鈥� Andersen said.

It follows efforts by other states to not merely provide carrots for housing production, but also wield sticks for standing in the way.

In California, developers have increasingly relied on the 鈥渂uilder鈥檚 remedy,鈥� which exempts multifamily projects with affordable units from local zoning laws in cities that are out of compliance with their housing production plans.

Housing activists will be watching to see if Oregon takes steps in that direction, building upon the state鈥檚 Housing Needs Analysis. The 2022 report found Oregon needs to add more than 550,000 housing units in the next 20 years.

McCurdy pointed to a lack of staffing in some city governments that can delay housing.

鈥淭here are definitely cities and neighborhoods that are more open to middle and infill housing than other cities, and some don鈥檛 have staffing,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome of it is simply the capacity. Some of it is making sure all departments within the city and all levels of government are all rowing in the same direction to support more housing.鈥�

Housing legislation in the upcoming session, which will convene on Jan. 21, has largely been overshadowed by a fiercely debated transportation bill that could address accelerating gas-tax revenue shortfalls, provide funding for major highway projects such as the Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project and more.

City officials and housing advocates hope housing legislation doesn鈥檛 get lost in the shuffle.

鈥淚 hope we can get the housing bill or bills passed early in the session,鈥� McCurdy said.