Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson have announced a city initiative to usher in the development of 5,000 new housing units as an early action of their Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup that was launched earlier this year.

A proposed Portland ordinance will go before the Revenue Committee in early June and then the City Council, according to city spokesman Cody Bowman. If passed by the City Council, the ordinance would waive System Development Charges (SDCs) in Portland until either 5,000 housing units are built or three years pass.

The city of Portland has applications for projects totaling over 6,000 housing units in the queue; however, many projects don’t move forward because their costs are slightly too high for developers to attain financing, according to a press release.

The Oregon System Development Charges Study, the press release states, found that the average total SDC charges for projects in Oregon is roughly $15,000, and can be as high as $50,000. These charges can be the equivalent of 3 percent to 6 percent of the total development cost.

On March 6, Kotek and Wilson formed the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup, which was convened to recommend potential actions to facilitate more multifamily projects in Portland. The proposed ordinance originated from one of the draft recommendations.

The initiative is intended to be an expedient action that lowers developers’ costs during the crisis.

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Founded in 1907, Stoel Rives remains Oregon’s largest law firm with a real estate practice dating back 140 years.

As Oregon confronts its housing crisis, the firm has emerged as a pivotal legal force behind major affordable housing developments across the state. It recently represented Related Northwest in a transformative 13.7-acre redevelopment project in Milwaukie. The multi-phase initiative will convert low-density, single-family homes into a 500-unit affordable housing neighborhood with parks and common areas. Stoel Rives also continues its two-decade partnership with Home Forward, Oregon’s largest affordable housing provider. For rural communities, Stoel represented Chisman Development in financing five affordable housing projects last year, including the 100-unit Cypress Hill Apartments in The Dalles, Cascade Locks and Reedsport.

The firm’s work on the Portland Art Museum renovation project prompted Gareth Nevitt, chief financial officer with PAM, to nominate the firm for All-Star recognition. Stoel represented PAM on the construction and development of the project, which adds nearly 100,000 square feet of exhibit and public space. It is one of the largest capital investments in the arts in Oregon’s history. Stoel attorneys assisted PAM on drafting and negotiating the construction contracts for the new building and spaces, and they continue to assist with change order negotiations and ongoing construction-related issues.

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