A financing tool formerly available only to public agencies is now available to private property owners seeking building improvements in Multnomah County.

Dubbed , the program makes available long-term financing to owners of commercial, industrial and multifamily properties wishing to lower energy consumption, generate or store renewable energy, lower water consumption, create or upgrade capacity to charge electric vehicles or improve seismic resiliency. It even covers new construction projects.

PropertyFit‘s structure addresses many investment barriers by offering property owners up-front financing for up to 100 percent of the cost of eligible improvements or construction. The loan is secured by a benefit assessment lien that is repaid in annual assessment payments. The maximum term is set at the average weighted useful life of the improvements. The cost savings that result may cover all or a portion of the benefit assessment payment.

The program is a collaborative effort between Prosper Portland, Multnomah County and the Energy Trust of Oregon and supports those organizations’ goals of equity, environmental sustainability, economic development and financial sustainability, Prosper Portland project manager Amy Nagy said.

“This came out of state legislation and then went to Multnomah County, and they partnered with us due to our ability to do lending,” said Nagy, who is in charge of administering PropertyFit for Prosper Portland.

PropertyFit uses the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing structure, which was authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 2015 but heretofore never used.

The first project to use PropertyFit financing is in Northeast Portland. A historic building at 110 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. will become a 162-bed hostel with a ground-floor gastropub. A seismic retrofit and energy-efficiency upgrades are in the works.

The unique elements of PropertyFit include: no out-of-pocket costs; long-term, fully amortized financing; no personal guarantees; security via a benefit assessment that automatically transfers upon sale; loan repayment in annual assessments that cannot accelerate; and financing that may substitute for higher cost mezzanine debt in new construction projects.

“The other great thing about this is the term of the financing,” Nagy said. “… A lot of times in a construction loan you might have a five- to seven-year loan. But this can go out as long as 20 years. That’s also what makes it possible to lower the assessment on an annual basis; it doesn’t accelerate.”

The program’s goal, Prosper Portland Communications Manager Shawn Uhlman said, is to allow owners to carry out improvements that in the long term save them more money than their actual cost.

“It goes back to the energy assessment or audit,” he said. “That’s where you look for savings on any project.”

“We’re wanting to get as close to zero or have the savings be larger than what you borrowed,” Nagy said. “So if you have more savings than assessment you can actually make money on the deal.”

The program has been in the development phase for several years to ensure it is ready for use, Uhlman said.

“This is a tool that is being used nationally,” he said. “Several other states and counties have done this and we’ve really benefited from learning from other programs. It’s great for owners who don’t have immediate access to a lot of capital to make improvements to their building.”

More information about the program is available at .

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A trio of agencies is coming together to offer building owners financing for energy-efficiency and seismic upgrades.

The program offers 100 percent financing to building owners and developers. Previously the program was available only in urban renewal areas; now the agencies have expanded eligibility to properties throughout Multnomah County.

Prosper Portland (formerly the Portland Development Commission), Multnomah County and the Energy Trust of Oregon are sponsoring the program.

PropertyFit differs from similar programs in other metro areas by also offering money for seismic retrofits. The costs of such projects have challenged owners of small buildings.

The program comes as Portland’s City Council is due to consider in October a policy proposal for unreinforced masonry buildings. The draft policy would require property owners to retrofit vulnerable buildings, but allow at least 10 years for completion.

“This program comes along at a time that offers a carrot to that requirement,” said Amy Nagy, project manager for Prosper Portland.

Projects can range from replacement of an outdated boiler to an update of lighting. The minimum financing for the private financiers is $200,000, with terms of up to 30 years. The loans are secured by a property lien.

Three capital providers are backing the PropertyFit program: Prosper Portland, CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital Inc. of Sausalito, California, and PACE Equity of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Honestly, the sky’s the limit in terms of outside capital,” Nagy said.

Prosper Portland’s dollars are restricted to projects inside urban growth boundaries, but the other two partners have no such restrictions.

The program could be most beneficial for relatively small groups that have yet to seismically upgrade their buildings, said Susan Steward, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Oregon.

“It seems to me to be smart to go out and do the small buildings, the mom-and-pops, where (upgrading) is not even on their radar,” she said.

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