“Urban Renewal” is the term that we use to describe our work in the community.  In accordance with Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 457, we identify areas of “blight,” set a geographic boundary around the blight, and implement a plan to address it through various development activities within a specified time period. Once established by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) and approved by the Portland Planning Commission and the Portland City Council, the designated area becomes an Urban Renewal Area (URA).

The PDC funds development efforts in these URAs using a financial tool called “tax increment financing.” In its most simple form, tax increment financing (TIF) allows us to borrow money against future property taxes on new growth in the URA. We use the borrowed money to promote new development which then leads to higher property values in the URA. 

» For more information, please read "Urban Renewal 101"

The year 2008 marked the 50-year anniversary of the partnership between the Portland Development Commission (PDC) and the community. As with other milestone anniversaries, the coming year brings an opportunity to recognize our accomplishments, reflect on the lessons learned and set the course for the future.

In the coming months, we invite you to join us as we take a critical look at our work in the community.  Many of our urban renewal areas are approaching critical junctures, and plans for those districts need updating.  Through this webpage you will be able to track our review of these areas and learn about opportunities to join us for some important public discussions about the future of our community. 

The work of the PDC is made possible by tax increment financing.  It is a financial tool given to us by you—the taxpayer—through the Oregon Legislature and Portland City Council.  We have accomplished a great deal with this tool, but we have also made some mistakes along the way.  We will use the Future of Urban Renewal (FOUR) Initiative to address areas of concern while building on our record of success. 

Tax-increment financing (TIF) is borrowing against future tax revenues.  That makes you a stockholder in our enterprise and we want you to be a full partner in developing our community investment plans for the future.  Over the next 24 months, we will examine many of our existing urban renewal areas (URA) to ensure that our investments are benefiting Portland’s taxpayers by removing blight and expanding the economic opportunities of all our citizens. 

Through this portal you can follow this process.  You can use this webpage to keep up-to-date on our work, gain a more detailed understanding of TIF, and learn about ways to participate directly in what will be an interesting and lively community dialogue.

Over the course of the next two years, the PDC will update the urban renewal plans for many of its URAs.  We will ask the community to help us set new investment plans that create jobs, assist large and small businesses, expand housing options, and produce neighborhood improvements that benefit local residents and citizens throughout the city of Portland.  

These strategies will reflect today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities in neighborhoods throughout our city.  The public involvement effort for each updating process will include a variety of opportunities for residents and other stakeholders.  The process will encourage participants and decision makers to set priorities and focus on issues of greatest importance to their communities.

Our investments promote a variety of community development goals.  If our investments are successful, they increase local property values while benefiting the entire community. This initiative will solicit the community’s advice on making those community investments, and that advice will be used to update urban renewal area plans throughout the city.

The FOUR Initiative will also make the PDC more accountable to URA residents, as well as citywide taxpayers and local taxing jurisdictions.  Updated goals for our urban renewal plans will incorporate input from URA residents and other stakeholders. 

We are now beginning two new studies: the North/Northeast Economic Development Initiative, which will examine the Interstate Corridor and Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Areas, and the Central City Study which will look at the potential for a new urban renewal area in the downtown

North/Northeast Economic Development Initiative
The North/Northeast Economic Development Initiative, which is currently underway, will include an analysis of past and planned investment plans, possible boundary adjustments and priorities for investments in the Oregon Convention Center and Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Areas. The North/Northeast Study will be conducted in partnership with the community to ensure the investments made by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) enhance livability and economic opportunity with the two urban renewal areas and the city at-large.

Central City Study
As part of the update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan, PDC is analyzing the potential for a new district downtown. Some areas that we will study include Con-Way, Goose Hollow, the retail core and Cultural District, and the broader University area.  The Westside Study Urban Renewal Advisory Group recommended that we study the potential for a new district which would include the areas mentioned above in addition to decreasing the size of the South Park Blocks and Downtown Waterfront URAs.  By identifying areas that still require assistance from URAs with little funds, they can be potentially included in a new district.

We began this initiative with two very different projects.  The Westside Study considers the future of three of Portland’s downtown URAs: Downtown Waterfront (DTWF), South Park Blocks (SPB) and the River District (RD).  The Lents Town Center (LTC) Plan Amendment Study looks at our work in the Lents Town Center URA. 

Westside Study

The Westside Study started in Fall 2007 with a look at our downtown URAs.  Two of the URAs (DTWF and SPB) were set to expire in 2008 but still had important projects to complete. This expiration refers to the last date a URA can issue debt, which was set during the creation of the URA. The River District URA has performed beyond expectations and a boundary change allowed its tax increment revenue to be used in other needy areas.  Public input was used to make critical decisions about the future of these URAs. 

The study was undertaken by the Westside Study Urban Renewal Advisory Group (URAG).  The URAG includes two PDC Commissioners (Wilhoite and Rosenbaum), two City Council members (Sten and Saltzman), County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, Planning Commissioner Don Hanson and citizen budget committee member Jon Kruse.  The group composition reflected the new partnership between the City Council and PDC, and included other local officials in recognition of the broad potential impact of this community discussion.

Over the course of several months the URAG heard from panels on Housing, Jobs & Economy, Infrastructure, Education and Culture to assess the opportunities and challenges facing our downtown. 

The URAG made recommendations (PDF) on three general topics: 1) what areas should be added to River District (a maximum of 61 acres could be added to RD, as explained by Oregon Revised Statutes 457.220 which limits URA expansion to 20% of its original size); 2) should DTWF and SPB be extended beyond 2008 and; 3) how much additional money should be invested in each district.  The Advisory Group’s recommendations were presented to the PDC and referred to the Planning Commission and City Council in early 2008. These amendments were approved by City Council on June 25, 2008.

 

Lents Town Center Plan Amendment Study

The update of the LTC was a more neighborhood-based review.  We wanted to find out what residents and local business owners thought about the district and their thoughts for future development.  PDC launched an aggressive outreach and public involvement strategy to collect local input on our efforts in the district.

The result was a set of recommendations (PDF) from the Lents Urban Renewal Advisory Committee (URAC) to amend the boundaries and increase the maximum indebtedness of the LTC.  The URAC includes district residents, property owners and business owners. (Note the Lents URAC is a different advisory group from the Westside Study Urban Renewal Advisory Group or URAG.) The URAC’s recommendations were forwarded to the PDC Board and submitted to the City Council and Planning Commission as proposed amendments to the LTC Plan. The amendment was approved by City Council on June 25, 2008.