July 13, 2006

PDC July 12 Board Action

Commissioners Approve New Small Residential Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program; Hear Update on Operation H.O.M.E.; Hear Report on Eastside Streetcar

The Portland Development Commission (PDC) met today at the first of their two monthly public meetings.  Attending were Chairman Mark Rosenbaum, Secretary Sal Kadri and Acting Secretary Bertha Ferran.  (Commissioners Doug Blomgren and Eric Parsons’ terms ended on July 10 and new Commissioners are not yet on the Board.)

In direct response to community stakeholders, the Board approved a new small residential rental rehabilitation loan program that will use urban renewal funds for rehabilitating run-down, unsafe neighborhood rental housing.  The small residential rental rehabilitation loan program expands the number of home repair programs PDC can offer and helps achieve housing goals in the urban renewal areas and also city-wide. 

The program will offer assumable, deferred payment loans to existing rental housing property owners of one-to-four units in exchange for repairing units so they are affordable to households earning at or below 50 percent of area median family income (MFI).   MFI for a family of four at 50 percent (as set by the federal government) is $33,950. 

Initially, the program will be available in the Lents Town Center URA with future availability in the Interstate Corridor, Central Eastside and Gateway URAs as funding permits.  The program is in direct response to community stakeholders in Lents who recommended that PDC look at rehabilitating the existing rental housing stock before building new rental units.   The Board passed the resolution with a unanimous vote.

The Board also received an update on Operation H.O.M.E. (homeownership and minority equity).  Operation H.O.M.E. is a comprehensive city-wide homeownership initiative to close Portland’s minority homeownership gap and to expand first-time homebuyer opportunities.  Operation H.O.M.E. is a joint project of PDC and the Bureau of Housing and Community Development (BHCD). 

According to the 2000 Census, Portland’s White homeownership rate of 59 percent exceeded that of African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics by over 20 percent.   Operation H.O.M.E. is in response to these findings and seeks to build community and political support to develop strategies to remove personal, financial and institutional obstacles to homeownership. 

A Steering Committee and several work groups are being formed to guide the overall work of Operation H.O.M.E.  Mayor Potter and Commissioner Erik Sten will co-chair the Steering Committee which consists of 20-25 minority community, business, real estate and finance industry leaders.  The work groups will be asked to evaluate obstacles, identify options and funding.

PDC has retained Community Solutions Consulting to facilitate and manage the day-to-day activities of Operation H.O.M.E., with staff support from PDC and BHCD.  To date, the team has completed key informational interviews, is compiling a report based on the interviews, and has completed Town Hall meetings with potential minority homeowners.  The team has also compiled a list of possible Steering Committee members and has given the list to Mayor Potter.  The Mayor intends to announce the Steering Committee on July 14. 

Commissioners also heard a report from City Commissioner Sam Adams and Vicky Diede, Portland Streetcar Manager for the Portland Office of Transportation, on the status of the Eastside Streetcar project, its pending federal review, and a possible funding strategy.  Portland Streetcar Inc. (PSI) has identified funding from three urban renewal areas:  Oregon Convention Center, River District and Central Eastside for a total of between $20-$35 million.  Funding for the Eastside Streetcar has only been included in the Oregon Convention Center URA budget.  The feasibility and potential impact of utilizing such tax increment financing has not been fully evaluated.  

PDC was created by Portland voters in 1958 to serve as the city’s urban renewal agency as laid out in Chapter 15 of the City’s Charter. PDC provides comprehensive housing, development and economic development programs within the Portland region.   PDC’s board meets twice a month at PDC’s office in Old Town/Chinatown.  Meetings are open to the public and location, times and agendas can be found at www.pdc.us/about_pdc/meetings.asp.  The next meeting of the PDC Commission will be July 26 from 8:00-10:00 a.m. at PDC’s office. 

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