Housing is usually a gloomy subject in Portland. Here’s some good news.
Using a $258.4 million bond passed by voters in 2016, the Portland Housing Bureau says it’s on track to complete 1,859 units in 15 projects, beating its goal of 1,300, according to a report for 2023 presented to the City Council this week by Commissioner Carmen Rubio.
As of December, 1,284 units were finished, 426 were under construction, and 149 were in development. Eleven of the 15 buildings opened last year, and two more will open in 2024.
“It has been seven years since we asked voters to invest $258 million of their property taxes into the City’s first housing bond,” Rubio said in a press release. “Our efforts are exceeding all goals in building new, permanently affordable homes for Portlanders.”
Rubio ran the Housing Bureau until July 1, when Mayor Ted Wheeler bought all the bureaus under his control in preparation for the city’s switch to a new form of government. Starting in January, a city manager will supervise the bureaus and report to the mayor.
When completed, almost 800 of the new units will go to people earning 30% of area median income or less, compared with a goal of 600, the housing report said.
A total 399 will have supportive services for people who have suffered chronic homelessness, compared with a goal of 300. (Chronic homelessness is defined as being unhoused for at least a year, or more than once while suffering mental illness or disability.)
Family-sized units will total 836, beating the Housing Bureau’s goal of 650.
All 15 of the new buildings are guaranteed to be affordable for 99 years. The average cost per unit is $385,244, with $140,363 coming from the bond proceeds, which are used to leverage money from other sources.
Among the new projects is the Hazel Ying Lee Apartments, which opened last month in Southeast Portland. It is the largest of the new projects, with 206 units intended for families, people of color, immigrants and refugees.