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Engineer urges council to ease barriers to adaptive reuse to spur downtown housing
Summary
A structural engineer and downtown building owner told the council that Portland can expand housing supply and preserve historic buildings by easing zoning and design-review requirements for office-to-residential conversions, citing Los Angeles’ 1999 adaptive reuse ordinance as an example.
Carl Close, a principal at Kurt Fisher Structural Engineering and manager of the Downtown Portland office, spoke during public comment on Feb. 5 and recommended that the City Council consider regulatory changes to encourage office-to-residential adaptive reuse in downtown Portland.
Close said conversions can reduce carbon impacts compared with new construction, preserve historic buildings, and improve seismic safety because renovated structures are retrofitted. He told councilors that office-to-residential projects face financial, time and risk barriers in Portland’s market. As an example of one approach, Close pointed to Los Angeles’ 1999 adaptive reuse ordinance, which made conversions "by right" in designated areas and exempted projects from some zoning and design-review steps, accelerating approvals and reducing costs. He offered to provide further information to staff and council on possible local policy changes.
Council response: No formal action was taken at the meeting; the comment was received as part of the public communications period.
Why it matters: Adaptive reuse is one tool cities use to produce housing, reuse existing built fabric, and reduce embodied carbon. The proposal focuses on zoning and procedural relief to lower time and cost barriers for private owners and developers.
