Portland committee hears North/Northeast housing strategy report; oversight members urge sustained investment to prevent displacement

Leslie Goodlow, equity and business operations manager at the Portland Housing Bureau and project manager for the North/Northeast Housing Strategy, presented the bureau's 10-year update to the Homelessness and Housing Committee, saying the effort has "invested over a $130,000,000" through tax increment financing (TIF), construction excise tax, short-term rental fees, Metro bond funds and other sources and has targeted displacement prevention, homeownership and rental production. Goodlow told the committee that "this is a city where black families can't afford to live."

The presentation said investments have included more than $12 million for home repair and stabilization (almost 1,300 families assisted), down-payment assistance that has increased from $60,000 to $150,000 within the Interstate urban renewal area, and development of 11 buildings that together will deliver about 877 affordable rental homes (739 units subject to the North/Northeast preference policy). The bureau also reported more than $12 million in land acquisition to preserve long-term development capacity, an ongoing rental waitlist with over 7,000 applicants, and a verified homeownership applicant pool of 850 since…