Latest news with #PortlandHousingBureau
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland City Council to study social housing amid ‘dire' affordable housing need
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Amid the homelessness and housing affordability crises, Portland City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday which could help bring an additional housing model to the city. The resolution, introduced by Councilors Mitch Green (District 4) and Candace Avalos (District 1), directs the City Administrator to study social housing and submit a report on the housing model with recommendations to City Council by May 31, 2026. Social housing is owned and managed by the public or non-profits with a focus on affordability and community benefit — as opposed to traditional public housing in the United States, which is reserved for low-income tenants in spaces managed by federally granted housing agencies. Oregon is doling out $11M in unclaimed funds. Here's how to find out if you're owed money 'To put it simply, it is housing that is non-market, and is permanently affordable,' Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich previously testified during a Homelessness and Housing Committee hearing in late March — noting the model exists in cities from Seattle, Washington and Montgomery County, Maryland to Vienna, Austria. 'Often, it is described or developed as mixed-income communities, where people of all incomes live together,' Hisserich said. Under the resolution, Hisserich would lead the study — bringing her near-two-year experience studying Vienna's social housing resolution points to an October 2022 resolution passed by Portland City Council that states the need for more than 20,000 affordable housing units in the city after accounting for the 4,200 units that were planned for the years following the resolution's adoption. Citing American Community Survey data, the resolution also notes more than 50% of Portland households were cost burdened in 2023, with 25% of Portland households spending 50% or more of their income on rent. 'This resolution finally puts Portland on a path to address the root causes of housing unaffordability and homelessness,' Councilor Green said. 'Portland is in a housing crisis that demands bold solutions and systems change. We have been responding as a reaction to the scarcity of affordable housing in this city for a long time. The intention of this resolution is to empower the Portland Housing Bureau to unlock its expertise and have the explicit direction to go out and study new ways of doing housing production, in particular social housing.' Councilor Avalos added, 'As the Chair of the Homelessness and Housing Committee I'm more aware than most of the dire situation that our city is in when it comes to providing housing to meet everyone's needs. We have spent the majority of our time since the housing crisis was declared over 10 years ago responding haphazardly without a unified vision for how we solve homelessness. I'm excited to see the results of this study because I believe that social housing can be an important piece of the housing solutions that we are seeking.' The resolution was co-sponsored by Councilors Sameer Kanal (District 2) and Tiffany Koyama Lane (District 3). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Portland City Council to consider ‘permanently affordable' social housing resolution
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland City Council is set to consider a resolution exploring how the city could use social housing to address the homelessness and housing affordability crises. The resolution — introduced Tuesday by Portland City Councilors Mitch Green (District 4) and Candace Avalos (District 1) — would direct the city to study social housing models in places such as Seattle, Washington, Montgomery County, Maryland and Vienna, Austria and submit a report on the findings in May 2026. 'The way that we have been housing our humans is just not working. We have to try something new,' Avalos said. 'This is an opportunity to actually bring to the people an affordable model for housing.' Trump executive order will make Oregon elections 'less safe,' Secretary of State says Under the social housing model, housing is owned and managed by the public or nonprofits with a focus on affordability — opposed to traditional public housing in the United States, which is reserved for low-income tenants in spaces managed by federally granted housing agencies. 'To put it simply, it is housing that is non-market, and is permanently affordable,' Portland Housing Bureau Director Helmi Hisserich testified during Tuesday's Homelessness and Housing Committee hearing. Under the resolution, Hisserich would lead the study — bringing her near-two-year experience studying Vienna's social housing model. In-N-Out Burger's Gresham drive-thru proposal progresses with pre-application summary The resolution comes amid Portland's ongoing housing emergency, which the city declared in 2015. Another 20,000 housing units are needed in Portland, where more than half of renters are rent burdened — meaning more than 30% of their income goes toward housing costs, Hisserich said. 'The rapid escalation in housing costs in Portland is driven by a combination of many different factors, but the lack of sufficient affordable housing is a major problem that we need to address and the reason we are exploring alternatives to the current system,' Hisserich said. 'To put it simply, it's non-market and permanently affordable. Social housing is owned by the community or the public. It can be owned by mission-driven nonprofit agencies, it can be owned by a public agency, and it can be collectively owned by a land trust or by a housing cooperative,' Hisserich explained. 'Often, it is described or developed as mixed-income communities, where people of all incomes live together.' Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now According to Hisserich, Vienna's social housing model has been successful for the city and could be replicated in Portland. 'People often ask why I focus on Vienna, and it's a pretty simple reason. In 1918, Vienna had a significant unhoused population of about 30,000 people. The reasons relate to World War I and the extreme poverty that was occurring at that time. But it was considered at the turn of the century to be the worst place to live in Europe, with rampant disease, eviction and poverty, with a large number of people unhoused,' Hisserich said. 'Today, Vienna, Austria is ranked the number one most livable city in the world consistently for the last 15 years,' the Housing Bureau director explained. 'And it has a remarkably sustainable housing system. It is now considered the most affordable major city in Europe.' DOE says Oregon universities can't use federally-funded waivers for undocumented immigrants According to Hisserich, Portland and Vienna are similar in size. However, Vienna's population is three times greater than Portland's population — 650,000 people in Portland compared to Vienna's two million. 'Vienna shares Portland's strong orientation towards maintaining parks and open space, so they live in a lot higher density neighborhoods than we do,' Hisserich said. 'So, how can a dense city, such as Vienna, rank so high in livability is one of the questions I've asked myself many times. Vienna is simply very pro-housing. They understand how much housing is needed, they forecast very effectively how much housing is needed and they take very strong goals in delivering that housing.' According to Hisserich, Vienna provides over 60% of the city's housing through municipally built and nonprofit housing. The European city also has more housing per capita at around one housing unit for every two people, whereas Portland has about one unit for every three people. Bend-founded brewery will close Portland pub after less than two years Pointing to Vienna's 'pro-housing' approach, Hisserich noted Vienna's unhoused population is around 2,200, but is 'functionally zero because they are able to rapidly shelter and provide housing to their unhoused population.' Citing a 2023 Multnomah County Point in Time Count, Portland's unhoused population stood at 6,300 people, Hisserich said. 'The system in Vienna that is different, is that there's – and actually in the Montgomery County, Maryland model – these are all predicated on more of the mixed income model that are open to a large majority of people rather than saying, 'We're only going to have the public intervene in the very deepest low-income housing.' They have a model that says, 'No, we need to provide stable-priced housing for a large number of people.' What they'll do is put a mixed income housing in place and then take it out of the market,' Hisserich said. As the resolution heads to the full City Council for consideration, Councilors Green and Avalos emphasized the need to incorporate a different approach to housing to quell the homelessness and housing crises. Killer whale pod makes rare appearance in Depoe Bay during Whale Watch Week 'I also want to acknowledge that Portlanders are weary of the study, plan, study, plan cycle that generates reports that may sit on a shelf and never be used and that too many Portlanders are suffering from a housing crisis that burdens their household budgets, or worse, leaves them out in the cold,' Green testified during the resolution's hearing. 'But make no mistake, it is my intention that this City Council will be remembered as the body that looked at the dire state of housing affordability and said, 'Enough. No more.'' 'The scale of the problem is too great for us to rely on passive, market-based solutions,' Green continued. 'It's time for Portland to go big and tackle our housing shortage head on. Social housing offers a real, sustainable solution by prioritizing people over profits.' 'My goal is to pass a social housing policy that will be the envy of the West Coast,' Green said. 'And to do that, it's important to get the institutional design right. I'm excited to work directly with the Portland Housing Bureau to craft the program that works best for Portland.' Green and Avalos have requested Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney to add the resolution to the Council Meeting agenda for Wednesday, April 2. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland breaks ground on new affordable housing for seniors
PORTLAND, Ore. () — The City of Portland and Metro will break ground on a new affordable housing building located at 3704 Interstate Ave. in North Portland on March 12. The M Carter Commons building is named in honor of former Oregon senator Margaret Carter, who will be in attendance for the groundbreaking ceremony. Carter was the first Black woman elected to the Oregon legislature and the first Black woman elected to any state legislature west of the Mississippi. Oregon gun control law is constitutional, according to state appeals court 'Sen. Margaret Carter inspires us to honor and support the seniors in our community,' Metro Councilor Mary Nolan said. 'In her name, we break ground today on a project that will house older adults in a safe, comfortable and convenient community. Around the country, homelessness among older adults is rising faster than any other population. This region needs housing like the M Carter Commons as demand for affordable senior living grows.' When complete, the M Carter Commons will provide 62 new studio and one-bedroom apartments in Portland's Overlook neighborhood. The apartments will be given to older adults earning less than 60% of the area median income. Twenty-one units are also planned for residents earning less than 30% of the area's median income. Tenants will be chosen based on the city's North/Northeast Preference Policy. 'This policy aims to address the harmful impacts of urban renewal, eminent domain and historical inequitable housing practices in the North and Northeast Portland community,' a joint statement by the Portland Housing Bureau and Metro states. Bill limiting single-use plastics for Oregon restaurants, hotels passes Senate The project was funded by both public and private funds, including $8.1 million from the voter-approved Metro affordable housing bond and a $3,000 grant from Metro's Transit Oriented Development Program. Kaiser Permanente donated the land for the building, which is valued at $1.3 million. The property will be located next to Kaiser's North Interstate medical campus and TriMet's Overlook Park MAX Station. Northwest Housing Alternatives and the Urban League of Portland are co-owners and developers of the property. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and will conclude at 4:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
