What's Happening in Portland, OR…

The office of Mayor Ted Wheeler announced last week that nine affordable housing projects had been approved throughout the city, with funding from a voter-approved bond measure passed in 2016.

The approved projects will be a mixture of renovations of existing structures and totally new construction. Included will be assistance housing for homeless individuals and those with disabilities. Additionally, units will include ones for those whose income, when compared to the Area Median Income, is at or below the 30% mark.

Combined, the nine projects will bring the affordable units above the 1,300 goal laid out in Portland’s Housing Bond to 1,424 units. The projects will be located around the city from the Alphabet District to the deep southeast and at several points in between.

One approved property is the 62,000-square-foot historic Mann mansion, which will reportedly supply eight three-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, and 45 one-bedroom apartments. In the Mann mansion alone, the estimated occupancy is 213 people.

Printing services are typically contacted well in advance of a housing development’s opening to arrange marketing of the units with an eye toward having the units rented before the project is finished.

The city’s inaugural housing bill was passed by voters in 2016 and earmarked $258m to generate additional affordable housing options throughout the city. More than 2,900 Portland residents will be housed thanks to the newly approved nine projects, along with the two that already have opened.