Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson announced a series of actions they will take to increase market-rate apartment construction in Portland on Thursday, May 29.

Such incentives are considered critical because permit application for new multifamily housing projects in Portland has slowed even as the city is facing related affordable housing and homeless crises. They include Kotek helping Portland develop an economic recovery strategy and sending state employees to help the city process construction permits, and Wilson supporting $15 million worth of Portland Clean Energy Fund dollars for office-to-housing conversions.

“I believe in a vision for Oregon and for Portland where everyone can afford a home, where people can live in the places they want and still make ends meet at the end of the month,” K0tek said. “Rolling up our sleeves together like this is how we are going to make that happen. Thank you to Mayor Wilson for convening this work group with me and to the developers who shared their experiences to guide these actions.”

Kotek is a longtime Portland resident.

The announcement followed a meeting of the Multifamily Housing Development Workgroup convened by Kotek and Wilson this spring. They were joined by Portland City Councilor Dan Ryan, Smart Growth Board President Sarah Zahn, Tom Kilbane, managing director at Urban Renaissance Group, and Andrew Colas, CEO at Colas Construction Inc.

“Portland is open for business — for housing, for opportunity, and for a thriving future. By expanding Self-Certification and investing in office-to-housing conversions, we are cutting red tape and accelerating the creation of much-needed homes for Portlanders,” Wilson said.

The announced actions include:

• More and fast housing construction permits: Kotek directed the Building Codes Division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services to provide Portland with staff support to help them improve local permitting processes, including engagement with the process improvement study commissioned by the Housing Accountability and Production Office. Wilson announced a commitment to reboot the Self-Certification Program and launch a Third-Party Plan Review as part of its permit improvement work. Together, these two programs are expected to reduce permitting times and spur housing production.
• Office-to-housing conversion projects: Kotek directed Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, to designate office-to-housing conversion projects in Portland as essential to the economic well-being of Oregon, allowing the Building Codes Division to partner with the city and developers to put together a rapid approval assessment team to oversee the effort and to share the review and inspection responsibilities. Wilson announced a $15 million Notice of Funding Opportunity to be released later this year for a middle-income office-to-residential housing development in the city’s Central City. These office-to-residential conversion projects are expected to help revitalize Portland’s urban core and promote the reuse of existing buildings.
• Economic development: Kotek committed to working with local and regional partners to create a six-month economic development strategy for Portland. It is expected to build on existing economic development plans like Prosper Portland’s Advance Portland, identify tactics to keep businesses in Portland, and recruit more businesses to move to Portland.
• Allowing more affordable housing: Kotek committed to exploring how a policy called the Builder’s Remedy, modeled after legislation in California, could increase housing production in Oregon. It limits denials of projects with affordable housing when local jurisdictions are out of compliance with state production laws.

Kotek and Wilson also reaffirmed their commitment to kick start the building of 5,000 multifamily housing units over the next three years by waiving System Development Charges during that time, as they announced on May 1. They also jointly committed to continue reviewing the work group’s recommendations, and to meet with investors in partnership with Portland and multifamily housing developers.