Content area
Full Text
Developers are warming to changes made to a Portland Housing Bureau program intended to encourage inclusion of affordable housing in multifamily projects.
After earlier versions of the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) program foundered, the Housing Bureau loosened several restrictions and sweetened the pot. As a result, developers are taking a second look.
Combined, two projects planned for the Boise neighborhood and one slated for Goose Hollow will bring 55 rent-restricted units online under MULTE. The owners will receive property tax subsidies totaling $1.2 million a year for 10 years, according to the Housing Bureau.
Marathon Acquisition & Development is behind the Boise neighborhood projects. The Goose Hollow project is a partnership between Nevada-based Molasky Group and Trinity 3 Investment of Portland.
Plans for a project by Killian Pacific at Southeast Ninth Avenue and Belmont Street call for 20 affordable units in the 100-unit development through MULTE. A Killian Pacific executive could not be reached for comment.
Building owners, in exchange for 10 years of tax relief, agree to rent restrictions on 20 percent of units.
Significant tax exemptions are the carrot for building owners. The Housing Bureau gave estimates for one typical project in which the owner would save $354,000 in the first year, and more than $3.2 million over 10 years.
The MULTE program aims to alleviate Portland's acute lack of affordable housing. The tax...