*Authorize grant application to US Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement competition in the amount of $11,459,543
The City of Portland ordains:
Section 1. The Council finds:
- The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) is committed to the vision that all Portlanders can find affordable homes and have equitable access to housing. To achieve this vision, PHB is responsible for developing citywide housing policy, increasing affordable housing, promoting stable homeownership, and managing resources.
- The 2022 State of Housing in Portland Report underscores that housing affordability remains a significant challenge for most Portlanders, with rents and home sales prices continuing to rise, outpacing incomes. A thorough analysis of recent population and housing data indicates that Portland is experiencing a challenging period of housing affordability for both homeowners and renters.
- According to the latest available American Community Survey (ACS) estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Portland's population grew by 38,174 individuals (or 6.2 percent) and more than 22,975 households (9 percent) between 2015 and 2020. As of 2020, the estimated population exceeded 650,380. Population growth has been primarily concentrated in the Central City, Interstate Corridor, MLK-Alberta, Woodstock, and Lents-Foster areas, the last of which contains several manufactured home communities (MHCs).
- As Portland continues to grow, it is also becoming wealthier, more educated, and more racially diverse. In 2020, 36.4 percent of households were making more than $100,000 per year, and more than half of Portlanders over the age of 18 held a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, disparities in income and educational attainment persist between white households and People of Color, as well as between residents of MHCs and Portland as a whole.
- These population and economic shifts also impact the city’s housing permits and production. Overall, the city’s housing stock consists of 299,502 units, comprising 156,068 single-family homes and 143,434 multifamily homes. The average annual production from 2018 to 2021 was 3,381 units, with a peak of 5,303 units in 2020 and a low of 949 units in 2021. In 2021, multifamily unit production continued to account for a large proportion of new residential development, with approximately 67 percent of all new housing units falling within the multifamily category. This level of production has not included manufactured housing, despite specific development incentives put in place in 2019 to encourage density and investment in Portland’s 57 MHCs.
- The gap between household income and housing costs continues to burden many households, including residents of manufactured housing communities. The urgency demands an ongoing effort by the City to address housing affordability. In 2022, the City of Portland produced 852 new affordable units, estimated to house 1,760 people. An additional 3,436 units are in the affordable housing development pipeline and will open over the next few years. As construction and land cost continue to escalate, PHB understands that preserving and investing in MHCs are a strategic way to increase access to affordable and heathy housing
- PHB’s application for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) competition proposes to preserve long-term housing affordability for residents of manufactured housing, to redevelop MHCs, and to primarily benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents. PHB will be applying under the PRICE Main category of funding to support three interlocking programs to ensure manufactured housing is a safe, climate-resilient, and permanently affordable housing choice for low- and moderate-income Portlanders. To achieve this vision, PHB’s approach is to weave together home repairs, infrastructure improvement, climate mitigation, and long-term strategic planning with MHC residents and community stakeholders, with the following core areas of work.
- $3,101,032 million to fund infrastructure improvements for manufactured dwelling parks (MDPs) in order to preserve affordability and prevent displacement.
- $6,669,610 million to create a critical repair program for the most vulnerable manufactured homeowners, including the elderly, people with disabilities, families with children. This program will include upgrades to increase climate resilience. Climate models show that the Pacific Northwest will face rising temperatures in the summers and cooler, wetter winters, necessitating improvements to both housing stock and infrastructure to lower cooling and warming cost burdens, prevent heat illnesses and death, and reduce flood risks.
- $1,688,901 million to support a strategic planning process to create a shared future vision for all 57 manufactured home parks in Portland, including a citywide plan to support resident control and ownership of parks; a citywide sustainability plan to support energy and infrastructure improvements to manufactured homes and manufactured home parks; and eviction prevention and housing counseling for residents of MDPs.
- No match is required by this grant. PHB intends to seek Council's approval to allocate $3,500,000 to ensure the continued affordability of Kelly Butte and Strawberry Acres mobile home parks through the recording of new Regulatory Agreements. Additionally, PHB will leverage indirect cost of $2,289,615 for the grant period to support the PRICE goals. Total leverage equal $5,789,615.
NOW, THEREFORE, The Council directs:
- The Mayor is hereby authorized to make application to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for a grant in the amount of $11,459,543
- The Mayor is authorized to provide such information and assurances as are required for the grant period.
- The Office of Management & Finance Grants Management Division is authorized to perform all administrative matters in relation to the grant application, grant agreement or amendments, requests for reimbursement from the grantor, and to submit required online grant documents on the Mayor’s behalf.
Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists because the PRICE grant application must be submitted no later than June 5, 2024; therefore this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.
Official Record (Efiles)
An ordinance when passed by the Council shall be signed by the Auditor. It shall be carefully filed and preserved in the custody of the Auditor (City Charter Chapter 2 Article 1 Section 2-122)
Passed by Council
Auditor of the City of Portland
Simone Rede
Impact Statement
Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information
The City of Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) is committed to ensuring that all Portlanders have access to affordable homes and equitable housing opportunities. To achieve this vision, PHB is responsible for developing citywide housing policies, increasing the availability of affordable housing, promoting stable homeownership, and managing housing resources.
Given the significant shortage of affordable and physically accessible housing in Portland, manufactured housing presents an opportunity to expand rental, homeownership, and community control for various populations, including people of color, low- to moderate-income individuals, and other marginalized communities.
Before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began regulating the construction of these homes in 1975 there were no consistent building standards for manufactured homes, so older units are more likely to be in need of repair or replacement. Sixty percent of manufactured homes in Portland were constructed before 1969.
In advancing sustainable communities, PHB will be using PRICE Main for rehabilitation and revitalization of manufactured homes to make them climate and hazard resistant. This activity would support HUD goal of supporting accessibility modifications, repairs, and replacement of deteriorating manufactured housing units, especially to increase accessibility and access for persons with disabilities, facilitate aging in place for older adults and increase access to affordable housing for low-income households.
PHB budget also includes relocation assistance. This is to ensures housing stability for displaced residents and how their long-term housing stability will be insured. Since this is a rehab/repair activity, the units are occupied by existing renters and homeowners; reservation of households under HUD affordable HCV or IHBG is not applicable.
A city-wide Portland consolidated plan noted that “the affordable housing supply includes privately owned market-rate units, particularly in older buildings and manufactured home parks,” and that the city has 57 manufactured home communities with 3,629 spaces. Portland Housing Bureau noted they will continue outreach efforts to inform manufactured home residents about its homebuyer and foreclosure education and counseling activities.
PHB recognizes manufactured homes as “an increasingly popular housing choice which should be integrated into the community without conditions in certain zoning districts.” The plan also states that manufactured housing must be permitted outright, as it is defined by the Oregon Statutes as a “needed housing type,” and sets out locational and structural criteria for mobile homes.
In support of our communities, PHB is looking at addressing the needs of development improvement of infrastructure of our manufactured home community. PHB will use a portion of the grant to fund a 4-year strategic planning process with residents, owners, community development corporations and key stakeholders to support a collective vision for sustainability and long-term stability for all 57 MHCs in Portland.
Financial and Budgetary Impacts
PHB’s application for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) competition proposes to preserve long-term housing affordability for residents of manufactured housing, to redevelop MHCs, and to primarily benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents. PHB will be applying under the PRICE Main category of funding to support three interlocking programs to ensure manufactured housing is a safe, climate-resilient, and permanently affordable housing choice for low- and moderate-income Portlanders. To achieve this vision, PHB’s approach is to weave together home repairs, infrastructure improvement, climate mitigation, and long-term strategic planning with MHC residents and community stakeholders, with the following core areas of work.
$3,101,032 million to fund infrastructure improvements for manufactured dwelling parks (MDPs) to preserve affordability and prevent displacement.
$6,669,610, million to create a critical repair program for the most vulnerable manufactured homeowners or renters, including the elderly, people with disabilities, families with children. This program will include upgrades to increase climate resilience. Climate models show that the Pacific Northwest will face rising temperatures in the summers and cooler, wetter winters, necessitating improvements to both housing stock and infrastructure to lower cooling and warming cost burdens, prevent heat illnesses and death, and reduce flood risks.
$1,688,901 million to support a strategic planning process to create a shared future vision for all 57 manufactured home parks in Portland, including a citywide plan to support resident control and ownership of parks; a citywide sustainability plan to support energy and infrastructure improvements to manufactured homes and manufactured home parks; and eviction prevention and housing counseling for residents of MDPs.
Community Impacts and Community Involvement
If awarded, PHB will use a portion of the grant to fund a 4-year strategic planning process with residents, owners, community development corporations and key stakeholders to support a collective vision for sustainability and long-term stability for all 57 MHCs in Portland.
Through a robust community engagement process, PHB will seek to understand key characteristics and needs of Portland’s MHCs, including but not limited to: demographics of people living in manufactured housing, percentage of homeowners versus renters and specific challenges facing residents based on their tenure type, economic conditions, housing stock quality and repair needs, climate hazards, barriers to reinvestment, and determining interest in and technical assistance needs for resident ownership.
Financial and Budget Analysis
The $11,459,543 amount is broken down as follows:
- $3,101,032 to fund infrastructure improvements for manufactured dwelling parks (MDPs) to preserve affordability and prevent displacement.
- $6,669,610 to create a critical repair program for the most vulnerable manufactured homeowners or renters, including the elderly, people with disabilities, families with children. This program will include upgrades to increase climate resilience.
- $1,688,901 to support a strategic planning process to create a shared future vision for all 57 manufactured home parks in Portland, including a citywide plan to support resident control and ownership of parks; a citywide sustainability plan to support energy and infrastructure improvements to manufactured homes and manufactured home parks; and eviction prevention and housing counseling for residents of MDPs.