PLANNING COMMISSION’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Application of Prendergast Associates for a Ten Year Property Tax Exemption for New Multiple Unit Housing (Chapter 3.104)
Known as Pearl Block Apartments
I. FACTS
A. GENERAL INFORMATION
Effective Dates: Preapplication Date: June 18, 2002
Full Application Date: July 23, 2002
P.C. Hearing Date: October 22, 2002
Deedholder: Pearl LLC
805 SW Broadway #2070
Portland, OR 97205-3360
Applicant(s): Patrick Prendergast
Prendergast Associates
805 SW Broadway, #2070
Portland, OR 97205-3360
Architect: Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects
Charles Matschek
6720 SW Macadam Avenue, #100
Portland, OR 97219
Proposal: Application for a limited property tax exemption for a newly constructed, ten-story, mixed-use development with market rate apartments (163 units), ground floor retail, at grade parking (40 spaces) and one level below grade parking (128 spaces). The project will also include a contiguous pedestrian walkway linking NW 9th and 10th Avenues developed with trees, benches and paving.
Location: Block bounded by NW 9th and 10th Avenues, Kearney pedestrian way and Lovejoy Street
Legal Description: Pearl Block No. 4; Lots 55, 56 and F; NEW PLAT 1997 State Tax ID#s 1N1E34BC 300, 400 and 500
Quarter Section: 2929
Zone: EX, Central Employment
d, Design Review Overlay
Central City Plan District
Description of The applicants request a limited property tax exemption
Proposal: for a newly constructed apartment project containing 163 units, with at and below grade parking, and ground floor retail. The proposed building will be “L”-shaped with a housing entrance at the outside apex at the corner of NW 10th and NW Lovejoy. The project includes space for recreation facilities such as a health or fitness club. All facilities can be adapted to be handicapped accessible. A landscaped public pedestrian walkway between NW 9th and 10th Avenues will also be developed as part of the project.
B. SITE INFORMATION
Description: The site is almost a city block in size and the northerly 10 feet of the site has been platted with a public pedestrian easement in order to allow widening of NW Lovejoy Street. Most of the site is about six feet below street level. The grade at the northwest corner of NW Lovejoy and 9th Avenue gradually ascends to street level. Some below grade portions of the site have wooden retaining walls. To the south, across a walkway between NW 9th and 10th (located at Kearney Street if it went through), is the Pearl Court Apartments and to the southwest is Jamison Square Park. A new building is under construction to the west, and to the north across Lovejoy lies the new Lovejoy Station Apartments, a five story building with ground floor retail space. The Zimmerman Community Center has a space on the south side of this building, which faces Lovejoy Street. To the east is parking serving the main US Post Office.
History: This neighborhood is transitioning from a primarily warehouse-industrial district to one that is residential and mixed-use. This site is within the Hoyt Street Yards Master Plan area, approved through LUR 92-00798 and LUR 93-00279. The former elevated Lovejoy ramp to the Broadway Bridge ran along the north edge of this site and the NW 10th Avenue ramp which joined the Lovejoy ramp covered a small portion of the northwest corner of this block. The development agreement between the city and Hoyt Street Properties (1997) called for the removal of the Lovejoy and10th Avenue ramps, the reconstruction of those streets at grade, and the construction of a new ramp at NW 9th and Lovejoy.
Since the approval of the Hoyt Street Yards Master Plan, land use reviews for this site and surrounding properties include:
LUR 95-00241: Approved the subdivision case, which created the subject lots, set the requirement for the pedestrian easement along NW Lovejoy, and modified the size of the Kearney tract.
LUR 96-00233: Approved the design review for the Pearl Court Apartments and Kearney pedestrian tract. Prendergast Associates constructed this affordable housing project that is one block south of the Pearl Block site.
In the last few years, projects similar in scale but more commercial in nature have been proposed for the site of the proposed Pearl Block Apartments.
LUR 00-00104: NW 9th Avenue and Lovejoy Street. Approval of design review for the proposed Pearl Block, which was a mixed-use full-block development with below grade parking, ground level retail, three floors of offices, and two floors of condominiums. There were to be 34 dwelling units and 309 parking spaces. The Kearney tract, adjacent to the south, would have been developed with benches, lights, and paving between the new building and existing development on the next block.
LUR 01-00099: 900 NW Lovejoy. Approval of design review for the Pearl Block Office Tower (which replaced the proposed smaller Pearl Block project). This project was to be a ten-story, 120-foot office tower, at NW 9th and Lovejoy Street. About 285 parking spaces were to be provided, with one level below grade and two levels above grade on the second and third floors. The ground level was to be developed with retail and lobby spaces, as well as loading areas and parking garage entrances. All floor area above the parking levels was to be developed as office space, a total of about 152,000 square feet in area.
The current design review case is:
LU 02 127082DZM: This is the design review with six requests for modifications for the current project. The Design Commission held a public hearing on this case on September 19, 2002. They asked for some changes and approved the design review with five modifications and some conditions on October 3, 2002.
The most currently applicable policy documents, which are relevant to this history of development review, include the River District amendments to the Central City Plan (Ordinance No. 168702), the River District Housing Implementation Strategy 1994 (Resolution No. 35350) (Ordinance 171449) and the Pearl District Development Plan approved by City Council October 2001. The site is also included in the adopted River District Urban Renewal Area.
This property is also covered by the development agreement between the City of Portland and Hoyt Street Properties (1997), although this property is now owned by Pearl LLC. The proposed density of the project exceeds the density standard for projects south of Lovejoy Street (131 units per acre) that are built after the required public improvements have been made – the streetcar line, removal of the Lovejoy ramp, and construction of Jamison Square.
C. VICINITY DATA
Surrounding Conditions: The site is included in an area called Hoyt Street Yards, which is transitioning from a rail yard to a high density urban neighborhood. Six other full-block sites to the south and west within the Hoyt Street Yards area have been developed, or are under development. In the immediate vicinity of the site, just across the Kearney Street pedestrianway to the south, is the Pearl Court Apartments. Across Lovejoy Street to the north is the Lovejoy Station. The project will be just southwest of the new Lovejoy ramp. The US Post Office parking and loading area is to the east. The new streetcar line runs northerly along NW 10th Avenue with stops at NW Johnson and NW Marshall.
D. AGENCIES, NEIGHBORHOOD AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS NOTIFIED
All appropriate agencies and associations have been notified in accordance with Title 33 regulations governing design review of this project. The property tax exemption program falls under Title 3, Administration, of the City Code. The public notices of the meeting dates of the Portland Development Commission, the Planning Commission, and the City Council which are printed in area newspapers fulfill the notification requirement of this review.
E. EXHIBITS
1. Zoning and Site Maps
2. Exterior Building Elevations
3. Portland Development Commission Staff Report 02-64
4. Financial Information from the Portland Development Commission Loan Committee Report
5. Portland Development Commission Resolution 6
F. LEGISLATIVE INTENT/STATUTORY AUTHORITY
1. Legislative Intent
Consideration for property tax exemption for a ten-year period is authorized by ORS 307.600 through 307.690 and by Title 3, Administration, Chapter 3.104 of the Code of the City of Portland, Oregon.
State law specifies the following intent for the tax exemption provision under ORS 307.600 (1) and (3), Legislative Findings:
"(1) The legislature finds that it is in the public interest to stimulate the construction of transit supportive multiple-unit housing in the core areas of Oregon's urban centers, to improve the balance between the residential and commercial nature of those areas, and thus, to insure full-time use of these areas as places where citizens of the community have an option to live as well as work...
“(3) The legislature further finds that the cities and counties of this state should be enabled to establish and design programs to attract new development of multiple-unit housing in light rail station areas, in transit oriented areas or in city core areas by means of the local property tax exemption authorized under ORS 307.600 to 307.691...”
The Oregon legislature further specified that the ten-year property tax exemption apply only to the building improvements. The applicant would continue to be taxed on the land or any other improvements not a part of the multiple-unit housing or associated public benefit (ORS 307.630).
Planning Commission Comment: This statutory language was amended during the 1995 legislative session by HB 3133 which broadens this program to include “transit oriented” for-sale as well as rental residential and mixed-use development. In October 1996, the City adopted a separate program for transit-oriented development. Although this project can be characterized as transit-supportive given its location on the streetcar line, its location within the Central City plan district requires review under the City’s Property Tax Exemption for New, Multiple-Unit Housing (Chapter 3.104 of the City Code).
2. Statutory Authority/Planning Commission Review
Section 3.104.050 of the City Code requires that the Planning Commission review tax exemption applications and determine whether the applicant's proposed development is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan and shall recommend to the City Council that the application be approved subject to conditions which the Commission deems appropriate to achieve the purposes of Chapter 3.104.
In order for a limited property tax exemption to be approved, the following determinations must be made:
a) that the proposed housing development is eligible for limited property tax exemption according to the requirements of City Code Chapter 3.104;
b) that the proposed development is in conformance with adopted Comprehensive Plan and other adopted plans incorporated by the Comprehensive Plan, such as the Central City Plan; and
c) that conditions specify the scope and nature of public benefit recommended for the proposed project.
II. ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION
Section 3.104.010 (C) of the City Code requires that property must meet one of two locational requirements in order to be eligible for tax exemption:
(1) That it be located within the Central City plan district boundary as shown on Map 510-1 Portland City Code Chapter 33.510; or
(2) That it be within the boundaries of any urban renewal or redevelopment area formed pursuant to ORS 457.
Planning Commission Finding: The proposed Pearl Block Apartments on Block 115 of Couch's Addition is located within the boundaries of the Central City plan district as well as the River District Urban Renewal Area and, therefore, meets the locational criteria for eligibility. The Portland Development Commission has reviewed this project at their October 9, 2002 meeting and recommended approval of the property tax exemption by the Planning Commission and the City Council. This recommendation is based on the finding that the project would be less affordable without the abatement. Rents would have to be 13 percent higher to obtain a 7.35 percent rate of return. (See Exhibit 3 PDC Staff Report 02-64 and Exhibit 5, Portland Development Commission Resolution 6.)
III. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH ADOPTED PLAN POLICIES
A. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter 197 of the Oregon Revised Statutes requires all cities and counties to develop a comprehensive plan for land use and development, in accordance with the requirements of the State Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). Portland’s plan was acknowledged by LCDC on May 1, 1981. An update of the City’s Housing Goal 4 was completed and adopted by Ordinance No. 172954 on December 16, 1998.
The Comprehensive Plan establishes a set of goals and policies to guide future development of the city. Housing is addressed under Goal. 4, which states:
“Enhance Portland’s vitality as a community at the center of the region’s housing market by providing housing of different types, tenures, density, sizes, costs, and locations that accommodate the needs, preferences, and financial capabilities of current and future households.”
The Pearl Block Apartments project supports several of the policies of the Housing Goal including the following.
4.1 Housing Availability
Ensure that an adequate supply of housing is available to meet the needs, preferences, and financial capabilities of Portland’s households now and in the future.
4.3 Sustainable Housing
Encourage housing that supports sustainable development patterns by promoting the efficient use of land, conservation of natural resources, easy access to public transit and other efficient modes of transportation, easy access to services and parks, resource efficient design and construction, and the use of renewable energy resources.
4.6 Housing Quality
Encourage the development of housing that exceeds minimum construction standards.
4.7 Balanced Communities
Strive for livable mixed-income neighborhoods throughout Portland that collectively reflect the diversity of housing types, tenures (rental and ownership) and income levels of the region.
4.8 Regional Housing Opportunities
Ensure opportunities for economic and racial integration throughout the region by advocating for the development of a range of housing options affordable to all income levels throughout the region.
4.10 Housing Diversity
Promote creation of a range of housing types, prices, and rents to 1) create culturally and economically diverse neighborhoods; and 2) allow those whose housing needs change to find housing that meets their needs within their existing community.
4.14 Neighborhood Stability
Stabilize neighborhoods by promoting: 1) a variety of homeownership and rental housing options; 2) security of housing tenure; and 3) opportunities for community interaction.
Planning Commission Finding: This project complies with Comprehensive Plan policies related to housing by providing 163 units of rental housing of varying sizes affordable to middle and high income households. This project is in a centrally located neighborhood within a block of the Portland streetcar line. The streetcar provides access to the central business district, a major employment and cultural center. This project also includes the redevelopment of the Kearney tract with trees, benches and paving, providing an attractive public walkway between NW 9th and 10th Avenues.
B. ZONING CONSIDERATIONS
1. The EXd Zone and Central City Plan District. As of March 24, 1988, the Central City Plan was adopted for the inner city along the west and east sides of the Willamette River. In the Downtown, the Z zone overlay was abolished. Public review of projects in the Central City plan district is now regulated by Central City plan district requirements, which supersede some EX regulations.
The Zoning Code regulations, which apply to the subject site, include the following:
• Zone, Overlay Zone, and Comprehensive Plan Map Designation: EXd, Central Employment with design review overlay (River District design guidelines apply.)
• Permitted Uses: A full range of uses including light industrial, commercial and residential.
• Conditional Uses: Commercial parking is governed by the Central City Transportation Management Plan (CCTMP). Since no independent commercial parking is included in this project, a conditional use is not required for the proposed parking spaces.
• Permitted Floor Area Ratio (FAR): 4:1, with bonuses allowed for residential use, provision of middle income housing units, rooftop gardens and other desired development features.
• Required Residential Development Area: one housing unit for every 2,900 feet of site area is required.
• Permitted Building Height: 75 feet.
Planning Commission Finding: The project complies with the major development and use regulations of the base zone and Central City plan district except for any adjustments that may be considered as part of the design review process. This project is providing housing in a required residential development area in excess of the number of units required by that designation (33.510.230) and the Hoyt Street Yards development agreement of 1997. Nothing in this consideration of the tax exemption request for this project modifies the decision of the Design Commission or overrides any other requirement of the land use and building permit review process. The design review case for this project is LUR 02-127082.
C. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE CENTRAL CITY PLAN POLICIES
The Central City Plan was adopted by the City Council on March 24, 1988. Relevant district and functional policies to be considered follow (as amended on April 12, 1995).
"Policy 3: HOUSING. Maintain the Central City's status as Oregon's principal high density housing area by keeping housing production in pace with new job creation.
“FURTHER:
1. Promote the construction of at least 15,000 new housing units in the Central City by the year 2010.
2. Preserve and encourage rehabilitation of existing housing.
3. Encourage the development of housing to meet diverse needs by encouraging a range of housing types, prices, and rent levels. Avoid isolating higher, middle, moderate, low and very low-income households.
4. Foster housing development as a key component of a viable urban environment. Encourage a mix of rental and owner-occupied housing that accommodates the variety of households and families attracted to a Central City lifestyle. Include affordable housing in this mix.
5. Secure greater regional participation in addressing the housing needs of the homeless, low-income and other special needs populations.
6. Where residential development is required, assure that when development of the housing is deferred to the future, the housing site is designated and zoned residential.
7. House at least 15 percent of PSU students in university housing. Locate university housing within the District or within walking or bicycling distance of the District, or at a location with a direct transit connection to the District.
8. Facilitate housing ownership in order to foster a vested interest and ‘stewardship’ in the Central City by residents."
Planning Commission Finding: The proposal complies with the overall policy statement and particularly with policy further statements 1, 3, and 4. This project is adjacent to the Pearl Court Apartments. The Pearl Court Apartments is an affordable housing project with most units affordable to low income households. The same firm developed both projects. Within these two blocks, housing is available to a wide range of incomes.
"Policy 17: RIVER DISTRICT. Extend downtown development throughout the River District that is highly urban in character and which creates a unique community because of its diversity; its existing and emerging neighborhoods housing a substantial resident population, providing jobs, services and recreation; and most important, its embrace of the Willamette River.
FURTHER, to become the kind of place where people would like to live, work, and play:
A. Pursue implementation of the River District urban design and development plans through public/private projects (proposals for action) as described in each of the four action areas of the River District Development Plan:
(1) Union Station/Old Town, (2) Terminal One, (3) Pearl District, and (4) Tanner Basin/Waterfront.
B. Preserve and enhance the River District’s history, architectural heritage, and international character.
C. Integrate social service facilities in a manner that is visually and functionally compatible with the River District and consistent with the City of Portland and Multnomah County’s coordinated social service plan.
D. Accommodate housing needs for diverse family structures.
E. Provide neighborhood amenities that support River District residents who work and use the services provided by the Central City. Amenities include commercial, educational, medical, recreational, transportation, entertainment, emergency and social services.
F. Accommodate industrial growth in industrial zoned areas.
G. Pursue implementation and completion of the Chinatown Development Plan.
H. Foster the development of artist residential/work space and gallery facilities.
I. Incorporate strategic public investments in infrastructure that will stimulate private sector redevelopment. The River District needs increased transit services, improved streets, and open space.
J. In coordination with the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Tanner Creek Basin Project, daylight Tanner Creek through the center of the District and construct a large focal point basin connecting Tanner Creek with the Willamette River to provide a tangible amenity that distinguishes the River District.
K. Contribute to the efficiency of urban living with development density, diversity of land use, and quality of design that will result in significant savings in the infrastructure costs of transportation, water, sewer, electricity, communications and natural gas."
Planning Commission Finding: The proposal complies with the overall policy statement and particularly with policy further statements A, D, E and K.
D. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE RIVER DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN, THE RIVER DISTRICT HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY, AND THE PEARL DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN
On May 11, 1994, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 35274 endorsing the River District Development Plan and assigning various City agencies responsibility for supporting, reviewing, and coordinating public and private development activity in cooperation with the major land owners in the area.
On December 21, 1994, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 35350 which, among other things, adopted the River District Housing Implementation Strategy. The strategy established long range goals for housing development by allocating a percentage of development to the affordability needs of various income groups. The strategy called for achieving the construction of 5,555 new housing units as well as commercial and residential support amenities to encourage a stable residential population in the district. The City also established an annual monitoring requirement to assess the performance of new residential projects in meeting these goals.
In October 2001, City Council approved the Pearl District Development Plan by Resolution 36032 as a general vision to guide the transition of this portion of the River District from a warehouse/arts district to a high-density neighborhood. This includes providing a wide range of housing types, mixed-use development with ground floor retail uses, as well as opportunities for older established businesses and uses, such as artists' lofts, to stay in the area.
Planning Commission Finding: The proposed project is consistent with the overall development goals of the above noted plans. The project will contribute to the achievement of the housing target of 5,555 new units (of which 3,100-3600 are to be targeted to middle and upper income households) in the River District Housing Implementation Strategy (1994) and the earlier River District Development Plan (1994). The project is consistent with the development envisioned in this area by the Pearl District Development Plan (2001). The proposed project will include 41 two-bedroom units as called for in the plan to provide opportunities for households with children to live in the area. The project also creates some additional open space – the Kearney tract pedestrian way that can be used by area residents.
Although this specific project does not include rental units affordable to low to moderate income households (i.e., households earning less than 80 percent of area median income), the Housing Implementation Strategy does not require that each project include lower income units so long as the overall development within the River District meets the housing implementation strategy goals. The developer considers the Pearl Block project to be the second phase of a two block development, the first of which was the 199-unit, Pearl Court Apartments just to the south. With the completion of this phase, he states the entire project will be 55 percent affordable and 45 percent market rate.
According to the annual report prepared by the Portland Development Commission in summer 2001, these districtwide goals are currently being met, including the goal of housing units affordable to households earning less than 30 percent of the area median income. Future development will continue to take into account these goals which may require more in the way of subsidies in order to achieve deeper affordability.
E. DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH RELEVANT URBAN RENEWAL PLANS
The Portland City Council adopted the River District Urban Renewal Area in October 1998 (Ordinance No. 172808). The following housing goal was adopted as part of the River District Urban Renewal Plan:
A. Housing
To stimulate the development of a substantial stock of housing accessible to households with a range of incomes which reflect the income distribution of the city as a whole.
Objective 1. Achieve a Mix of Units by Household Income Categories
Objective 2. Promote Development of Services and Amenities to Support Housing
Objective 3. Promote Ownership Housing
Objective 4. Implement City of Portland Shelter Reconfiguration Plan
Objective 5. Preserve Access to Affordable Housing for Low Income Residents of the River District.
Planning Commission Finding: The project supports Objective 1 by providing a broader range of rental options to middle and upper income households. It supports Objective 2 by providing ground floor space for retail services and the Kearney walkway, which will add approximately a quarter block of landscaped open space and seating to the district.
IV. ELIGIBILITY, PLAN, AND POLICY CONFORMANCE: CONCLUSIONS
A. The proposed project is eligible for limited property tax exemption in accordance with City Code and statutory requirements referenced in Section II.
B. According to statutory intent and applicable City Code, the proposed project is consistent with and supportive of the purposes for which this authority was created. The legislative intent strongly encourages the development of new multiple-unit rental housing in the state's largest urban core areas and recognizes the need to provide a financial incentive in areas where higher than average land and construction costs exist.
C. The foregoing references in Section III indicate that the proposed housing development is consistent with and supportive of adopted Comprehensive Plan policies and objectives and the Central City Plan; which is incorporated by reference. The proposed development is also consistent with the River District Development Plan; the River District Housing Implementation Strategy; the River District Urban Renewal Plan, the Pearl District Development Plan and the governing development regulations of Title 33, particularly the EXd zone as modified by the Central City Plan District approved by City Council.
D. The property tax exemption has been in existence since 1975 and it has assisted the residential construction activity within the targeted core area of the city. This activity in large part has been made possible by the incentives of the property tax exemption in conjunction with additional direct and indirect subsidies. This project is not receiving any other direct public subsidy and is a key element in the overall development goals of the River District.
E. Currently, the site under consideration is vacant. The site was formerly partially covered by the NW 10th Avenue and Lovejoy ramps. Therefore, public incentives, in the form of limited tax exemption, are justified in order to achieve the adopted plan goals for new residential development in this area of the Central City.
V. DETERMINATION OF PUBLIC BENEFIT
A. Examples of Public Benefit
Section 3.104.040, Public Benefits, specifies that the proposed project "must include a public benefit which may consist of, but is not limited to one or more of the following: (1) rental units at rates which are accessible to a broad income range of the general public, (2) recreation facilities or space, (3) open spaces, (4) public meeting rooms, (5) day care facilities, (6) facilities supportive of the arts, (7) facilities for the handicapped, (8) service or commercial use which is permitted and needed at project, but not available for economic reasons, (9) dedications for public use, (10) other public benefits approved by the Planning Commission or City Council."
B. Proposal's Relationship to Public Benefits
The applicant notes in the project narrative the following public benefits offered by this project.
• Rental Rates. The project offers 163 apartments: studios, one and two bedroom units in a range of sizes. Rates are market driven and set to be accessible to a range of incomes.
• Recreation facilities. Space has been allocated on the first floor for fitness activities and/or a health club.
• Open spaces. The development includes a ground floor plaza and contiguous pedestrian walkway on the south side linking NW 9th and 10th Avenues.
• Facilities supportive of the arts. Several Frank Lloyd Wright reproduction pieces are planned in the public open space.
• Facilities for the handicapped. All public places and parking areas are code compliant to be accessible to [the] handicapped. All apartment units are designed to be handicapped adaptable for access.
• Service or commercial use. The Central City design standards for active uses along 10th Avenue and Lovejoy Street; the project includes 11,000 square feet of new commercial space on these frontages and adjacent to public open space on Kearney Walk to the south.
• Dedication for public use: [The] plaza [is the same as Kearney walkway] is approximately 10,000 square feet for public use.
Planning Commission Finding: In establishing the review authority for tax exemption, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) is given primary authority to recommend to the Planning Commission approval, denial, or approval with conditions [Section 3.104.050 (B)]. PDC's recommendation is determined by a finding that the property tax exemption is necessary in order to make the development economically feasible at rental rates or purchase prices which serve the public purposes of the tax exemption program.
The Planning Commission's role is to “review the application to determine whether the proposed development is consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. A recommendation shall thereafter be forwarded to the City Council that the application be approved subject to those conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of this chapter. The Planning Commission shall specify in its recommendation to the council the scope and nature of public benefits recommended for the proposed project.”
The Planning Commission found at its meeting on October 22, 2002, that the primary public benefit of this project is that it provides new housing in the Central City along the streetcar line. The project will add rental housing to the River District and provide balance and choice for current and future residents. The applicant under the heading of “Rental Rates” lists this public benefit.
The commission felt that the other public benefits listed by the applicant were not significant and should listed instead as project features. This was because they were either required (Kearney Walkway, Dedication for Public Use, and Facilities for the Handicapped) or were features that a middle-income housing project would include to attract tenants (Recreational Facilities). Also, commission members did not have enough evidence to find that the “Service or commercial use” was a public benefit.
VI. PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION BASED ON ELIGIBILITY, PLAN, AND POLICY CONFORMANCE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
This project will add 163 market rate rental units to the River District. This project will occupy a site that is now vacant and will add housing to an area served by the Portland streetcar. The Planning Commission finds that this project complies with City adopted and approved plans for the area and to City Council that the requested property tax exemption be approved subject to the conditions stated below.
VII. PUBLIC BENEFIT RECOMMENDATION
The Planning Commission recommends City Council approval of the limited property tax exemption for the Pearl Block Apartments rental development subject to the following conditions.
1. The public benefits listed in Section V. B of this report and any others be provided in accordance with agreements reached or conditions imposed by the relevant review bodies and agencies, including but not limited to the Planning Bureau, the Portland Development Commission, and the Historic Landmarks Commission or Design Commission, as appropriate.
2. The project complies with all applicable standards of Title 33, Planning and Zoning, as well as all conditions of approval of any land use and design reviews, including the conditions of approval for LUR 02-127082 and the development agreement between the City of Portland and Hoyt Street Properties (1997).
3. Ground level, locally oriented retail and service businesses serving individuals and households in this building, as well as visitors, can qualify as a public benefit under the terms of this exemption. A determination by the director of the Bureau of Planning shall be made if there is a question regarding the neighborhood orientation of the proposed commercial and service uses.
4. The project will not convert to condominiums within the ten-year property tax exemption.
Barbara Sack:bjs