15:03:55 I want to acknowledge that we're still in a bit of a
15:04:02  transition with our chair.

15:04:05 So I just wanted to check in with
15:04:09  one of our executive
15:04:10  committee members.

15:04:14 If you would like to just kick the meeting off, I would be
15:04:18  happy to run through roll call and the agenda for you if
15:04:21  you like.

15:04:24 >> Nate McCoy:  At least for now, Jessica, I'm
15:04:25  here.

15:04:28 I can support
15:04:29  you.

15:04:32 Certainly want to hand the baton off when possible.

15:04:35 Good to see everybody for the September
15:04:38  Portland Housing advisory commission meeting.

15:04:41 Hopefully everybody had a great Labor Day weekend.

15:04:44 Good to see some of the folks here today to
15:04:45  kick us off.

15:04:49 Wanted to see if there was any public
15:04:50  testimony by chance.

15:04:52 Jessica on your end?

15:04:55 >> We haven't had anybody sign up, Nate.
15:04:55 

15:04:58 >> Nate McCoy:  Okay.

15:05:02 Before that, before we jump in, let me do roll
15:05:05  call for the good of the order.
15:05:05 

15:05:07 Seeing as we have commissioners here.

15:05:10 I'll start off with Diane Linn, if you could
15:05:12  turn on your camera and be present.

15:05:14 We'd love to hear you for the record.

15:05:16 >> I'm here.

15:05:19 Diane Linn, there's two of me today because I'm
15:05:24  holding a phone over here handy for a transport I'm going to do a little later
15:05:25  in the meeting.

15:05:28 Good to see you all.

15:05:31 >> Nate McCoy:  Good to see you too, Diane.

15:05:37 Ernesto Fonseca?

15:05:43 P don't see Ernesto yet.

15:05:46 What about Felicia Tripp Folsom.

15:05:48 I see her picture.

15:05:51 She might be preoccupied at the 
15:05:54 moment.

15:05:56 

15:05:57 >> Felicia Folsom:  I'm here.

15:05:58 I'm sorry.

15:05:59 I'm driving.

15:06:02 Once I transition, I'll put my camera on when I
15:06:03  arrive.

15:06:04 >> Nate McCoy:  Sounds good.

15:06:08 Thank you.

15:06:09 Julie Delgado?

15:06:13 Julia Delgado, are you here with
15:06:14  us?

15:06:17 Do not see her
15:06:18  yet.

15:06:20 Kymberly Horner?

15:06:22 >> Kymberly Horner:  I'm here, Nate.

15:06:26 I will be -- I can't activate my
15:06:27  camera.

15:06:28 >> Nate McCoy:  All right.

15:06:31 Technology is good when it works.

15:06:34 But good to hear your voice, Kymberly.

15:06:37 Sarah Stevenson.

15:06:38 >> Sarah Stevenson:  I am present.

15:06:42 >> Nate McCoy:  Thank you, Sarah.
15:06:42 
Stef Kondor?

15:06:48 All right.

15:06:52 Taylor Smiley Wolfe
15:06:53  

15:06:53 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  Here.

15:06:54 >> Nate McCoy:  Good to see you.

15:06:57 I think we have -- I'm not sure we're at critical mass.
15:06:57 

15:07:00 But certainly enough to jump into the agenda.

15:07:03 Kick us off.

15:07:06 The director of the housing bureau for the director's
15:07:09  update.

15:07:11 >> Shannon Callahan:  Thank you, Nate.

15:07:13 Wonderful to see all of you here today.

15:07:16 Feels like there is Sochi could say to give you an update
15:07:17  on.

15:07:20 But I'll try to limit my
15:07:23  updates to really pressing or
15:07:24  new information.

15:07:27 All of you, as commissioners, should have
15:07:30  in your packet a general update packet from the
15:07:34  bureau of upcoming items and upcoming items
15:07:35  of interest.

15:07:38 I know -- I wanted to make sure that
15:07:42  obviously for those who got in early, you met Gabriel, one
15:07:45  of our new staff members at PHB.

15:07:48 We're also joined today by one of our new construction
15:07:51  coordinators, Katie piper.

15:07:53 You'll see her on the call.

15:07:56 I also want to make sure to
15:08:00  introduce to you our new liaison from commissioner
15:08:03  Ryan's office.

15:08:07 Karen Chapman who is working
15:08:10  with PHB -- goodness, Karen, it's been
15:08:12  about a month now.

15:08:12 >> Yeah.

15:08:16 Still drinking from the fire hose, though.
15:08:17 

15:08:17 Thank you.

15:08:21 >> Shannon Callahan:  It's wonderful to have Karen be able to join us for the
15:08:23  PHAC meeting this afternoon.

15:08:26 There's a few things I wanted to give you an update 
15:08:26 on.

15:08:30 One of which is this body itself, which is 
15:08:31 PHAC.

15:08:35 There will be two new commissioners appointed
15:08:36  next month.

15:08:40 Those commissioners, one of which I see is joining the call 
15:08:43 today, which is peg Malloy.

15:08:46 The other is Heather lions.

15:08:49 Peg is an expert in
15:08:52  home ownership and home ownership 
15:08:55 finance, private public partnerships and Heather brings a
15:08:59  deep knowledge of supportive 
15:08:59 housing.

15:09:02 We are grateful to both of them to be joining PHAC.

15:09:05 We'll also be conducting a series of interviews with other
15:09:08  applicants who also applied.

15:09:12 And we expect to have results
15:09:15  of that within a few weeks.

15:09:18 I do apologize that we have not
15:09:22  gone through a chair and vice chair process.

15:09:25 With all of the new members joining, we felt it was best
15:09:28  to get folks up to speed and work to get
15:09:31  a new chair or co-chair for
15:09:32  the committee.

15:09:35 Thank you, Nate, for continuing to serve that
15:09:36  role.

15:09:39 I also wanted to celebrate that
15:09:42  we brought another housing project to city council just
15:09:46  recently, which was
15:09:49  our tenth housing bond project.

15:09:52 The 30th and Powell project and by home
15:09:52  forward.

15:09:56 We're looking forward to an actual in-person
15:10:00  groundbreaking outside safely social distance and masked
15:10:03  later this month.

15:10:06 That means we have just two more projects that
15:10:09  will begin to break
15:10:12  ground the Anna man house by IHI and the Joyce.

15:10:15 Every single one of our bond projects will be open or under
15:10:16  construction.

15:10:20 We expect that to happen by the end of the year, which is really going to be
15:10:21  an amazing milestone.

15:10:22 Sarah is nodding.

15:10:26 I hope that means yes, we're going to be breaking ground by the end
15:10:29  of the year.

15:10:33 I wanted to also mention to this
15:10:37  group that the Portland Housing bureau, in collaboration with metro, did announce
15:10:40  that we plan to require
15:10:44  in-unit cool strategies in all of
15:10:47  our affordable housing rental
15:10:49  developments.

15:10:53 And I think we have much to be worked out in terms of the
15:10:56  policy going forward and we will be coming to
15:10:59  housing Oregon in just, goodness, I think it's
15:11:03  a week from now to talk through the beginnings of how that
15:11:06  policy will come into play, what additional
15:11:09  resources the housing bureau will need to bring to bear.

15:11:13 We do expect that it will take additional
15:11:16  resources, no new requirement
15:11:19  comes without tradeoffs and those include
15:11:22  financial from the housing bureau and metro.

15:11:25 It did affect three projects that were
15:11:30  in the pipeline that had not yet moved forward to construction.

15:11:34 Those three projects, one of which is
15:11:38  actually the man house and the other two are
15:11:41  both home forward properties, the 30th and Powell property that I just
15:11:44  mentioned a moment ago and another project by home
15:11:47  forward being funded with metro resources,
15:11:49  the Baldwin project.

15:11:52 We look forward to talking with housing Oregon
15:11:56  and this group and interested members to start to do
15:11:59  a work group together so that we can put the policy
15:12:00  contours.

15:12:03 But we had a small window of opportunity to try
15:12:06  to bring in-unit cooling and
15:12:11  unfortunately -- unfortunately, it's becoming
15:12:14  much, much more clear that it is not just comfort, it is
15:12:17  a life safety issue for many of our
15:12:18  residents.

15:12:22 Metro is also expected to take a
15:12:24  formal stance on that shortly.

15:12:27 They've been working with most of the projects in their
15:12:29  pipeline.

15:12:32 We also wanted to make sure we got the
15:12:35  policy out on -- to get the projects for the metro
15:12:39  bond solicitation which is currently open a chance to
15:12:41  readjust their budgets accordingly.

15:12:44 We know metro will be requiring that going forward.
15:12:44 

15:12:48 That actually brings up another thing I just wanted to mention.

15:12:51 We also happen to be in the process of the metro bond solicitation as
15:12:54  we speak.

15:12:57 And so we had to do a minor rescheduling.
15:12:57 

15:13:00 We weren't expecting to have to do community reviews today.
15:13:00 

15:13:01 But we did.

15:13:04 So Molly Rogers, the deputy director is joining
15:13:08  that meeting and I will go back to that meeting after
15:13:11  PHAC concludes.
15:13:11 

15:13:14 The other thing I wanted to mention
15:13:18  to you is that I have to jump off this call at
15:13:20  4:30.

15:13:24 It is because of the city's recently
15:13:25  announced vaccination policy.

15:13:29 As you may be aware, the city announced that all employees are
15:13:32  expected to be vaccinated and
15:13:35  turn in their
15:13:38  vaccination details to the city by September 17
15:13:39 th.

15:13:42 I'm not going to go into the details of the city's policy
15:13:45  regarding its employees, but
15:13:50  it is going to be a new undertaking at the
15:13:52  HR level.

15:13:56 Why I'm mentioning this to you is the city
15:13:59  is also considering a vaccination requirement
15:14:02  for our contractors, 
15:14:06 vendors, grantees, volunteers and board
15:14:09  and commissions.

15:14:11 There are no details yet on that policy.

15:14:15 And in fact, it will be worked
15:14:19  on by our OMF, office management
15:14:22  and finance, through the month of
15:14:23  September.

15:14:26 But as you all are board and commission members,
15:14:29  I wanted to make sure that you were aware of that.

15:14:32 Also, make sure you understood why I have to leave the
15:14:34  call today at 4:30.

15:14:38 It would not be something -- I
15:14:41  would not leave unless I felt like I needed to prioritize that call today.

15:14:45 I'd like to make sure that, if you have thoughts or concerns
15:14:48  or things you'd like
15:14:51  to share, Twan, our
15:14:54  equity and inclusion manager will be
15:14:58  joining the small group of bureaus -- the
15:15:01  bureaus are pulling together a group to help advise on this
15:15:05  policy and Twan will be the lead for our bureau in this 
15:15:05 discussion.

15:15:09 That was just decided on Friday of last week.

15:15:12 So if you do have questions or concerns or things
15:15:15  you'd want to share, please reach out to both
15:15:18  myself and Twan.

15:15:20 I say that Twan is on the call at this time.

15:15:24 I wanted to pause there and see
15:15:27  if you have any questions for me.
15:15:27 

15:15:31 I know I have just imparted a lot of
15:15:34  details to you.

15:15:36 >> Diane Linn:  Just a quick logistical issue.

15:15:40 If you have to leave at 4:30, could we
15:15:43  shift the home ownership panel conversation before
15:15:46  the commissioner discussion and jump into it as soon as we're done
15:15:49  with this so we can have some of your time for
15:15:51  that conversation?

15:15:54 >> Shannon Callahan:  I'd appreciate that if you guys would be willing to adjust the
15:15:55  schedule.

15:15:58 >> Nate McCoy:  Absolutely.

15:16:00 >> Diane Linn:  Steve might be joining us late.

15:16:03 We might want to accommodate that, too.

15:16:04 I did just remember that.

15:16:07 We'll have him jump in
15:16:11  as soon as he
15:16:13  can.

15:16:16 >> Nate McCoy:  I think Taylor's hand
15:16:17  is up.

15:16:19 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  

15:16:22 Commissioner for commissioner Callahan about the air conditioning policy.

15:16:25 It sounds like it's going to be
15:16:28  proactively and not retroactively.

15:16:32 Is there any conversation about also dedicating resources to support
15:16:35  retrofits of existing buildings?
15:16:35 

15:16:39 >> Shannon Callahan:  Taylor, it would be -- it is going to be a 
15:16:42 prospective, not a retroactive
15:16:43  policy.

15:16:46 We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of units also in production
15:16:47  right now.

15:16:52 Some of which are trying to consider whether they
15:16:55  can add cooling strategies.

15:16:58 Obviously, that's
15:17:01  a big undertaking while you're permitted and under construction.

15:17:04 That's, frankly, being done on a volunteer basis.

15:17:07 We are talking to metro about
15:17:11  whether or not they have any resources that can be added from the metro
15:17:14  bond if they're going to do a retroactive requirement.
15:17:14 

15:17:17 They have not released the parameters of their policy yet.

15:17:21 We know that we also have a significant amount
15:17:24  of work to do regarding our existing inventory of units.
15:17:26 

15:17:29 We don't have a solution as yet.

15:17:32 It's much easier for us to add a small amount of funds for
15:17:34  buildings that are going to be constructed.

15:17:37 As you know, it's not just a retrofit of the 
15:17:40 AC units.

15:17:43 It could be an entire preservation
15:17:45  issue.

15:17:48 But we have been having conversations internally at the
15:17:52  city and especially regarding the potential of whether
15:17:55  PCAF funds, whether the committee
15:17:56  -- 

15:17:59 commission for PCAF and/or whether there is an
15:18:02  appetite to be able
15:18:06  to add a potential of
15:18:09  cooling strategies for our existing buildings which
15:18:12  are going to be some of our more
15:18:14  vulnerable.

15:18:17 There's a conversation Taylor, but we don't have any
15:18:22  specifics yet.
15:18:23 

15:18:25 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  Thank you.

15:18:28 >> Nate McCoy:  Other questions,
15:18:33  comments?

15:18:35 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  Just one follow-up comment.

15:18:38 I hope that as we discuss changes to policy around
15:18:41  emergency preparedness, including extreme heat, that we
15:18:45  don't lose sight of the many other emergencies
15:18:48  that will impact residents of affordable housing in addition
15:18:51  to
15:18:52  extreme heat.

15:18:54 Go bags in the case of earthquakes.

15:18:58 There are a lot of -- a lot of emergencies that
15:19:01  we will see more and more of with the
15:19:03  -- 

15:19:06 [indiscernible] want to re -- I hope that conversation also includes the
15:19:09  other many disasters that we have to handle in the
15:19:12  future.

15:19:13 >> Shannon Callahan:  Thank you for that, Taylor.

15:19:17 When I'm joining the housing Oregon policy conversation,
15:19:20  I'll also be bringing the interim
15:19:25  head of the -- our emergency
15:19:28  management who is also involved in
15:19:29  all of our emergency responses.

15:19:32 One of the things we want to do is talk about ways we can
15:19:36  support our affordable housing
15:19:39  owners and operators more proactively.
15:19:39 

15:19:42 With not just cooling strategies, but in cases of other
15:19:46  emergencies and really start to have that dialogue and hopefully
15:19:49  not when we're facing kind of
15:19:50  another crisis.

15:19:53 At least for the moment, I'm assuming we're not going to have some
15:19:56  heat crises for a few months.

15:19:59 So we have an opportunity to start to plan.

15:20:02 But one of the things that's been really clear to me is that
15:20:06  we haven't necessarily made that connection as
15:20:10  deliberately, as I think, as we could
15:20:14  with our emergency response at the city and
15:20:17  the county with our affordable housing providers
15:20:20  who are helping people
15:20:21  day-in/day-out.

15:20:24 It's one of the things I hope to begin a dialogue
15:20:24  about.

15:20:27 Start to figure out ways we can help support.

15:20:31 Because you're right, this heat was a good example this
15:20:31  time.

15:20:34 But the next time it may not look like heat.

15:20:38 It may be another type of event.

15:20:40 So thank you
15:20:43  for that.

15:20:46 If there's no other 
15:20:51 questions, I will cede the rest of the director's
15:20:52  time to move into the dialogue about home ownership.

15:20:58 >> Nate McCoy:  Sounds good.

15:21:00 Unless there's any last questions.

15:21:02 I don't see anybody with a raised hand.

15:21:05 So I guess we can go ahead and jump in.

15:21:08 I think I see Dana turning her screen on.

15:21:11 >> Shannon Callahan:  If if I might, I wanted to thank the 
15:21:13 PHAC commission for taking up this topic.

15:21:17 I know when we worked together last year to come up with a
15:21:21  series of what we would focus this group's time on, this was
15:21:25  one of the top requests, both from the
15:21:28  PHAC commission and the bureau itself.

15:21:31 I also just want to greatly appreciate
15:21:36  Dana and Dory Van Bockel, the team
15:21:39  manager, worked with your teams to give you a high
15:21:42  level presentation on the current programs and
15:21:46  I am grateful and look forward to hearing the
15:21:50  dialogue about the panel discussion this afternoon.

15:21:53 I think what I'm really looking forward to is
15:21:56  this being the beginning of a really detailed conversation about
15:22:02  how we can increase
15:22:05  resources and access
15:22:08  related to Black,
15:22:12  indigenous, Latinx and others in the city of Portland.

15:22:15 With that, I'm turning it over
15:22:18  to our neighborhood programs
15:22:19  manager.

15:22:22 Dana, I skipped the H in your team's name.

15:22:24 Sorry about that.

15:22:27 Neighborhood housing programs team manager, Ms. Dana
15:22:29  Shephard.

15:22:31 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you so much.

15:22:33 There, thank you.

15:22:34 Norma is on it.

15:22:37 Just for the record, my name is Dana Shephard.
15:22:37 

15:22:40 I manage the neighborhood housing preservation team, which is the
15:22:44  home ownership and home retention program at the housing
15:22:44  bureau.

15:22:48 Dory, would you like to go ahead and introduce 
15:22:48 yourself.

15:22:49 >> Dory Van Bockel:  Yes.

15:22:49 Good afternoon.

15:22:51 Dory Van Bockel.

15:22:52 I manage our development incentives team.

15:22:56 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

15:22:59 If you can go to the next slide, please.
15:23:00 

15:23:03 Shannon kind of briefed us quickly on what it is that we
15:23:05  seek to attain here in this discussion.

15:23:09 I know that it is very important for you all
15:23:12  to have the executive director Shannon on the
15:23:13  call.

15:23:16 I will try to move through this so that we can
15:23:19  make sure that the panel discussion
15:23:23  is completed by 4:30.

15:23:25 So next slide, please.

15:23:25 All right.

15:23:28 So this is just a quick overview of
15:23:32  what you will be hearing from Dory and I and
15:23:35  also the other panelists that you'll hear from, which happen
15:23:38  to be our partners working
15:23:41  towards this endeavor to increase the access and resources for
15:23:42  people of color.

15:23:45 Next slide, 
15:23:46 please.

15:23:47 All right.

15:23:51 So this first slide here indicates the number of
15:23:54  residential units.

15:23:57 I think it says sold monthly.

15:23:58 Yes.

15:24:01 So you can see here from this chart and you see at
15:24:04  the top right-hand corner, this is sectioned off.

15:24:07 The lines are by year.

15:24:10 You can see for a single family sales stayed
15:24:13  consistently stronger in 2020 than 2019
15:24:17  despite the pandemic and despite labor
15:24:19  and lumber costs.

15:24:20 That is up in 2021 you'll see right there.

15:24:25 I'll let that sit there for just a moment so you all can take a look at that.

15:24:35 Hopefully you can see it as well as I can.

15:24:38 The blue line representing 2019.
15:24:40 

15:24:42 Next slide.

15:24:43 All right.

15:24:46 This next slide represents the residential
15:24:49  median sale price.

15:24:52 And you will also see here --
15:24:52  

15:24:58 the median sales price does indicate the strength of the
15:24:59  market.

15:24:59 Sorry.

15:25:02 I probably should have been able to -- I should have
15:25:05  navigated this so that my pointer is actually useful.
15:25:05 

15:25:08 You can see at the bottom of the start of the blue line
15:25:11  that represents December of 2018,
15:25:14  where the median sales price was
15:25:18  $400,000 and then if you go up to the right side
15:25:21  of the bold red line, as of
15:25:24  June 2021, the sales 
15:25:27 price, median sales price is $520,000.
15:25:27 

15:25:31 This does represent the city of Portland by the way.
15:25:31 

15:25:34 So what this -- what I get -- 

15:25:37 one of the many things I get from this, just
15:25:41  wanted to let you know, you'll hear later about the downpayment
15:25:43  assistance provided by the housing bureau.

15:25:47 But in December or right before December of 2018,
15:25:50  the downpayment assistance subsidy limit was
15:25:55  increased to about $100,000 in the interstate URA.

15:25:57 And it has not changed.

15:26:00 So you'll see here that folks using the $100,000 for
15:26:03  -- from the median sales price of 
15:26:06 $400,000 versus today, where it's about $520,000,
15:26:10  the downpayment assistance has not 
15:26:11 changed, however.

15:26:15 The median sales price has increased significantly almost
15:26:19  $120,000.

15:26:24 Next slide.

15:26:27 All right.

15:26:28 The population.

15:26:31 What this shows here on this slide and on the
15:26:35  left-hand side, the little line going up towards the left
15:26:37  is the river right there.

15:26:41 So the darker spots represent the most
15:26:44  increase in
15:26:45  population.

15:26:48 That happens to be where most of the downpayment assistance
15:26:51  funds are for
15:26:53  the housing bureau, which is the interstate URA.

15:26:57 That is just a quick look of how the population has
15:27:00  increased from 2013 to
15:27:02  2018.

15:27:06 And -- sometimes we can't get up to date information.

15:27:08 So I apologize for that.

15:27:11 And then to the right, you'll have the population
15:27:14  by race and ethnicity, which is not
15:27:17  connected to the map on the
15:27:18  left.

15:27:21 So Portland grew in
15:27:24  population while leading age and diversity over the
15:27:26  five years.

15:27:29 On the right-hand side, you'll see -- I just want to let you no
15:27:32  he that the smaller ethnic groups are 
15:27:33 undercounted.

15:27:37 There is some additional data for 2019, but we
15:27:41  noticed when we pulled it quickly, there was not much of a change.
15:27:41 

15:27:41 I'll let you take a look at that for a moment.

15:27:53 Next slide, please.
All right.

15:27:56 City of Portland home ownership rate.

15:27:59 Again, this goes 2014 to
15:28:01  2019.

15:28:04 So you can see here that the
15:28:07  home ownership rate pretty much stayed the same.
15:28:08 

15:28:11 Red if you cannot see, represents 2019 and then the
15:28:14  blue is 2014.
15:28:14 

15:28:17 So the whole for the city is the
15:28:21  home ownership rate slightly increased.
15:28:21 

15:28:25 And then for the black, the
15:28:28  African Americans it decreased along with native,
15:28:33  Hawaiian and other Pacific islanders in
15:28:35  those particular ethnic groups, the home ownership rates decreased.

15:28:44 Next slide.

15:28:48 Median household income by race and ethnicity.

15:28:51 So just to let you know -- well, first
15:28:54  of all, this is 2013 to 2018.
15:28:54 

15:28:57 So we're a little bit
15:29:02  behind here as far as -- this information kind of
15:29:05  goes with the information from other recently
15:29:08  published data housing reports.

15:29:11 What is key to know here, this is based
15:29:13  on the group independently.

15:29:16 Not the whole population.

15:29:19 So just want to make sure that that's
15:29:22  clear here.

15:29:25 And so median
15:29:29  household income has increased for all of the
15:29:29  groups.

15:29:33 However, you will see the median household income
15:29:36  is lower for certain racial and
15:29:38  ethnic groups.

15:29:41 People of color.

15:29:42 Next slide.

15:29:42 All right.

15:29:45 Dory, you want to take it over.
15:29:46 

15:29:46 >> Dory Van Bockel:  All right.

15:29:50 I will transition then a little bit into
15:29:53  some of the indirect financial assistance tools that we have
15:29:56  at the
15:29:58  bureau.

15:30:02 Programs that help promote
15:30:06  development of affordable housing and so these are the first four
15:30:09  here are ones that are pretty familiar to most of you.
15:30:09 

15:30:11 But maybe not everyone.

15:30:15 We have the home buyer opportunity limited tax exemption or
15:30:18  HOLTE, which is a ten-year property tax
15:30:19  exemption.

15:30:23 The SDC exemption program, removing some of the --
15:30:26  removing the 
15:30:28 SDC's from projects that are restricted.

15:30:32 As well as exemption of the construction excise tax and
15:30:35  as it applies, when there is the
15:30:39  LTIC applying to properties that need street
15:30:42  improvement, sidewalks, et cetera, we can get an
15:30:45  exemption through transportation for those as well.

15:30:48 So those programs, particularly the first two,
15:30:51  have been around for a number of
15:30:52  years.

15:30:55 And are ones that we're actively doing to help make it more possible
15:30:59  for affordable home ownership
15:31:01  to happen.

15:31:05 As far as what applies -- the next 
15:31:07 slide, please.

15:31:10 Generally, the program requirements for those are
15:31:13  that there need to be at least three
15:31:14  bedrooms.

15:31:16 There's an exception for two-bedroom units.

15:31:20 Most of the time these projects --
15:31:25  programs are used simultaneously as they would 
15:31:25 apply.

15:31:29 There are certain reasons why one wouldn't apply for all
15:31:30  of them.

15:31:34 For example the HOLTE has a limit on how many
15:31:36  can be approved each year.

15:31:39 Although, for our nonprofit partners restricting home
15:31:42  ownership at
15:31:46  80% median income, we're able to get an exception to
15:31:47  that limit.

15:31:51 The purchase price on it is adjusted
15:31:52  annually.

15:31:54 Currently it's $412,000.

15:31:58 Something we need to take to council each year
15:32:01  for the tax exemption and use the same
15:32:02  sale price cap for the rest of the programs.

15:32:06 I'll show what the actual outcomes are here 
15:32:06 shortly.

15:32:10 You can see where we're hitting against that cap
15:32:12  or not.

15:32:16 Generally speaking, the programs have an income limit of
15:32:19  100 perz and
15:32:22  median income for a household of four that can be adjusted
15:32:24  upwards.

15:32:27 Most of the programs, the
15:32:30  requirement of qualification of the home buyer
15:32:33  is at completion or submission at the time the house
15:32:37  is sold.

15:32:41 The tax exemption has a ten-year time frame where
15:32:45  we verify subsequent owners of
15:32:48  the home.

15:32:49 Next slide please.

15:32:54 There are some newer programs that our team has taken on
15:33:00  in the last couple of years through the passing of the zoning code projects.

15:33:04 Residential infill and better housing by design, which
15:33:09  went into place as of March and
15:33:11  then October.

15:33:14 And generally speaking, each of
15:33:18  these different programs allow additional density or
15:33:21  floor area ratio allowing more to be built on a
15:33:22  particular site.

15:33:25 So because these
15:33:29  obviously were programs passed through
15:33:32  different -- a different city council, a different time, they don't
15:33:35  line up 100% with our current programs.

15:33:38 So we are making efforts to have a shared
15:33:43  application and making it as streamlined as possible so that
15:33:46  projects that are able
15:33:50  to use one of the bonus programs can also
15:33:52  easily apply for any of the exemption programs.

15:33:57 But based on the type of
15:34:00  zoning, there is up to a 50% floor
15:34:04  area ratio bonus on a piece of property depending
15:34:07  on how many affordable units are
15:34:09  -- I'm sorry.

15:34:10 The bonus is not 50%.

15:34:14 But at least 50% of the units need to be
15:34:15  affordable.

15:34:17 The bonus varies depending on the type of project.

15:34:21 The deeper affordable ones, you get a significant bonus determined
15:34:24  by planners at
15:34:25  BDS.

15:34:28 The household income restriction
15:34:31  on those are
15:34:34  also generally 100%.

15:34:38 But vary by household size and 120% for
15:34:42  three-bedroom bonus building three bedroom units that are
15:34:43  restricted.

15:34:45 Next slide, please.

15:34:48 So as far as -- we don't have any outcomes to measure yet
15:34:51  for the new bonus program since they've just
15:34:52  started.

15:34:56 Generally speaking, the construction --
15:35:00  excise tax and LTIC have
15:35:03  HOLTE and SDC exemptions.

15:35:06 That's where the bulk of our data sits.

15:35:09 This is for the last fiscal year of July 1st through
15:35:11  June 30 of this year.

15:35:15 I broke it out
15:35:20  on area and compared to city 
15:35:23 wide, also by our nonprofit partner applicants and
15:35:28  for-profit partner applicants.

15:35:31 You can see, generally speaking, even though the price cap
15:35:34  is $412,000, that's
15:35:38  still not necessarily what's going to be affordable
15:35:41  for people as we
15:35:42  all know.

15:35:44 And so the actual price -- 

15:35:48 prices that we're seeing here, again, city wide on
15:35:52  average, is
15:35:54  $340,000.

15:35:57 Certainly, the prices go up in northeast, as you can
15:36:00  see in some of that data that Dana was showing 
15:36:03 you, and our numbers, even
15:36:06  in southeast -- we just don't
15:36:11  -- our market snd able to build in
15:36:13  certain -- isn't able to build in certain circumstances.

15:36:17 The nonprofit partners aren't building there
15:36:18  right now.

15:36:21 Next slide, please.

15:36:24 As far as our home buyer outcomes 2,
15:36:28  it's a little more nuanced in that we
15:36:33  don't have the housing bureau is not directly
15:36:36  involved in the sale of these
15:36:38  units.

15:36:42 So working with the nonprofit partners, they're able to do more
15:36:45  targeted outreach and have targeted
15:36:48  programming to assist home buyers of color.

15:36:51 So you do see a larger portion of
15:36:54  the home buyers being from communities
15:36:56  of color.

15:37:00 However, there still is some achievement within even just
15:37:04  the private market of who is achieving home ownership throughout
15:37:08  the programs.

15:37:11 With the nonprofit home 
15:37:14 ownership, primarily about 50%
15:37:18  of home buyers being from
15:37:21  the Black community and a good
15:37:24  portion of the Asian community accessing the market in
15:37:28  the for-profit market, as well as
15:37:29  white home buyers.

15:37:32 Next slide,
15:37:35  please.

15:37:38 To look at the actual income, also
15:37:42  well below the
15:37:45  median income since certainly
15:37:50  -- excuse me.
15:37:50 

15:37:54 We have -- I'm trying to look at my
15:37:54  own notes.

15:37:57 One-third of the households have children.

15:38:01 And the average household size is
15:38:04  actually just over
15:38:05  two.

15:38:09 A family of four at 100% median family
15:38:12  income in this year's income
15:38:16  limits is at 
15:38:16 $96,900.

15:38:20 So certainly, the homes are being purchased by people
15:38:25  more at that 60 to 
15:38:28 65% median family income is sort of, I think,
15:38:30  our average.

15:38:32 Was just under 70 across the board.

15:38:36 As the home buyers actually using
15:38:38  the program.

15:38:41 As you can see, though, it does obviously change and
15:38:44  our nonprofit partners are able to help a little
15:38:48  bit lower income home
15:38:49  buyers.

15:38:51 I believe that's the last of my slides.

15:38:54 I'll turn it back on over to you, Dana.

15:38:55 >> Dana Shephard:  Sure.

15:38:58 I'll just give you all -- just keep going with
15:39:00  the home ownership programs.

15:39:03 More of the service and programming type.

15:39:06 Before I do that, just wanted to take a look at
15:39:09  this slide that's a part of the state of
15:39:11  housing report as well.

15:39:15 You can see here, looking at the city of 
15:39:18 Portland, that Black households really have no
15:39:22  place to purchase as it goes through
15:39:23  affordability.

15:39:25 Native American households, the same.

15:39:28 It is very, very slim
15:39:31  for Latinx household, Asian
15:39:35  and Pacific Islanders as well.
15:39:36 

15:39:37 Next slide.

15:39:41 So as we transition into the progress
15:39:44  and what it is that Portland Housing
15:39:47  bureau has done along with the partners that do
15:39:50  this work, the partners do
15:39:53  provide home ownership counseling and education.

15:39:55 We would not be able to do this without them.

15:39:58 I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate them for this
15:40:02  progress that we've made.

15:40:07 This is all together for PHB downpayment
15:40:08  assistance.

15:40:11 This particular chart does not include 
15:40:14 PHB investments into new construction, which you'll see shortly
15:40:15  after this.

15:40:20 But in the last few years, by fiscal 
15:40:23 year, this ends -- data ends June 30,
15:40:24  2021.

15:40:29 New homeowners with downpayment assistance,
15:40:32  138 downpayment assistance loans or grants.

15:40:35 Out of those 138, 108 are from communities
15:40:38  of color.

15:40:41 And 87 of the 138 are preference policy
15:40:43  applicants.

15:40:46 Go ahead and go to the next 
15:40:47 slide, please.

15:40:51 The preference policy is one of the strategies that the housing
15:40:55  bureau has in order to increase access and opportunity for people
15:40:56  of color.

15:41:00 So I assume that you all are familiar with
15:41:01  the preference policy.

15:41:03 I'll go ahead and read this.

15:41:05 It's very important.

15:41:08 The North/Northeast preference policy aims to
15:41:13  address the harmful impacts of urban renewal by giving preference to housing applicants
15:41:21  with generational ties to North/Northeast Portland.

15:41:24 The goal is to create 110 new home
15:41:27  own en others by early 2022.

15:41:30 I'm very, very happy to say that all
15:41:34  those -- you'll see about 87
15:41:38  households, a few more folks have closed
15:41:41  and so we'll be getting a report ou at
15:41:44  the North/Northeast oversight committee meeting on
15:41:45  Thursday.

15:41:48 We have no doubt that we will reach that goal.

15:41:50 I'm very happy about that.

15:41:54 This picture here on the
15:41:57  right-hand side is one of the buildings built by
15:42:00  PCRI as a part of their pathway 1000
15:42:03  program, which they work very closely with the housing bureau
15:42:06  and people in the PHB preference
15:42:10  policy in order to get them into homes.

15:42:13 And by them building homes, that
15:42:16  absolutely helps because as we've seen from the previous slide, it's 
15:42:20 very, very difficult as far as affordability for folks that get
15:42:21  into homes.

15:42:25 We definitely appreciate the construction of affordable units.
15:42:27 

15:42:31 Next slide.

15:42:35 Again that number of 138 did
15:42:38  not include the PHB investments for
15:42:39  home ownership.

15:42:42 This was a part of the -- this
15:42:45  particular slide on the right-hand side was a part
15:42:48  of the stated housing data also.

15:42:51 I used this to show the two home ownership new
15:42:53  developments.

15:42:55 Olin, which is 12 units.

15:42:58 And then Kilpatrick, which is also known
15:43:00  as Kenton.

15:43:03 Sorry if that name isn't updated here.

15:43:04 Which is 30 units.

15:43:07 That's in partnership with habitat and
15:43:10  proud ground.

15:43:11 Next slide.

15:43:14 Going back to preference policy, first of all, let me just say
15:43:17  from the previous slide, Olin and
15:43:23  Kilpatrick is restricted to preference policy
15:43:26  applicants only when it comes to the home ownership
15:43:29  application rounds, there would have only been two of them.
15:43:31 

15:43:34 One in 2016 and an open application in 2018.
15:43:34 

15:43:38 That hasn't been opened again as we continue --
15:43:41  it seems to be that it would be best that we work
15:43:44  with folks for the long haul to make sure that they
15:43:46  actually achieve home ownership.

15:43:52 So we have not opened the application because they found that it takes
15:43:55  folks about, around three years in order to
15:43:58  being become mortgage ready.

15:44:00 I wanted to let you all know.

15:44:03 The basic funding for the downpayment
15:44:07  assistance comes from the
15:44:10  interstate, from tax increment financing,
15:44:12  TIF.

15:44:13 Urban renewal area.

15:44:17 In addition to that, we have been able to
15:44:19  use other funds.

15:44:23 Construction excise tax and also short-term rental fees recently.

15:44:28 So when you see the green dots kind
15:44:32  of outside that I-5 
15:44:32 corridor.

15:44:35 I'm using my curse or and I know you can't see it.

15:44:37 You can see the inlay at the top.

15:44:39 The interstate URA.

15:44:42 Everything outside of that, we've been able to create
15:44:48  homeowners from that additional funding to
15:44:49  also include the -- 

15:44:52 outside of the interstate corridor and
15:44:56  the other funding that we received, the housing bureau does have a basal indication
15:44:59  of funding, which is helping us create about five to six
15:45:02  homeowners a year and that is not restricted to the preference
15:45:06  policy.

15:45:07 That was 87.

15:45:08 I'm sorry.

15:45:10 If you can go back really quickly.

15:45:12 Sorry, Norma.

15:45:12 Again, 87.

15:45:15 That's as of August 26th.

15:45:16 We've had several close.

15:45:20 87 first-time home buyers since the downpayment
15:45:22  -- received downpayment assistance.

15:45:26 Those have been -- those homeowners are
15:45:27  through the preference policy.

15:45:30 They have applied for one of those rounds that I spoke about.

15:45:33 So really proud of that.

15:45:36 Next slide.
15:45:36 

15:45:38 All right.

15:45:42 I think this might be a good time to answer any program questions before we
15:45:45  move to the panel
15:45:46  discussion.

15:45:49 If we could just open that up for
15:45:52  probably just about three or so minutes, I'm happy to do
15:45:53  that.

15:45:56 Dory, does that sound okay with you?

15:45:59 Just so that everyone can understand or
15:45:59  -- 

15:46:00 >> Dory Van Bockel:  Any clarifications we can help make, absolutely.

15:46:11 Sarah Stevenson.

15:46:14 >> Sarah Stevenson:  What is the amount of the downpayment assistance and how do you know
15:46:17  that the grant or a loan?

15:46:21 >> Dana Shephard:  The downpayment assistance is something that maxes at
15:46:23  $100,000 in the interstate URA.

15:46:26 However, 10% of that has to go towards home
15:46:29  improvement.

15:46:32 In the other URA, it's maxed at
15:46:34  $80,000.

15:46:37 Also the same applies, 10% towards home improvement.
15:46:38 

15:46:39 It's required, actually.

15:46:41 At least 10%.

15:46:47 >> Sarah Stevenson:  Thank you.
15:46:48 

15:46:51 >> Dana Shephard:  Taylor?

15:46:54 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  A question about the data you showed us on
15:46:57  HOLTE and the difference in the demographics by
15:47:00  nonprofits versus for-profit developers.

15:47:05 I was curious if there are or could be like
15:47:08  affirmative marketing requirements for folks that are using
15:47:09  HOLTE?

15:47:13 And if you have any thoughts about why
15:47:17  there's such a -- why the
15:47:21  for-profit development community is
15:47:25  underserving communities of color
15:47:27  using that tool?

15:47:30 >> Dory Van Bockel:  We have done things over the years.

15:47:33 Not to say there could be other things we could try.

15:47:36 Certainly, we've found that where there are a lot of home buyers
15:47:39  working with community partners, we come
15:47:40  ready.

15:47:44 The best thing we found is letting them know in advance what units are
15:47:47  in the pipeline is the
15:47:49  best direction.

15:47:52 We found honestly that some of the
15:47:55  developers don't have the experience
15:47:58  working in the communities to have, you know,
15:48:02  those relationships and that it actually has been somewhat overwhelming
15:48:05  to try to make those connections for the nonprofit 
15:48:05 partners.

15:48:09 Because there's so many different developers using
15:48:13  the program.
15:48:13 

15:48:15 Certainly, there's room for improvement there.

15:48:18 It's been a thing of
15:48:21  not having enough capacity on both the 
15:48:25 nonprofit partner
15:48:28  side as well as on fees to strengthen relationships.
15:48:28 

15:48:32 >> Shannon Callahan:  Dr I, if I might add, Taylor, it's
15:48:35  a completely voluntary tax exemption that
15:48:38  frankly benefits only the subsequent buyer.
15:48:38 

15:48:41 So there's always been kind of that play with us about
15:48:42  what -- 

15:48:47 what do we require to take advantage of those -- the
15:48:50  100, correct Dory?

15:48:53 100 tax exemptions a year we're able to grant under the
15:48:56  home ownership and whether we restrict that further to try to create those
15:49:00  relationships.

15:49:03 But I think it is a little bit of a balance for us
15:49:04  about -- 

15:49:07 requirements on a voluntary program and what the results would
15:49:09  actually end up being.

15:49:12 But we're very open to ideas
15:49:16  on
15:49:18  that.

15:49:21 >> Dory Van Bockel:  Looks like Kymberly has a question, too.
15:49:22 

15:49:22 >> Kymberly Horner:  Yes.

15:49:28 My question is, with regard to the subsidy,
15:49:30  downpayment assistance, I should say.

15:49:33 Is there any consideration to upping that amount?

15:49:37 We know that the cost of construction and the like
15:49:40  is making these homes less and less affordable as we go
15:49:44  along.

15:49:47 Is there any consideration on the bureau's part
15:49:50  to making that a larger
15:49:52  assistance?

15:49:55 >> Shannon Callahan:  Kymberly, I will answer that for our team.

15:49:58 Our team has raised that.

15:50:01 I think we're at the --
15:50:05  the director, you've got to remember we're at the
15:50:08  point of a market that we are no longer
15:50:11  fully in control in and these downpayment assistance loans
15:50:14  are free and clear to
15:50:18  the folks that get the downpayment
15:50:20  assistance loans.

15:50:23 I don't know that increasing the amount is going to solve
15:50:27  the ultimate issue of what we're trying to
15:50:30  address, which is providing opportunity for
15:50:33  our home
15:50:34  buyers.

15:50:37 I am not opposed to having a discussion about it.

15:50:40 But I think we need to talk about construction of new homes and the
15:50:44  potential for being able to keep those in some type
15:50:46  of a land trust.

15:50:49 We have pushed the upper limits of what I know of
15:50:53  any jurisdiction across the country provides as a downpayment assistance loan.
15:50:54 

15:50:57 I think our answer is sometimes to increase the amount without looking
15:51:00  at the overall solution to
15:51:02  kind of our problem.

15:51:05 I don't see a solution outside of starting to get into more construction
15:51:09  of affordable housing and bringing more resources to bear
15:51:12  besides just from
15:51:13  the city.

15:51:16 But we are internally at least having those 
15:51:18 discussions, yes.

15:51:21 But I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say in your
15:51:23  panel discussion.

15:51:25 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you, Shannon.

15:51:27 I don't see any other hands raised.

15:51:30 Might be a good time to transition
15:51:31  over.

15:51:32 Although, I don't believe we have Steve yet.

15:51:34 He'll have to chime in a little later.

15:51:37 He wasn't planning to come until 4:00.

15:51:40 I think we will just get started.

15:51:41 Norma, if you can put that slide back up with the questions, that will be helpful.

15:51:53 I can also put them in the chat, if necessary.

15:51:56 There we go.
One slide back.

15:52:07 If right now -- if we're going to start with the
15:52:09  first question.

15:52:13 As you're answering, panelists, as you're answering the question, this first
15:52:16  one, if you
15:52:19  could take a moment to introduce
15:52:22  yourself and what you do before you answer the question, that would be
15:52:22  great.

15:52:26 We're going to start with the first question with Diane
15:52:29  and then if Steve joins us
15:52:33  us great, then peg, Kymberly and
15:52:37  Taylor.

15:52:37 Diane?

15:52:39 >> Diane Linn:  Let's start with unmuting.

15:52:40 Thank you.

15:52:43 My name is Diane Linn, executive
15:52:45  director of proud ground.

15:52:48 I served on PHAC for
15:52:51  several years now.

15:52:53 I'm going to not speed through this too quickly.

15:52:56 I want to give the partners a wonderful amount of time to address the 
15:52:58 questions, too.

15:53:01 I will start by saying proud
15:53:04  ground is Portland's community land trust.

15:53:08 The name changed about 15 years ago under the leadership
15:53:10  of Jesse bee son.

15:53:13 We provide HUD certified home ownership
15:53:16  counseling and education, essentially
15:53:20  helping people become mortgage ready.

15:53:23 We have developed extensive wait lists, three quarters of whom
15:53:24  are people of color.

15:53:27 About 90 of them are mortgage ready.

15:53:31 Our strategic plan commits us to with 70%.

15:53:34 People of color or BIPOC families.

15:53:37 We're on a mission to diversify our team.

15:53:40 We match downpayment assistance grants and we do grants
15:53:43  because they stay in the community land trust and hold
15:53:46  the land for permanent affordability.

15:53:49 We match those with eligible families and facilitate a
15:53:53  conventional mortgage product and assist with the home buying process
15:53:54  from start to closing.

15:53:57 We match subsidy with development projects and
15:54:00  we are building relationships with private developers.

15:54:04 I hope we can spend a little bit more time on
15:54:07  Taylor's question about encouraging them to do a much better
15:54:11  job of reaching BIPOC families in partnership with us and other
15:54:13  agencies.

15:54:17 We have almost 400 homes in our 
15:54:19 regionwide portfolio.

15:54:22 We added -- 75% were people of color.
15:54:23 

15:54:26 We plan to match over 200 families with homes
15:54:27  in the next three years.

15:54:29 That's in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

15:54:32 All of those homes will be permanently affordable,
15:54:36  which means the community gets the benefit of knowing those
15:54:38  homes will never go on the open market.

15:54:41 There will always be diversity in those units, both economic and
15:54:42  cultural.

15:54:46 We advocate to fill sources of funding,
15:54:48  to fill the gap.

15:54:51 To serve more BIPOC families.

15:54:54 In doing so, bringing stability and generational
15:54:55  wealth.

15:54:59 We do that through advocacy at the federal, state and local levels, 
15:55:01 metro, all the different jurisdictions.

15:55:04 And we're doing a lot of fundraising to help
15:55:07  fill the gap in the private sector.

15:55:10 Families can earn up to $90,000 in
15:55:12  ten-years' time.

15:55:16 That very same home gets told to the next income qualified family
15:55:19  and we're targeting
15:55:23  even lower income families, less than 60% median income and the target
15:55:25  is usually 50 for the resales.

15:55:28 About 100 resales have been done up to this year.
15:55:28 

15:55:31 Or they can -- the family can make this
15:55:35  their forever home and pass it on to their children.

15:55:38 We have great data about how it increases all the indicators,
15:55:41  health, education, 
15:55:45 employment, stability.

15:55:48 We'll talk more about what we really want to achieve going
15:55:51  forward where we feel very limited in the city of Portland right now
15:55:54  and are anxious to continue
15:55:56  this conversation.

15:56:00 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

15:56:03 I don't think Steve has joined so
15:56:04  Peg do you mind going next?

15:56:13 >> Did you ask me to go next, Dana. 

15:56:15 >> Dana Shephard:  Yes, please.

15:56:18 >> I was lost in home ownership land, I guess.

15:56:21 Portland Housing center has been around for 30
15:56:21  years.

15:56:24 Been there since the beginning.

15:56:27 The difference here as far as organizations is that we're totally
15:56:31  dedicated to preparing home buyers.

15:56:34 We have about 1600 people in our
15:56:36  pipeline.

15:56:37 60% are people of color.

15:56:40 The kind of ongoing thing is that,
15:56:44  as you saw in Dana's presentation, the
15:56:45  income gap is severe.

15:56:49 And the house price is severe, too.
15:56:49 

15:56:52 So there's most people can afford a house around 
15:56:53 $350,000.

15:56:56 We can prepare people upside down and sideways to get
15:56:57  ready.

15:57:00 As Dana said, with preference policy, people can take up
15:57:01  to three years.

15:57:04 That's all doable, but the house prices continue to go
15:57:05  up.

15:57:08 The one thing not mentioned
15:57:10  in the presentation was about the home buyer frenzy.

15:57:12 That's the technical term.

15:57:16 That houses are bought from the listing to the
15:57:19  accepted offer is two weeks.

15:57:23 In a healthy market, that's usually
15:57:27  two months.

15:57:30 Home buyers compete, first-time home buyers, modest income people compete
15:57:33  on a very uneven playing field.

15:57:37 As Shannon said, there definitely needs
15:57:39  to be more inventory of houses.

15:57:43 As far as really trying to push the
15:57:47  home ownership gap, we focused largely
15:57:50  on Black households and Latino households
15:57:53  using culturally specific education
15:57:54  around money.

15:57:57 Getting your house in order
15:58:01  for Black home buyers and
15:58:04  Latino home buyers just to get people
15:58:07  comfortable with first talking about money and getting ready and
15:58:10  they can own a home.

15:58:14 It's mostly the idea of getting people ready is the motivation,
15:58:17  because it's not easy to get
15:58:20  ready, as well as in this particular market, people get very
15:58:23  discouraged.

15:58:25 I'll just leave it there, Dana.

15:58:26 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

15:58:30 I believe we have Steve joined us 
15:58:30 now.

15:58:31 I believe.

15:58:32 Hi, Steve.

15:58:34 >> Hey, Dana.

15:58:37 >> Dana Shephard:  We started a little bit early to be sure that we have
15:58:39  director Callahan on the line with us.

15:58:41 We're just on the first question.

15:58:44 Before you answer that one, if you can just tell us
15:58:47  who you are and a little bit about your organization.
15:58:47 

15:58:48 >> Yeah.

15:58:50 Steve Mesonet I.

15:58:53 I'm the CEO of
15:58:56  Habitat for Humanity Portland region, serving the tricounty
15:58:57  region.

15:59:00 We just merged the east side and the west side
15:59:01  habitats.

15:59:05 We've been doing this for about 17
15:59:05  years.

15:59:09 Habitat for Humanity started almost 50 years ago, specifically
15:59:12  focused after the civil rights movement on
15:59:16  removing barriers to home ownership
15:59:17  for Black Americans.

15:59:18 Got started in the south.

15:59:21 In the Portland region, we've now completed and
15:59:24  built about 600 homes.

15:59:28 90% sold to households of
15:59:28  color.

15:59:30 Average media income is 41%.

15:59:33 We're on that low lens.

15:59:36 What I'd say in terms of the key barriers to that
15:59:39  question is that what we're seeing in terms
15:59:43  of communities of color, there's really three key
15:59:43  barriers.

15:59:45 Accessing credit is a big one.

15:59:49 And a second is being able to save for a downpayment
15:59:52  when you're paying half your income to
15:59:52  rent.

15:59:56 It's really impossible to save for a downpayment and third, finding a home
15:59:59  that's affordable to buy.

16:00:02 Habitat addresses this and makes it possible for families that are earning
16:00:05  as little as $30,000 a year to buy
16:00:08  a home by guaranteeing a first mortgage.

16:00:11 So we work with banks and help folks
16:00:12  get that first mortgage.

16:00:14 That they might not otherwise get.

16:00:15 We don't require a downpayment.

16:00:18 That's built into the purchase.

16:00:21 And we obviously are a builder and we build homes that are
16:00:24  of more affordable and are really focused on building in
16:00:27  neighborhoods throughout the region so that families have a
16:00:30  choice as to where to live.

16:00:33 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you very 
16:00:36 much, Steve.

16:00:36  Kymberly?

16:00:40 >> Kymberly Horner:  Kymberly Horner, the executive director for
16:00:43  the Portland community reinvestment -- we
16:00:46  go by PCRI.
16:00:46 

16:00:50 PCRI has been around almost 30 years.
16:00:50 

16:00:51 This is the work that we do.

16:00:54 My staff is primarily a 
16:00:58 Black-led staff and board of
16:00:58  directors.

16:01:02 The organization came about specifically to address the
16:01:06  disparities of what was happening in the Black community
16:01:10  with regard to not only home ownership but
16:01:13  being able to live in a community
16:01:16  that was once their community.

16:01:20 And so the organization has several programs by which we are
16:01:23  able to get people ready to become
16:01:25  homeowners.

16:01:28 We have counseling programs, we are a home ownership center
16:01:31  now.

16:01:34 We give people extensive training in how
16:01:37  to stay in their properties as
16:01:37  well.

16:01:40 So, you know, the post mortgage assistance is what we're
16:01:43  getting big into now.

16:01:46 We also have additional staff that teaches
16:01:50  people how to keep up with home repairs.

16:01:53 And so with regard to home ownership, our
16:01:56  biggest concern is making sure that
16:02:00  we are sort
16:02:03  of viewing how Black families in this
16:02:07  area can are able
16:02:10  to get into home ownership opportunities
16:02:14  so that we can continue
16:02:17  focusing on generational wealth building for the
16:02:19  Black community.

16:02:24 It is a critical -- at this point, in our society to
16:02:28  make sure that there is an equal playing
16:02:31  field for Black people to have an opportunity to succeed in this
16:02:34  manner.

16:02:37 I know we have other questions that you have listed.

16:02:40 I think you just wanted us to touch on the very
16:02:41  first question.

16:02:44 As I mentioned, early education
16:02:48  is something that we feel very strongly about in
16:02:53  making sure Black families are being very
16:02:57  well-versed in what it takes to be 
16:02:59 credit-ready and how to save money.

16:03:02 We also have an IDA program
16:03:06  that gets people in a mindset of saving
16:03:09  money for their future, including
16:03:12  for downpayment assistance for a home that
16:03:15  they choose to purchase later on down the
16:03:15  line.

16:03:19 So I will stop with my comments
16:03:22  there to give opportunity for the other
16:03:24  panelists.

16:03:28 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you, Kymberly.

16:03:31 Taylor, if you can wrap this up for
16:03:34  us.
16:03:34 

16:03:51 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  I would say our organization is committed to
16:03:55  being a -- that means addressing
16:03:59  the -- 

16:03:59 [indiscernible].

16:04:03 To start I would just say that the
16:04:06  affordability of rental housing is important to provide folks with the ability
16:04:09  to save and have extra income if they can save and build
16:04:10  assets for home ownership.

16:04:14 The reality -- [indiscernible] 

16:04:16 have a voucher.

16:04:17 In the private market.

16:04:21 That means that they're paying only a
16:04:25  --
16:04:41  [indiscernible] 

16:04:44 [indiscernible] versus serving households that we do
16:04:50  as -- one of the ways -- tools that we use to
16:04:53  reduce shelter burden for households are payment
16:04:53  standards.

16:04:57 Not to get too deep into the weeds, making sure that --
16:04:57  

16:05:00 affordable is critical
16:05:02  for -- 

16:05:06 [ Mic is
16:05:11  muffled ]

16:05:12 I'll say that to start.

16:05:15 >> Dana Shephard:  I think it's important to point out that with rental
16:05:20  if folks are paying as little as possible so that they can save
16:05:22  for home ownership definitely fits into what -- 

16:05:24 thank you for that.

16:05:27 The next question, are you part -- some of you have
16:05:30  answered a little bit of this so
16:05:30  far.

16:05:33 You can elaborate if you wish.

16:05:37 Are you partnering with PHB or utilizing programs to do
16:05:38  this work?

16:05:41 We'll go in order of 
16:05:44 Steve, peg, Kymberly Taylor and
16:05:46  Diane.
Steve, please. 

16:05:50 >> I want to follow-up on
16:05:53  something Taylor said.

16:05:57 About half of the families that purchased homes from habitat this year were coming out of subsidized rentals,
16:06:00  either from Hacienda or PCRI or been
16:06:03  in that stable rental housing that's affordable.

16:06:05 Now we're able to take that to home ownership.

16:06:09 That's a big part of our program.

16:06:12 Yes, habitat uses all of the PHB
16:06:15  programs, especially geared towards housing developments
16:06:18  or tax abatement is key.

16:06:21 It really decreases the
16:06:21  payment up front.

16:06:25 Which makes it possible to afford more for mortgage.

16:06:25 Decrease the home price.

16:06:29 We use density bonuses for affordable housing
16:06:32  and the construction excise tax and all of those are great.

16:06:35 The problem is the cost of housing is now so high they don't add
16:06:38  up to enough to make a home affordable to
16:06:41  the typical renter.

16:06:45 You probably all know, the average renter in Portland makes $36,000
16:06:46  a year.

16:06:47 There's a huge gap.

16:06:50 Some type of downpayment assistance or buydown is
16:06:54  needed to make home ownership
16:06:54  possible for renters.

16:06:58 That's the area that utilizes well but not enough 
16:06:58 of.

16:07:00 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:07:02 Peg, then Kymberly please.

16:07:06 >> The primary way that we partner with PHB
16:07:09  is through the preference policy working to prepare
16:07:14  home buyers with --
16:07:17  by staff member and use that downpayment money and
16:07:20  layer it with other sources we've been able
16:07:23  to secure through neighbor works America, Wells 
16:07:27 Fargo, the state programs and even do some of our own financing
16:07:27  with that.

16:07:31 We're using that as kind of a platform to layer 
16:07:34 on, to be able to bring people within reach
16:07:36  for home ownership.

16:07:38 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:07:41 Kymberly and then Taylor.

16:07:42 >> Kymberly Horner:  Absolutely.

16:07:46 We work with PHB.
16:07:46 

16:07:50 In 2017, we developed a document
16:07:51  called pathway 1000.

16:07:54 It was developed by the former executive director,
16:07:57  Maxine Fitzpatrick.

16:08:00 We actually have a goal as our organization to create
16:08:03  1,000 units.

16:08:07 800 will be for-sale products for the population that we
16:08:10  serve.

16:08:13 This pathway 1000 was heavily supported by
16:08:16  the city and PHB as well as the community
16:08:19  in general.

16:08:22 In addition to that, we also are in
16:08:26  conversations with PHB about additional
16:08:29  housing developments that we would like to
16:08:34  do in the very near future
16:08:37  and have more for-sale products coming out of
16:08:40  our organization.
16:08:41 

16:08:44 We do utilize the tax abatement program, the 
16:08:48 SDC waivers, density bonus, all the
16:08:49  things that Steve just mentioned.

16:08:53 The downpayment assistance that we utilize
16:08:56  in addition to what is available through 
16:08:59 PHB, we also tap into Wells Fargo,
16:09:02  I believe Myer memorial trust has had funding for us
16:09:05  as well.

16:09:08 I think we work very well with our partners in
16:09:12  pushing out home ownership opportunities for the
16:09:15  Black community.

16:09:18 I do want to recognize the staff from my team that does that
16:09:19  work.

16:09:23 It's Andrea, it's Lisa, Linda, Yvette and
16:09:23  Suzanne.

16:09:28 All those girls are always hustling to make sure that we are
16:09:31  getting people home ownership-ready through the programs that
16:09:36  we offer.
16:09:36 

16:09:38 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:09:39 Taylor?

16:09:42 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  Is my audio a little bit
16:09:42  better?
Great.

16:09:42 Okay.

16:09:46 Sorry about it being gar 
16:09:47 believey for.

16:09:51 So -- the ownership is limited amount of work we
16:09:52  do around home ownership.

16:09:53 It's federal or state programs.

16:09:56 So the -- initiative and the goals program which is
16:09:59  a federal kind of the
16:10:01  family self- -- 

16:10:01 program.

16:10:04 We don't partner with PHB
16:10:06  specifically on home ownership.

16:10:09 We're very interested in learning about -- policy
16:10:12  as we do the developments of
16:10:16  existing affordable housing with the potential to
16:10:17  add home ownership opportunities.

16:10:20 We're trying to think about how we have land
16:10:23  on site, affordable rental housing
16:10:27  and additional home ownership for households
16:10:28  --
specifically [indiscernible].

16:10:38 >> Dana Shephard:  Diane, you want to go
16:10:40  ahead.

16:10:41 >> Diane Linn:  Sure.

16:10:42 I'm going to jump in.

16:10:45 Our partnership with the city of Portland was established about 21
16:10:49  years ago when the Portland community land trust
16:10:52  entity was established and again, the name was changed about 15 years
16:10:54  ago.

16:10:58 When PDC was managing housing, we were able to grow the
16:11:01  portfolio in Portland with downpayment
16:11:08  assistance grants, assistance in land.
16:11:08 

16:11:11 Since it became PHB, we've received limited 
16:11:15 TIF funding in the interstate
16:11:16  corridor and -- 

16:11:19 just a few was referenced in the report of those grants.
16:11:19 

16:11:21 Just a couple a year.

16:11:24 Given the need and the impact, this is where we're hoping to
16:11:27  open up the conversation that there's so much more that's
16:11:29  needed.

16:11:32 In fact, while the grants in
16:11:35  North/Northeast are over 100,000 or can be
16:11:37  100,000, in lengths --

16:11:40 if you have to spend 10% of 
16:11:43 80,000, it's just way below what we're able to
16:11:46  provide, again, for a permanent affordable home
16:11:50  ownership opportunity for between 60 and 80% of median
16:11:51  income.

16:11:54 I'm hoping we can open that conversation about the fact that other
16:11:57  jurisdictions are giving more for
16:12:01  that gap.

16:12:02 Especially in Lintz we have an issue.

16:12:06 All of the factors that go into
16:12:10  it -- calculate affordability include taxation.

16:12:14 We can provide discounted taxes because, again, it's
16:12:17  based on a shared equity program.

16:12:21 We've codified that practice at the state level this last year.
16:12:21 

16:12:25 We've partnered with habitat on the
16:12:28  -- and the awe initiative on all the North/Northeast
16:12:30  preference policy work for many years.

16:12:34 I have to say in all candor, that I'm disappointed
16:12:37  with the number of homes produced after
16:12:41  the work and effort that's gone in.

16:12:44 It's no surprise to anybody here, we were on the brink of providing
16:12:47  40 new units of the 5020 condo
16:12:49  project and that one didn't work.

16:12:53 Mostly because of COVID
16:12:53  impact.

16:12:58 Strong programs, strong incentives, not enough and
16:13:01  not for the families that we're really trying to
16:13:02  serve here.

16:13:06 Really focused on the
16:13:06  BIPOC community.

16:13:08 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you all for that.

16:13:10 Moving on to question number 3.

16:13:13 Some of you have already answered in your previous responses.

16:13:18 The challenges you face in creating home ownership
16:13:20  opportunities for BIPOC households.

16:13:23 What I've heard was credit, savings, being able to find
16:13:24  a home.

16:13:27 The subsidy amount.

16:13:32 And so you have more to add to 
16:13:35 that, specifically BIPOC households, that would be
16:13:35  great.

16:13:38 We'll start with Kymberly,
16:13:42  Diane, peg Taylor Steve.

16:13:46 >> Kymberly Horner:  One of the things that I feel had very
16:13:49  strongly about is the economic
16:13:52  opportunities that are not necessarily available for
16:13:54  the BIPOC community.

16:13:57 So we can build housing, we can get people
16:14:01  into home ownership opportunities, but at the end of the day, if
16:14:05  we are not actively working at
16:14:10  getting people in strong positions
16:14:14  with their employers and
16:14:17  with their salaries, we're always going to be facing the
16:14:20  same challenges in the long run that
16:14:23  we faced in the past.

16:14:26 Many times when there are major events that happen in our 
16:14:30 world, in our
16:14:31  economy.

16:14:33 It is the BIPOC.

16:14:36 Particularly the Black person that is the first person
16:14:39  Marched out the door when it comes time to lay off some things of that
16:14:47  nature.

16:14:50 We need to make sure we're preparing people for home ownership in the
16:14:53  long-term and not getting into a home and being hopeful that the
16:14:55  person can stay in the home.

16:14:58 So as we do this very, very
16:15:02  important work, I think we
16:15:05  cannot take our eye off the ball with regard to getting people
16:15:09  into entrepreneurship
16:15:13  opportunities as well as 
16:15:17 well-paying
16:15:20  jobs.

16:15:21 >> Diane Linn:  I think I'm next.

16:15:22 Right?

16:15:25 I couldn't agree more with what Kymberly just said.
16:15:25 

16:15:28 If we don't deal with the economics of what BIPOC
16:15:33  community families make, this gap is going to be harder and
16:15:35  harder.

16:15:38 Our challenge is clear, we have to figure out a way in the city to
16:15:42  find sources, reliable source or
16:15:46  sources of
16:15:49  resources to invest in home
16:15:50  ownership.

16:15:54 And open up more rental opportunities as Steve
16:15:55  discussed.

16:15:58 And get the continuum of housing moving in the
16:16:02  right direction towards not
16:16:05  just having people in units or even back in their old neighborhood in the
16:16:07  unit.

16:16:10 But actually in a home that they own that they can control and will build well for
16:16:13  them and where they are able
16:16:14  to thrive.

16:16:17 The question is how do we come up
16:16:22  collectively with strategies and resources to put into filling that 
16:16:22 gap.

16:16:26 We can't be discouraged as the gap grows.
16:16:26 

16:16:28 It's grown in other communities too.

16:16:31 We have to be diligent and really hyper
16:16:34  focused on how do we make that happen.

16:16:37 I think there's movement at the federal and state level that could be
16:16:37  leveraged.

16:16:41 I'm really hopeful about a few other
16:16:44  opportunities like the
16:16:45  affordability [indiscernible].

16:16:48 We're going to need to figure out a way to get more resources
16:16:49  into this conversation.

16:16:49 We're not going to make real progress.

16:16:56 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank up.

16:16:59 Peg, do you have anything to
16:16:59  add?

16:17:02 >> I wanted to add that there's this lack of
16:17:05  urgency when it comes to home ownership.

16:17:09 Up like what you find
16:17:10  in rental.

16:17:13 We recognize that rental people can't
16:17:14  afford.

16:17:17 The whole inequity that we have in Portland in terms of the difference in
16:17:20  income gap and
16:17:25  wealth gap between white and Black always gets overlooked.

16:17:28 What kind of society you create when one group
16:17:31  of people does not have the access to home ownership and the
16:17:34  opportunities that you have through the he can with it that you build in the house towards
16:17:38  starting a
16:17:39  business, college.

16:17:43 So it's always this -- the challenge I have
16:17:46  continually is that we can get more resources.

16:17:49 But we're always kind of like late to the say
16:17:51  the din r party.

16:17:53 You get what's left over.

16:17:56 I mean, even the bond
16:17:58  measures don't include home ownership.

16:18:01 There's never this feeling like even through our own bureau
16:18:04  that we're getting, like
16:18:07  a sense of being pushed to the front of the line now
16:18:07  and again.

16:18:11 The housing authority did one time use its section 8 vouchers
16:18:14  for home ownership.

16:18:15 Now, that program doesn't exist.

16:18:17 There's a whole lot more that don't exist.

16:18:21 Going to change from PDC to the
16:18:22  bureau.

16:18:22 Some factors.

16:18:26 I'm not really sure so much bureau to bureau
16:18:29  whether that would have changed because resources are so much
16:18:40  tighter.

16:18:43 There's a big huge private market out there part of this making
16:18:45  this affordable.

16:18:48 The real estate community, the
16:18:51  development
16:19:06  community.

16:19:10 An ideal home ownership program to bring people into properties where
16:19:13  they can build equity in some of the neighborhoods in
16:19:14  Portland.

16:19:17 Basically, I just kind of whittle it down to if we could have
16:19:20  a greater marketing, greater
16:19:24  urgency and greater thought of who else should be at
16:19:26  the table.

16:19:29 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank
16:19:30  you.

16:19:30 Taylor?

16:19:32 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  Forgot the order.

16:19:35 Folks have already said most of what I was thinking.

16:19:38 The one piece -- one thing I would add
16:19:42  I haven't heard yet is the barrier that we
16:19:46  cannot [indiscernible] at least the federal resources
16:19:50  to address racial disparity and
16:19:53  historic racial harm.
16:19:54 

16:19:58 I know the policy -- limitations about geographic
16:20:00  specific preferences.

16:20:01 That's something that we struggle with.

16:20:04 Would love to see change at the federal level.

16:20:07 Be able to have more explicit preferences
16:20:11  so that we can prioritize Black,
16:20:15  indigenous people for -- of all kinds especially
16:20:16  with -- 

16:20:16 [ Inaudible ]

16:20:19 And more resources.

16:20:24 More resources.

16:20:25 >> I'm going to jump in.

16:20:26 I agree.

16:20:29 I think the preference policy was a great example
16:20:31  for a number of reasons.

16:20:35 Part of it is that there's no shortage of people
16:20:38  of color led households with low incomes that are mortgage ready and
16:20:40  are ready to buy a home.

16:20:43 We do a selection round a few times a year.
16:20:44 

16:20:49 We have about 200 households a year fully qualified under 60% AMI.
16:20:49 

16:20:50 Fully qualified for our program.

16:20:53 The issue we face is that a majority of
16:20:57  the households that are mortgage ready without significant debt or credit
16:21:01  issues are immigrant households who have
16:21:03  come past ten years or so.

16:21:07 Haven't had as much time -- the Black, 
16:21:10 indigenous, Latinx households who have
16:21:14  generational ties, need more sustained effort to get
16:21:14  ready.

16:21:18 We don't have a sustained program long-term that we know is there to be
16:21:21  working towards, like a preference policy was.

16:21:24 It's really hard to be working with families and getting them ready and
16:21:27  the way we've done that and been successful is by, woulding with
16:21:31  PCRI and housing center and African American 
16:21:34 alliance, all the programs longer term to get folks
16:21:38  ready so that they're ready when the funds
16:21:43  are available.
16:21:45 

16:21:48 Before the preference policy, we haven't had the ability to have a long-term plan for
16:21:50  that.

16:21:51 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:21:54 I'm going to combine the last two questions.

16:21:57 When we're done with that, we'll discuss closing
16:21:58  remarks.

16:22:01 For the last two 
16:22:04 questions, does PHB have the right programs and incentives in
16:22:05  place?

16:22:07 We've heard other tools that you all use.

16:22:09 IDA, vouchers, things like that.

16:22:12 But if you could answer those two together, that
16:22:13  would be great.

16:22:16 We'll go in the order of Taylor,
16:22:19  sim berly, peg, Steve and
16:22:21  Diane.

16:22:22 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  I feel bad starting.

16:22:25 I'm not an
16:22:26  expert.

16:22:29 For the goals
16:22:37  program.

16:22:41 Above a certain point for us,
16:22:42  $361.

16:22:46 More than -- would be paying more than $361 towards their
16:22:47  rent.

16:22:51 The additional --
16:22:52  

16:22:54 [indiscernible] could be for asset building goals.

16:22:58 Something like that, IDA
16:23:01  or -- 

16:23:05 [ Muffled microphone ]

16:23:06 What other tools you use.

16:23:10 I mentioned the goals program and taking advantage of the
16:23:11  IDA initiative.

16:23:14 I would love a whole separate conversation about
16:23:17  vouchers and home ownership and whether that should be the
16:23:20  priority or making
16:23:24  vouchers universal for all eligible households
16:23:24  currently.

16:23:28 I know, Diane and I could debate about that robustly.

16:23:31 I'll leave it at that
16:23:33  for now.

16:23:36 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:23:38 Kymberly, you were next.

16:23:42 Does PHB have the right programs and incentives in place
16:23:45  and other tools you use to create
16:23:46  homeowners.

16:23:50 >> Kymberly Horner:  I believe that there are a number
16:23:53  of programs that PHB does have that are,
16:23:56  you know, great for home ownership 
16:23:57 opportunities.

16:24:00 But it is as -- I don't know if it was peg
16:24:05  or if it was Sarah that
16:24:08  indicated the conversation now needs to take a much larger
16:24:11  platform than what we can do as a
16:24:15  small nonprofit and as PHB
16:24:21  alone.

16:24:25 These initiatives and programs need to be developed at a larger
16:24:28  level where the federal and state partners are looking at this
16:24:32  with us.
16:24:32 

16:24:35 Many times they take the position that generational wealth
16:24:39  building is not
16:24:42  necessarily something that they
16:24:47  can do I will say
16:24:51  that any time you have
16:24:54  outside developers building home ownership
16:24:57  projects, as well as rental projects, that is wealth
16:24:58  building.

16:25:02 It might not be wealth building for the targeted 
16:25:05 individual, but that is wealth building for those developers that
16:25:08  are doing those
16:25:13  activities.

16:25:15 Larger platform is what we need to do.

16:25:18 In terms of vouchers and
16:25:22  incentives, we don't have as much experience with
16:25:23  vouchers.

16:25:26 Maybe my staff can speak to that a little differently than I.
16:25:27 

16:25:30 But I have not seen us have vouchers
16:25:34  for home ownership and that is something that would be very interesting for
16:25:35  us to explore.

16:25:40 Because any new tool is welcomed
16:25:43  by our
16:25:45  organization.

16:25:47 Thank you.

16:25:52 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:25:54 >> Am I next?

16:25:55 >> Dana Shephard:  Yes, you are.

16:25:56 >> Okay.

16:26:02 I would say as far as right programs and incentives in 
16:26:05 place, the preference
16:26:08  policy could be expanded into a greater geographic
16:26:09  area.

16:26:11 Would make a big difference.

16:26:14 I think we've overpriced the limitation of
16:26:17  the houses because of the limitation right now and
16:26:21  go into a particularly a -- just
16:26:23  citywide ideally.

16:26:26 At least go north and
16:26:28  east.

16:26:30 As far as other tools, I did mention vouchers.

16:26:34 There have been institutes promoting that as
16:26:35  another source.

16:26:38 Using it again.

16:26:41 I would say with
16:26:44  other
16:26:45  tools -- 

16:26:48 I kind of fall -- I think we've got the tools there.

16:26:52 It's really going back to, are we working well with others
16:26:55  on
16:26:56  that.

16:26:59 Especially with all the requirements on development making
16:27:02  it so slow that by the time something comes around, it's 
16:27:03 overpriced then.

16:27:06 As far as what we use for home buyers, we are a mortgage broker.
16:27:07 

16:27:10 So we're using as much as we can to finance, but we're
16:27:12  financing on the back end.

16:27:15 So the -- a lot of the tools really need to be in the front end
16:27:18  to be able to bring the prices down.

16:27:21 So I'll just leave it at that.

16:27:22 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:27:24 Steve and then Diane.

16:27:25 >> I agree.

16:27:28 I don't think it's an issue that we're missing some significant tool
16:27:29  or program.

16:27:32 The only thing I can think of that would be
16:27:36  helpful if there was some tool in which we were able to access
16:27:37  land.

16:27:40 Purchasing land, getting it off the market and banking it for future
16:27:41  development.

16:27:42 Otherwise, the tools are there.

16:27:46 The issue we brought up is the lack of money
16:27:49  to help people buy homes and develop homes and having a
16:27:51  longer term sustainable fund for that.

16:27:54 I think Diane mentioned
16:27:59  earlier that over the past decade or so, with 
16:28:02 PHB, we've only seen 50 or so
16:28:04  units of home ownership get developed.

16:28:06 Most of that with habitat.

16:28:09 The five years before that, we were able to develop hundreds
16:28:12  of units with four or five organizations through just the funds
16:28:14  getting put out by PDC.

16:28:17 It might be an issue of some of the different
16:28:20  urban renewal areas, slow downturns in dollars as well.
16:28:21 

16:28:23 It's not that we're missing a tool.

16:28:25 We're missing a sustainable funding source.

16:28:30 Other jurisdictions, we use home funds and CDBG
16:28:31  funds.

16:28:34 We're now using lift funds, we have 100 units
16:28:38  under
16:28:40  construction using lift funds through the state.

16:28:42 We use new market tax credits.

16:28:45 Most of our buyers have some IDA
16:28:48  accounts set up as 
16:28:51 well.

16:28:54 >> Diane Linn:  Happy to wrap up this section.

16:28:58 Really appreciating that a couple people brought
16:29:01  up that home ownership has -- I always tease about
16:29:04  it being the tip of the tail of the dog of affordable
16:29:07  housing.

16:29:11 It gets around and makes -- I don't want to go into the
16:29:13  anatomy issues around this.

16:29:15 We haven't had an open comprehensive conversation.

16:29:19 This has been the best conversation I have heard in many years as a
16:29:21  participant of PHAC.

16:29:24 I think we have to take it to a higher 
16:29:25 level.

16:29:28 We have to be more comprehensive.

16:29:32 We have to get create about collaborating with the
16:29:32  builders.

16:29:33 Both nonprofit.

16:29:35 Not just those represented here.

16:29:38 But also some of the CDC
16:29:42 s that want to be involved in the
16:29:44  conversation.

16:29:47 We're brewing on the homebuilders association looking at residential
16:29:50  infill and looking at the six-plex
16:29:51  developments.

16:29:54 If we don't get creative to partner with them
16:29:57  to help them reach people of color, they will build
16:30:01  duplexes, tris, quads, and sold to white
16:30:02  families at very high prices.

16:30:05 If we can get in on the projects early and be supported by
16:30:09  PHB to do that and we have one project that's going to
16:30:12  showcase that, a four-unit project in
16:30:15  North/Northeast, that private developer is building for
16:30:16  preference policy families.

16:30:19 We've got to do more of that and have, as we've talked
16:30:23  about over and over again, an important conversation about where
16:30:26  resources come from and collective strategy could really
16:30:29  help us all move this -- the
16:30:31  needle.

16:30:32 Yeah.

16:30:33 There's one other element I would say.

16:30:37 I think
16:30:41  inclusionary zoning is -- adding hundreds
16:30:44  of unit
16:30:47  through 
16:30:48 inclusionary zoning.

16:30:52 I've weighed in on -- for home ownership.

16:30:53 That's a possibility.

16:30:56 I think the upshot of the
16:30:59  whole conversation is if we're going to talk about justice and we're going to talk
16:31:02  about equity, we've got to have
16:31:06  this conversation with the city in a much more
16:31:08  comprehensive higher level.

16:31:11 Hopefully, we can include some of the commissioners and some of the leaders from
16:31:14  other bureaus to get our heads together about what we need
16:31:15  to do.

16:31:18 Otherwise, five or six homes a year or a couple projects in
16:31:21  northeast is just not as good as Portland can 
16:31:22 do.

16:31:25 We don't want to be discouraged by prices and challenges.
16:31:25 

16:31:26 We want to step in and lean into these challenges.

16:31:31 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:31:34 I know there's a question from one of the other
16:31:37  commissioners.

16:31:38 Shannon, I believe you have to go.

16:31:42 I didn't know if you wanted to close anything up before you go.
16:31:42 

16:31:45 If not, we'll go with that question.
16:31:45 

16:31:48 >> Shannon Callahan:  Dana, I'm having someone step in on the call
16:31:52  for me.

16:31:54 I'm staying in here for the moment.

16:31:55 >> Dana Shephard:  Cool.

16:31:55 All right.

16:31:57 I believe we -- sorry about that.

16:32:01 Let me just say thank you all for
16:32:04  your input, the information you provided.

16:32:06 You are going to share a quick wrap-up what you
16:32:08  want us to take away from this.

16:32:11 I think there is a question.

16:32:14 Did you say someone had
16:32:16  a question?

16:32:19 >> Do you want to jump in and ask your
16:32:22  question now?

16:32:24 >> Thank you.

16:32:28 It's all really interesting and very 
16:32:29 educational.

16:32:32 It's something that I stay on the multifamily
16:32:33  side.

16:32:36 So I don't know a lot about the home
16:32:38  ownership side.

16:32:41 I just wonder, our research and I go
16:32:46  to this, what models have we seen in other areas that have
16:32:48  had the ability to move the dial.

16:32:52 So are there other cities in the country that have really put a
16:32:57  proactive approach to this, who can we look to as a model
16:33:00  rather than reinventing the wheel and then we can
16:33:04  customize it
16:33:07  potentially to our region and issues that we face
16:33:09  specifically that I just think about.

16:33:12 Funding is the 
16:33:14 key, right?

16:33:17 If you don't have the money, all of the -- so
16:33:18  amazing and important.

16:33:20 I think about how are people funding this.

16:33:24 Could we put a fund together where you can get
16:33:27  private and public dollars in a fund to maybe move
16:33:29  the dial.

16:33:32 So that's my only
16:33:37  comment.

16:33:40 >> I'll have a little try at this.

16:33:43 I've seen other areas, Seattle is one where they've used transportation
16:33:45  money.

16:33:49 We haven't seen any movement that way in Portland
16:33:52  using transportation
16:33:56  dollars.

16:34:00 >> Dana Shephard:  I will say just recently, we are currently, only a
16:34:05  few months ago at this point, using the short-term rental
16:34:08  fee right now citywide for
16:34:10  downpayment assistance.

16:34:13 That first person closed only two months after that
16:34:15  money was awarded to us.

16:34:18 That was someone that's been working with PCRI for several years that had
16:34:21  access to interstate funding.

16:34:24 As soon as that -- those funds were available to purchase
16:34:26  elsewhere, they closed pretty quickly.

16:34:29 I just wanted to acknowledge that we did
16:34:34  get one million dollars in short-term rental fees.
16:34:41 

16:34:42 Not nearly enough what we need.

16:34:45 >> I'd like to say, too, this home ownership dynamic or lack of dynamic
16:34:48  maybe is a better way to put 
16:34:52 it, is happening all over the country with the friends I of
16:34:53  home buying.

16:34:55 We're not unusual in that.

16:34:58 I think what's unusual, we don't have much development
16:35:02  going on, which is partly the pandemic because you can't get supplies to build very well
16:35:07  right now.

16:35:10 Then the whole permitting system is probably slower than it used to be.

16:35:14 There's a lot of overlays right now feeding the prices.

16:35:17 What's unfortunate, though, it just doesn't get
16:35:21  talked about.
16:35:22 

16:35:24 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you.

16:35:27 >> Stefanie Kondor:  There's investors coming in and buying like
16:35:29  housing.

16:35:33 Like owe o I'm not talking
16:35:35  like mom and pop.

16:35:39 Sophisticated funds that are going out and taking down like a
16:35:42  portfolio of housing or a subdivision
16:35:46  of new housing that's being
16:35:49  built.

16:35:53 I don't know if anybody is looking at that at
16:35:55  the state level.

16:35:58 The short-term rentals that they have and you put this
16:36:02  investor funds, the trajectory of that to
16:36:05  the housing stock for home ownership is going to be pretty
16:36:07  devastating.

16:36:10 So somebody should be looking at those
16:36:15  things.

16:36:18 >> Diane Linn:  That's why we have to get ahead of that market trend.

16:36:21 We know we're dealing in a speculative housing market that's
16:36:25  generating tons of bill for a lot of limited number
16:36:26  of people.

16:36:29 How do we create an
16:36:33  opportunity for lower income, people of color
16:36:37  or median income, up to 
16:36:39 100% of median income.

16:36:40 They got everything aligned.

16:36:43 How do we make it possible for them to get into
16:36:44  units.

16:36:47 I think Steve mentioned this too.

16:36:49 With the land acquisition strategy is really important.

16:36:53 I happen to know there's a lot of jurisdictions
16:36:56  sitting on a lot of land in this
16:36:58  region.

16:37:01 The faith community has a lot of land.

16:37:04 Churches are prepared to hand it over or donate it for
16:37:06  discounted prices.

16:37:10 These are the kinds -- part of the conversation that needs
16:37:13  to happen is how do we get land
16:37:16  dedicated and units developed at the most efficient level
16:37:20  possible and then matched in the
16:37:23  front end so we know that it
16:37:27  will work for preference policy families or
16:37:29  middle to low income families.

16:37:32 >> Dana Shephard:  I will take it back in just a second here just for some
16:37:33  final comments.

16:37:37 We can wrap back around to another agenda item that we may have skipped
16:37:37  over.

16:37:43 I have noticed in other major cities deal with -- making huge purchases, buying up a lot
16:37:45  of properties.

16:37:48 Now that Zillow is in this business
16:37:49  as well.

16:37:52 So I expect that -- perhaps it hasn't happened
16:37:55  much here just because of the prices.

16:37:58 We should probably
16:38:01  expect that.

16:38:04 Oh, I realize I did not answer
16:38:06  Sarah's question from earlier.

16:38:09 I believe you asked about how do we know if it's a loan or a
16:38:10  grant, Sarah.

16:38:12 I don't think I answered that part.

16:38:16 Just so you know our downpayment
16:38:19  assistance, it is -- it starts off as a loan
16:38:22  except for when it's a part
16:38:22  of land trust model.

16:38:26 But for the downpayment assistance loan, it starts off as a
16:38:29  loan and then it -- excuse me.

16:38:32 15 years, it is 50% forgiven and then
16:38:36  3% every year after until it is fully
16:38:39  forgiven at year 30.

16:38:42 At which they do not have to pay anything back.

16:38:45 I wanted to make sure I made that clear and answered your
16:38:46  full question.

16:38:49 >> Sarah Stevenson:  Thank you.

16:38:51 >> Dana Shephard:  Also, just --

16:38:53 that's why it's good to have program staff here.

16:38:54 Ira caught me on something.

16:38:58 For the 87 preference policy homeowners, those are not all
16:38:59  downpayment assistance.

16:39:03 Some of
16:39:06  them do include a win Kilpatrick and cull I
16:39:09  commons, we have a preference policy there too.

16:39:11 They weren't all downpayment assistance.

16:39:14 So with that, I'm -- 

16:39:17 >> Shannon Callahan:  Can I say one thing before we close this item.
16:39:17 

16:39:20 I did really appreciate this conversation.

16:39:23 All the panelists who came and really had a candid conversation.

16:39:25 I agree with this.

16:39:28 It is not one of our best conversations about home 
16:39:29 ownership, but one.

16:39:32 Best conversations we've had at PHAC overall.

16:39:35 I think it's raised a lot of really good ideas that
16:39:37  deserve significant follow-up.

16:39:40 So I would hope that we're
16:39:43  having that -- setting up a follow-up discussion for this as
16:39:43  well.

16:39:47 I will say the one thing that owe
16:39:49  I actually don't have the right tools of the city.

16:39:51 I think it's not just the money.

16:39:54 But I actually think we need to modernize some of our
16:39:55  programs.

16:39:58 We added a lot of new tools and incentives
16:40:02  for the private market through various different avenues.

16:40:05 They've come at us through zoning requirements.

16:40:08 There's no real way they all fit
16:40:09  together.

16:40:12 And/or a way that we can truly talk through the nonprofit
16:40:16  or the public market sector a real
16:40:17  package.

16:40:20 I don't think we have a package.

16:40:24 I don't think if someone said hey, I want to develop here, we could
16:40:27  actually not just moneywise but dealwise
16:40:28  put that together.

16:40:32 Yoping some of our old products work for what we're
16:40:34  facing now.

16:40:37 That's a quick overview of
16:40:39  my thoughts.

16:40:42 I do think as a team, through PHB and our
16:40:45  affordable housing home ownership providers, that's the kind of conversations
16:40:46  we need to get to too.

16:40:50 Is really what those -- how we're able to act anymore
16:40:53  bli and keep the pipeline moving.

16:40:56 Thank you all for your time
16:40:56  today.

16:40:58 Just greatly appreciate it.

16:41:00 It's really thought-provoking.

16:41:02 I could talk forever about what I heard.

16:41:03 I will not.

16:41:06 >> Dana Shephard:  We were going to have a session where we summarized it
16:41:08  Dory and I.

16:41:11 Instead, I would like for each of you to quickly share something
16:41:14  you want to, to wrap this up as far as the panelists
16:41:15  go.

16:41:18 Peg, Taylor, Steve, Diane and Kymberly.

16:41:19 Make it really quick.

16:41:22 Anything you want to say that is burning for
16:41:25  you at this
16:41:26  moment.

16:41:27 >> That's burning for me.

16:41:28 Nothing right now.

16:41:29 >> Dana Shephard:  Good enough.

16:41:32 Thank you.

16:41:32 Taylor.

16:41:35 >> Taylor Smiley Wolfe:  I'll take my -- hat off.

16:41:37 I wanted to step in.

16:41:40 Whoever said we need to
16:41:43  really advocate for subsidy source for affordable
16:41:46  middle housing as the zoning has changed, not
16:41:50  just Portland but around the
16:41:50  state --

16:41:54 [indiscernible] ensure that those are getting built for affordable home ownership 
16:41:57 opportunities, with intention about their locations.

16:42:00 So just wanted to echo that comment that someone
16:42:01  else made.

16:42:04 >> Dana Shephard:  Thank you, Taylor.

16:42:06 Steve, then Diane.

16:42:09 >> I saw some in the chat box around new market tax
16:42:10  credits.

16:42:11 I do think there's opportunity there.

16:42:15 We are anyone to implement new market tax credit in both
16:42:18  larger home ownership projects or even scattered
16:42:19  projects.

16:42:21 And accessing those dollars is a challenge.

16:42:23 Love to continue that conversation.

16:42:26 Otherwise, I just say I'd love to see us
16:42:30  in the city, really rally around a joint effort at
16:42:32  closing the minority home ownership gap.

16:42:34 We know the numbers.

16:42:37 It's about 11,000 households that need to buy homes in order to
16:42:40  close the gap between white households and households
16:42:41  of color.

16:42:44 That's not a crazy gap to consider filling in the next ten years.

16:42:48 I think if we built up enough energy around it, we
16:42:50  could identify the resources.

16:42:53 Look forward to a continued
16:42:56  conversation.

16:42:59 >> Dana Shephard:  Diane, are you able say anything?

16:43:01 >> Diane Linn:  Can you hear me?

16:43:04 I just really appreciate the fact that we had this
16:43:05  conversation.

16:43:08 I'm glad to hear Shannon's reaction and that it really
16:43:12  is important to get an opportunity to -- sorry.
16:43:13 

16:43:14 To get in depth.

16:43:16 I'll leave it with the comments everyone else makes.
Again, appreciate the conversation.

16:43:24 >> Real quick, Dana. 

16:43:25 >> Dana Shephard:  Sure.

16:43:28 >> One of the things we're looking at
16:43:31  equity investments into small developments, partly because there's low capital
16:43:34  developers that can do an 8 to
16:43:35  ten-unit development.

16:43:38 They don't have the equity.

16:43:41 It's a way to get them started and
16:43:43  infill housing.

16:43:46 Using that kind of bank
16:43:51  capital and as Sarah pointed out, using the
16:43:53  tax credits.

16:43:56 >> Dana Shephard:  Kymberly can you wrap it up.
16:43:57 

16:44:00 >> Stefanie Kondor:  I don't think you can use that for
16:44:02  residential, the new market tax credits.

16:44:03 You can use a piece of it.

16:44:07 But the predominant has to go to commercial if you're going to layer
16:44:07  it.

16:44:09 You're not looking at eight units.

16:44:12 You need something substantial
16:44:14  in size.

16:44:16 Projectwise to constitute that.

16:44:19 You want a project that's 15 
16:44:23 million, 10 million at least in the new
16:44:27  market
16:44:30  tax.

16:44:33 The fees are 700,000 or something crazy.

16:44:34 It's not for a small project.

16:44:37 The rule of thumb is 80%
16:44:41  of the income generated off it can be from
16:44:42  residential.

16:44:45 But then the for-sale component, I don't know how that
16:44:49  would work.

16:44:51 I think there's a lot there to think about.

16:44:53 >> Dana Shephard:  We've made note of it.

16:44:55 Thank you for that.

16:44:55 Stef.

16:44:56 Kymberly?

16:45:00 >> Kymberly Horner:  I think that we need to look at
16:45:03  all types of programs that we can
16:45:05  make available to potential buyers.

16:45:09 People have asked me, well is it the land trust model,
16:45:10  what kind of model.

16:45:13 I'm saying that we need to look at all sorts.
16:45:13 

16:45:17 There's not a one shoe that fits all.
16:45:18 

16:45:21 We have a very diverse community that we
16:45:23  try to represent in terms of home ownership.

16:45:26 We need to have programs that represent as many people
16:45:27  as possible.

16:45:31 We also need to look at construction in
16:45:33  the way we're building.

16:45:36 When we talk about the smaller infill, there's another product that's
16:45:39  sweeping the nation, not sure if it's made it to
16:45:40  Oregon yet.

16:45:42 But it's with 3 D printing.

16:45:46 People are able to get homes built in
16:45:48  a relatively quick amount of time.

16:45:51 Looking at some of those types of
16:45:55  options for different types of construction
16:45:57  is going to be helpful in the long run.

16:46:00 Because we do know that construction costs are the things
16:46:04  that are he will rye making
16:46:06  it ill affordable for us to build.