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.