City Council Approves First Tax Breaks Under Portland’s Inclusionary Housing Policy

The first 23 units under the city's inclusionary zoning policy approved for tax credits.

(Rosie Struve)
By Rachel Monahan

Portland City Council on Wednesday approved the first three developments to receive tax credits under the Inclusionary Housing program.

The three separate projects—in the Woodstock, Mt. Tabor, and Buckman neighborhoods—will have 170 units of housing, 23 of which will be affordable to people making between 60 and 80 percent of median income.

The new policy, which took effect in February, requires that buildings of 20 units or more create affordable units.

"Launching inclusionary housing with more than 20 affordable new units in three of our great Southeast neighborhoods is great first step," said Mayor Ted Wheeler in a statement. "Moving forward, we have a framework in place to ensure that growth benefits the people who live and work here."

Last week, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability released a memo analyzing the first six months of the Inclusionary Housing policy. The memo says "it's too early to determine" the impacts of the policy, but that there's no evidence of developers seeking to evade the affordable housing requirements by submitting for projects under 20 units.

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