Exploring Portland middle housing at the NW Natural Street of Dreams

Today, many Oregonians face high housing costs because the supply of diverse housing is so low.

For a variety of reasons, the construction of more traditional housing types like single-family homes and apartment complexes has remained the primary form for any new housing built in the last several decades. However, given the growing housing crisis, Oregon became the first state in the nation to re-legalize another form of housing, often called “Missing Middle Housing.”

These building types, such as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage clusters, and courtyard buildings, provide diverse housing options while supporting active public spaces and locally serving retail. By using urban lands more efficiently, these house-scale buildings fit seamlessly into existing residential neighborhoods and help reduce the environmental impact of housing by supporting walkability and public transportation options. These products tend to produce slightly smaller home sizes, which can provide more affordable and accessible housing choices for people earning lower and moderate incomes.

“The creation of new, high-quality middle housing types is essential to addressing our region’s severe housing crisis and undersupply problems,” said Preston Korst, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs at the Home Building Association of Greater Portland. “Middle housing has the potential to create a new era of generational wealth for communities that have been traditionally left out of the benefits of homeownership.”

Combined, these newly re-allowed housing types will impact the market by addressing the mismatch between the available U.S. housing stock and shrinking household sizes while encouraging more entry-level and age-in-place homeownership opportunities.

The City of Portland making affordable home buying possible

The City of Portland incentivizes the creation and sale of affordable middle housing through its Homebuyer Opportunity Limited Tax Exemption (HOLTE) and System Development Charges (SDC) Waiver Programs. While quite technical, these tools are unique from other programs because they offer both developer-based incentives and homebuyer subsidies.

SDC Wavers help offset or eliminate the builder’s responsibility to pay for System Development Charges (also known as impact fees) that can run upwards of $50,000 per unit. The HOLTE program offers a sizeable 10-year property tax abatement to prospective homebuyers earning a low income (less than 100% of the Median Family Income, which is about $114,400 for a family of four).

These programs require that all homes be sold to qualified buyers at no more than $455,000. This program has been instrumental in catalyzing the market to invest in creating starter homes and first-time homeownership — an incredibly difficult product to make. As a result of these programs, we’ve seen affordable homes being built and sold to many in our community who would never have been able to afford to own a home in this market environment. The City of Portland’s creation of these successful, innovative tools is a great example of public-private partnerships that deliver tangible benefits to our underserved communities.

Because DREAMS look different

This year, the NW Natural Street of Dreams is showcasing four builders who are actively supplying Portland residents with move-in ready, modern, and affordable middle housing options that include cottage clusters, duplexes, townhomes, and container homes. Dez Development, Aker Development, Fish Construction, and Relevant Buildings are leading the local Portland market in contributing to accessible housing options to make first-time homebuyers’ dreams come true. As the economy continually changes and home ownership remains a pipe dream for some of the younger home buyers, Portland’s growing inventory of middle housing options is a hopeful solution to the ever-growing housing affordability crisis. This year, following the theme that dreams look different to everyone, we are proud to feature these housing options as a benchmark for what Portland can do to help alleviate the housing crisis.