Affordable housing won’t end homelessness: Portland developer sets the record straight

Tom Brenneke wants Portland area residents to understand that government-supported affordable housing projects will not end homelessness.

Brenneke is not a conservative anti-tax activist. In fact, he is an affordable housing developer, the president of Guardian Real Estate, which is completing two projects in Portland.

Tiller Terrace is a six-story housing project at 1670 SW Alder St. with 214 units, all of which are priced to be affordable to households earning 60% of the area median income.

Slabtown Square is a market-rate project at 2070 NW Quimby St. with 200 units, 40 of which are priced to be affordable to households earning 80% of the AMI.

“These projects fill a vital need. They provide housing in the city to low-wage workers. But they will not solve the homeless crisis,” Brenneke told the Portland Tribune during a recent tour of Tiller Terrace.

Brenneke suggests that many Portland area residents are confused about this because of the way the homeless crisis and affordable housing projects are frequently covered by the media. He thinks stories about the affordable housing projects funded by Portland and Metro voters are especially unintentionally misleading, in part because a limited number of their units are reserved for those who need social services — including addiction and mental health treatment — to remain housed. Much of the service funds are provided by the Supportive Housing Services measure approved by Metro voters.

As Brenneke sees it, this confusion helps create two problems.

First, many voters are frustrated that there are still so many people living on the streets despite the affordable housing projects that have opened in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties in recent years.

And second, Brenneke worries that many low-wage earners who are entitled to live in the projects do not seek them out because they wrongly believe only homeless people qualify.

“These projects are important and valuable community resources. They are not understood or even misunderstood by many,” Brenneke said.

Affordable housing by the numbers

According to the Portland Housing Bureau, the 2024 area median income ranges from $81,830 for a single person to $116,900 for a family of four. As used by governments, the term “affordable housing” means housing units to not exceed 30% of the monthly income of households earning certain percentages of the AMI — usually 30%, 60% or 80%. Government funding allows some or all of the units in such projects to be meet those affordability standards.

Tiller Terrace is a $68.3 million project that was supported by Portland System Development Charges credits, a Metro Transit Oriented Development grant and an Oregon Housing Community Services award. This allows studio, one- and two-bedroom units to be priced between $1,198 and $1,530 a month. That makes them affordable to people and households earning between $49,450 and $63,720 a year.

“These are (for) our area’s service workers. Most are working full-time jobs. The misunderstanding by many is that these properties are serving the homeless or those living in tents,” Brenneke said.

Slabtown Square is a $98.2 million project that participates in Portland’s Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption program. That allows the 40 affordable units to be priced between $1,609 and $2,059 a month. That makes them affordable to people and households earning between $66.080 and $84,960 a year. Brenneke said they are the only affordable units in the large residential development on land formerly owned by the Conway Trucking company just west of the Pearl District.

Officials say bond projects part of the solution

Portland and Metro officials have not intentionally misled voters about the intent of their affordable housing bonds. The affordable housing shortage was a major issue when the City Council asked voters to approve its $258 million bond in 2016 and when the Metro Council asked voters to approve its $652.8 million bond in 2018. But before many of those projects could even break ground, the homeless crisis became on even bigger issue, prompting the Metro Council to ask voters to approve its Supportive Housing Services (SHS) measure in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was creating even more visibly homeless people, especially in Portland.

Now the Portland and Metro bonds are on track to create even more affordable units than originally promised. The Portland bond is projected to produce 1,859 units, while the Metro bond is expected to result in 4,660 units.

And, thanks to the SHS measure, an increasing number of the units are being set aside as Permanently Supportive Housing (PSH) for people who need social services to remain housed because of issues that contribute to chronical homelessness, such as addiction and mental illness.

The PSH units are only a percent of the total, however. Portland has now set aside 399 units, while the number for Metro will be 747. Though significant, that is still only around 18% of the total number of units being produced by the bond projects.

And Portland and Metro do not know for sure how many of those moving into the PSH units are actually homeless. Those who qualify can also be considered at imminent risk of homelessness.

But Portland and Metro officials insist even their non-PSH units are addressing the homeless crisis. At least some of their residents were previously homeless, they say. And many if not most of the residents are so low-income, they might be homeless if the projects were not available.

“It is safe to assume, given their income levels, that a large number of these residents would have trouble affording market-rate units, and may end up homeless as a result of inability to pay, if not for regulated housing opportunities,” said Portland Housing Bureau Public Information Officer Gabriel Mathews.

“The bond portfolio also has non-PSH units that are likely serving people experiencing homelessness, as well,” said Metro Housing Senior Public Affairs Specialist Emily Green.

Green also noted that 40% of the units in Metro bond-funded projects are priced to be affordable to people and households earning 30% or less of the AMI. They are considered to be “deeply affordable.” Studio apartments are $555 a month, one-bedroom apartments are $597 a month and two-bedrooms are $711 a month.

“It’s also worth noting that low wage earners and people experiencing homelessness are not mutually exclusive. Many folks who are experiencing homelessness are also low wage earners, and vice versa,” Green said.

According to Green, Metro is working with it affordable housing partners to develop more specific information about the backgrounds of those moving into both PSH and non-PSH units.