Should Portland appropriate grants totaling $7 million from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development for the development of Barbur Apartments affordable…

This ordinance is requesting to increase budget appropriation by $2,000,000 in Economic Development Initiative Community Project Funding (EDI-CPF) administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). On behalf of the Portland Housing Bureau, Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden with support of Congresswomen Suzanne Bonamici submitted a federal appropriations request for $2,000,000 towards the construction of Barbur Apartments. The request was approved in the Consolidated Appropriations Act on March 5, 2024.This Ordinance also requests City Council to increase appropriation in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fund by $5,000,000. The increase comes from FY2021-22 and FY2022-23 CDBG grant balance.CDBG Program Objectives: Provide decent housing; Create suitable living environments; Expand economic opportunity.The purpose of the financing is to enable Innovative Housing, Inc to construct 149 new units of affordable housing plus one manager’s unit at 8066 SW Capitol Hill, 8090 SW Capitol Hill and 8205 SW 19th Avenue, in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood in SW Portland.

The reviewed sources do not clearly identify every existing policy, service, contract, or obligation that would remain unchanged.

This proposal concerns housing & homelessness and requires action through Portland’s public legislative process.

Due to the potential infrastructure investments in the SW Corridor including the expansion of light rail, Barbur Apartments is focused on the anti-displacement of the diverse communities of color along the SW Portland Corridor. IHI will provide resident services at Barbur Apartments and will partner with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) for culturally specific programming. IRCO serves SW Portland and focuses on immigrants and refugees, especially from East and North Africa, many of whom are also members of the Muslim community.IHI developed the baseline design of Barbur Apartments based on the SW Corridor Equity Development’s Strategy’s call to include larger sized bedroom apartments, provide more deeply affordable units at 30% MFI, add more housing for individuals with disabilities, and focus on larger apartment developments (100+ units). IHI met with culturally specific organizations, including African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO), HAKI Community Organization (HAKI), and the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) gathering feedback on the physical design, amenities and programming elements, which has been integrated into the design. IHI will strive to meet the equitable contracting goals of PHB and Metro on the Barbur Apartments project, including goals of 30% hard cost, and 20% professional service participation by COBID-certified firms. The development teams will also make a good-faith effort to meet or exceed the subgoals of 14% hard-cost participation by D/M/WBE-certified firms. Barbur Apartments will meet PHB’s Apprentice and Workforce Diversity requirement that 20% of hours worked by trade on contracts exceeding $300,000 and job site work hours in excess of 300 hours, be worked by state-registered apprentices. The project team will strive to meet or exceed the aspirational diversity goals of 22% of journey and 22% of apprentice hours worked by BIPOC individuals, and 9% of apprentice and 6% of journey-level hours worked by women. Section 8 requirements also apply. The General Contractor and subcontractors will need to prioritize efforts to hire and train Section 3 workers and contract with Section 3 Businesses. Section 3 workers should work at least 25% of all labor hours and targeted Section 3 workers should work at least 5% of all labor hours. The City’s procurement office will work with the development team to track Section 3 participation rates.