Apartment Boom

The cost of land, artificially inflated by scarcity caused by the UGB, has driven up pricing for all housing in Portland for decades.  When money was cheap, and government-sponsored loans artificially lowered borrowing rates, more people bought houses and apartment vacancies went up.   The combination of high land costs, a fluctuating economy, and a boom in cheap housing which depressed apartment rents resulted in a dearth of construction of new apartment units.  Not anymore.

To build new apartments, the market had to see an increase in renters' ability to pay higher prices for new construction, and a flexible building code that allowed developers to add density without adding parking, and placement of larger-scale apartments in previously off-limits areas in established neighborhoods.  The highest price per sf for apartment rents is in central Portland, so that is where new (expensive) construction is located. Smart Growth meets Urban Growth Boundary meets The Millennials.  Houses are out, apartments and "vibrancy" are in, and neighborhoods get the shaft.

Here are a couple of stories about what the tight rental market and government manipulation of the market has done to the fabric and inner life and soul of Portland.  For any city that has Metro's eyes on it for high density growth, the future is being played out in Portland and places where infill apartments, attached housing and mega-complexes are going in.  Portlanders, for all their acceptance of so-called "green" urban planning are running into the livability problems that density and smart growth theories bring.  What looks good on paper is not so pleasant in real life.  (How many policy-makers and bureaucrats actually live in one of the dense apartments or condos they support for the masses?)

Apartment Boom
Oregon Business, February 2014

Developers and builders are meeting pent-up demand for rental housing from a growing population and people who are once again finding work and needing places to live. These developers are doing nothing short of transforming some of Portland’s historic neighborhoods, entirely changing the character of some areas or creating brand-new neighborhoods in others. 

The apartment boom helps meet the city’s desire for density and development of long-stagnant areas. But it’s also rankling neighbors who bristle at the prospect of increased traffic, parking challenges and the loss of character that attracted residents to these neighborhoods in the first place.

How much longer the market will support such a boom is hard to tell. Estimates of units on the way range from 10,000 to 20,000. Whether it’s two more years or five or eight, the apartment spree will leave Portland neighborhoods much different than they are today: more densely packed with people, woven with restaurants and shops, and central to the city’s ongoing urban evolution.

“A lot of people are upset and moving out, but apparently the city doesn’t care,” Lambert says. “It’s like the people in government want it to become like New York City or a large metropolitan area. There are major, major problems with that, and I don’t think it’s right.”

Goose Hollow residents pledge to fight Goose Hollow project
Portland Business Journal, April 14, 2014. By Wendy Culverwell

Goose Hollow residents have united to fightMill Creek Residential Trust's plan to construct apartments on a park-like site owned by the Multnomah Athletic Club.

Mill Creek, led locally by Sam Rodriguez, wants to build 260 to 280 rental units above a below-grade parking garage that would serve both residents and visitors to the neighboring MAC Club, 1849 S.W. Salmon St.

Goose Hollow residents prepare to fight Multnomah Athletic Club-affiliated apartment project
The Oregonian, April 14, 2014, Elliot Njus