PDC Reserves $2.3 Mil for Six Affordable Housing Projects

PORTLAND-The Portland Development Commission is assisting several non-profit developers round out their financing packages for six affordable housing projects around the city. The PDC’s $2.3 million in committed funds will leverage $11.32 million in new development creating 85 units of affordable housing, 74 of which will serve households earning 0-50% of area median income.

The PDC provides such funding twice a year through a spring and fall request for proposals process, says the PDC’s housing development finance manager Andy Wilch. “These projects have gone out and secured all of their other financing commitments and they come to us and say ‘here’s the number of units we can build if you can fill in the gap in our financing,’” Wilch tells GlobeSt. “If we like what they bring to the table, we reserve the funds; if they then meet all of the conditions, we make a binding commitment.”

The money is provided either as a loan bearing 3% interest or in exchange for at least 50% of the net cash flow that a project generates, says Wilch, adding that projects generally take 24 months to be approved and completed once they receive their reservation of funds. Here’s a look at the projects that received a reservation of PDC funds in this last round: