"City Council's decision today gives us the time and resources to target key areas that still need the city's help, such as our historic Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood," says Matt Hennessee, chairman of the board of the Portland Development Commission, which made the same decision in December.
As the city's urban renewal agency, the PDC charge is to serve as a catalyst for, and a participant in, a collective, public effort to focus attention and resources in blighted or underused areas to stimulate private investment and improve livability. Currently PDC manages 10 active urban renewal areas within the City of Portland.
Projects within a URA are funded with public bonds that are paid off by the increase in property tax revenue created from improvements to properties within the URA. Projects completed under the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area include public works projects such as Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Saturday Market, and commercial developments such as the Pioneer Place retail development.
Currently five of the city's 10 urban renewal areas are within the Central City, four of which are facing expiration dates in the next five to seven years. Since January, the PDC has been developing a work plan to examine the opportunities and constraints of consolidating, reconfiguring or expanding urban renewal areas in the Central City. PDC director Don Mazziotti says his agency will provide the council with ongoing updates and formally present its findings this fall, with final recommendations in spring 2005.
In addition to this Central City initiative, the PDC will move forward on analyzing potential investments and proposed projects, focusing both north and south of Burnside Avenue. One of the primary plan documents to guide investment is the "Downtown Waterfront Development Opportunities Report," which was approved by the PDC board of commissioners last November. It provides a series of prioritized strategies to address public safety concerns, better link the Downtown core to the river, energize the waterfront, create a successful downtown residential neighborhood and revitalize the city's historic districts. In addition to the Waterfront improvements, the PDC and its public and private partners have a long wish list of proposed projects including: transportation upgrades for Burnside and Couch streets, access and streetscape improvements for N.W. 3rd and 4th avenues and Naito Parkway, and light rail extension along the transit mall's north end.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
