The city council in Portland, Ore., recently approved the “Residential Infill Project” (RIP), a package of amendments to the city’s zoning code that legalizes up to four homes on nearly any residential lot and sharply limits building sizes.
Developers will now have the option to build as many as six homes on any lot if at least half of the resulting sixplex is available to low-income households at regulated, below-market prices. In addition, parking mandates that required builders to provide space for cars were eliminated on most of the city’s residentially zoned land.
The new regulations could generate an estimated 4,000 to 24,000 new units of housing and reduce displacement for vulnerable renters by 28%. Portland is one of the leaders among North American communities trying to boost new multi-unit residential projects.
Since 2018, Minneapolis, Seattle, Austin, and Vancouver, British Columbia have passed code reforms aimed at increasing housing stocks and reducing costs to developers and residents.
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Apr 26, 2022
Investment firm Blackstone makes $13 billion acquisition in student-housing sector
Blackstone Inc., a New York-based investment firm, has agreed to buy student-housing owner American Campus Communities Inc.
Mixed-Use | Apr 22, 2022
San Francisco replaces a waterfront parking lot with a new neighborhood
A parking lot on San Francisco’s waterfront is transforming into Mission Rock—a new neighborhood featuring rental units, offices, parks, open spaces, retail, and parking.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 20, 2022
A Frankfurt tower gives residents greenery-framed views
In Frankfurt, Germany, the 27-floor EDEN tower boasts an exterior “living wall system”: 186,000 plants that cover about 20 percent of the building’s facade.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 20, 2022
Prism Capital Partners' Avenue & Green luxury/affordable rental complex is 96% leased
The 232-unit rental property, in Woodbridge, N.J., has surpassed the 96 percent mark in leases.
Senior Living Design | Apr 19, 2022
Affordable housing for L.A. veterans and low-income seniors built on former parking lot site
The Howard and Irene Levine Senior Community, designed by KFA Architecture for Mercy Housing of California, provides badly needed housing for Los Angeles veterans and low-income seniors
Market Data | Apr 14, 2022
FMI 2022 construction spending forecast: 7% growth despite economic turmoil
Growth will be offset by inflation, supply chain snarls, a shortage of workers, project delays, and economic turmoil caused by international events such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
Wood | Apr 13, 2022
Mass timber: Multifamily’s next big building system
Mass timber construction experts offer advice on how to use prefabricated wood systems to help you reach for the heights with your next apartment or condominium project.
Codes and Standards | Apr 13, 2022
LEED multifamily properties fetch higher rents and sales premiums
LEED-certified multifamily properties consistently receive higher rents than non-certified rental complexes, according to a Cushman & Wakefield study of two decades of data on Class A multifamily assets with 50 units or more.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 7, 2022
Ken Soble Tower becomes world’s largest residential Passive House retrofit
The project team for the 18-story high-rise for seniors slashed the building’s greenhouse gas emissions by 94 percent and its heating energy demand by 91 percent.
