PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland City Council approved a $178 million plan Wednesday to extend the Portland Streetcar about a mile-and-a-half to the massive Montgomery Park office building in the Northwest District.
The streetcar extension is the centerpiece to a 30- to 34-acre plan to transform a largely industrial area of Portland's Northwest District into a transit-friendly, mixed-use area with more than 2,000 new housing units. Portland City Council also approved this plan Wednesday, along with a public benefits agreement to guarantee the creation of more affordable housing and middle-wage jobs.
“The Montgomery Park Area Plan and streetcar extension will advance many of the city’s housing, economic development and climate resiliency goals," Mayor Ted Wheeler said. "It will send a message to investors that Portland is still a great place to build and to start a business and continues a long tradition of creating strong unique neighborhoods where Portlanders can live, work and play.”
Extending Portland Streetcar
The mile-and-a-half Portland Streetcar expansion would run down Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northwest Northrup Street and end at Northwest 26th Avenue and Northwest Wilson Street near the Montgomery Park building. It would allow the streetcar's North/South (NS) line to operate from the Montgomery Park to the South Waterfront.
Currently, the extension is estimated to cost $178 million, which includes the price for adding a new streetcar to the fleet. Without the addition of a new streetcar, the cost goes down to approximately $120 million.
So far, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has allocated $12 million of Portland Streetcar funds for the project. The remining amount has yet to be secured, the city said that it hopes to dip into various local and regional transportation funds or seek federal funding.
Revitalizing the Northwest District
The York Plan District, formally called Montgomery Park Area Plan, covers a 30- to 34-acre once-industrial area west of Highway 30 between Northwest Vaughn and Northwest Nicolai Street next to Forrest Park.
“It’s going to revitalize a really dormant part of Northwest,” Commissioner Rene Gonzalez said.
Once fully built out, the city anticipates the area could house over 4,000 new residents. Currently, Portland's Northwest District is one of the densest areas in the city, and it has continued to gain popularity with Slabtown, a relatively new addition to Northwest Portland.
The new neighborhood would also include a new 40,000-square-foot park.
Creating jobs, affordable housing
What sets the York Plan District apart from other new development areas in the Portland is a detailed public benefits agreement, which focuses on the creation of jobs and affordable housing.
A majority of the new neighborhood would replace the former 22-acre ESCO steel foundry site, which closed in 2016. Prior to that, the foundry employed around 800 jobs. A public benefits agreement between the city and property owners aims to bring back roughly half of those jobs to the area, per requiring that around 400 middle-wage jobs be created.
Those jobs must have an annual salary higher than 50% of the area median income for a family of four, which is approximately $57,000 a year today. The jobs must also not require a four-year college degree. These jobs a likely to be created in one of five industries: athletic and outdoor, green cities, food and beverage manufacturing, metals and machinery and software and media, according to the public benefits agreement,
Property owners will be required to report to the city the number of middle-wage jobs created. If they fail to meet the quota, owners will have to pay a fee for each job not created. The fee starts at $5,800 and gradually increases to $6,700 after 12 years.
The York Plan District also calls for at least 2,000 housing units to be created. Among the new housing, between 200 to 300 units will be affordable to individuals earning no more than 60% of the area median income, which is approximately $49,500 a year for someone living alone and $70,800 for a four-person household.
The public benefits agreement incentivizes the property owners to build the affordable units upfront, prior to building any market-rate apartments. If they don't, a higher number of affordable units would need to be created.
“Together, these actions set the stage for transformation of yet another new area of Portland," Commissioner Carmen Rubio said. "It’s really exciting and represents our next generation moving forward."
