The project's affordability currently rests on temporary subsidies and market goodwill. For tenants who can’t buy—and future buyers looking for affordability—the risks are significant.
A Portland condo conversion project aims to create affordable “starter homes” by turning aging rental apartments into individually owned units priced below market. This article examines how the affordability for this project relies on temporary subsidies rather than permanent protections such as deed restrictions or resale limits, and how long-term repair costs shift from nonprofit owners to individual homeowners through HOA fees and assessments.
It aims to raise broader questions about whether condo conversions expand lasting affordability—or simply redistribute financial risk and displacement pressures as nonprofits reconsider aging portfolios.
Read the full story: Can Condo Conversions Deliver Long-Term Affordability?
Portland Housing Bond Created Nearly 5,000 Units, But Affordability Remains Out of Reach
Despite better-than-expected results from multiple local housing bonds, housing costs and homelessness remain top of mind for many Oregonians.
Is Portland the Next San Francisco?
Now that tech companies have "discovered" Portland, Oregon, longtime residents question whether the progressive city has done enough to protect them from displacement. Sound familiar?
Portland unveils Maine’s first affordable housing complex for LGBTQ+ seniors
The building earmarks 11 units for people with disabilities or living with HIV/AIDS.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority