Education urban renewal area presented at public forum

As one of a series of public forums and hearings on the proposed education urban renewal area, the forum held at Portland State on April 17 was intended to increase awareness and garner public approval. More than 100 people attended the hearing at PSU’s Urban Center to learn about and discuss the proposed plan. Attendees were able to ask questions and voice concerns or comments that were then answered by PSU President Wim Wiewel and Portland Development Commission Executive Director Patrick Quinton.

The renewal plan would include 144 acres in and around the university and would take 28 years to complete. A maximum debt of $169 milliowould be allowed, which would result in an average tax base annual growth rate of 3.5 percent over the project’s lifetime. According to the quick-facts sheet provided by PDC and PSU, this is a 1.2 percent increase over the estimated average tax base if the area was not a part of an urban renewal plan.

“The money comes from the growth in the property tax revenue,” Wiewel said. He explained that in the 144-acre area designated by the city for the renewal plan, current property taxes would continue to be paid as they are. But the growth in property taxes, whether it comes from the 2.8 percent per year increase that Oregon has or from the construction of new buildings added to the tax base, will pay for the additions and improvements in the area.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams was present for the beginning of the forum. He introduced Wiewel and spoke a little bit about the proposed plan. “Every time PSU gets a little bit of unexpected money, they do great things with it,” Adams said. “$100 million sounds like a lot of money, and it is; but it’s over 28 years.”

The urban renewal plan will be implemented in five-year increments. The money will be divided into multiple categories, each with their own projects: strategic partnerships, urban innovation, research and technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, cluster development, setting aside housing and administration. Of the $169 million, PSU and PSU-related projects will receive $50,325,000. A more detailed schedule of distribution is available online at vmw.pdc.us/four/ccstudy/default.asp.

One of the biggest concerns of attendees involved housing and the proposed money set aside for housing. “What’s your idea of affordable housing?” asked one attendee. The response given was 0–80 percent of the average median income, which was said to be approximately $800 per month.

Another attendee questioned how rising property taxes would affect housing costs. “As I understand, urban renewal is a premise of rising property taxes. That can also lead to rising housing costs. And in this area with great access to services and transit, I’d figure that it’d be a shame for the people that most need those services [if they] couldn’t afford to live here,” the attendee said.

Peyton Chapman, principal of Lincoln High School, said that she was “real excited about the education district proposal,” but that she questioned the area’s housing affordability. “I’m really interested in the $46 million set aside for housing—has the housing authority, or has PSU, thought about workforce housing? Because what I’m finding is that the most important factor in teachers and the quality of education is the talent in the classroom,” Chapman said. “So in order to recruit teachers in the top quartile, we need workforce housing. Our teachers are priced out of the city in which they live. Our coaches, our advisers, our teachers, can’t live in this city and be a part of students’ lives,” she added.

Another key component of urban renewal discussed at the forum is that the money coming from urban renewal is just a small part of the many projects that will take place.

“We think that there is an opportunity to take the small investments of urban renewal, leverage it with other dollars—both public dollars and private dollars—to increase not just the research space that’s needed here at the university but also a business accelerator space,” Quinton said.

The Academic and Student Rec Center was used as an example both at the forum and in an interview with Wiewel. Approximately $4 million of urban renewal money was invested into the building a few years ago, and with the help of Multnomah County and outside funding, the building was finished, totaling near to a $70 million project.

According to Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s 40/40/20 plan, which states that by 2020, 40 percent of Oregonians will have at least two years of college education, 40 percent will have some secondary education, and 20 percent will have at least a high school degree, PSU enrollment is estimated to rise from its current 30,000 students to 50,000 by the year 2035. Wiewel emphasized at the forum that with this urban renewal area, Kitzhaber’s plan will become much easier to achieve and will provide the university with many more resources for those future students.

Wiewel said the renewal area plan would have little effect on current PSU students since “the first projects that will be financed won’t really get done until just about everybody that is here now is gone. So it is really something that will pay off for future students.”

However, Wiewel said that though it costs current students nothing and that they will most likely not get the physical benefits of the urban renewal plan, having a degree from an institution that does well 10 to 20 years into the future might significantly increase the value of that degree. “So if we’re an institution that’s more respected and more highly regarded years from now, that will continue to pay dividends for you even though you are no longer here,” Wiewel said.

Many events will be held in the several weeks with hope of raising awareness of and gathering approval for the proposed education renewal plan. All events are open to the public and community members are encouraged to attend. The first event is tonight: Planning & Sustainability Commission Public Hearing, held at the City of Portland Building, 1900 SW Fourth Ave., second floor. Future events include: Multnomah County Commission Hearing, April 26; Central City URA Evaluation Committee meeting, April 26; PDC Board Vote, April 30; and the City Council Public Hearing on May 9 at Portland City Hall.

Times and locations can be found at mw.pdc.us/four/ccstudy/default.asp. An overview of the entire forum is also available on the site, and includes a complete list of the questions asked and their respective responses.