Adopt the 2024 Gateway Action Plan

This action by Portland City Council will adopt the 2024 Gateway Action Plan (Action Plan), a five-year community-driven plan for investing tax increment finance (TIF) resources in the Gateway Regional Center TIF District. Prosper Portland’s Board of Commissioners approved the Action Plan on June 18, 2024. Approving the Action Plan will provide a road map for Prosper Portland and Portland Housing Bureau TIF investments over the next five years to realize community-prioritized projects and programs. The plan is aligned with the following Advance Portland strategic priorities and outcomes: Outcome 3.5 Support Growth & Health of Businesses within Commercial Districts and Outcome 3.6 Activate Vacant Properties and Storefronts; Attract New Commercial Development. Outcome 4.2.3 Childcare Accessibility Initiatives. Outcome 3.8 Address Housing Production Across a Continuum of Affordability. Outcome 2.1 Help BIPOC Entrepreneurs Start, Scale and Innovate. On May 15, 2001, through Resolution No. 5689, the Prosper Portland Board approved the Gateway Regional Center Tax Increment Finance District and Plan. On June 21, 2001, through Ordinance 175699, the Portland City Council (City Council) adopted the same Gateway TIF district and plan. Since creation of the Gateway Plan, Prosper Portland and the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) have invested approximately $70,000,000 in infrastructure, facilities, transportation, business development, and affordable housing, such as the MAX Red Line and Green Lines, the 102nd Avenue Streetscape project, and development including NE 97th Avenue Green Street, The Rose at Gateway Apartments, the Oregon Clinic and Glisan Commons. More recently, Prosper Portland’s investments have been guided by the 2016 Gateway Action Plan (Original Action Plan), reviewed by the Prosper Portland Board on July 21, 2016, and adopted by Portland City Council through Resolution No. 37228 on August 10, 2016. The five-year Original Action Plan provided a framework for investment in three sub-districts: the Halsey/Weidler Corridor, the Gateway Transit Center and Central Gateway. Over the past eight years, investments have occurred largely along the Halsey/Weidler Corridor through the completion of the Gateway Discovery Park; The Nick Fish mixed use, mixed income housing project; small business support; tenanting of commercial space within the Nick Fish project; and streetscape improvements. On June 7, 2022, through Resolution No. 7455, the Prosper Portland Board removed the last date to issue debt on the Gateway TIF District to allow for the issuance of short-term debt and to gain access to additional TIF resources to further support the goals and projects called for in the Original Action Plan. The anticipated budget for the remainder of the Gateway TIF District is estimated at approximately $94,000,000, including affordable housing set aside funds to PHB which is set at 33 percent over the life of the Gateway TIF District. In 2023 Prosper Portland staff began the process of updating the Original Action Plan in partnership with community members and leaders. The Action Plan is the result of engaging community residents, nonprofit partners, small businesses, and economic experts over the past 18 months. The Action Plan is an investment pivot for the Gateway TIF District, moving from a geographic subdistrict framework to a community priorities-based investment framework. Prosper Portland is proposing to direct significant remaining TIF investments to leverage partner investment based on economic strengths and meeting the needs of Gateway and East Portland’s diverse residents and businesses. While the sub-districts approach restricted investments under the Original Action Plan, the Action Plan is aimed to support new and existing businesses can deepen across the entire TIF district. Additionally, implementation of the Action Plan will take advantage of a number of amended or new programs to be launched in Gateway to provide financial access to property reinvestment, housing opportunity, and small business security, including: Prosperity Investment Program (PIP) grants will continue lower barriers to entry, particularly for businesses struggling to obtain costly credit from financial institutions. Similar to the PIP program in the Interstate Corridor TIF District, the small business match in Gateway is proposed to decrease from 50 percent to 25 percent and a Prosper Portland loan can be provided to cover the matching portion. The Affordable Commercial Tenanting Program will be scaled in Gateway to provide grants for improvements to ground floor commercial properties in exchange for property owners offering commercial spaces at 10 to 25 percent below market rents. The new Commercial Property Loan programs will target funding (predevelopment, construction, and permanent financing) to incentivize smaller scale housing and commercial development projects (including cottage clusters, condos, or attached townhomes). Through a competitive grant processes, the Action Plan will focus on Public Art & Security Improvements grants to create artistically-designed facade improvements to increase business security. The Action Plan prioritizes middle-income workforce housing production as one of the centerpieces of the investment strategy. Staff anticipate that this will result in a public/private partnership targeted at producing more than 250 units of workforce housing at key strategic sites across the district, including at the Gateway Transit Center. In addition, Prosper Portland anticipates there will approximately $15,600,000 of PHB affordable housing set aside funds to be allocated within the next five years (this includes $4,700,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 funds that will be rolled over to FY 2024-25). Prosper Portland will work in collaboration with PHB to explore mixed-income housing at a PHB-owned parcel at 102nd Avenue and E. Burnside Street that could support more than 100 new homes and other deed restricted affordable units and homeownership opportunities within the district. With district livability and safety top of mind for the residents and businesses in Gateway, funding for property activations will work in tandem with property reinvestments. In particular, funding through Prosper Portland’s grant and loan programs will be targeted to making the physical improvements needed to activate large vacant properties near the Gateway Transit Center with recreational and/or entertainment uses that bring life to the district while redevelopment occurs.

While there are no direct financial impacts, implementation of the 2024 Gateway Action Plan is expected to inform the Portland Housing Bureau’s TIF-related budget allocations and priorities for the next five years.

Over the past 18 months, Prosper Portland staff engaged extensively with Gateway residents, business owners, and community groups. Staff convened a Community Advisory Committee (Committee), consisting of 16 individuals who co-created the Action Plan and helped define the broader community engagement process. That broader engagement process included: Five focus groups with more than 60 participants. 32 one-on-one interviews. These discussions focused on engaging diverse voices to speak about issues from a breadth of community perspectives. A multicultural open house with 33 participants that featured translation services in six languages spoken in the Gateway community. The voices and perspectives shared by Gateway residents, business owners, employees, and community stakeholders are reflected in the Action Plan and help articulate the shared vision and investments staff heard through its work with the Committee and the engagement process.