Portland’s Building Little Luxury Condos for the Poor

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The city mayor of Portland will spend $29 million to finance a 60-unit luxury Framework building in the upscale Pearl District at a cost of $483,333 per unit. They will provide housing for the poor.

The building will be very green and made of wood. If Mrs. O’Leary’s cow doesn’t end up on the roof, it will last 99 years.

The average home in Portland only costs $330,000 and these condos are only 660 sq. ft. The Oregonian reports that the median family income in the Portland metro area was $74,700 for a family of four, $52,290 for an individual, yet they will put these expensive little condos up for the homeless. We’ll let you consider the value of this investment.

Mayor Ted Wheeler made the announcement back in November that it will be built with public housing dollars and, at the time, he called it a “modest” investment.[They’re already looking for more funds.]

It will be the nation’s tallest wood building and Wheeler sees it as a way to promote the timber industry. It’s interesting to note that it will cost far more to build than concrete or steel.

Portland has a housing emergency and the mayor originally said he would lower the cost of housing, but, instead, he raised it. He also acted alone.

The government – local, state, and federal taxpayers – will pay for it.

The mayor knows they are paying more than market value but he thinks it’s a good deal since he’s getting federal tax credits, grants, and others to pay for it.

“That’s like paying for a Toyota and getting a Tesla in return,” Wheeler wrote recently.

There are about 4,200 homeless in Portland, which means they will only need $2 billion to solve their problem, forgetting there are cost overruns, environmentalists, upkeep, and so on.

In the end, why would anyone in Portland work?

 


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michaelrbuley
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michaelrbuley
6 years ago

Beautiful ways to reward homelessness, and a wonderful magnet to bring more and more homeless to Portland. I’m sure the citizens who work for a living there, are thrilled to have more homeless, more drugs, more crime … Very neat approach.

ResearcherMO
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ResearcherMO
6 years ago

Hmm. Wooden building. Homeless people. I give it five years or less from completion before it’s a smoldering ash heap. Hopefully no one dies.