06/08/2023 - Middle Housing Funding City of Tigard
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Tiçj' ° d PRESS RELEASE
13125 SW Hall Boulevard, Tigard, Oregon 97223 • www.tigard-or.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE I June 8, 2023
Contact:
Schuyler Warren
Senior Planner
City of Tigard
Phone:503-718-2437
Email: schuyler@tigard-or.gov
New Middle Housing Funding Now Available
Amidst the pervasive call for innovation to address the ongoing regional and statewide housing crisis, The City
of Tigard, and its partners at three regional Community Development Financial Institutions today announced
the launch of their Middle Housing Revolving Loan Fund.
This fund, managed by three mission driven lenders— Network for Oregon Affordable Housing, Craft3, and the
Community Housing Fund —will provide up to $4.5 million in lending for the development of middle housing in
the City of Tigard.
Middle housing is a segment of smaller housing units that were historically popular but nonetheless largely
outlawed in the housing ordinances of most American cities by the mid-20th century. Tigard was the first city in
the state to fully re-legalize these historic housing types with its Housing Options reforms in 2018, preceding
action by the Oregon Legislative Assembly to do the same statewide the following year.
"Since adopting our housing reforms, we've heard pretty consistently from small developers that despite the
removal of regulatory barriers, the financing of these units on the private market remains a challenge," said
Schuyler Warren, Senior Planner, and the city's lead on the project. "We are hopeful that the creation of this
fund will demonstrate the viability of this type of development and eventually help move the private lending
market to the point where our program becomes obsolete."
The program will provide fixed-rate lending to qualifying middle housing developers in exchange for a
guarantee that at least 30% of the units will be offered for sale to low- to moderate-income households.
"This kind of program results in a win-win-win: first, for the developer who gets access to credit they may not
otherwise be able to obtain; second, for the city, which can meet its goals of increasing affordable
homeownership units; and most importantly for the working family or individual able to afford their first home,"
said Bill Van Vliet, Executive Director of the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing, and the lead lender for
the fund.
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City of Tigard
Tigard PRESS RELEASE
The program will officially launch later this summer, with the first applications for loans available on August 1,
2023, and the first consideration of applications to follow as applications are received, or on September 1. As
loan recipients repay construction loans back into the Middle Housing Revolving Loan Fund, future developers
will be able to continue to take advantage of the fund.
"This program builds on the innovation that the City of Tigard has become known for statewide, not just in
housing, but across all sectors," said Kenny Asher, the city's Community Development Director. "I firmly believe
this program will not only be successful but will become a model for others within Oregon and the rest of the
country."
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