HFO Multifamily Marketwatch for Oregon and SW Washington

This week: The Portland City Council took an initial vote to allow taller buildings in Portland's Chinatown; Tacoma appears on track to overtake Spokane as the Washington state's second largest city, and the CEO of Seattle-based real estate website Redfin blames restrictive zoning laws for the country's housing affordability crisis.

In this week's special edition, HFO partner Greg Frick discusses the Portland apartment market with economic and housing analyst Joe Cortright of City Observatory.

Cortright argues that Portland is disincentivizing construction -- exactly the opposite of what is needed to create affordable housing.

This week: Oregon primaries result in a political shift to the left; affordable housing developers face funding shortfall due to federal tax cuts; and Seattle passes a tax on large businesses to fund affordable housing programs, despite threats from Amazon.

This week: The Portland City Council heard public testimony on proposed requirements for seismic retrofits of the city's unreinforced masonry buildings; City commissioner Chloe Eudaly plans to call for new tenants screening rules and the multifamily housing council posts a review and synthesis of the inefficiencies of rent control policies.

This week: Portland's latest data on rent increases; a public hearing takes place Wednesday, May 9th on the City's proposed unreinforced masonry plan, and the City will hold two public hearings on its controversial residential infill plan.

This week: Housing activists in Seattle push for increased density in inner-city neighborhoods; Willamette week releases its endorsements for the May primary, and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler will ask the City Council to halt spending of the $258 million affordable housing levy approved by voters in November of 2016 until next January.

This week: the latest apartment survey indicates vacancy rates are on the rise in Portland but remain among the lowest in the country; baby boomers and millennials both want to live in walkable, close-in urban neighborhoods. After ten years of planning, this year will see the groundbreaking for the $70 million Rockwood Rising project in Gresham.

This week: the Sherwood City Council wants Metro to expand its urban growth boundary by adding 373 acres south of Sherwood High School; Seattle has passed a law requiring landlords to separate rent and parking fees, allowing renters to opt-out of paying for parking; a study by CityLab indicates housing scarcity and affordability are more global than local in nature.

This week: A recent third-party study of Portland's proposed Residential Infill Project concludes it will reduce demolitions and increase housing; A Washington State Judge rules that Seattle's law requiring landlords to accept tenants on a "first-come-first-served" basis violates the state constitution; Oregon sees the return of middle-wage jobs.

This week: Candidates to replace Dan Saltzman on Portland's city council are profiled; regional government announces plans to develop affordable housing on the SW corridor ahead of new MAX line construction; proposed building height increases in Portland's old town comes up for a council vote on Wednesday.