Stories▪May 1st, 2025▪

East Portland and Central City TIF Exploration Process

City Council Resolution 37623

On June 28, 2023, Portland City Council through Resolution 37623 directed Prosper Portland to “pursue analysis and creation of new Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts to advance equitable development and inclusive growth in East Portland and the Central City.”

East Portland TIF Exploration Process

The East Portland TIF exploration was directed to consider up to 7,500 acres of available land area and up to approximately $6 billion in available assessed value for up to three new districts. Below is a high-level summary of the East Portland TIF Exploration Process, for a more detailed summary, please refer to Exhibit B: Public Engagement Summary of each district’s TIF plan.

Exploration Steering Committee

An overarching East Portland Steering Committee was convened in July 2023 and identified three areas for further exploration: East of 205, Parkrose/Columbia Corridor, and 82nd Avenue. As part of the engagement process, the steering committee was chartered to:

Advise on and review engagement processes;
Allocate available acreage (land area) and assessed value for further study;
Provide guidance to working groups on issues that arise with implications across districts;
Support community-led working groups conducting exploration processes; and,
Ensure any TIF plans resulting from exploration align with City Council guidance.

East Portland TIF Exploration Steering Committee members:

Commissioner Carmen Rubio, Portland City Council
Helmi Hisserich, Portland Housing Bureau Director
Kimberly Branam, Prosper Portland Executive Director
Jeff Renfro, Multnomah County
Jessica Arzate, Multnomah Education Service District
Andy Miller, Our Just Future
Nick Sauvie, ROSE, CDC
ShaToyia, Bentley Ebony Collective
Matina Kauffman, Habitat for Humanity
Moe Farhoud, Property Owner
Kevin Martin, Renter
Sabrina Wilson, Rosewood Initiative
Bill Bruce, Raimore Construction
Tye Gabriel, East Portland Chamber of Commerce
Duncan Hwang, APANO
Alando Simpson, City of Roses Disposal & Recycling
Jonath Colon, Centro Cultural
Mourad Ratbi, Civic Life Interim Director
Lee Po Cha, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)
Nuhamin Eiden, Unite Oregon
JR Lilly, Former EPAP Advocate
Annette Mattson, Mount Hood Community College

District Specific Working Groups

District-specific Working Groups were selected through an open call process, ensuring key partners and community representatives with deep knowledge of their respective geographies, and the diverse communities within those geographies, would lead the work.

The three Working Groups kicked off their work in fall of 2023, and were charged with:

Understanding the TIF district creation process and leading deep-dive community district exploration conversations;
Coordinating district-focused community engagement, advising on contracts with community-based organizations, and supporting public events;
Determining whether to move forward with a TIF district plan and, if supportive, co-creating plan documents with Prosper Portland and City staff for consideration by the Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners and City Council.

82nd Avenue Working Group members:

Zachary Lauritzen, Oregon Walks
Duncan Hwang, APANO
Nick Sauvie, ROSE CDC
Alisa Kajikawa, Jade District/APANO
Dana White, Portland Public Schools
Nancy Chapin, 82nd Ave Business Association
Jacob Loeb, Montavilla News
Jamal Dar, AYCO
Sara Fischer, Resident
Valeria McWilliams, Resident
Joshua Pangelinan, Small Business Owner – Bipartisan Cafe
Zonnyo Riger, Dharma Rain Zen Center
Barbara Geyer, Resident, Realtor

East 205 Working Group members:

Karen Wolfgang, Resident
Annette Mattson, Mount Hood Community College
Sabrina Wilson, The Rosewood Initiative
Lisha Shrestha, Division Midway Alliance
Ken Richardson, David Douglas Superintendent
Mike Devlin, Devlin Properties
Kristin Romaine, Resident
Ali Omar Ibrahim, African Youth & Community Organization
Amanda Pham Haines, Unite Oregon
Jennifer Parrish Taylor, Urban League of Portland
Ana Meza, ROSE CDC
Marie Josee Kangabe, East Portland Action Plan Advocate
Blanca Jimenez, Resident
Giovanni Bautista, Resident

Sumner-Parkrose-Argay-Columbia Corridor Working Group members:

JR Lilly, Portland Parks Foundation, Historic Parkrose
Michael Lopes Serrao, Parkrose School District
Annette Stanhope, Historic Parkrose, Parkrose Neighborhood Association
Donnell Morgan, Elevate Oregon
Dave Ganslein, Sumner Neighborhood Association
Corky Collier, Columbia Corridor Association
Colleen Johnson, Resident
Danell Norby, Resident
Lin Felton, Argay Terrace Neighborhood Association
Bill Kent, COR Disposal & Recycling

Community Engagement

The robust effort to engage the broader community in the TIF exploration process included hiring a community-based project manager to facilitate engagement opportunities and be a resource for the community throughout this process. The project manager developed a community survey, developed a short YouTube video, and worked with the Neighborhood Prosperity Network organizations to host a series of community open houses.
Prosper Portland and City staff facilitated a range of activities related to TIF exploration, including events, twice-monthly virtual office hours, regular email updates to interested parties, one-on-one conversations with community members, and briefings to community organizations. In addition, Prosper Portland contracted with a dozen community/culturally specific organizations to partner on outreach and engagement.

East Portland TIF Exploration Outcomes

At the conclusion of the exploration process, both the District Specific Working Groups and Exploration Steering Committee voted to recommend the creation of three new TIF districts (82nd Avenue Area, East 205, and Sumner-Parkrose-Argay-Columbia Corridor) in East Portland for the Prosper Portland Board and the City Council’s consideration.

Central City TIF Exploration Process

The Central City TIF exploration was directed to consider up to 1,500 acres and $3.8 billion in assessed value focusing on the areas of the Central City that were struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on office, retail, and foot traffic. Below is a high-level summary of the Central City TIF Exploration Process, for a more detailed summary, please refer to Exhibit B: Public Engagement Summary of each district’s TIF plan.

Exploration Steering Committee & Subcommittees

Prosper Portland convened a Central City TIF steering committee to oversee the exploration process beginning in October 2023 and met as a full committee as well as within interest-specific subcommittees through August 2024. Members of the Central City TIF Exploration Steering Committee represented a broad range of interests and expertise including housing production across varied levels of affordability, economic development, and development of key large scale development opportunities.

Central City TIF Exploration Steering Committee & Subcommittee members:

Peter Andrews, Melvin Mark
Justin Hobson, Miller Nash
Lauren Peng, CBRE
Sydney Mead, Portland Metro Chamber
Nicole Davison Leon, Hispanic Chamber
Jessie Burke, Old Town Community Association
Carolyne Holcomb, Central Eastside Industrial Council
Jason Chupp, Swinerton
Jessica Curtis, Brookfield Properties / Pioneer Place
Marc Brune, PAE Engineers
Angel Medina, Republica
Brian Ferriso, Portland Art Museum / Travel Portland Board
Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works
Damien Hall, Home Forward
Sam Rodriguez, Mill Creek Residential
Matt Goodman, Downtown Development Group
Jason Franklin, Portland State University
Stef Kondor, Related Northwest
Mary-Rain O’Meara, Central City Concern
Sarah Stevenson, Innovative Housing
Eric Paine, Community Development Partners
Gus Baum, Security Properties
Ian Roll, Gensler
Jill Sherman, Edlen & Co
Natalie King, Trail Blazers
Erin Graham, OMSI
Tom Kilbane, Urban Renaissance Group / Lloyd Mall
James Parker, Oregon Native American Chamber
JT Flowers, Albina Vision Trust
Dr. Carlos Richard, Warner Pacific
Andrea Pastor, Metro
Monique Claiborne, Greater Portland Inc
Dana White, Portland Public Schools
Millicent Williams, Portland Bureau of Transportation
Jeff Renfro, Multnomah County

The Central City TIF Exploration Steering Committee was tasked with considering new TIF districts in Central City; and directed that any new districts created should:

Acknowledge lessons learned from past TIF districts;
Advance inclusive economic growth, entrepreneurship and job creation, equitable development, community stabilization, and housing production for a full range of income levels; and
Balance these priorities with the financial impact to the city budget and other taxing jurisdictions.

Over the course of Steering Committee and subcommittee meetings, members informed the vision, values, and goals for utilization of TIF resources; identified investment needs and opportunities to inform district boundaries and priority project lists; and discussed implementation principles and governance considerations.

Community Engagement

Staff conducted broader community engagement including holding an in-person open house, conducting an online survey, and providing briefings with key community stakeholders/organizations to gather feedback to help inform district map revisions and investment priorities.

Central City TIF Exploration Outcomes

At the conclusion of the exploration process, the Steering Committee voted to recommend the creation of three new TIF districts (Westside, Central Eastside Corridor, and Lloyd-Holladay) within the Central City for the Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners and the City Council’s consideration.