Definitions and Acronyms

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a second dwelling unit created on a lot with a house, attached house or manufactured home. The second unit is created auxiliary to, and is smaller than, the main dwelling. ADUs can be created in a variety of ways, including conversion of a portion of an existing house, addition to an existing house, conversion of an existing garage or the construction of an entirely new building.

The cost of purchasing the land or land and buildings to be developed.

A project where the purchase of land and buildings and construction rehabilitation of the property are both included in the loan request.

Describes the relationship between household income, housing costs, and established standard of affordability. The standard for "Affordable" means the following:

1. For rental housing: the agency utilizes the HUD affordability standard, which states that the rent plus expenses associated with occupancy, such as tenant paid utilities or fees, does not exceed 30% of the gross household income, based on unit size, at the level of the rent restriction.
2. For homeownership units: the purchase price, for which the sum of debt service and housing expenses (including an allowance for utilities and other required ownership fees), when compared to the annual gross income for a family, adjusted for family size, does not preclude conventional mortgage financing.

Housing that is affordable to persons or families whose income is at or below either 60% or 80% of AMI.

The property's market value based on the probable condition of the property after completion of the proposed rehabilitation or construction as determined by a certified fee appraiser or Prosper Portland staff.

Area Median Income

Large organizations, most often public or nonprofit, that are primarily anchored in place—colleges and universities, hospitals and health-care facilities, utilities, faith-based organizations, museums, and arts centers. Anchor institutions are key drivers of local and regional economic opportunity. Anchor institutions offer stable jobs, many with career ladders and good wages and benefits, and strong purchasing power of goods and services.

The property's current market value as determined by a certified fee appraiser or the most recent assessed value by the County Assessor as verified or modified by Prosper Portland staff.

Bureau of Environmental Services

Business Improvement District

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

Building

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland

Loan funds available to fund project costs on an interim basis, until other debt and/or equity sources are available for the project. This is sometimes considered part of the construction loan, but most specifically refers to a period after completion of construction until permanent or take out financing is available.

Services provided to individuals to help them start, stabilize and grow a business. Typically advising centers around business planning, financial planning, marketing, access to capital, legal and human resource issues.

Citywide

A payment required by the Prosper Portland from Project Sponsors of projects receiving direct financial assistance financing including Housing Development Subordinate Loans and Equity Gap Contributions. This payment is in addition or in lieu of regular loan payments required by the agency.

Community Development Block Grant, Federal

Community Development Corporation

Central Eastside

Community

A process wherein community members come together to take action and generate solutions (economic, place-based, social, environmental, and cultural) to common problems.

Projects supported by Prosper Portland’s Community Livability Grant (CLG) program, which provides grants to community-based organizations for projects that foster vibrant and healthy neighborhoods and improve the prosperity of area residents and businesses.

A short-term loan usually made to finance the actual construction or renovation of improvements on land. The funds are disbursed as needed or in accordance with a prearranged plan and the money is repaid on completion of a project usually from the proceeds of a permanent loan.

Development Agreement

Debt Coverage Ratio

Disposition and Development Agreement

The ratio equal to net operating income divided by regularly scheduled (amortized) loan payments.

Legal document recorded against the completed property or project. (See also 'long-term affordability period').

Department of Environmental Equality

A residential area of the city that the Planning Commission designates for special assistance programs (e.g. limited property tax exemption) by virtue of the deterioration or the housing stock.

Development

Is the central member of the development team who is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the transaction. The developer may assume other roles such as general contractor, property manager, and general partner of the partnership that owns the property. Both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are developers of affordable housing; sometimes they form joint ventures.

Developer fees include developer overhead, profit, and fees for services normally performed by the developer such as development consultant fees, and project management.

A development budget includes preliminary construction line item costs, site acquisition costs, off-site costs (if applicable), soft costs, and other detailed cost information pertinent to the project.

An individual or group of individuals hired by developer(s) who generally is responsible for budget preparation, application preparation, compliance with funding requirements, and other technical details of the project. Development consultant fees are considered a part of developer fees.

Group of individuals or firms who carry out a development project, usually including the developer, the architect and engineer, the contractor, legal counsel, accountant and the development (technical) consultant.

District

Downtown

A building, or a portion of a building, that has independent living facilities including provisions for sleeping, cooking and sanitation, and that is designed for residential occupancy.

Employee Assisted Housing

Work to improve the standard of living and economic competitiveness; activities include business retention, expansion and recruitment, international trade, and entrepreneurship development.

The ability for people to create wealth through activities such as: accessing employment, building businesses, and purchasing property.

Economic Development

Environmental Protection Agency

The "after value," or if not documented, the "as is" value of the property less all indebtedness secured by the property.

Means household income at or below 30% MFI.

Floor Area Ratio

Finance/Financial

A measure of development intensity. FAR is the ratio of the amount of floor area of a building to the amount of area of its site.

Gentrification is a process of neighborhood change that typically involves the influx of more affluent residents into a historically lower-income or working-class urban area. This shift often brings new investment, rising property values, and improvements in infrastructure, services, and aesthetics. However, gentrification is also often associated with displacement of long-term residents and small businesses who can no longer afford the increasing rents or property taxes. It can lead to significant changes in the cultural, social, and economic fabric of a neighborhood.

GIS technology is used to develop maps that depict resources or features such as soil types, population densities, land uses, transportation corridors, waterways, etc. GIS computer programs link features commonly seen on maps (such as roads, town boundaries, water bodies) with related information not usually presented on maps, such as type of road surface, population, type of agriculture, type of vegetation, or water quality information. A GIS is a unique information system in which individual observations can be spatially referenced to each other.

Building design that yields environmental benefits, such as savings in energy, building materials, and water consumption, or reduced waste generation.

A linear open space; a corridor composed of natural vegetation. Greenways can be used to create connected networks of open space that include traditional parks and natural areas.

Include but not limited to all costs incurred in bringing a building to completion not including land acquisition, finance or sales costs.

An area or building in which historic events occurred, or one which has special value due to architectural or cultural features relating to the heritage of the community. Elements in historic areas have significance that necessitates preservation or conservation.

See Median Family Income

The gross household income computed in conformity with HUD income limits.

Housing and Urban Development, US Department of

Inter-Governmental Agreement

Improvement(s)

Means gross household income computed in conformity with HUD income limits.

Architectural, engineering, technical consultant, legal fees, application and loan fees, market study costs, etc. as distinguished from land and hard costs.

Water and sewer lines, roads, urban transit lines, schools and other public facilities needed to support developed areas.

The discount rate at which the present value of a project's cash flow income stream to the Project Sponsor equals the present value of the Project Sponsor's investment.

Internal Rate of Return

Lead Abatement

An amount, either paid-in capital or funded through a loan, which anticipates an initial occupancy vacancy or short term lease-up shortfall. This amount is legitimate in projects undergoing substantial rehabilitation or new construction, and only when construction rather than operations create vacancy.

Local Improvement District

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Federal

The total amount of all loans secured by subject property divided by the "after value" of the property expressed as a percentage. Grants requiring repayment only in the event of grant non-compliance, even if filed as a lien against the property, will not be considered loans for LTV calculation.

Limited Tax Abatement

Loan to Value

Housing for which rents are not suppressed or restricted to below rents of the surrounding community; can vary by neighborhood and location.

An income threshold set by Department of Housing and Urban Development, updated annually, generally in December. New thresholds are effective immediately. Current MFI thresholds can be found online at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/phb/

Multi-Family Housing

Median Family Income

A housing development open to persons or families at varying income levels. More specifically at both affordable (below 80% MFI) and market rate income levels (above 80% MFI).

Mixed use developments include residential, commercial, and business accommodations in one area.

A development that includes housing and commercial space or property containing both residential and non-residential uses.

Memorandum of Understanding

Moderately Priced Dwelling Units

Minority-owned/Women-owned/Emerging Small Business

A Prosper Portland program focused on community economic development at the neighborhood scale. A community-driven, self-help approach is at the heart of this work. With grants, training, and support from Prosper Portland, each district is responsible for planning and implementing projects to improve the local commercial district.

The amount, if any, by which Net Operating Income exceeds the sum of Permitted Loan Payments and Required Reserve Contributions.

Net revenues received from operation of the subject property, less total operating expenses.

Newly built project.

Neighborhood Housing Program

New Market Tax Credit

No Net Loss

Notice of Funding Availability

Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credits

Oregon Housing and Community Services

Pro forma, is a schedule that include a rent schedule, anticipated operating expenses, vacancy rates, and all other information pertinent to the operation of the property. Operating income and expenses are generally projected for at least ten years.

Set-asides necessary to cover anticipated and unanticipated shortfalls in cash flow due to decreases in income or increases in expenses or debt service. Operating deficit reserves are different from lease-up reserves.

All reasonable and customary expenses incurred in operating the subject real estate, including (but not limited to) utilities, on-site and off-site management, insurance, property taxes, maintenance, replacement reserves, and administrative charges which are associated with any compliance monitoring or reporting required by funding sources. Operating Expenses do not include contributions to operating reserves, depreciation, interest or principal payments.

Portland Bureau of Transportation, City of Portland

Native American, African American, Latino, Asian, Slavic, and African immigrant and refugee people or communities (per Coalition of Communities of Color).

Portland Housing Bureau

Portland Permitting & Development

Funding to cover up front project costs such as architectural, engineering, legal, and environmental services that are incurred before the funds to pay for project construction are available to the developer.

Federally subsidized property now at risk of opting out or prepayment, which would result in the loss of affordability commitments and project based Section 8 subsidies. Pro forma Income and Expense: a statement showing the projected annual income and operating expenses of a project.

Pro forma, is a schedule that includes a rent schedule, anticipated operating expenses, vacancy rates, and all other information pertinent to the operation of the property. Operating income and expenses are generally projected for at least ten years.

Repair, upgrade of units within existing structure.

See lease-up reserves

Money set aside to pay for future anticipated expenses.

A housing unit that is restricted as to affordability and rent limitations for a specified period of time according to a written affordability agreement.

Request for Information

Request For Proposal

Reservation of Funds

System Development Charge

A detached housing structure that contains 1 dwelling unit.

See Indirect Costs.

A schedule submitted as part of financing application that identifies the different sources of funding for the construction of the project and provides a line item identification of how these funds will be used in the construction process.

Housing unit(s) that are available to a specific population, such as elderly, disabled, homeless, or person in recovery.

See Developer.

Development with the goal of preserving environmental quality, natural resources and livability for present and future generations. Sustainable initiatives work to ensure efficient use of resources.

A program designed to leverage private investment for economic development projects in a manner that enhances the benefits accrued to the public interest.

A specific period of time during which project rents are restricted for a specified number of units and during which the borrower agrees to provide annual operating data to verify compliance.

Minimum requirement proposals must meet to be considered by selection committee for funding.

Tax Increment Financing

All project related expenses including acquisition, refinancing, rehabilitation/construction, contingency, soft costs, closing, financing and developer's fees.

Housing development that addresses Region 2040 goals of increased density and improved utilization of public transportation systems. See definition of Innovative Projects and details of project requirements outlined in the Transit Oriented Tax Exemption guidelines.

A housing unit consists of one or more habitable rooms intended to be occupied by one family for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating; except in congregate housing, where certain facilities may be shared.

Urban Renewal Area

A defined geography from which tax increment financing is both generated and spent.

The relaxation of requirements of a zoning district for a specific parcel or tract of land. Variances are often issued to avoid unnecessary hardships to a landowner.

Means household income at or below 50 percent of MFI.

Increasing individual net worth which is defined as the value of all assets owned net of all liabilities owed at a point in time.

A range of educational, training, and networking activities to create, sustain, and retain a viable workforce that supports economic security for individuals and meets current and future business and industry needs.

Local regulations establishing the use of property and the size, height, and location of structures placed on it.