Old Town / Chinatown Action Plan
The historic Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood spans two Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Districts. While it originally lay within the Downtown Waterfront TIF District, expansion of the River District TIF District boundaries in 2009 included portions of Old Town/Chinatown to help meet community goals and objectives for the area.
In 2014, Portland City Council adopted the Old Town/Chinatown Five-Year Action Plan, a comprehensive community development initiative to create a vibrant, economically healthy neighborhood in Old Town/Chinatown that resulted in significant accomplishments. In 2019, Portland City Council approved a five-year extension to the original Plan, which maintains the original focus on neighborhood investment, business vitality, and district livability, while seeking to capitalize on the progress made since 2014. It prioritizes public safety and livability (specifically related to homelessness and sanitation), housing, parking replacement, and seismic upgrades.
For more information, contact:
Sarah King, Old Town Project Manager
503-823-7944 or kingsh@prosperportland.us
Accomplishments
The 2014 Action Plan focused public and community investments in Old Town/Chinatown into three principal categories and objectives:
- Attract new neighborhood investment to activate key properties and improve district connectivity
- Promote business vitality by increasing employment and retail activity
- Align resources and build local capacity for improving district livability
Since 2014, Old Town/Chinatown has experienced tremendous progress toward these broad objectives.
- 260 new middle-income housing units
- Nine major buildings renovated or redeveloped including:
- New 150,000-square foot-Multnomah County Health Department headquarters
- The Hoxton and Society hotels
- 38 Davis, a mixed-use redevelopment that features 65 residential units and 80,000 square feet of commercial space anchored by Ankrom Moisan Architects
- More than 600 new living wage jobs, a 10 percent increase over the previous five years with $97,000,000 in added wages
- University of Oregon expansion
- More than 24 new retail stores and other businesses including Pine Street Market, Bridgetown Barber Society, Goodies Snack Shop, Barnes & Morgan, Deadstock Coffee, and GeekEasy Anime Café.
Looking Ahead
The Action Plan Extension outlines the major priorities and projects for the community to improve the neighborhood, facilitate the generation of wealth, and focus on equity while planning and executing projects. The neighborhood’s cultural and educational institutions play an important role in driving further neighborhood livability, and public and private partnerships will be critical to achieve the objectives of the Action Plan and live into the vision of Old Town/Chinatown as a vibrant, walkable district that honors the area’s unique historical and cultural relevance. Plan priorities center around the support of neighborhood investment, business vitality, and district livability, with resource priority directed toward the neighborhood core east of NW Broadway, south of NW Glisan Street, and north of West Burnside.
Neighborhood Investments
- Private property: Facilitate development on surface parking lots and rehabilitation of privately-owned property
- Public property: Develop 4th & Burnside and Block 25 with an emphasis on adding mixed-income housing and neighborhood-supporting retail
- Strategic infrastructure and connectivity improvements
Business Vitality
- Neighborhood Business and Retail: Expand and enhance retail with emphasis on supporting current neighborhood businesses and investing in new businesses.
- Entrepreneurship: Foster a supportive environment for startup business and expansion, especially for owners from historically underserved neighborhoods
- Traded Sector Industries: Invest in initiatives that support traded sector industries.
- Honor and enhance the district’s multi-ethnic history and coordination: Support the Lan Su Garden Cultural Center expansion and continued engagement with educational institutions in opportunities for partnership, program support, and expansion. Support the Oregon Nikkei Endowment in establishing a permanent home within the district, and support the Portland Chinatown Museum and Japanese American Museum of Oregon.
District Livability
- Identify strategic safety initiatives emphasizing sanitation and cleanliness and support the recommendations of the Old Town/Pearl District Joint Task Force on homelessness.
