PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION LONG-TERM BUSINESS PLAN June 2016 50% DRAFT OPPORTUNITY ver the next 20 years, Portland will track record and singular stature to effect such experience unprecedented growth and change: the Portland Development Commission. a transformation into a global eco- O PDC’s 2015-20 Strategic Plan calls out a signif- nomic center. The city is expected to add up to 260,000 new residents and 142,000 jobs. While icant course change for the agency, one that Portland’s growth is relatively certain, how this requires different business practices and funding impending transformation occurs and, more models to address the city’s most pressing needs. importantly, who benefits, is less clear. In service to that strategic shift, this business plan proposes a path forward for PDC to continue What is clear is that this new era will demand an its role as a public partner and doer for the city approach to development, both physical and eco- through investments, programs and policies nomic, that serves the city and its citizens more to ensure that Portland’s future prosperity is broadly. It’s time for new tools and innovative widespread. ideas, using an agency that has the demonstrated PDC Long Term Business Plan | 50% DRAFT 2 PDC MATTERS reated by Portland voters in 1958, the and low-income projects, with impacts through- Portland Development Commission (PDC) out the city. Since 2009 the agency has collabo- C has evolved as the city has. Chartered as rated with the Portland Housing Bureau, formed Portland’s urban renewal agency, with projects by City Council and charged with increasing the focused on infrastructure and redevelopment, supply of affordable housing—including using the PDC’s capacity broadened in the 1980s to Tax Increment Finance (TIF) affordable housing include economic development and job creation. set aside. Historically, PDC investments have funded many PDC’s myriad accomplishments, past and pres- of Portland’s most iconic public places and ent, define its critical role for the city. It is not amenities: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Lan Su simply the funder of infrastructure and business Chinese Garden, the Eastbank Esplanade along expansion, but rather a flexible actor between the Willamette River, Waterfront Park, Director public and private entities, with the ability to pur- Park, the Portland Streetcar and MAX Light chase land and command a key role in convening Rail. More recently, PDC business assistance has multiple players for transformative physical and advanced a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem economic development. as well as robust industry growth across key clusters like athletic and outdoor, advanced Public-private partnerships require collaborators manufacturing, software, and green building. that honor commitments that span decades. PDC has played that role for the City of Portland, PDC’s housing investments just since 2000 total and its institutional capacity to lead change is nearly $400 million across a mix of market rate unrivaled among city agencies. The parking lot on the left became the future site of the iconic Pioneer Courthouse Square, right, with help from PDC. L to R: Lan Su Chinese Garden, Director Park, Portland Streetcar. Photo: DAO Architecture L to R: The spring time cherry blossoms in Waterfront Park, the MAX Light Rail running through Old Town/ Chinatown. PDC Long Term Business Plan | 50% DRAFT 3 1. What PDC does PDC’s mission is to create one of the world’s The strategic plan requires a deliberate and most desirable and equitable cities by investing equal focus on building healthy communities, in job creation, innovation and economic oppor- maintaining economic competitiveness, and tunity throughout Portland. creating equitable opportunities. It also lays out PDC’s commitment to addressing issues of racial PDC brings the following benefits to Portland: equity both within the organization and in its work. The agency is pursuing a long-term plan to • Direct financial assistance and business become an antiracist multicultural organization. expansion activity to generate robust job In attempting this radical transformation, the growth. organization is acknowledging its racist past and • Increased investments in high-growth firms is attempting to interrupt institutional practices and entrepreneurs. • Proactive, collaborative work to nurture local business success. • A unique ability to convene partners from local government, the private sector, not-for- profit organizations, and higher education to implement economic development strategies. • Support for entrepreneurship, exports, neighborhood economic development to fill market gap • Focus on maximizing competitiveness, urban innovation, and neighborhood vitality. Small business owner Rachel Hestmark with Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative district manager. • Commitment to Portland’s economic growth through deliberate investments that focus and behaviors and move toward a more inclusive on job growth, equity, sustainability and organizational structure and decision-making. prosperity. In order to move the organization along this In 2015, PDC adopted a new five-year strategic transformational path and achieve the strategic plan with the goal of widely shared prosperi- plan’s outcomes, including wealth and income ty among all residents of Portland. That plan creation for communities of color, the agency’s represents a historic shift—a course correction business model must identify the resource base envisioning a different future for Portland and a necessary to fund this work. In addition, the plan new role for PDC in realizing that vision. Growth must reflect the values of a transformed orga- is taking place in Portland and will continue. nization and assist rather than impede progress PDC has the ability to make sure prosperity is toward that goal. widespread. 1 An Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization is an organization that 1) has restructured all aspects of institutional life to ensure full participation of People of Color, including their worldview, culture and lifestyles; 2) implements structures, policies and practices with inclusive decision-making and other forms of power-sharing on all levels of the institution’s life and work; and 3) commits to struggle to dismantle racism in the wider community, and builds clear lines of accountability to racially oppressed communities. PDC Long Term Business Plan | 50% DRAFT 4 2. History of Accomplishments The Importance of Public Private by dozens more. Twenty-five percent of the ar- Partnerships ea’s residential units serve low-income residents. The rest command some of the highest values The integration of transportation, housing, retail in the region—a mix of housing choices that and parks is essential to the Portland model demonstrates PDC’s distinctive ability to develop of placemaking and creating vibrant live/work balanced, healthy communities. neighborhoods, as is implementation based on public-private partnership. In downtown Infrastructure and Parks Portland, nothing is more emblematic of that model than the Pearl District, a development In the past fifteen years, PDC has contributed on a district scale that has succeeded beyond nearly $200 million to the development of expectation. A key aspect of the public-private transportation systems and infrastructure (MAX partnership was a complex, 300-page Master Light Rail, Portland Streetcar, the Portland Tram, Development Agreement entered into by the Tilikum Crossing) that are the envy of cities developer, the City and PDC in 1997. nationwide. Another $142 million has funded the creation of public parks and recreational Over a 20-year period, PDC invested more than amenities throughout the city, including Dawson $100 million in the district, leveraging more than Park in north Portland, Gateway Urban Plaza in $2 billion in private investment. The streetcar east Portland, and Caruthers Park in the South began passenger service in July 2001; the district Waterfront. Indeed, PDC has been instrumental is home to three public parks. The first mixed-use in preserving and paying for many of Portland’s condominium building opened in 2002, followed much-beloved public green spaces. PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART Property acquisition and PNCA responsible for all costs the building, PDC may choose financing that realized early of the 511 Building, including to retain ownership, lease the payback & community benefit reimbursement to PDC for all building to another party sub- its costs of administration and ject to the applicable federal In 2013, the 511 Building, which ownership. PDC committed to requirements, and use the was listed on the National providing up to $12,710,000 funds for other PDC programs. Register of Historic Places, in short-term bridge financ- was seismically unreinforced, ing and up to $7,610,000 in PNCA’s renovation of the 511 functionally challenged, finan- long-term debt, at market Building and relocation of its cially unfeasible to develop on rates, to PNCA for building main campus to the area is a speculative basis, and had renovation and relocation of consistent with the Old Town/ been targeted for disposition the school’s main campus. Chinatown Five-Year Action by the U.S. General Service The $20 million loan package Plan and delivered multiple Administration (GSA) for more was one of the largest in PDC’s community/public benefits, than 20 years. history, although the school’s including temporary con- fundraising efforts were so struction jobs, use of minority The Pacific Northwest College successful