Item C: Multi Unit Property Tax Exemption Program

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In January 2001, the council reinstated the MUPTE program with the new guidelines and adopted a boundary area that was limited to the heart of downtown, substantially smaller than what had previously existed. In February 2003, the council recognized that no multi-family development occurred in the core area after the moratorium took effect, and directed staff to return to City Council with proposed amendments to the program as part of a series of “downtown tools”. (Broadway Place and High Street Terrace were approved prior to the moratorium but constructed during the moratorium period.) In July 2003, the council approved a small expansion of the MUPTE boundary to include the City’s th development site at 14 and Olive (the future home of the Tate Condominiums) and directed staff to return at a later date with additional amendments to the program and boundary. In early 2004, during multiple meetings, the council debated the merits of setting more specific and stricter standards of quality for MUPTE recipients and settled on the current approach which provides a range of options to be evaluated by the council prior to approval. The council agreed to expand the boundary area for MUPTE-eligible housing and amended the rules to include quality standards and increase public notification requirements. The amendments also eliminated an annual fee that was paid into a low-income housing fund if at least 50 percent of the housing built was not low-income. Some members of the council argued that charging the fee reduced the incentive and ability to construct higher quality housing. MUPTE Guidelines The MUPTE application packet is provided as Attachment A. This includes the adopted local standards. Public benefits are at the core of the program. Applicants must respond to a list of public benefits including sustainability features, responsiveness to adjacent historic resources, quality of building materials, design elements, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible units, home ownership and solicitation of neighborhood association comments. The guidelines include specific rules for protection of historic or potentially historic buildings. Characteristics of MUPTE Applicants MUPTE applicants have typically been single-site property owners or small development companies. There are two exceptions. The history is unclear about the origin of the development team for Broadway Center at Broadway and Washington, the first approved MUPTE (1978). Broadway Place at Broadway and Charnelton (1996) is a City-assisted project that was constructed on urban renewal property following a request for proposals (RFP). The developer, Lorig and Associates, was based in Seattle but included significant private local investment and management for the project. MUPTE applicants are commonly individuals who own a property for an extended period of time and use the tool to significantly improve it. It appears from an examination of the tax rolls that all of the approved MUPTE projects are still owned by the original applicants. As an example, the three most recent MUPTE applications came from local interests: Bob Newland is a life-long Eugene resident. Patterson Place will be his first real estate development. ? Council approved this application on October 8, 2007. F:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M071022\S071022C.doc