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Date ArticleType
9/13/2023 Member News

HBA Shapes Urban Growth Report and Boundary Efforts


In advance of many important decisions related to our region’s ability to plan for future growth, HBA and our partners are beginning to form working groups to align our positions and messaging around one basic principle: the need for new lands to support economic and residential growth. HBA and our partners at the Westside Economic Alliance and Revitalize Portland Coalition will be collaborating as we anticipate reviewing and offering feedback to Metro’s forthcoming Urban Growth Report data in the coming months. Our primary goal is to speak in a unified voice to push decision-makers to develop a UGR that will incorporate more accurate growth forecasts and development trends than in previous years.

As a reminder, HBA’s Preston Korst and several members have recently been named to serve on Metro’s newly formed Urban Growth Report Stakeholder group. Below are list of members or industry professionals who are expected to join this committee:

  • Preston Korst, Government Affairs Director, HBA
  • Justin Wood, Vice President, Fish Construction
  • Eric Peterson, Vice President Operations, Land & Housing Development, Brookfield Properties
  • Elin Michel-Midelfort, Vice President Land Development, Metropolitan Land Group
  • Michele Gila, Director of Realtor Advocacy, PMAR
  • Elizabeth Mazzara-Myers, Executive Director, Westside Economic Alliance

This new, time-limited advisory group to the COO will help inform a recommendation to the Metro Council on the urban growth boundary decision at the end of 2024. This work is happening simultaneously and in addition to several Housing Needs Analyses that are being developed in cities across the region, including Hillsboro where HBA and others are advocating for council to adopt an Alternatives Analysis that accounts for more accurate population modeling, re-development capability, and middle housing growth.