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11/17/2021 Member News

Wilsonville Agrees with HBA: Pair Incentives for Mixed-use Vertical Housing


This week, Wilsonville City Council advanced proposed design criteria for ground floor uses in Vertical Housing Development Zones (VHDZ). In its letter to council, HBA underscored the importance of overlapping incentives for VHDZs to produce meaningful ground floor uses while accommodating additional housing in the area. Solidifying the ground floor criteria is critical for allowing developers to determine whether a given mixed-use proposal is eligible for tax abatement as a qualifying Vertical Housing Development Project. To support future VHDZ projects that are fiscally and logistically feasible, Council directed staff to return later this year with specific commercial and retail incentives the city could offer in conjunction with the VHDZ tax abatement.

While Wilsonville continues to advance VHDZ criteria for both Town Center and Villebois Village Center, Council this week also affirmed the Development Review Board’s approval of a development application to complete the Villebois Village Center. The proposal for three mixed-use buildings and additional parking rounds out the Center, pursuant to its master plan. The proposed VHDZ boundary for Villebois Village Center encompasses the parcels with the approved development application.

VHDZs provide a partial property tax exemption for 10 years for qualifying projects that combine commercial and residential uses. Property tax exemptions are one type of housing production strategy pursuant to House Bill 2003, which requires systematic housing capacity analyses and the formation of specific housing production strategies to address unmet housing needs. Currently, the Clackamas County cities of Canby, Estacada, Milwaukie, and Oregon City each have an established VHDZ. To learn more about HBA involvement in Wilsonville, contact Roseann Johnson, roseannj@hbapdx.org.