Portland revamps downtown zoning, office conversions in focus

About a third of commercial real estate in downtown Portland, Oregon, is vacant, city officials say, a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid work models. City officials in one of the nation’s top-25 cities by population, with an estimated economic output of $80 billion, are now trying to rewrite zoning rules for its downtown core to turn empty office and retail space into housing the city badly needs. Portland’s city council has not finalized its zoning changes yet. The draft currently on the table lacks financial incentives. Other cities have moved faster and included financial incentives. New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles and even midsize Midwest cities such as Grand Rapids, Michigan, have paired zoning changes with tax abatements or direct subsidies to convert offices into apartments. The Portland Planning Commission voted unanimously on July 14 to send a package of zoning changes to City Council. The package, called the Central City Code Amendments Project, could reach a Council vote this fall or winter. That timeline has already slipped once. Planners in January 2026 aimed to conclude Council hearings by fall. The project’s July update pushed tha...