Hammer and Hand owner Sam Hagerman has been working with the Mayor’s office and Portland Development Commission to connect Portland builders with bankers to encourage lending for accessory dwelling unit projects.
Big ADU policy changes by the City of Portland in March (a moratorium on system development changes and an increase in SF maximums) have made ADUs easier to build and easier to afford for Portlanders. But many conventional appraisers and bankers have not been willing or able to recognize ADUs as a “lendable” housing type.
That’s always struck us as very strange, given the tremendous return-on-investment and positive cash flow that accessory dwelling units can provide. They’re a really safe bet. So we’ve been meeting with City folks, realtors, appraisers and others to crack this nut.
These efforts culminated today in a meeting with local lenders at Portland Development Commission. We invited our friends at Green Hammer and Olson and Jones to join us for the session with Washington Federal, Unitus, and Umpqua Bank. Fred Atiemo of PDC and Skip Newberry of the Mayor’s Office organized and hosted the meeting.
What we discovered is that these local, mission-driven, portfolio-based banks may be an excellent source of lending for ADUs. Hooray! These are institutions that are both committed to the Portland community and have the flexibility to think outside the box. A good fit for ADU development.
We’re still working out the details, but we’ll keep you posted. We hope to be able to connect our ADU clients with an easy source for construction loans soon. If you have any questions about ADUs or ADU financing, please contact us. We’d be happy to provide answers, explore options, and (of course) build one for you!
-Zack
Click below to see a copy of our ADU slide presentation…
Back to Field Notes