Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s major task force for downtown Portland wants the central city to break ground on 2,500 new homes by 2030.

As the task force’s spokesperson, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson pitched the housing goal and other task force aspirations to business and philanthropic leaders Tuesday at the Portland Metro Chamber’s annual luncheon. The task force set priorities focused on more housing, reviving or repurposing office buildings, and increasing foot traffic downtown.

“This report, our goals and the purpose is clear,” Wilson said. “We must advance projects, remove the blockers, report the progress, and keep everybody at the table.”

Many economists consider a city’s downtown as a bellwether for the overall economic health of a community.

In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic closures threatened the health of city centers across the nation as office workers set up shop at home. Social gatherings like concerts were no longer safe to attend, and shoppers spent money online instead of patronizing brick-and-mortar businesses.

Five years later, Portland continues to face compounding challenges of homelessness, addiction, housing affordability, and office vacancies that are hampering the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

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In 2023, Kotek created the Portland Central City Task Force made up of elected officials, business leaders, and representatives from nonprofits and academic organizations. The group put out a list of initial recommendations a year and a half ago focused on crime, homelessness, trash problems, and barriers to doing business in Portland.

Wilson joined the task force when he took over as mayor earlier this year. The goals he laid out Wednesday are part of the group’s vision for how to make progress over the next five years.

Wilson acknowledges it’s an uphill battle.

“Our tax base is weakening,” he told attendees at the Metro Chamber event, which took place at the Marriott Hotel on Naito Parkway. “Downtown’s tallest tower is half empty. Public trust has eroded.”

Downtown homelessness remains a big concern for businesses

Survey after survey shows the top concern for Oregonians is the stubbornly high number of people experiencing homelessness. In January, a Portland Metro Chamber Economic Survey of 700 Portlanders found that, once again, homelessness, affordable housing, cost of living and safety are the most critical issues facing the city.

Oregon has struggled for decades to meet the housing needs of its population. And, the problem has gotten worse in the last decade. Estimates from the City of Portland show the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness shot up 65% between 2015 and 2023. More recent data suggests homelessness grew by nearly a quarter in Multnomah County from January 2024 to January 2025.

At the same time, businesses have been shrinking their presence in the city center. The combination of growing homelessness and shrinking business activity has caused state and city leaders to warn of irreversible damage if Portland doesn’t reverse course.

“If we let our commercial core hollow out,” Wilson said, “We lose the economic engine that funds our schools, our transit, the housing that we so desperately need.”

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Overall, the task force has identified dozens of projects already in the works that could help advance its goals.

Projects underway near the Moda Center and at the Lloyd Center site —across the Willamette River from downtown — promise new businesses, a music venue, and more than 2,000 new homes in coming years. Many of the proposed projects are supported through a mix of public and private funds.

“A few bright spots cannot overcome systemic fiscal pressures or lack of coordination,” the Central City Task Force wrote in its June 2025 report.

“The City’s budget constraints limit its ability to lead a full-scale transformation, and there is no single entity tasked with maintaining urgency. If Portland’s public and private leaders do not actively steward this recovery through organized, resourced effort, it may stall.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/04/downtown-portland-taskforce-foot-traffic/