Jeff Albanese, program director at SquareOne Villages, an affordable housing co-op developer in Eugene, Oregon, notes that Oregon’s housing crisis has become so severe that it has vastly expanded the range of the possible. “There’s a lot of stuff that is on the table, including TOPA [tenant opportunity to purchase act] and social housing. We have [a] statewide rent control law now in Oregon,” he says. “Ten years ago, that just wasn’t on the table.”
One sign of what Albanese is referencing: During a February work session, the Eugene City Council voted by a unanimous 7–0 margin to “ask the city manager to bring back more information on the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act for the council to discuss as a rental protection.” A report from the city manager is expected this fall.
If adopted, a policy concept outlined by advocates would give tenants in multifamily buildings with five or more units that are up for sale 45 days to exercise a right of first refusal to purchase. Under the proposed provisions, if a tenant majority wished to acquire a building, they would need to form a tenants association, secure a financing letter of interest within 120 days, and close within 240 days (technically, the proposal says that the sale should close in 120 days; however, it also says that if a financing letter of interest is secured by day 120, that period can be extended to 240 days). As is typical for TOPA, the purchase price would have to be consistent with market rates…