PORTLAND, Oregon — Two affordable housing developments in Portland are receiving financial support from Portland City Council with the goal of increasing Black homeownership in some of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods.

City councilors voted unanimously Wednesday to approve $2.5 million that will help subsidize home purchases for Black families in two separate developments currently planned in Portland.

City leaders said the ordinance is intended to expand access to homeownership for families earning below the area median income while addressing the legacy of displacement among Portland’s Black communities.

“For me, this is very personal,” City Councilor Loretta Smith said. “I know what it can do to a family, I know what it can do for a community and what it can do for neighborhoods.”

Smith said the investment is also an effort to address decades of displacement affecting Black residents in Portland.

“Black families were kicked out of here over 60 years ago, and we now need to right those wrongs,” Smith said.

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Part of the funding will go toward the Rudy Mac Place development in East Vanport, a 49-home project led by Self Enhancement Inc. The organization’s CEO, Trent Aldridge, said construction is expected to begin this summer.

Aldridge said the city funding will help make the 1,500- to 1,800-square-foot homes affordable for buyers earning about 65% of the area median income.

“These dollars are going to be used to subsidize people’s opportunity to actually live in these homes,” Aldridge said.

He said homeownership can help families build long-term financial stability and generational wealth.

“What it ultimately does is provide a foundation,” Aldridge said. “You don’t have to start over every generation. You own something, and then your family can own something.”

The remaining funding will support the Williams and Russell development near Dawson Park in North Portland. The project will include affordable two- and three-bedroom townhomes for people with historic ties to the neighborhood.

Many Black families were displaced from the area more than 50 years ago after land was acquired for the expansion of Legacy Health.

The Williams and Russell townhomes are expected to be completed by early next year. The East Vanport development is expected to be move-in ready in about 20 months.