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The most extravagant short-term rental in Portland—an entire floor of apartments in a waterfront high-rise—is being shut down by city officials.
WW reported in September that the entire 11th floor of the 21-story apartment tower Yard was available for rent by the night. Located on the east end of the Burnside Bridge, the 18 units, when rented together, cost up to $7,215 a night, not including taxes and fees.
But after WW reported on the short-term rentals at Yard, the Portland Housing Bureau threatened to yank the tax credits for the building. The 284-unit complex includes 57 affordable apartments, qualifying its owners for an estimated $771,079 in tax breaks in 2017.
Guardian Real Estate Services, which owned a stake in the building, agreed to remove the short-term rentals to keep the tax credits. Guardian just sold the building for $126 million to Land and Houses, a Bangkok-based real estate company.
Related: Here's what it's like to spend the night in a short-term rental in Yard.
Housing Bureau director Kurt Creager says the building's tax credits were based on Yard apartments being used only as full-time residences.
"We are delighted we still have 57 affordable units in the building," Creager says. "We will be monitoring the compliance. It's a good case in how inclusionary zoning could work in this town."
Related: Yard also has a very nice hot tub.
Vacasa, the company responsible for renting out the 11th floor, says it is leaving Yard by the end of April.
"We were helping to subsidize the affordable units," says Cliff Johnson of Vacasa. He blamed WW's stories for driving out the short-term rentals, calling the coverage "nitpicking" and "sensational news stories." He called the city's decision "a disincentive to developers to provide affordable units."