Taft Watch: We’re Counting the Days Since a Home for Disabled Seniors Last Housed Anybody

242 days: That’s how long it’s been since the Taft Home, a former hotel that for 70 years housed low-income, disabled seniors, has housed a single person. The facility shut down Dec. 1 of last year. The private operator closed it after state regulators found poor conditions and documented inadequate care of residents.

The owner of the building, Reach Community Development Corporation, did not look for another operator. Instead, it allowed the doors of the 70-unit building to shutter amid a housing crisis. Reach tells WW it’s in the midst of a building analysis by a third party and can’t decide what’s next for the building until that’s completed. The city has an unusual level of control over the building, because it loaned Reach money for renovations decades ago. According to a binding agreement with the city, Reach must obtain permission from the city if it wants to repurpose or sell the building. If it does neither, Reach is required to use the building for low-income housing.

The Portland Housing Bureau says it doesn’t have a timeline for reopening the building.