The LOEB Fellowship

Working out a balance between policy and development, Eli Spevak has been actively involved in these fields in Portland, Oregon, where he arrived in 1994 as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In the city, he has managed the finance and construction of over 350 units of affordable, community oriented, and green housing through community based nonprofit organizations, including his own development and general contractor company, Orange Splot, LLC. The company has completed multiple small communities and has been consulted on the development of projects over a range of scales. Spevak’s work with the company has been featured in the New York Times and Sunset Magazine, on NBC’s Today Show, and as part of Portland’s annual Build It Green! tours.

Spevak has advocated for code changes that support the development of smaller and more affordable homes in residential neighborhoods. In 2009 he convened an informal “tiny house society,” which the following year was instrumental in changing Portland’s regulations and fee structure for accessory dwelling units. His cofounding of the website accessorydwellings.org led to the creation of a model ADU code, with an emphasis on both local and national advocacy for regulatory changes that support discreet, affordable, and environmentally friendly housing options. Spevak cofounded a local pro-housing initiative, then was appointed to Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission. In both roles, he successfully advocated for Portland zoning reforms to legalize smaller and less expensive housing, which have since gone statewide. As a technical assistance provider through AARP’s Livable Communities program, Spevak extends this work nationally.

Spevak has volunteered with Dignity Village, served on the board of the Portland Community Land Trust (now Proud Ground) for its first five years, is an active member of the Space-Efficient Housing Workgroup convened by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and regularly serves on planning and development-related advisory panels and focus groups for the City of Portland. He is past chair of Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission, where he still serves. He cofounded ElectrifyPDX to help people power their homes with clean energy. Spevak has a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Portland State University and a physics degree from Swarthmore College.