The original sale--in May 1999--called for the county to pay $4.6 million for the property. However, a small group of North Portland citizens opposes having a jail in Rivergate. One member of that group recently filed an appeal with the State Land Use Board of Appeals opposing the city's approval of plans to subdivide the tract into smaller parcels.

As a result of that appeal, the city decided to amend the original sales agreement to provide for any likelihood that the Board of Appeals may rescind the subdivision plans. The amendment says in essence that if such rescission occurs, the sales agreement would convert to a 99-year ground lease, with the pre-paid rent being equal to the previously approved sales price.

"The county is prepared to begin construction on its new facility," says Bill Bach, the Port's property and development services senior manager. "They've already begun making infrastructure improvements in the adjacent street right-of-way."