UPS has controlled the property at the city's northeast boundary since January 2000, when it signed a 40-year lease that included a limited option to buy. At the time, UPS was planning to relocate and expand its main sorting facility from Swan Island to Southshore Corporate Park, which is much closer to the airport. In late 2001 or early 2002, however, UPS apparently changed its mind and decided to try to expand at Swan Island by gaining control of the neighboring US Navy & Marine Corps Reserve Center.
GlobeSt.com reported in June that to accomplish that task, UPS proposed swapping 18 acres at Southshore Corporate Park for the 13.3 acres adjacent its Swan Island property where the Reserve Center is currently located. As part of the deal, according to local brokers, UPS has agreed to pay for development of the new Reserve Center and all moving costs.
UPS spokeswoman Donna Barrett tells GlobeSt.com it is still too early in negotiations to say whether the land swap will take place. If it does, she says the remainder of the land likely would be put up for sale. If the land swap does not take place, it's possible UPS would decide to revert to its original plan and relocate its main sorting facility there or simply seek a buyer for the entire property, which local brokers say is worth substantially more than when it locked in its option price nearly four years ago.
The land exchange was approved by the Navy last year but the move needed special congressional approval, according to officials at the City of Gresham who earlier this year approached US Rep. Earl Blumenauer seeking support for the trade. The House of Representatives version of the Fiscal Year 2004 Department of Defense Authorization Bill had already been drafted, but with the help of Sen. Gordon Smith the exchange was added into the Senate version that the Senate approved in late May. The current version has yet to be approved by each chamber and signed into law by the president.
A relocation of the Reserve Center to Southshore would bring more than 60 full-time personnel to the northwestern edge of the Gresham as well as approximately 925 reservists who drill at the facility at least once per month. Since the Reserve Center does not provide housing or dining facilities, Gresham officials say the reservists will bring economic stimulus to the Gresham area by staying in local hotels/motels, and by eating, shopping and visiting in the community.
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