County to Surplus Several Properties

PORTLAND-Multnomah County is preparing to sell several properties in the region, including big chunks of land in Troutdale, OR, a leasehold and land in Downtown Portland and two buildings in Northeast Portland. In Troutdale, the county will surplus the 46-acre pig farm land and the 71-acre jail site, both of which border the McMenamins Edgefield resort hotel. The McMenamin brothers are the likely buyer, though a local school district also has expressed interest. The Downtown land totals 3 acres and include a full block at 530 SW 2nd Avenue and three parcels at the west end of the Morrison Bridge at 1st and SW Alder Street. The property is home to the county’s motor pool and provides parking for 500 vehicles. The county currently is planning to sell the property to the Portland Development Commission, which included the property in its 2003 Downtown Waterfront Master Plan and is part of the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area. The county has earmarked proceeds from the sale for the acquisition of a full-block property in closer proximity to the existing Government Center in Downtown Portland.The Downtown leasehold is a perpetual leasehold for the 14th and 15th floors (39,000 sf) of the Portland Building, located at 1220 SW 5th Avenue in Downtown Portland. The 14th floor is partially vacant now and is expected to be fully vacant in January. The 15th floor is occupied by Courts, District Attorney and other uses which require space in the general vicinity but not necessarily in the building. Both floors will be declared surplus because the county believes it will be advantageous to have both floors available for bargaining and sales purposes. The county’s lease rate at the Portland Building is $21.40 per sf, according to county documents. The City of Portland, which controls the rest of the building, is the likely buyer.In Northeast Portland, the properties include the former Medical Examiners’ Building located at 301 NE Knott St. and the Hansen Building at 12240 NE Glisan St., which is now used as the sheriff’s headquarters. Information on who might be interested in the two buildings was not immediately available.Not including the Downtown land, the county has said it hopes to bring in as much as $16 million from the sale of the assets that would be used for a new East County Courthouse. The county wants to develop a 66,000-sf building in Gresham that would house four courtrooms, Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies, Gresham police officers and prosecutors. The county’s board of commissions this week is expected to approve a policy for declaring property surplus. The policy includes a 45-day public involvement and comment period that would precede marketing of some of the properties. Other of the properties, including the Morrison Bridgehead property, are not subject to the policy because the disposition process is already underway.