Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

August 23, 2021

Portland may seize land from failed Midtown development for site of 700-space garage

Photo / William Hall A view of Lot 6, one of four that comprise the site of the failed Midtown project, looking southeast.
By William Hall

A decade after Portland struck a deal with a Florida company to develop 3.25 acres of blighted, city-owned land, and two years after the project dissolved into still-pending lawsuits, the city may soon take back some of the property and build on it independently. 

The City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to begin a condemnation process for a vacant, formerly industrial 1.04-acre parcel at 59 Somerset St., in the Bayside neighborhood.

Lot 6, as the parcel is known, is one of four that were the site of the proposed Midtown development, a sprawling, $85 million complex that would have included 450 housing units, nearly 100,000 feet of retail space and an 800-vehicle parking garage.

The initial proposal by the Federated Cos., based in Miami, called for an even larger development with up to seven high-rise towers. But opposition from some Portland residents led Federated to scale back the project. Ultimately, a complex legal dispute quashed the project.

As the deal fell apart, Federated sued the city in 2019 and the city countersued. The property remains vacant except for piles of gravel Federated has allowed the city to store on the lot, some scrubby plants and trees, and pedestrians on their way to the nearby Bayside Trail or Trader Joe’s strip mall.

Lot 6 remains encumbered with a deed restriction that requires the construction of a parking structure, among other possible uses. Under the restriction, which runs until 2046, the garage must include at least 700 spaces and 30,000 square feet of retail space, and result in the creation of at least 40 jobs. The city still holds $9 million in financing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help fund the garage.

Federated purchased the four lots for a total of $2.3 million in 2016. A January appraisal conducted for the city estimates that together they’re worth over $13.5 million, although Federated recently contested that finding. The value of Lot 6, without the adjacent parcels, was negligible, according to the city's estimate.

If the council approves the process to take Lot 6 by eminent domain, Monday’s vote would be followed by a Sept. 8 public hearing on the condemnation order.

The council meets virtually Monday at 5 p.m., and more information can be found here.

Editor's Note: This article has been revised to clarify several details about the Midtown project.

Courtesy / City of Portland
This aerial view shows the four Bayside lots owned by the Federated Cos., and that would have been the site of the Midtown development: counterclockwise from lower left, Lot 1, Lot 3, Lot 6 and Lot 7. Lot 6 is the parcel considered for possible condemnation.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

4 Comments

Anonymous
August 27, 2021

This is an important property issue. Opening up parking in this means will help if road access is improved from Marginal Way and the Franklin Arterial. This needs to be part of a new process to take the other portions of this dormant land (Lot 3 and Lot 7). We need a combination of both affordable and workforce housing. Even with 50 to 75% as affordable housing (where rent is at or below the HUD Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom in Portland of $1550 a month), a project with four or five floors of housing above the bottom floor of parking for residents would be reasonable. The parking would be for those that have mobility issues and need handicapped spaces. The project could be a mix of efficiency to up to three-bedroom apartments.

Anonymous
August 27, 2021

Agree with the other comments -- another parking garage in this valuable space will do no favors for this neighborhood or Portland in the long run. Attractive affordable housing with some retail and community garden/park space is the way to go. Where is the VISION?

Order a PDF