That's kinda good/bad news... OHSU is a big employer with deep pockets, but OHSU is also tax exempt, and therefore further bankrupting the N Macadam urban renewal fund. Also, North Macadam Investors had proposed four 20+ story residential towers on those same waterfront properties before the crash, now we can expect them to stay vacant lots for 10-30 years before OHSU gets around to them (remember they are prioritizing the Schnitzer Campus area, and they already owned 5 parcels next to the Center for Health & Healing before adding these 2).
The good news is OHSU will have room to expand until roughly 2040 keeping them from their previously proposed suburban flight. The purchases could also be used for non-school related/ outpatient space such as more senior housing, start-up lab space, or re-sell/ swap lands with other developers. I'm also curious if OHSU will keep buying SoWa until there is no gap (Zidell, etc...) in their campus... Regardless, South Waterfront is moving farther and farther away from the initial glass towered dream, which is not necessarily a bad thing as the area is evolving into it's own sense of place (dare I say 'neighborhood').
image from OHSU
Quote:
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OHSU has no immediate plans for development on the parcels at this time, but it expects to construct new outpatient facilities on the land to both replace aging patient care areas on OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus and in response to expanded need.
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