[nevernude]

I'll take a shot. I've been thinking lately that it might have been a mistake to have one developer for the Railyards project. It exposes the project to potential money shortage issues. If Thomas is exposed to some bad deals, a huge part of the city's future is set back years. If we could do it all over again, I would open it up to some of the great local developers. Perhaps the city and state should have done the cleanup, roads, parks, infrastructure, and the like and then lease or sell parcels cheaply to local developers like Loftworks, D & S, LJ Urban, Talyor, even Saca or Mo if they are interested. Set standards on what they can develop. Retail on the first two floors. Housing in every building. A mix of apartments and condos. A min. height of 5 floors/max of 20 perhaps. Give them the parcel for less if they build LEED. Do a tax abatement for condo buyers and stores that move in. I know people here get tired of hearing about Portland, but the Pearl is THE playbook for redeveloping an industrial site and some of these methods were used. I'm worried that the Thomas development will be generic and stale with all the buildings looking the same. Kinda like a soundstage city or something. The great thing about the Pearl is the different architecture. The buildings are different heights, different materials. It feels fresh and organic. I think that is what we all want from the Railyards.

I want the Thomas development to be successful. We all do. But if it falls through and the city ends up with the land again, it is something to think about.