Prosper Portland

[MarkDaMan]

A thread for news and information related to Prosper Portland (formerly Portland Development Commission) that is non project specific.

[MarkDaMan]

Portland agency does bad job of making money off city-owned properties, audit finds
Updated 11:32 AM; Posted 5:06 AM
By Jessica Floum jfloum@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/i...river_home_pop

Portland's development commission is looking to get into operating real estate in a big way, but it does a poor job of making money and protecting city assets on properties it now owns, a new audit shows.

The agency's new real estate strategy is not on track to make the future revenues it's counting on to spur equitable economic growth in the city, an audit released by the Portland Auditor's Office Tuesday found.

The agency pays outside firms to operate most of its properties expected to generate significant income, including a hotel, parking garages, retail spaces and Union Station. But auditors' checks on four of the most significant properties found that the agency failed to get reliable financial information from its contractors, to adequately forecast finances and plan for upkeep at each property.

The market rate for a firm to operate the city-owned Inn at the Convention Center would be $125,000, the audit said, but the commission paid operator Trek Ventures $600,000 for that work in 2016. The city handed Trek Ventures the contract to "babysit" the hotel on a temporary basis 15 years ago and has never sought competitive bids, it said.

...continues.