Government to buy 8 acres at Cascade Station
The PDC will sell property near Ikea for $3.3 million
POSTED: 06:00 AM PDT Friday, October 26, 2007
BY TYLER GRAF
Daily Journal of Commerce
The Portland Development Commission on Wednesday agreed to sell eight acres of land at Cascade Station near Portland International Airport to the federal General Services Administration for $3.3 million.
The sale will allow for the development of about 135,000 square feet of office space, which will be used to house government agencies.
The PDC’s relationship with Cascade Station has been long and complicated, the commission says, but with current development within the Airport Way urban renewal area, deals are moving swiftly. Three hotels are being developed, including one that’s under construction, and two office buildings are up for permits. The GSA offices will be the third, said Bruce Allen of the PDC.
In 2006, Portland revised city codes to allow Cascade Station anchor tenant Ikea to develop property within the urban renewal area and allow the PDC to develop 36 acres with real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis negotiating leases.
The GSA will buy eight of those acres.
“They want this site partly because of our location – it is centrally located – and partly because we can meet their site requirements,” Allen said.
Although the GSA has not announced what agencies will move to the site, Allen said that, in addition to security needs, GSA chose the location based on space and location requirements.
Additionally, the PDC has 20 acres of industrial land at the Riverside Parkway, at the opposite end of the urban renewal area. Between the two locations, the PDC has about $20 million in assets.
The Airport Way urban renewal area can no longer accrue debt if the PDC wants to continue seeking tax increment bonds. But the sale will shore up $3.1 million for the agency after the leasing agent’s commission that can be redistributed for ongoing Airport Way economic redevelopment.
The GSA has 13 months to close the deal, which would foster 200 jobs, Allen said.
The deal, the PDC says, will also spur an estimated $50 million in new office and parking structure construction. Because the GSA is a federal agency, it’s ineligible for PDC financial aid.
And it’s tax exempt – characterized as a downside by the PDC and a “wash” by Allen.
The GSA employs 12,000 and provides transportation and office space to federal agencies.
“I think once the dust settles on the construction for the shopping center, people will be very surprised by how quickly this area fills up,” Allen said. “Because once Ikea came and the shopping center came, it just boomed out there.”
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