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After a highly publicized debate over gentrification killed a proposed Trader Joe’s development in Northeast Portland, Mayor Charlie Hales is looking to commit $20 million to combat displacement and spark resurrection of the $8 million project.

The Portland Development Commission planned to sell a 1.79-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Alberta Street to Los Angeles-based developer Majestic Realty for construction of a 20,000-square-foot retail center. Proposed anchor tenant Trader Joe’s pulled out after community stakeholders targeted the project amid claims that the PDC’s actions, past and present, were causing displacement of longtime residents.

The controversy even received national attention when talk-show host Conan O’Brien about it in a monologue.

On Monday, following a meeting with members of the African-American community in Northeast Portland, Hales announced that he would reach out to Trader Joe’s.

Dana Haynes, spokesman for Hales, said that after the retailer pulled out, the mayor’s office received hundreds of comments from residents, business leaders and African-American community stakeholders who said they supported the project.

“The mayor wants Trader Joe’s to know that,” Haynes said. “The reason he called the meeting … was to say, ‘Look, I really want to go after this thing, but I need to tell them I’m going with wholehearted support.”

Some of it came via an online petition that the Oregon chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors initiated; it called on the mayor to bring a commercial project to the site. The petition pointed out that, though the property is zoned for commercial and residential use, site constraints make mixed-use development too costly. The organization also noted that upwards of $15 million in subsidies could be required to make an affordable housing project feasible. NAMC-Oregon suggested that other sites would be more appropriate for affordable housing; its plea has garnered support from approximately 700 individuals.

Cyreena Boston Ashby, director of the Portland African American Leadership Forum, which criticized the development plan, said in a prepared statement that her organization never opposed Trader Joe’s, but rather a lack of transparency and community engagement in the city’s land development processes.

Hales is now proposing to set aside $20 million in tax increment financing over five years for new affordable housing projects in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. That plan would need to be approved by the PDC’s board of commissioners and Portland City Council, but Ashby said it would be a victory for all people who have been displaced and marginalized over the past 20 years. PAALF could not be reached immediately for comment, but Haynes acknowledged its objections.

“We heard there are historic problems that the city needs to own about investments and disinvestments that have had consequences – unintended and intended,” he said. “Absolutely there is a historic tradition of not doing well by certain parts of our community. Having said that, Trader Joe’s would mean jobs and economic vitality for that region.”

The $20 million injection would add to $16.6 million currently earmarked for affordable housing in the area. Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the PDC, said accounting details will be ironed out in early April during a series of budgetary work sessions.

The PDC also is proposing creation of a Community Benefits Agreement for the Trader Joe’s site. It would include goals for minority contracting, as well as a commitment that 50 percent of tenants in the development’s second building be local businesses. Haynes said city staffers have already contacted the retailer and Majestic Realty to discuss the prospect.

Approximately 50 community members attended Monday’s meeting with Hales. He said in a prepared statement that the city could not change the past, but it could learn from it to create a future where longtime African-American community members enjoy new economic opportunities.

“Step one is to get this popular grocer to come back to the table,” Hales stated. “That will mean jobs. Step two is our commitment for more affordable housing. That will keep people from being displaced. Step three will be a long-term commitment to the economic vitality of the Interstate Corridor area. And that’s going to take all of us as a team.”

Getting there, however, will require some legwork.

“Let’s not sugarcoat this,” Haynes said. “It will be an uphill climb. When Trader Joe’s said they were moving on, they walked out the door … The mayor’s job is to get them to walk back through the door.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Colas, president and chief operating officer of Colas Construction – the general contractor chosen for the project – recently traveled to Los Angeles to talk with development stakeholders.

“I went down there and I met with Majestic, and I met with representatives from Trader Joe’s,” said Colas, who also is the president of NAMC-Oregon. “And really, the biggest thing was I presented the petition that NAMC-Oregon put together to support bringing the project back … I left the meeting cautiously optimistic that there was a chance that they might come back.”

He added that the two groups were waiting to hear from Hales.