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A couple of eventful months have passed since I previously chronicled the rise of the new transit bridge over the Willamette River, and the changing nature of the neighborhoods it connects.

The dramatic suspense of the name selection process has turned to congratulatory revelry for a name well chosen. “Tilikum Crossing” loosely translates as the people’s crossing from the Chinook Wawa language, in honor of the indigenous tribes who have lived near the Willamette River for over 14,000 years. The choice is an apt convergence of historic symbolism with this amazingly modern, carless transit bridge.

As the Tilikum Crossing inches toward completion, its blend of bus, rail, pedestrian and bike transport grows more opportunistic to the neighborhoods that it serves. The city of Portland has taken steps to capitalize on the economic development potential of the Tilikum Crossing and associated public transportation projects, some of which are highlighted here.

Tilikum Crossing is an important part of transit investment that includes the orange light-rail line, which extends from downtown through the South Waterfront District, across the Willamette River via the Tilikum Crossing, to the Central Eastside, and then off to points south. Once completed, Central Eastside and South Waterfront neighborhoods should experience improved access, and gain visitors and community activities. Property owners and developers in the South Waterfront and the Central Eastside are planning their moves and determining the best time to take advantage.

Property owners and developers are not the only ones positioning to respond to the newest transit investment. The city of Portland is taking strategic steps to ensure that the orange line meets its economic development goals. Both the South Waterfront and Central Eastside contain long-standing urban renewal areas that allow the city to make targeted investments in public infrastructure and private redevelopment. The city has taken calculated steps to bring resources to bear in order to shape development around the future light rail station areas.

For example, the city and the Portland Development Commission recently have undertaken the process of realigning the boundaries of the Central Eastside urban renewal area to include the under-construction light rail stations adjacent to OMSI and the Clinton Street station. OMSI has undertaken an extensive master planning process for its property holdings around the museum, and the commercial development along the close-in Clinton Divisions corridor is well under way.

This, combined with the opening of the orange line, will prime these station areas for development. Inclusion of the station areas in a URA will allow the city to marshal the funding needed to influence the coming development to help it meet the goals of the city’s economic development strategy.

On the other side of the river, it is likely that the city will use URA dollars to assist with the build-out of infrastructure to serve the Zidell Marine site. A significant portion of the property is vacant and assessed accordingly, and is thereby ideally situated for the creation of tax increment.

Furthermore, the city has employed another available resource to attract the kinds of development that will further its economic development goals: the state’s enterprise zone designation. In collaboration with the property owner, the city has undertaken the requisite process to receive the enterprise zone designation from the state as of last year. This means companies that locate to the site will be allowed to be exempt from property taxes for up to five years if they meet certain standards, such as creating and maintaining jobs with wages that exceed the local average, and providing local job skills training.

The city and private property owners are actively considering how best to invest to transform vacant and underutilized land into successful, dense station area communities, with the orange line slated to go operational in 2015. The new transit options and connections will cause these considerations and the associated development timelines to shorten. The Tilikum Crossing will soon connect neighborhoods that look very different from what is on the ground today.

Damien Hall focuses on land use and real estate law as an attorney at Ball Janik LLP. Contact him at 503-944-6138 or [email protected].