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Redevelopment of the Centennial Mills site along the Northwest Portland waterfront may have some big-name designers and architects attached if developer Jordan Schnitzer, president of Harsch Properties, gets his wish.

Plans for the $115.8 million project call for a pedestrian bridge spanning Naito Parkway, river access, open public space, multifamily units, and retail and office space.

Last month, Schnitzer met with Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer Maya Lin to gauge her interest in designing the bridge. He recently announced that his family foundation would contribute $1 million to bridge a funding gap in Confluence, a series of six public art installations 鈥� designed by Lin 鈥� at significant points along the Columbia River system in Oregon and Washington.

Schnitzer also has been in talks with Frank Gehry, designer of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, and architect Moshe Safdie, designer of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.

鈥淭his is a legacy project for our community,鈥� Schnitzer said. 鈥淚n 50 years I want people to look at it and say, 鈥楾hose folks sure did the right thing for this site.’ 鈥�

Harsch Properties is prepared to invest $77 million in the project and would like the remaining $38.8 million to come from public subsidies. Schnitzer said the project is important enough to him that he’s willing to invest more if necessary.

鈥淚t shouldn’t just be a bridge; it should be a work of art,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith our civic hat on I’m sure our family fund would be willing to contribute a significant amount of funding for some aesthetic addition to this.鈥�

Site redevelopment has been in the works for more than a decade. In 2006 the Portland Development Commission hired Costa Mesa, Calif.-based LAB Holding to develop a culinary hub for food purveyors, but later shifted its project preference to require at least 50 percent of the development to include office space. As a result, LAB Holding aborted its project.

Patricia Gardner, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association‘s board, said she hopes that the planning phase will be more transparent this time around.

鈥�(PDC officials) chased away that developer because they changed the rules,鈥� she said. 鈥淟AB got killed behind closed doors. This time there needs to be meetings where they ask the public, 鈥榃hat do you guys want?’ 鈥�

The PDC on Dec. 11 will discuss possible next steps for the century-old Centennial Mills site at a public meeting, PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said.

The PDC is waiting to make any decisions until KPFF Consulting Engineers finishes a survey of the site to determine which buildings are salvageable and which need to be razed. Uhlman said he expects the firm to report its findings during the first week of December.

鈥淭his is one of the last chances we have, as a city, to connect with our history,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淚’ve wondered if there’s a plot that 鈥� the building will fall down if they wait long enough.鈥�

At the Oct. 29 PDC meeting where Schnitzer announced his firm’s preferred development plan, the commissioners talked at length about the buildings’ rapid deterioration and about the possibility of demolishing those too run-down to preserve.

鈥淚t’s like they think, 鈥榃e own the building, so we can just start tearing down parts of it,’ 鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淗ow can you do that without a true vision of what it is you’re tearing down?鈥�

Uhlman said the PDC is hoping that KPFF will provide it with an assessment of which buildings are most at risk.

鈥淭he key piece is learning from the structural engineers how quickly we need to act,鈥� he said. 鈥淪elective demolition could prove to be a challenge because the buildings are all sort of integrated.鈥�

Schnitzer’s plan calls for preserving the four-story Feed Mill and the five-story Flour Mill. He said his firm has already brought KPFF staffers on site, and they determined that the 10 other existing structures are beyond repair.

鈥淚t’s a tragic circumstance,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here’s so much damage to some of the buildings that we’d be tearing them down and rebuilding them to look like they were. We’re preserving the best of the buildings 鈥� In our opinion, the cost of trying to recreate the others isn’t worth it.鈥�

Harsch Properties spent more than a year meeting with citizens and professional firms to consider every option for the site.

鈥淲e came up with a scheme we suggested as a preferred plan,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat’s most important is that we go through a public process to meet with anyone and everyone so we can hear every voice in this community and answer every question they have.鈥�