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Most of Centennial Mills is going to be pulled off the Willamette River before it falls in.

The Portland Development Commission on Thursday adopted a resolution to exempt the Centennial Mills project from the required competitive low-bid process and expedite the hiring process to conduct 鈥渟elective demolition work鈥� at the unstable site.

鈥淚n October we started seeing (ceiling) beams collapse, and just last week began a cascade of events that were unforeseen,鈥� said Bruce Wood, senior project/program coordinator with PDC. 鈥淚t’s reached a point of critical failure, and we need to start deconstruction of certain elements as soon as possible.鈥�

The commission announced plans to remove everything but the six-story Flour Mill and five-story Feed Mill, including the wharf. PDC plans this month to issue a request for proposals and intends to award the contract award at a Feb. 2015 meeting. Selective demo could begin in the second quarter of 2015 and is expected to take six months.

As part of the expedited process, the Portland Police Bureau’s Mounted Patrol Unit, which is headquartered at the site, will have to vacate by March 1.

PDC made their decision without receiving public input and without entering into a development agreement with Harsch Properties, which didn’t sit well with some.

鈥淚 am flabbergasted about this meeting because at the last meeting (in October) you talked about public process,鈥� said Patricia Gardner, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association’s board. 鈥淲here are you going on this site? Where is the public involvement? That you’re going to tear down 80 percent of the site is hard to swallow and completely disheartening.鈥�

Jordan Schnitzer, president of Harsch Properties, criticized the board for dragging its feet.

鈥淭he complaint of citizens who say there hasn’t been public input is completely valid,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s the developer, until we get a development agreement, we can’t start that process. We’ve been waiting since April. We expected one in November. Now it’s December and we still haven’t seen it.”

Schnitzer in October presented the board with his team’s 鈥�preferred plan鈥� for the site: a $115.8 million development with plans for a pedestrian bridge spanning Naito Parkway, river access, open public space, multifamily units, and retail and office space.

Harsch Properties committed $77 million to the project and would like the public to invest in the remainder of the cost. In October, Schnitzer stressed to the board that the next step would be to hold public meetings to gauge what amenities people wanted in the development and how much they’re willing to spend on developing the site.

At Thursday’s meeting, Nathan Ingraffea, a principal at KPFF Consulting Engineers, testified that after assessing the site, his team concluded that extensive roof failures have allowed water inside buildings, exacerbating deterioration. Wharf columns are shifting toward the river, he said, which could lead to structural collapse of the wharf and other integrated buildings.

Schnitzer’s team also conducted extensive site surveys and concluded that the Flour Mill and Feed Mill were the only buildings worth saving.

鈥淎s so often happens in life, you can look back to yesterday and figure out what you could have done better. In hindsight, if we would have known then what we know now, we could have covered the roofs,鈥� Schnitzer said. 鈥淢y preservationist heart hurts that more of this site has deteriorated.鈥�

While the commissioners called circumstances leading up to deterioration 鈥渦nforeseen,鈥� not everyone agreed with that assessment.

鈥淵ou guys knew in 2000 that the building needed to be taken care of,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淵ou’ve got us all backed into a corner of emergency for something we all knew was going to happen. That’s just bad policy.鈥�

Gardner and fellow PDNA member Richard Graham both testified that beginning site demolition without a development agreement or plan is an unwise choice and wondered why the process is taking so long.
鈥淲hat is holding this process up from happening in an orderly way?鈥� Graham asked. 鈥淭he cart is coming before the horse here. It doesn’t make sense not to have a development concept or any notion what to do with the site and start tearing things down.鈥�