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After more than a decade of disuse, the Multnomah Greyhound Park, located in the heart of downtown Wood Village, is up for sale. Commercial real estate company NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson announced Monday that it is handling the sale of the 31-acre site at 944 N.E. 223^rd Avenue that is 鈥渇inally up for grabs.鈥�

Ken Boyko, vice president at NAI Norris, said the property could be appealing to high-tech companies that want to avoid higher rents in big cities with limited space. The site is close to public transportation with affordable housing options nearby, has a relatively low cost of living compared to places like San Francisco and Seattle and is close to Portland, he said in a statement.

The city of Wood Village has already invested about $3.5 million in infrastructure, improving streets on three sides of the park and installing lights at three intersections, according to NAI Norris, and the project is 鈥渟hovel ready.鈥�

Part of the parcel has already opened to retail with Fred Meyer, Lowes Home Improvement and Kohl’s stores, but only smaller retail will be included in future plans, said NAI Norris vice president Denis O’Neill.

The park opened as a greyhound racing track in 1957 but closed its doors in 2004 following a decline in attendance. Arthur McFadden has owned the land since 2001. Plans to turn it into a casino tanked at the ballot box in recent years.

O’Neill said the city hopes to see both residential development and companies that can create jobs.

鈥淭hey’ve capped out the big box stores, but can continue to do incidental retail,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat they’re looking for is offices with a residential component.鈥�

The greyhound park property has been rezoned as city center, said Wood Village City Administrator Bill Peterson said, but the city will be looking at all its zoning within the next month to try and streamline the process of development.

鈥淚’m hopeful a potential purchaser would get engaged early in the process,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s going to take a good amount of time to plan a site of this scope.鈥�

Because the greyhound park is at the center of town, residents are looking forward to seeing the property developed, Peterson said.

鈥淚t is the largest vacant parcel in our city and it is our town center,鈥� he said.

For more information on the sale, contact Denis O’Neill, vice president at NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson at 503-273-0392.