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The Portland Development Commission‘s board of commissioners on Wednesday approved a resolution to adopt a long-awaited development agreement with ZRZ Realty Co. to develop Zidell Yards 鈥� 33 acres of south waterfront property. The plan, five years in the making, calls for ZRZ to develop close to 1.5 million square feet of 鈥渕ixed-use, employment-oriented commercial and residential property鈥� in the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area over the next 10 years. Development will eventually spur use of approximately $23.7 million in tax increment financing for both public and private development in the URA.

PDC Board Chairman Tom Kelly called the development agreement 鈥渁 historic thing.鈥� It will next go before Portland City Council for final approval.

Kelly said the agreement came about in part because of partnerships with ZRZ, Oregon Health & Science University, TriMet and city bureaus as 鈥渢he foundation of this effort that will be vital as we move ahead on the first phases of this remarkable development.鈥�

As an early step, the board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to pay up to $500,000 for preliminary design of improvements to Southwest Bond Avenue from downtown to the waterfront.

PDC Commissioner Aneshka Dickson praised the Zidell family for its contributions to the planning effort and said the development must be monitored closely.

鈥淚 want the board to have input on the contracting plan and for the PDC to have monthly oversight,鈥� she said.

Although the measure passed unanimously, Debbie Aiona, action chairwoman for the Portland League of Women Voters, said the league was disappointed because there was not enough time to adequately review the development agreement.

鈥淚t is not advisable to tie the town to a time frame over which the city has no control,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is no obligation for ZRZ to develop anything.鈥�

But Matt French, managing director of Zidell Yards/ZRZ Realty Co., said in a statement to the board that the partnership with the city 鈥渟ignals a new era for the district, toward a thriving, vibrant and diverse neighborhood characterized by access to the Willamette River.鈥�

The PDC board’s resolution is available at: www.pdc.us/Libraries/Board_Resolutions/Resolution_7117_PDF.sflb.ashx.