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Portland Development Commission officials are envisioning a different future for a 14-acre Northwest Portland property that houses a mail processing center.

The PDC for the past decade has negotiated with the U.S. Postal Service to purchase its mail processing and distribution facility, at 714 N.W. Hoyt St., PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. Those talks have only recently started to look more promising, he said. But no agreements to sell the property have been made yet, according to the Postal Service.

Earlier this year, the PDC board authorized giving the Postal Service $500,000 to begin designing a new facility that could be built elsewhere in Portland. This would free up the current USPS property off of Northwest Broadway, between Lovejoy and Hoyt streets, for redevelopment in conjunction with nearby parcels the PDC already owns, according to Uhlman. The city assessor’s office in 2014 placed the real market value of the 14-acre site at $43.5 million.

鈥淭he fact that we’re having this level of discussion (with USPS) is encouraging,鈥� Uhlman said. 鈥淭his is a huge site and a huge opportunity.鈥�

To outline such opportunities for the property that sits near the juncture of Portland’s Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown neighborhoods, the PDC last month hired ZGF Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to lead a team developing the Broadway Corridor Framework Plan. The $250,000 plan will offer a preferred development concept for the USPS site and examine potential redevelopment opportunities for the approximately 24-acre surrounding Broadway Corridor area, which includes several PDC-owned properties.

HR&A Advisors and ECONorthwest are contributing real estate strategy and market analysis for the plan. Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates will provide multimodal transportation planning and evaluation services. Cogan Owens Greene is facilitating the public involvement.

The planning process kicks off this month with the PDC and the plan consultant team hosting the first of three open houses. This meeting takes place Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, 511 N.W. Broadway. The two later open houses will take place July 21 and Sept. 8 at locations not determined yet.

In the meantime, PDC officials are continuing to work with the Postal Service on finding potential sites to relocate the mail processing facility should a sale be finalized, Uhlman said.

USPS spokesman Peter Hass said there are no immediate plans to sell the Portland mail processing and distribution center. He provided a written statement regarding the potential sale of the property.

鈥淭he Postal Service is in discussions with the Portland Development Commission, as we have for years,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淎t this point in time, we have no written agreement in place for anything regarding the facility at 715 N.W. Hoyt St.鈥�

Work on the Broadway Corridor Framework Plan is anticipated to be completed and presented to the PDC board and Portland City Council in October. If the PDC purchases the USPS site, the agency will commission a more detailed master plan for its redevelopment.

Under the city of Portland’s new comprehensive plan, such a master plan would be required before redeveloping the USPS site, said Sarah Harpole, a PDC senior project manager. The framework plan would set the stage for this later planning effort, but also would examine how the site might play into other development within the Broadway Corridor area.

鈥淭here are a number of opportunities that play into the broader plan,鈥� Harpole said.

The Broadway Corridor area is bounded by Union Station and Portland Greyhound station to the east, Northwest Ninth Avenue to the west, Northwest Lovejoy Street to the north and Northwest Glisan Street to the south. Along with the USPS site and train and bus stations, the study area includes the Pacific Northwest College of Art, the Bud Clark Commons transitional housing complex, and several PDC-owned lots slated for redevelopment.

鈥淭his timing is perfect to determine what’s going to happen with all these other sites,鈥� Uhlman said. 鈥淚t’s a great time to determine how this area moves forward 鈥� also, how it becomes a regional draw.鈥�

PDC officials are examining development options for the vacant Block Y and Block R off of Northwest Broadway near the ramp leading to the Broadway Bridge. Plans call for a PDC-owned parking lot, adjacent to PNCA off of Northwest Glisan Street, to eventually become an extension of the nearby North Park Blocks, Harpole said. The Multnomah County Health Department is also planning to build new headquarters on the vacant half of PDC’s Block U, near the intersection of Northwest Hoyt Street and Northwest Sixth Avenue.

In conjunction with those plans, the PDC honed in on the USPS site, Harpole said. City planners have long eyed the Postal Service property as ripe for redevelopment because of its large size, prime location and easy access to public transportation.

鈥淚t’s one of the few remaining opportunities within the central city where you don’t have the city grid going through,鈥� Harpole said.

Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban development with ZGF Architects, said the firm and other framework plan consultants will look into ways the mail processing site could be transformed into a mixed-use development, potentially with housing and public spaces.

The plan will also analyze potential options for a how redevelopment of the property could provide a large number of jobs, Lienhart said. This could include constructing an office building, business incubator or university — all easily accessible by bus, train, streetcar and light-rail.

鈥淭he goal is there are jobs located on the site when the development is complete,鈥� he said. 鈥淧art of the reason why it makes so much sense is that it’s so connected to public transportation.鈥�