91视频

A San Antonio developer will be the latest to try its hand at turning Centennial Mills into something.

Prosper Portland will enter into exclusive negotiations with Lynd Opportunity Partners to sell the 4.4-acre waterfront property.

The Texas developer is proposing to construct two residential buildings with approximately 400 units, according to an agency staff report. The buildings would be subject to inclusionary housing rules, so approximately 20 percent would be rent-restricted affordable units.

Lynd also plans to preserve and renovate the existing flour mill at the Northwest Portland property, according to the report.

Development on the site would also preserve space for the Willamette River Greenway trail, with a setback from the river, according to Prosper Portland.

The former mill property has been the subject of years of development proposals that failed to come to fruition. The property was purchased by the Portland Development Commission (since rebranded Prosper Portland) in 2000.

The agency has entertained bids for Centennial Mills at various times since 2007. Jordan Schnitzer’s Harsch Investment Properties became involved in 2015, but a memorandum of understand expired without Harsch moving forward.

Last year, the agency received the City Council’s blessing for a full-site redevelopment pushing out the Police Bureau’s Mounted Patrol.

Lynd’s bid was chosen after a national solicitation, Prosper Portland project manager Will Thier said.

The property has proved difficult to develop. It is in a low floodplain that flooded in 1996. The existing flour mill adds another complication 鈥� the aging structure must be renovated or demolished, and the city has a goal to keep it around. And Pearl District neighbors have weighed in to ensure redevelopment lives up to the city’s vision for the site.

鈥淎s we all know, the history of Centennial Mills has been fraught with disappointment,鈥� said David Dysert, co-chairman of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association Planning and Transportation Committee.

Another Pearl District resident, Larry Mazer, asked what assurances the agency has that Lynd will follow through on the city’s goals that were laid out in earlier plans.

鈥淲e hope you will include in the agreement some sort of enforcement mechanism so we can ensure the goals of the 2006 plan are implemented,鈥� he said.

Thier told the Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners that he would work with the agency’s attorneys on specific contract provisions to hold Lynd accountable to the city’s plans.

Lynd, founded in 1980, has developed $500 million of new development in San Antonio, Chicago, Denver, Miami and Austin, Texas. The company also manages 35,000 multifamily units in 16 states. Lynd did not respond to interview requests.

If Prosper Portland and Lynd reach a tentative disposition and development agreement, the matter will return to the agency’s board for final approval.

Prosper Portland plans to close on the agreement late this year, Thier said.