Chuck Slothower//May 9, 2018//

Portland Public Schools has issued a request for proposals for a commercial broker to handle interest in the district’s North Portland headquarters office.
The broker would advise district officials on real estate strategy, including disposition of land and buildings.
The RFP comes as the 47,000-student district evaluates an $80 million offer from the Portland Diamond Project to purchase the 10.5-acre property north of the Rose Quarter that is home to the Blanchard Education Service Center.
The property at 501 N. Dixon St. is one of two Portland Diamond Project has offered to buy as a potential site for a Major League Baseball stadium. The baseball boosters made their offer for the Dixon Street property in an April 11 letter. The baseball group also offered the district the Banfield Pet Hospital property, at 8000 N.E. Tillamook St., to serve as the district’s next headquarters.
Portland Diamond Project’s other offer went to ESCO Corp. for an industrial site in Northwest Portland. Discussions with ESCO are under way, said John McIsaac, a spokesman for the baseball group.
“We’re working with ESCO right now,” he said. “As far as PPS, we are hopeful that we can be a good partner to them – we plan to be.”
ESCO did not respond to an email message requesting comment.
Portland Public Schools officials have indicated that the district is in no rush to sell the Dixon Street property.
“We consider this to be an extremely valuable asset for the district,” spokesman Harry Esteve said. “We’re going to treat that very carefully and very deliberately and not put ourselves under any deadlines at all.”
The Portland Diamond Project requested a response from the district by April 27. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero responded in a letter that day, writing that the district would proceed with a “nonexclusive process.”
The district, Guerrero wrote, is “developing a comprehensive process for any potential sale of this property and a timeline that will allow interested parties to participate.”
Proposals in response to Portland Public Schools’ RFP are due May 17. The district intends to award the contract May 28.
The school district “seeks written proposals from qualified vendors able to provide professional, real estate advisory services related to real estate strategic planning, capital investments, and real estate acquisitions and dispositions of its real estate portfolio, including the potential disposition of the Blanchard (Education) Service Center,” according to the RFP.
McIsaac said the Portland Diamond Project has also considered suburban stadium sites, but he declined to provide details. The baseball group is led by former Nike executive Craig Cheek, former Trail Blazers announcer Mike Barrett and former state Sen. Jason Atkinson.
Last month, the Portland Diamond Project announced plans to secure a site for a 32,000-seat Major League Baseball stadium. Many hurdles remain, most notably attracting an MLB team via either a move from a troubled market such as Oakland or Tampa Bay, or expansion.