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Development group snaps up ESCO Corp. property

By: Chuck Slothower//June 19, 2018//

Development group snaps up ESCO Corp. property

Chuck Slothower//June 19, 2018//

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The 23-acre ESCO Corp. site in Northwest Portland has been acquired by a group of investors and developers for $33 million. (Sam Tenney/91Ƶ file)
The 23-acre site in Northwest Portland has been acquired by a group of investors and developers for $33 million. (Sam Tenney/91Ƶ file)

A group of local developers and investors has emerged as the winning bidder for the 22.45-acre ESCO Corp. site in Northwest Portland.

The purchase price for the industrial property was $33 million. The owners have no immediate development plans for the property, but are weighing potential uses.

“It came out really fast, so everyone had to know the lay of the land and how things work around here to get comfortable in the time allowed,” developer Noel Johnson said.

Johnson, who is also a principal at , is part of the investment group along with construction executive Bob Walsh, Roger and Greg Burpee, Robert Ames, Warren Rosenfeld, developer Al Solheim, Scott Tillman and an anonymous member who is not a resident in the Portland area.

Colliers represented the seller.

The property is composed of 16 different parcels with various zoning. Much of the property is zoned for general employment use, but one parcel is zoned for residential use and could be a fit for approximately 100 residential units, Johnson said.

ESCO Corp. was purchased in April by Weir, a Scottish company. The local manufacturer uses three buildings on the former foundry site and has more office space elsewhere in Northwest Portland. ESCO has a lease-back arrangement for the three buildings that are part of the sold property. The ESCO site also has a legacy tenant in place, Reed Electric Co.

The new ownership group is unlikely to undergo a master plan process through the city of Portland, Johnson said. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a well-thought-out plan for adding to a rapidly developing area of the city, he added.

“We’ll be a generally patient group and thoughtful,” he said.

The also pursued the property. The baseball group released a statement Friday saying: “Our negotiations with ESCO regarding acquisition of its Northwest Portland industrial property did not comply with our ballpark development timelines. However, we look forward to working with the new owners to explore future opportunities. We will soon be sharing details pertaining to other Portland-area sites under consideration for ballpark district development.”

The Portland Diamond Project has also made an offer on a property north of the Rose Quarter.



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