Brian Owendoff arrived in Portland in 2008. He left a real estate career in Cleveland, where, in his words, he was beating the green drum and no one was listening.

He has since participated in major projects such as Park 19 and Ladd Tower, as well as community efforts including the redevelopment of the Rose Quarter properties and the annexation of West Hayden Island.

Owendoff held the reins of local offices of both Opus Northwest and CB Richard Ellis, but in February was relieved from his duties at the latter firm after he was outed as a critical commenter on local websites.

But he later became a vice president at Capacity Commercial Group. The 91视频 recently asked Owendoff about his new job, the Portland market and what he has learned during the economic downturn.

91视频: You had started your own firm before going to Capacity. What made you decide to join Capacity rather than do your own thing or go somewhere else?

Brian Owendoff: After 19 years of creating wealth for other real estate companies, I decided to venture out on my own and start a firm focused on real estate consulting and development of urban infill apartments. After a few months, I soon realized that I am not a lone wolf but very much a pack animal. Through my prior experience of leading teams that ranged from 28 to 100 associates, I found I missed the daily interaction and creativity of being surrounded by other professionals.

I had been approached by other national brokerage firms about leading a new Portland office. Due to the fact that Greater Portland only has two Fortune 500 companies and few private firms with sales over one billion dollars, there is not enough demand in marketplace for another large brokerage firm. My view is the brokerage world is bifurcating into two to three mega firms that look to be all things to all Fortune 500 companies in all places.

The other end of the spectrum will be high-quality boutique firms that service local and regional clients on a more personal basis. Those firms stuck in the middle may struggle. Real estate has been and will continue to be a local business. I was attracted to Capacity Commercial because they have deep bench strength of seasoned office and industrial professionals and an entrepreneurial environment. With 28 associates they are big enough to service large institutional owners but small enough to provide superior customer service to a Portland-based client.

91视频: You’re going to focus on multifamily and student housing at Capacity, a firm focused primarily on industrial. Why are those appealing market sectors for both you and the company?

Owendoff: The Portland apartment market is one of the tightest in the nation. The overall Greater Portland market has an occupancy rate of 97 percent, with some submarkets at 100 percent occupancy. Portland has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country.

Over the past 20 years, Portland has averaged approximately 4,000 new apartment units a year. 2010 saw the delivery of less than 600 units. Approximately 1,500 units will be delivered in 2011. There is currently a shortfall of 10,000 to 12,000 units.

Portland’s high occupancy has three main causes: Oregon’s land-use laws, and costly and time-consuming entitlement for new construction restricts supply and increases cost for construction; increases in renter demand from demographics and challenges associated with securing a home mortgage; and rate of new construction at its lowest levels due to challenges in securing construction loans.

Greater Portland continues to attract a high number of generation 鈥榊’ that wants to rent apartments in the urban core. Almost 10,000 continue to move in each year.

Additionally, 10,000 (baby) boomers are turning 65 years old every day in the U.S. Many boomers are downsizing and selling homes to move into smaller living spaces. Portland is attracting retirees that also want to live in an urban core. Many are choosing the flexibility of renting an apartment vs. the risk of ownership of a condominium.

The same holds true for student housing. 2011 marked the third year in a row of record freshman matriculation at U.S. colleges and university. For the first time Oregon is expected to have over 100,000 students, in 2011. Locally, PSU will still be short over 3,000 beds even with the delivery of American Campus Communities’ 900-bed facility in the fall of 2012.

Portland is the pretty girl at the dance, and there is tremendous institutional ownership interest in newly constructed apartment and student housing projects. Due to the lack of supply, several newer apartment projects have recently sold at all-time low cap rates.

91视频: Talk to me about potential projects you guys are looking into. Is there anything in the near future?

Owendoff: Ninety percent of the Portland apartment market is in sales below $10 million. My focus will be on the brokerage of existing apartments. I will also leverage my development experience to tee up new urban infill projects of minimum half-block sites that will range from 100 to 150 units. I am working with both existing local and new regional companies as the point for market entry into the Greater Portland market.

91视频: You’ve been a devout preacher in the areas of job creation and having enough land to do so. What needs to happen in Oregon, and more specifically Portland, to create jobs? How do real estate professionals help?

Owendoff: Jobs can only be created when there is market demand for products and services, adequate capital and entrepreneurial culture. Land is the raw material needed to accommodate the built environment.聽聽 In my opinion, large bulk distribution and manufacturing facilities will be the next market segment to need new construction.聽 Few blocks of space over 150,000 square feet exist in Greater Portland.聽 Unfortunately, there are few shovel ready land parcels available to meet market demand.

In 2010, I completed a survey of shovel ready industrial land of less than 25 acres.聽 Based on historic absorption rates over the past twenty years, we have less than a 5 year supply of land to accommodate growth of existing Oregon companies.聽 The Portland Business Alliance and NAIOP are conducting a similar survey for large parcel, greater than 25 acres, which will be released later this year.聽 I expect similar outcome that will factually show we have less than a five year supply of large parcel land to accommodate the next Intel, Solopower or Subaru.

On a regular basis, I work with large office and industrial users on site searches from a local, regional and national basis. Many times Greater Portland is eliminated early from consideration due to lack of immediately available office and warehouse space and immediately buildable land. Portland needs to grow its supply of industrial land, not reduce it.

With respect to the apartment market, even if 10,000 new units broke ground in the spring of 2012, this new product would not be delivered until 2013-2014.聽 There are currently nine urban and three suburban projects that have broken ground or are in the planning process that will deliver just 2,200 units in 2012 and 2013.

Over the next three years, rents will increase from 10 to 20 percent. Free rent and free underground parking will be non-existent. Landlords will not spend any money on marketing, as the demand will far outpace supply. Landlords will be shooting fish in a barrel.

Moving forward, cities that can expedite the approval process for new construction, waive and/or reduce system development charges and potentially think out of the box with approving new construction methods that could result in lower construction costs that could better meet market demand and be more cost effective. Less costs for developers will result in lower rent for apartment residents and finally make new warehouse construction pencil out economically for developers and tenants.

Ninety percent of life is just showing up.聽 Real estate professionals can help by showing up to City Council and community meetings to show support for the business community.聽 Many times the business community is not represented at planning meetings because no one takes the time to show up.聽 We cannot change the anti-business culture without greater participation by the real estate community.

91视频: You’re involved heavily in the planning of both West Hayden Island and the Rose Quarter Properties. Where do those projects sit currently? Any thoughts on them moving forward?

Owendoff: West Hayden Island was brought into the Urban Growth Boundary in 1983 to serve marine industrial needs. The west side of Hayden Island is not currently included in the City of Portland boundaries. Annexation by the city is a requirement in order for urban services to be provided to the site.

The city of Portland is conducting a public process to explore annexation and creation of a long-range land use plan for West Hayden Island. It is an undeveloped 800+ acre site, located west of the BNSF Railroad.

In February 2009, Mayor Adams convened a Community Working Group to advise Portland City Council on the best mix of uses for West Hayden Island.聽 I am a member of it.

Over the past 18 months, the group reviewed consultant work and discussed their charge, which is to advise City Council on how marine industrial, habitat and recreational uses might be reconciled; and if the group determines that a mix of uses is possible, to recommend a preferred concept plan.

This collaborative planning is a good way to coordinate with efforts currently underway to plan for the Columbia River Crossing project and the east side of Hayden Island. It is also the best way to ensure that the island can be improved for open space and natural resource enhancement, while also providing a designated area for future marine related development. Reaching regional agreement on a balanced approach will allow planning, management and enhancement efforts to proceed.

Based on the work of the group, the decision to annex or not annex West Hayden Island will occur in 2012.聽 One out of 10 jobs in our region is tied to the port.聽 I believe that Mayor Adams will be the first mayor in a quarter century to succeed in bringing West Hayden Island into the city.聽 This will be a great accomplishment, and be one of his legacies to Greater Portland.

The Memorial Coliseum will receive an upgrade of exterior landscaping and improvements to the existing war memorials.聽 Additionally, the city is close to securing a long term commitment from the Winterhawks to be a tenant in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.聽 The VMC will be renovated with money from both the city and the Winterhawks.聽 This is a great first step to make capital improvement to a facility that is utilized over 150 times a year by Greater Portlanders.

91视频: Your time in Portland has been filled with ups and downs. What keeps you out here? Have you thought about leaving? How does it differ from anywhere else you’ve been?

Owendoff: The recession has seen approximately one-third of the area’s developers either leave the region or go out of business. I see great potential in the need for real estate development and consulting expertise once the market recovers. While I have had several opportunities to move back east, I chose to remain in Portland because of the quality of life and potential our region has to become a world leader in sustainable development and construction practices, manufacturing and information technology.聽 I have also been blessed with some great friends and business associates that went out of their way to say 鈥榩lease stay in Portland.’

Being located north of the seventh largest economy in the world, California, Oregon should be positioned well to capitalize on companies wanting to flee high cost of living, tax and congestion to relocate to a place like Portland. Portland’s great restaurants and Oregon’s world-class natural beauty are also reasons we remain.

Portland differs from other parts of the country from its stringent land-use laws. These land-use laws have done more good than harm; however, it is hindering Oregon’s ability to respond to market demand for the built environment due in large part to lack of available land. Anything in life that is to an extreme is not healthy. We need a balance and also need to remember that the 鈥楧’ in LCDC is 鈥榙evelopment.’ Many in our state have been focused for 30 years on only the 鈥楥,’ which is 鈥榗onservation.’

91视频: The markets have been challenging, to say the least, over the past few years. What have you learned over the last year about yourself and about real estate?

Owendoff: The old rule of thumb was to have six months of living expenses in savings and always have a good plan B. Today you need 24 months of living expenses and have plans C, D and E. I have learned that we are all human and we make mistakes. Those that can learn from their mistakes will grow. Those that cannot let go will not move forward.

Real estate professionals have been sucking from the firehouse of humility for the past three years. Unfortunately, it will be a few more years before the hose is turned off. The old saying in real estate was 鈥榣ocation, location, location.’ Now it is 鈥榣ocation, leverage and market timing.鈥�

Personally, I have learned that you can gain wisdom and accelerate self-improvement from learning from your mistakes. No one is perfect. We are all human and make mistakes. Most people believe the opposite of success is failure. To me, the opposite of success is mediocrity. Failure is part of the journey towards success.

The important thing is to view mistakes as a useful stepping stone to a higher reality and better outlook on life. This has caused me to focus on the most important aspect of my life: being the best husband I can be to my wife, best father to my children and best friend to those I have been blessed to become close to in Portland.

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Commercial real estate veteran Brian Owendoff, who was relieved of his duties as managing director of the Portland offices of CB Richard Ellis earlier this year, has landed a new gig in town.

Local commercial real estate firm announced today that Owendoff has been hired as a senior vice president. Under his new role, Owendoff will lead a new specialty practice that focuses on multifamily, student housing and commercial real estate development consulting and construction management services.

Owendoff has been in Portland since 2007 when he was hired to lead Opus Northwest. When Opus was hit hard by the recession in late 2009, he left for the position at CB Richard Ellis. In his Portland tenure, Owendoff has overseen more than $185 million in new development, including the 332-unit Ladd Tower and 101-unit Park 19 apartment buildings.

Owendoff was let go by CB Richard Ellis after the Northwest Examiner, a community newspaper that covers Northwest Portland, about the paper’s publisher, Allan Classen, as well as local leaders on the websites of various local news sources.

Owendoff said he was excited about the opportunity with Capacity because it’s the first time in his career that he has worked for a 鈥渟maller, more entrepreneurial company.鈥�

Scott Madsen, principal broker with Capacity, added that the company is excited to bring someone of Owendoff’s caliber on board.

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Brian Owendoff has been relieved of his duties as managing director of the Portland office of CB Richard Ellis, Portland’s largest commercial real estate firms.

Owendoff made headlines last week when the Northwest Examiner, a Northwest Portland-based community newspaper, uncovering Owendoff’s online posting habits. The article includes the names Owendoff had been commenting under, as well as the exact comments he’d posted that were critical of Northwest Examiner Publisher Allan Classen, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Portland Mayor Sam Adams. The article also includes an apology from Owendoff in which he admits to making the comments.

Robert McGrath, a corporate spokesman for CB Richard Ellis confirmed this afternoon that Owendoff is no longer with the company. In a statement released to news outlets after several media inquiries McGrath said, “Brian Owendoff is no longer with CB Richard Ellis. (CB Richard Ellis) has already begun the process to quickly identify a new market leader for the Portland area.”

Owendoff first came to Portland in 2007 from Ohio to take the lead at Opus Northwest. When Opus was hit hard by the recession in late 2009, Owendoff left for the position at CB Richard Ellis, which has 71 brokers in Portland.

Classen said it was never the paper’s intention to get Owendoff fired, but rather to tell an interesting story.

鈥淚t’s been quite a ride since this broke,鈥� Classen said. 鈥淲e’ve never received this type of attention from anything we’ve done in all our years combined.鈥�

While the firing was somewhat shocking to some in the industry, it would be hard for Owendoff to win a wrongful discharge case considering Oregon is an employment at will state. This means employees can quit a job whenever and for whatever reason. But it also means that in most cases employers can relieve an employee of their duties for whatever reason or no reason at all.

“First, I can’t imagine a lot of people would have sympathy for the guy after what he said,” said Rich Meneghello, a managing partner of the law firm Fisher & Phillips. “But even with that said, it’s not much different than him going down to Pioneer Square, standing on a soapbox and yelling those same things.

“If management didn’t like him doing that, they could fire him.”

According to Meneghello, that doesn’t mean he won’t file a suit, and it doesn’t mean he couldn’t win the case.

“With the unemployment rate as high as it is in Oregon there is probably at least five wrongful discharge cases filed each day,” he said. “These cases are not cut and dry.

They are kind of like business transactions. It’s about how much you are willing to fight the claim.”

Owendoff could not be reached for comment.

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Over the past two decades, one third of all industrially zoned parcels in the Portland-metro region have been converted to a different use, according to the Port of Portland.

Lower returns on investments, expensive cleanups and zoning restraints have deterred developers and from buying and developing industrially zoned land, leading to limited availability of shovel-ready sites. But an Oregon business group and commercial real estate professionals believe this could change if the state government were to become an industrial land developer.

The Oregon Business Council is asking legislators to create a state-run industrial land development department. It would buy industrially zoned parcels and guide them through processes needed before development could take place.

The state requires each urban growth boundary to maintain a 20-year supply of industrial land. But according to Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis, the Portland-metro area has available only 141 smaller (25 acres or fewer) industrial sites – and only half of those are considered shovel ready, he said.

“On a very conservative basis, you can factually argue we have less than a five-year supply of smaller parcel land in Portland,” Owendoff said while speaking before the Oregon House sustainability and economic development subcommittee last month. “The problem is, if we are successful at growing existing businesses or recruiting new companies to our state, there is not land that is immediately available to accommodate these jobs.

“Therefore, the jobs go elsewhere and Oregon’s economic recovery is stymied.”

The problem, according to Karen Homolac, a brownfield specialist with Business Oregon, is that industrial developments on average aren’t as profitable as other commercial endeavors. Developers often seek a zoning change after learning the cost and time needed to clean up contamination or provide public utilities, she said.

Bend is one city with little industrial land available. It has fewer than 10 acres of shovel-ready land within its current urban growth boundary. There is a 350-acre industrially zoned site within the urban growth boundary, but services can’t be provided to it. The city sought an urban growth boundary expansion, but was unsuccessful.

If the state were to purchase industrial parcels that needed services or cleanup, it could ensure the properties weren’t converted to other uses, Homolac said. The department also could assess sites and prioritize their importance to receive funding.

“The agency could buy the land, address all the issues and hold onto it until a company is looking,” Homolac said. And because the state wouldn’t need to turn a profit, but rather just break even, there wouldn’t be a risk of a zoning change, she said.

Owendoff said that many industrial companies want parcels 50 acres or larger. But they can be difficult to find, especially in the metro region. However, the state could buy one lot and then gradually acquire others nearby to create a large one, he said.

It’s not known if any legislators during the upcoming session will push for creation of a state industrial land development department. But John DiLorenzo Jr., an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine and a lobbyist to the Oregon Legislature, said lawmakers are emphasizing the need to improve the economy.

“If the goal of the state is creating jobs and tax revenues, then making changes to the current land-use system is a big part of it,” said Mark Clemons, director of project development with Group Mackenzie. “If there’s a political will to improve the economy, there are a bunch of regulations that can be improved.”

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In 2009, local real estate brokers noticed that businesses were deserting office spaces in suburbs such as Tigard and Tualatin in favor of some in downtown Portland.

Now, interest seems to be shifting back to the suburbs. But they are not necessarily desirable to businesses.

Fresh off its third straight quarter of positive net absorption, Portland’s central business district now has available just one Class A space larger than 40,000 square feet, according to one local real estate professional. However, at least six comparable spaces exist in suburban cities.

“There are over 10 companies in downtown Portland that require 50,000 square feet or more of space (that have lease deals coming up) over the next 36 months,” said Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis. “Due to the lack of large blocks of space in downtown, these firms will either be forced to split operations into multiple buildings, sign long-term leases that will precipitate new construction in the urban core or relocate to one of the numerous large blocks of suburban office space.”

Owendoff believes the shortage of space in downtown Portland is going to push large businesses to the suburbs. He said that increased demand outside the city will likely lead to rent increases and fewer landlords willing to offer concessions for larger spaces.

Local real estate investor Barry Menashe, whose Sunset Corridor buildings have struggled to draw tenants, said he thinks outflow from the downtown area is under way.

“I’ve been seeing lots of activity lately and getting lots of hits on my spaces, even in Washington County,” he said. “I think we are definitely heading in the right direction in both downtown and the suburbs.”

Overall, there was 250,728 square feet of positive absorption in the Portland-metro area during the third quarter, according to a CB Richard Ellis office market report. The previous eight quarters saw an average absorption of negative 132,000 square feet.

“This quarter was a very good sign of what’s to come for the office market here in town,” Owendoff said, “even though the significant amount of positive absorption was a product of a few bigger deals closing at the same time.

“But I do expect the trend of positive absorption to continue at about 50,000 to 100,000 square feet a quarter as we move forward.”

Big leases included the 200,000 square feet Nike leased at the Tektronix campus in Beaverton, as well as the 133,258 square feet that Vestas Wind Systems leased at the Meier & Frank warehouse in the Pearl District.

The lessors surprised Owendoff.

Over 65 percent of leasing activity in downtown Portland this year has been conducted by the public sector, according to a GVA Kidder Mathews market report. The General Services Administration went on a leasing spree earlier this year due to an environmental upgrade at the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building that displaced many federal agencies. The newest downtown building, First & Main, received the biggest boost; however, leases also were signed at the Machine Works Building and several others.

But in the third quarter the private sector made some moves.

“The biggest thing to take away from last quarter is the strength of the private sector in the market,” Owendoff said. “I believe the third quarter of 2010 marked the tipping point of the private sector surpassing the public sector driving office demand in downtown Portland.”

Leasing activity from both sectors bodes well for the central business district’s office vacancy rate; it now sits at 10.2 percent, down from 11 percent the previous quarter. This vacancy rate is rivaled only by the central business district rates of cities like San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., according to Owendoff.

And even though tenants must look to the suburbs for large spaces, the downtown market’s low vacancy rates speak volumes.

The numbers helped Menashe decide to move forward with the purchase of the 50,000-square-foot former police headquarters building in downtown Portland last week.

“I make each decision on a case-by-case basis, but I’m definitely more and more confident all the time as the market continues to improve,” Menashe said. “We’ve been doing a lot of leases lately and it just felt like the right time to make this deal happen.”

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When writing a story earlier this week on the public involvement process for development projects receiving public support in Portland. I had more information than I could possibly fit in the story. One thing I heard a lot about was how technology is changing, and helping, how the public can provide input on these projects.

“Creating project websites, using social media sites, conducting online surveys and putting up videos of meetings and interviews have really changed the way that people can get involved,” said Eryn Kehe, senior project manager for JLA Public Involvement, a public involvement consulting firm with an office in Portland. “The power of it is that you get the perspective of a different type of person.

“The people that wouldn’t normally come to a meeting.”

This got me thinking about the point that Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis in Portland, made about why he thinks the public involvement process is flawed in Portland.

Owendoff said the opinions you get at public meetings in Portland aren’t the general opinions of the community, but rather the opinions of the people willing to come to the meetings. By making it more convenient to stay informed and provide input, developers and city staff can get a better feel for the ethos of the community as a whole.

“What I’ve discovered is that you can’t always expect the people to come to you,” Kehe said. “You need to get the information to them.”

Kehe added that Twitter has been really helpful in soliciting input on the Rose Quarter Development Project. It has allowed people to get their thoughts out there in a concise way, rather than having to sign up to speak for two minutes at the end of a public meeting.

While some developers will still argue that there is little benefit to the way Portland approaches public involvement, I think it’s nice that technology is allowing a better global understanding of how people feel and what they want to see.

The post Twitter, social media help public involvement process appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When writing a story earlier this week on the public involvement process for development projects receiving public support in Portland. I had more information than I could possibly fit in the story. One thing I heard a lot about was how technology is changing, and helping, how the public can provide input on these projects.

“Creating project websites, using social media sites, conducting online surveys and putting up videos of meetings and interviews have really changed the way that people can get involved,” said Eryn Kehe, senior project manager for JLA Public Involvement, a public involvement consulting firm with an office in Portland. “The power of it is that you get the perspective of a different type of person.

“The people that wouldn’t normally come to a meeting.”

This got me thinking about the point that Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis in Portland, made about why he thinks the public involvement process is flawed in Portland.

Owendoff said the opinions you get at public meetings in Portland aren’t the general opinions of the community, but rather the opinions of the people willing to come to the meetings. By making it more convenient to stay informed and provide input, developers and city staff can get a better feel for the ethos of the community as a whole.

“What I’ve discovered is that you can’t always expect the people to come to you,” Kehe said. “You need to get the information to them.”

Kehe added that Twitter has been really helpful in soliciting input on the Rose Quarter Development Project. It has allowed people to get their thoughts out there in a concise way, rather than having to sign up to speak for two minutes at the end of a public meeting.

While some developers will still argue that there is little benefit to the way Portland approaches public involvement, I think it’s nice that technology is allowing a better global understanding of how people feel and what they want to see.

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When a private developer teams up with the Portland Development Commission or another city bureau on a project, what follows is a long, public process.

Working from an 82-page , the public-private team must engage stakeholders, hold open houses, conduct surveys and create advisory committees.

But while developers around town may agree that Portland’s public involvement policy is among the most extensive in the nation, they disagree on the extent of the process’ benefits. Because of this, the city of Portland is working to make adjustments.

After listening to concerns expressed by both developers and the public, the city created the – 15 city staffers and 15 community members – in 2008. The group, charged with improving the public involvement process, will soon present its work to the City Council.

“Portland has a long history of public involvement in the public process, but it’s also a long history of poor public involvement,” said Paul Leistner, neighborhood program coordinator for the city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement and a member of the PIAC. “That’s why PIAC was created and I haven’t come across another group in the entire country like it.”

Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis in Portland and a member of the Rose Quarter Development Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee, said he hasn’t come across a public process like Portland’s.

“The Portland public process is much more involved, and engages more stakeholders than any place I have worked,” he said. “In Portland everyone is aiming for perfect and it gets in the way of good.”

When the PDC is the lead agency for a project, it must follow the 10 steps in the Public Participation Manual. It includes details such as how to seat people at a public forum and how to create buzz in the media.

Owendoff has two major gripes with the public process: One is that too many stakeholders are invited to the table, which increases the difficulty of reaching agreements; another is that insight comes only from people willing to attend meetings, and those people tend to represent special interest groups.

He has seen public process impede two major projects: Burnside Bridgehead redevelopment, when he worked for Opus Northwest in 2005; and the ongoing Rose Quarter development project. For the Burnside Bridgehead, the PDC eventually let its contract for development services with Opus run out because the public and the development team couldn’t agree on what to do with the property.

“It seems like every time you get a good idea that is actually viable the small interest groups beat it to the ground like a pi帽ata,” he said. “We have some great opportunities in this town and we need to stop tearing the good ideas apart.”

While Owendoff views the process in Portland as cumbersome, Shaheen Sadeghi, principal at Lab Holdings in Costa Mesa, Calif., thinks it has helped significantly in the redevelopment of Centennial Mills in Northwest Portland.

“Citizens should be the co-author on a project that they are going to have to live with, and I think the people of Portland and the city government both embrace that,” Sadeghi said. “There’s a high level of intelligence in Portland, and the people have genuine concerns and genuine solutions.”

The process in Portland is extensive and could easily get out of control if not done right, Sadeghi said. But the task of the developer is to separate the groans from people that want to protest everything, from those that have legitimate concerns and ideas, he said.

“It takes good leadership or it turns into the wild, wild West,” he said.

Sadeghi said he is developing a project similar to Centennial Mills on the waterfront in San Clemente, Calif. And the process has gotten out of control because no one had the foresight to plan ahead for the amount of public involvement that was needed, he said.

That’s why the city created the PIAC, according to Leistner. Leadership needs to be at the forefront of the process, he said.

Since its inception two years ago, the PIAC has been assembling a new list of public involvement principles that every bureau in the city will be required to follow.

The principles are designed to help city agencies be more strategic about when to engage the public, how to engage the public and how to increase convenience for public involvement, Leistner said.

The PIAC will present the principles to Portland City Council at a meeting on Aug. 4. If principles are approved, each bureau will have to implement them into any project that requires public involvement.

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Greater Portland by the numbers

Vacant industrial space: 15.8 million square feet, an 8.2 percent vacancy rate

Industrial spaces greater than 150,000 square feet: 16

Time expected to absorb current space: 36 to 48 months

Number of manufacturing jobs predicted to be added in next five years: 12,500

Source: CB Richard Ellis, Greenlight Greater Portland

If the Portland-metro area doesn’t adjust its industrial land-use practices it could lose out on thousands of manufacturing jobs in the next five years. That’s the warning local real estate and business development professionals are issuing after reading a report released last week by Greenlight Greater Portland.

The report says companies looking to tap into the metro area’s skilled workforce could potentially add 12,500 jobs by 2015. But some worry that with an industrial vacancy rate of only 8.6 percent, urban growth boundary limitations and strict land-use regulations, the metro area’s lack of industrial land could cause companies to look elsewhere.

“Overall, the greater Portland area doesn’t have a lot to offer in terms of vacant parcels,” said Gillian Floren, CEO of Greenlight Greater Portland. “Every region has its strengths and weaknesses. Other states have more land to give.”

The state’s land-use regulations have been effective at creating urban growth boundaries in the Portland area to limit sprawl. But they also have limited the development of ready-to-go industrial land, according to Janet Young, Gresham’s economic development director. Though parcels of land have been added to the urban growth boundary for industrial use, large lots are still a rare commodity in the Portland-metro area. And those are the exact properties that companies find desirable, Young said.

The solution, according to Brian Owendoff, general manager of CB Richard Ellis, is a attitudes about land use to change so that jobs continue to flow into Portland. He predicts that the area’s present inventory of vacant industrial facilities over 150,000 square feet, about 16 buildings, will be absorbed in the next three to four years, and create a need for new construction.

“Without land to accommodate the built environment need for manufacturers, we simply will not be able to accommodate demand for industrial users,” Owendoff said. “Our urban growth boundary can be expanded and cities can be more flexible in allowing underutilized property for industrial use.”

In 2008, Portland City Council denied a proposal by Haertl Development to turn the 140-acre Colwood National Golf Club property in North Portland into industrial land, instead choosing to preserve the area as green space. Owendoff called the decision a lost opportunity.

Jill Miles, national recruitment officer for Business Oregon, said manufacturing and trade-related jobs are the backbone of Oregon’s economy. Presently, 108,760 people in the Portland area are employed in manufacturing. They produced $22.1 billion in gross domestic product in the last year, according to Greenlight Greater Portland.

But bringing more companies into greater Portland has been a challenge for Miles because of limited land zoned for industrial use. If companies don’t find what they need in Portland, Miles directs them toward The Dalles or Woodburn, where more land is available.

“When a company makes a decision for relocation and expansion, a certain size of property is already chosen and they won’t adjust,” Miles said. “They’ve already gotten authorization from their board of directors. If they don’t find what they need in Portland, we help them find it in other regions.”

Miles said cities and counties are more willing to make deals on land-use issues when jobs could be added. Siltronic told Portland City Council recently that impending environmental protections along the Willamette River could deter the company from expanding its facilities at its 84-acre riverfront property. The council eventually voted to exempt part of Siltronic’s property from those protections in the interest of saving 2,000 new jobs.

“There’s a perception by companies outside the state that our land-use priorities work against new development,” Miles said. “Many of us in the public sector believe you can get to a resolution that doesn’t work against new development.”

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For some projects, public opposition may be unavoidable. But experienced developers and lawyers say projects can move ahead smoothly if the public is involved early in the process.

“Everyone has a voice in Oregon,” said Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis in Portland. “Even if a project is completely compliant with all the land-use code, there is always going to be opposition with development.”

Tall buildings, affordable housing developments, landfills, power plants, parking structures and big box store projects often are targets for citizens who live or work near the proposed sites. Such opposition is known as NIMBYism, in reference to the phrase “not in my backyard.”

Phillip Grillo, land-use attorney with Miller Nash LLP, spoke about NIMBYism in the context of affordable housing during a presentation last week. He referred to land-use hearings as the last bastion of democracy in America. People feel they can make a difference by affecting the decisions on how land is used, he said.

“At the core of NIMBYism is a fear of the unknown,” Grillo said. “Citizens don’t want development to affect their routines and the way they live, so being in good listening position and responding to these fears is essential throughout the process.”

Grillo and fellow Miller Nash attorney Kelly Hossaini suggested assembling a strong development team early and responding to citizens and stakeholders as quickly as possible.

“Don’t feel picked on, because there will be opposition no matter what the project is,” Hossaini said. “Conflict is the rule, not the exception, during the land-use permit process, she said.

Opposition can be combated by hiring a planner, a land-use lawyer and a construction firm that is known and respected within the community, the attorneys said.

Hossaini said the development team should have exceptional people skills and development skills. Once a team is hired, it should start holding stakeholders meetings immediately, she said.

Owendoff agreed, and said the development battle can be won and lost at the onset of a project, when concerns should be sifted to determine the legitimate ones.

“There are two types of people that oppose development: those who have legitimate concerns and those who have way too much time on their hands and just like to hear themselves talk,” Owendoff said.

He dealt with NIMBYism while developing the Park 19 apartments for Opus Northwest last year. The proposed placement of the Northwest Portland project’s underground parking structure sparked opposition.

Grillo said opposition usually is not with the actual development but rather with how it will function amid its surroundings. Sometimes if developers bend on smaller details like architectural style and orientation, they won’t lose the entire project, he said.

Owendoff and his team resolved the parking structure issue within 90 days by compromising with stakeholders and changing the garage’s entry from Irving Street to Glisan Street. The team absorbed the financial hit of plan changes in exchange for subdued opposition.

“Real estate is a margins business and time is a killer,” Owendoff said. “Opus genuinely cared about these concerns and was willing to make the changes in order to get the project done.”

In cases where there is still opposition, Grillo suggested drafting a good neighbor agreement – a written promise to the surrounding community that isn’t required through the land-use process, but helps allay concerns.

Innovative Housing, a Portland-based nonprofit developer and affordable housing landlord, used a good neighbor agreement of sorts for the Bridgeview Apartments project in the St. Johns area.

Neighbors, in the years following construction of the apartments, became concerned that the nonprofit was not delivering on its promises regarding noise and all-night security. Innovative Housing staff attended neighborhood meetings to listen to these problems and find solutions. Also, representatives of the nonprofit have worked with both apartment staff and local law enforcement to increase security, and added lighting and security cameras on the premises.

“We weren’t really aware of a lot of these problems because we didn’t have a line of communication set up between us and the neighbors,” said Angie Harbin, asset manager for Innovative Housing. “Now we will have a representative at every neighborhood meeting in order to listen to problems and work out reasonable solutions.”

Grillo said appeals often can be averted via good sets of findings. The best sets are responsive to the testimonies of neighbors while also meeting all the conditions of approval for the land-use permit, he said.

“Life is inertia,” Owendoff said. “You are either moving forward or backward, and if you are standing still you are moving backward. In development, you really have to plan ahead in order to always keep moving forward throughout the process.”

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