The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first look at plans to develop Broadway Corridor‘s Parcel 6 with a 13-story mixed-use tower. The property is located at the northeast corner on Northwest Ninth Avenue and Johnson Street.

This is the second development within the Broadway Corridor Master Plan area to advance. The first, Block 4A, was presented to the commission for design advice last year and recently was approved by city staff, Portland Permitting & Development staffer Staci Monroe said.

The Parcel 6 project is valued at $95 million, according to Portland Permitting & Development.

Mithun is the project’s designer. The team also includes lead developer Related Northwest, co-developer Melvin Mark, and public partner/owner Prosper Portland.

The 140-foot-tall building would be an L-shaped concrete tower atop a three-story podium. The proposal is for 200-plus middle-income residential units for people earning 50 to 120 percent of the area median income. The building would include 4,000 square feet of retail/commercial space on the ground floor, structured parking for 100 vehicles, on-site loading space, and 100 bicycle parking spaces. Plans include the full design and partial development of the Park Avenue alley along the eastern frontage.

A net zero goal is proposed for the project. The southwest-facing L-shaped massing would reduce glazing costs and provide both sunny and shady areas for residents, according to the design team.

Exterior building materials would include metal cladding on the upper tower and brick below. Commissioner Brian McCarter said the differentiation in materials between the tower and the podium is strong and reads as a very simple material palette.

Vice chair Joe Swank said he believes the design of the tower and podium is strong on Ninth Avenue and Johnson Street but along the Park Avenue alley and Kearney Street, the brick and metal do not read as much like a podium. Team members believe the design is working so far on a conceptual level, Mithun partner Heidi Oien said, but they will explore it further. McCarter added that he believes there is good direction and as the design is refined, it will improve.

Active use is required on the ground floor along Johnson Street, where there will be widened sidewalks.

“The ground floor consists of commercial space, lobby, leasing office and back-of-house elements,” Monroe said of the proposal.

Vehicle access will be available on all frontages except for the eastern. There, the Park Avenue alley will be a 40-foot-wide public, pedestrian-only space spanning the length of Parcel 6 (Block 6) and Block 7. A creative space is planned for this area to draw people in, Monroe said; elements could include public art, plants, lighting, and materiality. Mithun is proposing an open, paved space. The design team envisions clusters of trees for shade, Mithun partner Dorothy Faris said.

Plans call for a two-way cycle track on the south side of Johnson Street and a shared bike lane on Ninth Avenue. Vehicle and bike parking would be along the frontages and in a parking garage. The garage and loading area would be accessed off Kearney Street.

The project team is proposing a modification to ground-floor window coverage along Kearney Street, because more than half of this frontage would be garage access, loading space, mechanical space and back-of-house space. The requirement is for 40 percent coverage by ground-floor windows, and Mithun is seeking a 15 percent reduction.

One portion of this frontage would be the bicycle room. The design team should seek a way to include glazing for the room but still ensure it’s private and secure for residents, McCarter said.

For public art, the master plan identifies six potential locations, two of which are adjacent to Parcel 6 – one at the northeast corner of Johnson Street and Ninth Avenue and one in the Park Avenue alley along the parcel’s eastern frontage. Public art is not identified on the proposed site plan; however, the project team plans to begin discussions with the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.

Weather protection is not yet identified in the proposal, but Oien said the team intends to provide something overhead along Johnson Street and could explore other areas if necessary. The commissioners suggested making sure canopies are adequate along Johnson Street and the Park Avenue alley.

If funded, ground is expected to be broken in late 2027.

The team will likely pursue a Type IX design review by staff, Monroe said. However, Type II or Type III are also options.

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The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved three amendments to a proposed ordinance that would add nearly $56 million to the Portland Housing Bureau‘s budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The proposal’s aims are to address the homelessness crisis and low-income tenants facing eviction.

The Portland Housing and Permitting Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously to adopt the proposed ordinance and send it to the council. A final vote will take place on April 15.

Appropriations would be made to the following Portland Housing Bureau funds: $40.4 million to the Housing Investment Fund, $4.8 million to the Tax Increment Fund, and $10.7 million to the Inclusionary Housing Fund. Separately, $4 million would go to the city’s general fund.

A November 2022 internal review process had identified $20.7 million in unspent funds within the Portland Housing Bureau’s Residential Rental Registration Program. These funds are used to provide landlords and tenants with services, support, technical assistance, and public information about rental housing units in Portland.

Earlier this year, city staff identified an unbudgeted balance of $35.2 million in specified sub-funds within the Housing Investment Fund. Over the past few months, the City Council has discussed how to use the funds to address homelessness.

“There is no single solution to our housing crisis,” Councilor Candace Avalos (chair of the Housing and Permitting Committee) said during Tuesday’s committee meeting.

One amendment includes $9 million for rent assistance, $1.9 million for eviction defense services, $8.8 million in affordable, non-market housing portfolio stabilization debt buy-downs that enable targeted rent reductions, $200,000 in expanded funding to provide support for landlords implementing tenant protections, $800,000 to offer down payment assistance to tenants in a position to purchase a home, and $8.6 million in the general fund.

Another amendment funds the Broadway Corridor‘s Parcel 6, with $4.8 million from the TIF River District and $800,000 from the Portland Housing Bureau.

A third amendment allocates $3.5 million in gap financing for Hacienda CDC‘s Monarcha project (previously named Minnesota Places II). Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said the project site currently holds a shell building; however, with additional funding to complete the work, the development would provide 57 affordable family-size units. The amendment also includes allocating $18.3 million for the creation of a fund dedicated to loans for long-term housing construction, affordable housing preservation, and acquisition of properties for social housing and permanent public ownership.

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The Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners on Wednesday authorized a $750,000 loan to the developer of an approximately 230-unit, net-zero, middle-income housing project in the Broadway Corridor. The loan will pay for a share of predevelopment expenses associated with the development of Parcel 6 on the 14-acre former United States Postal Service property.

The site is at the northeast corner of the intersection of Northwest Ninth Avenue and Johnson Steet. Prosper Portland acquired the USPS property in 2016 and has since secured approval of a master plan, completed site preparation activities, and coordinated with city bureau partners on the construction of public infrastructure and utilities to serve the district.

Related Northwest is developing the project. The team includes ZGF, Mithun, PAE and Walsh Construction.

Apartments will range from studios to three-bedroom units and be for people earning 60-120 percent of area median income, Prosper Portland spokesperson Shawn Uhlman stated in an email. Plans call for inclusion of structured parking and a commercial component.

Prosper Portland was awarded $33.5 million from the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) for the redevelopment of Parcel 6. Once funding is received, Prosper Portland will add $250,000 to the loan under the same terms and conditions, for a total of $1 million.

The Parcel 6 project is one of the first net-zero developments of its kind via PCEF, Prosper Portland senior project manager Sarah Harpole said.

Wednesday’s action allows Related Northwest to advance predevelopment activities that are necessary for determining project feasibility, a Prosper Portland staff report states.

“The scope of work will move Related and their team through conceptual design and schematic design, some early environmental assessment work, geotechnical work, some market analysis, and most importantly, some updated construction pricing,” Harpole said.

The project is estimated to cost approximately $130 million, but the predevelopment process will help the team refine the numbers and create greater certainty, Uhlman stated.

Another Broadway Corridor project, led by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, is under construction to extend Northwest Johnson and Kearney streets. Johnson Street will serve as the heart of the district and include wide sidewalks. Construction of the street extensions is scheduled to finish in late 2026, Harpole said.

Meanwhile, a 14-story, approximately 230-unit affordable housing proposal is still in predevelopment. Home Forward and the Urban League of Portland are developing that project for Parcel 4A, directly south of Parcel 6. Apartments are expected to range from studios to three-bedroom units.

The Parcel 6 project is on a similar timeline as for Parcel 4A; both buildings are projected to open to residents in late 2028.

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Portland is seeking a $15 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation to fund local streets at Broadway Corridor.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is designing two new urban streets, NW Johnson and Kearney, and a new traffic signal critical for 4 million square feet of mixed-use, urban development at the former USPS site in Portland’s Central City. Most of the properties within the Broadway Corridor are owned by Prosper Portland, including the 14-acre former U.S. Postal Service site, which is jointly owned with the Portland Housing Bureau.

While the city has a funding and finance plan for Broadway Corridor improvements, staff have identified a federal funding opportunity through the U.S Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant to offset local financial commitments.

Portland City Council‘s ordinance, passed Wednesday, authorizes PBOT and Prosper Portland to submit a grant application to the United States Department of Transportation, which would award up to $15 million for the ongoing redevelopment of Broadway Corridor, including development at the former USPS site, which could include affordable housing. Demolition of the former USPS building took place last week.

Steve Szigethy, PBOT capital division manager, said during the city council meeting Wednesday that this is the bureau’s second attempt at the RAISE grant, as they applied for it last year as well. The grant would go toward building the extension of NW Johnson and Kearney Streets.

The total project budget is $22 million. The $15 million RAISE grant would be matched by $6 million in Local Improvement District revenue and $1 million in Systems Development Charges. While the city can pay for the project, the grant would help reduce the city’s financial committment by paying for much of the project. If the city does not receive the grant, it would revert to the council-approved funding and finance plan, which includes funding from PBOT SDCs, Prosper Portland land sales and LIDs.

RAISE grant applications are due Feb. 28.

In the fall, PBOT plans to issue a best value request for proposals for street construction. Szigethy said that contracting method will allow PBOT to meet community benefit agreement goals around equitable contracting and to select a qualified contractor for the project.

Street construction is scheduled to begin in February 2024 and be completed in August 2025. Phased development of new office and housing towers will follow for the next 15 to 20 years. The construction of a new park and the Green Loop bike and pedestrian pathway will also be phased in during that timeframe, according to the project’s website.

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Another high-rise could be in store for the Pearl District.

TVA Architects has requested a pre-application conference, now scheduled for March 9, with the Portland Bureau of Development Services for a possible 23-story tower with 337 housing units and approximately 3,300 square feet of retail space. The proposal for 514 N.W. Ninth Ave. also calls for three stories of underground parking with 192 stalls.

The site sits across Northwest Hoyt Street from the 14-acre ex-U.S. Postal Service property, where Broadway Corridor is in the works. The tower project’s owner, Eran Fields of Fields Holdings of Los Angeles, said he hopes it will be a catalyst for Broadway Corridor development.

Plans call for demolishing half of the historic Bindery Building and the entire Metro Building. The tower would then rise on the block’s western half – looking onto the Broadway Corridor side.

The building would include market-rate and inclusionary housing units. There would be two amenity spaces – on the roof and the second floor – that would include terraces, a pool deck, a fitness center, meeting rooms, a lounge and a theater room.

Also, a two-story basketball court is proposed. The developer previously included half of a basketball court in The M – a 24-story tower near the University of Washington in Seattle. Another indoor basketball court will be in Fields’ new 12-story, 260-apartment building in Eugene; crews are set to break ground this fall.

Currently, the Pearl District tower’s design includes a simple but elegant exterior.

“(I am a) believer in a clean, elegant building that will stand the test of time,” Fields said.

The tower would share a property line with the site’s existing buildings at the ground floor and then be set back as it rises. This would preserve the existing buildings’ identities and allow for better views within the tower, Fields said.

It is Fields Holdings’ first project with a design by TVA Architects. It was the first firm Fields approached for the project, he said, and “that was it.”

The project team hopes to break ground in the third quarter of 2023 and finish within 26 months, Fields said. The project could potentially be completed in spring 2025.

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Continuum Partners, the Denver-based firm that had been set to begin building out the 31-acre Broadway Corridor, will not move forward as developer.

Prosper Portland, in a joint statement with Continuum, stated the agency and developer have “reached mutual agreement to end negotiations” to begin developing the 14-acre former U.S. Postal Service site. The two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding, and were negotiating a development agreement.

Continuum was selected in April 2018 as master developer of the site. Its role was to advise on development aspects, with the expectation that Continuum would have its choice of sites when the project came to fruition. Continuum prevailed over two other developers – real estate giant Related Companies and McWhinney, which also were selected as finalists. At the time, officials praised Continuum’s “vision and values” for the project despite its lack of the deep resources of a larger developer.

The project will nevertheless move forward, Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam stated.

“We expect the near-term Broadway Corridor schedule will remain unchanged,” she stated. “Given that demolition of the post office facility and construction of new streets and utilities are necessary prior to development of the individual parcels, we will continue to focus on those key next steps and will identify one or more development partners in the future. We look forward to advancing this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Continuum’s retreat from the project adds to a checkered history of developers engaging with Prosper Portland before walking away. Multiple efforts to preserve and redevelop Centennial Mills, for example, have fizzled.

Mark Falcone, CEO and founder of Continuum Partners, stated: “We’ve appreciated our partnership with Prosper Portland and the many people and organizations that have engaged in the project. We’ve been proud to play a role in this values-centered development project. But given the reality of a challenging real estate market environment and the complexities of the project, we realized that we need to focus on other projects for now.”

The Broadway Corridor is a broad swath of urban land bridging the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown. The site is near offices, restaurants and other amenities. The area is expected to become home to a significant complement of affordable housing. Portland Housing Bureau Director Shannon Callahan stated that the goal remains.

“The city’s commitment to providing affordable housing within the Broadway Corridor remains the same and is not impacted by this decision,” she stated.

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Timing is everything in real estate.

The Broadway Corridor may benefit from its years-long time horizon, with major private-sector capital needs not kicking in until 2022 and later.

“For the next few years we’ll really be focusing on site preparation and readying the infrastructure,” Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam said during a 91��Ƶ Builder Breakfast event Thursday.

Amassing capital, Branam said, will be ahead “in a year or two when there’s hopefully more certainty.” That could be a boon for the multi-billion dollar project, where major construction could occur when the economy has mostly made it back from the pandemic.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler gave opening remarks for the virtual event that was hosted by the 91��Ƶ, and Nolan Lienhart, director of planning and urban development at ZGF Architects, rounded out the panel with Branam.

Prosper Portland envisions a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood with some 4 million square feet of new construction built on the Broadway Corridor, a 32-acre area in Northwest Portland that bridges Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District.

ON DEMAND

Watch a replay of the 91��Ƶ’s Builder Breakfast
event anytime at djcoregon.com/builder-breakfast.

The build-out would be a mix of affordable housing — Prosper Portland and the Portland Housing Bureau have pledged to bring at least 720 affordable housing units to market — along with market-rate housing and retail and office space, including the possibility of a major anchor-tenant office in the north end of the Broadway Corridor.

The area has long suffered from a lack of investment, and homelessness is rampant. The Broadway Corridor project aims to change that, while making a place for residents at every income level and diverse backgrounds.

“The Broadway Corridor will be Portland’s next great place,” Wheeler said. “It’s going to be a welcome gateway that will connect the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood and the Pearl District.”

During construction, the project will provide about 6,000 jobs at prevailing wages, said Branam. Prosper Portland expects to soon select a firm to lead demolition work. After that, the Portland Bureau of Transportation will seek bids for infrastructure work.

The pandemic has not forced planners to rethink the master plan design, Lienhart said. The project has “robust, generous sidewalks” and building design remains in only the broadest early stage sketches.

“The answer is, no, we did not redesign the project as a result of coronavirus or pandemics in general,” he said. “In part, we don’t know how cities or workplaces will be different in the long term.”

Branam and Lienhart said they’re focused on creating affordable retail spaces to foster an inclusive neighborhood. Tenanting will be crucial in future years, they said, and decisions made by development adviser Continuum Partners of Denver and the Housing Bureau will influence the neighborhood’s look and feel.

“We’re working with partners there who are committed to ensuring that there are opportunities with the retail,” Branam said.

The agency will have $3 million in funding to make retail spaces more affordable. Prosper Portland has also recognized that some retailers need opportunities with smaller spaces, something that’s come up with the agency’s renovation of the 10^th Avenue and Yamhill Street parking garage’s ground-floor retail spaces.

“Having spaces that are 500 square feet is really helpful for businesses having a foothold in the downtown market,” Branam said.

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The Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted agreements that lay the groundwork for redevelopment of the 32-acre Broadway Corridor in Northwest Portland.

Commissioners approved the community benefits, development and intergovernmental agreements that include guarantees for workforce rules, participation by women-owned, minority-owned or disadvantaged contractors, affordable housing and more.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, in a news release, stated that the vote “advances a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop the Broadway Corridor in a true partnership between city bureaus, community organizations and private partners, with equity as the driving force of transformation.”

The vote allows developer Continuum Partners of Denver and Prosper Portland to accelerate plans to redevelop the area bridging Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District with a mix of housing, offices and retail space.

Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, hailed the passage of the community benefits agreement.

“It’s really a historic achievement we’ve made,” she said. “This is the city’s first comprehensive community benefits agreement that goes beyond workforce (rules).”

For example, the Portland Housing Bureau will be required to conduct outreach to prospective Black, Chinese-American, Japanese-American and American Indian tenants – groups with historic ties to the neighborhood.

Among the next steps is to appoint members of the oversight committee that will work to ensure compliance with the terms of the community benefits agreement. Members will be drawn from the Healthy Communities Coalition – an organization of racial justice, community and environmental groups – as well as the developer, Prosper Portland and neighborhood organizations. Prosper Portland’s executive director – currently Kimberly Branam – will be empowered to make final decisions, with appeal avenues to Prosper Portland’s board and City Council.

The agreements will provide broad outlines for how Broadway Corridor development proceeds, Satterfield said.

“We were just able to put up some scaffolding, some ideas, from where we are now,” she said.

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The billion-dollar redevelopment of a 32-acre area in Northwest Portland took a major stride forward this week when the developer, city officials and community activists reached agreement on a development deal and a community benefits agreement.

The sides reached a pair of deals that were approved unanimously by Prosper Portland‘s board of commissioners on Wednesday.

Approval of a disposition and development agreement with Continuum Partners, the Denver-based development adviser, means the Broadway Corridor has already advanced past the point where other projects overseen by Prosper Portland, the city’s redevelopment agency, have stalled.

And a landmark community benefits agreement being forged is no less significant. It guarantees prevailing wages, health care benefits and significant participation by minority-owned contractors in the construction of a new neighborhood bridging Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District.

The community benefits agreement involved labor and environmental groups organized by the Healthy Communities Coalition, perhaps clearing the way for the project to proceed with minimal friction.

“Continuum Partners has stayed at the table, and the Healthy Communities Coalition (members) have been good partners,” Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam said in an interview. “Across the board, we have had excellent partners who have committed to the vision and who have stayed to make sure we could make it a reality.”

The development deal clears the way for Continuum Partners to acquire parcels on the northern end of the Broadway Corridor site as soon as 2024. Those properties have height limits of up to 400 feet.

“We selected Continuum Partners because of their commitment to doing development in an inclusive way, and because of their experience doing major public-private partnerships at scale,” Branam said.

The redeveloped area is expected to be the eventual home of approximately 720 affordable housing units, along with market-rate housing units, office space and retail space. More than $1 billion in private investment is expected. The city of Portland will provide millions of dollars in street and infrastructure improvements.

The Broadway Corridor “is as complex of a project as I can imagine being involved in,” Continuum Partners CEO Mark Falcone said Wednesday during the Prosper Portland board meeting, which was held virtually.

Prosper Portland agreed to credit $290,000 toward the purchase price of certain lots to offset prevailing wage obligations that are imposed upon the developer by the agreements. The agency will also provide up to $1 million per property toward a construction equity fund.

Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, said the group insisted that prevailing wages be paid for work within the Broadway Corridor.

“Prevailing wage is an equity tool for providing good, living-wage jobs here,” she said in an interview. “We held fast to that.”

The community benefits agreement requires “responsible contractors” to provide full family health care to workers. The deal includes an agreement exempting minority-owned and disadvantaged contractors from that requirement if their contracts are valued at less than $1 million.

The agreement also has goals to use 100 percent renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality. No funding for those goals was identified in the agreements.

“It’s pretty light on the environmental side, which is unfortunate because it’s a critical time for us to be able to do that,” Satterfield said.

The Portland Housing Bureau has committed $14.5 million for development rights within the Broadway Corridor. The bureau will conduct outreach to Black, Japanese-American and Chinese-American groups for affordable housing. All of those groups have had significant populations within the Broadway Corridor area. The outreach commitment comes as city officials are eager to demonstrate that today’s projects are unlike the racist urban renewal projects of the 20th century that destroyed minority neighborhoods in areas such as Albina.

Residential development in the Broadway Corridor will be subject to the city’s inclusionary housing policy, requiring 10 percent of units be made available to renters at 60 percent of area median income or a fee be paid in lieu.

An oversight committee will have five members appointed by the Healthy Communities Coalition and five members by Prosper Portland. The oversight committee will have its own budget of $50,000 per year for 10 years.

The agreements will now go to the City Council for approval. The Broadway Corridor master plan was scheduled to be reviewed by the Portland Design Commission on Thursday.

Falcone credited Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty for intervening in the negotiations.

They “stepped in at a very key moment and really helped to get that element of the project over the hump,” Falcone said. It wasn’t clear if he was referring to the development agreement or the community benefits agreement.

The Broadway Corridor will be a key part of the city, Prosper Portland board member Peter Platt said.

“It’s exciting to be a part of this project because it will certainly outlive any of our tenure on the commission,” he said. “Being part of setting a foundation for what is sure to be a signature development for the city, and certainly the agency, is fun.”

Platt has visited and appreciated Continuum Partners’ redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station area, he said.

“It’s fun to imagine something like that come to our city as well,” he said.

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A coalition of local advocates and the development adviser for the massive Broadway Corridor redevelopment have reached an impasse on negotiations for a community benefits agreement, and the coalition has asked Mayor Ted Wheeler to step in.

Negotiations have stretched on for months with development adviser Continuum Partners of Denver. Several disagreements remain, including whether construction workers on the project should have health care benefits.

“We want to be able to define what a responsible contractor is,” said Vivian Satterfield, spokeswoman for the Healthy Communities Coalition, a group that has been designated to represent local interests for labor and social justice. “Part of that is offering health care, and Continuum disagrees.”

Wheeler took part in negotiations early on. Now he’s being asked to return to the table as the massive redevelopment project hangs in the balance.

“Ultimately, I believe the responsibility is in the mayor’s office for this,” Satterfield said. “We are signaling that we may be at an impasse in this process. We want City Council to take notice and hear us that we will not participate in this process unless it is racially just.”

The impasse was by the Northwest Labor Press. Prosper Portland has been working to facilitate the negotiations between the Healthy Communities Coalition and Continuum Partners.

The coalition’s membership is comprised of multiple community advocacy organizations and labor groups, including the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, IBEW Local 48, Operating Engineers Local 701 and SEIU locals 49 and 503.

In addition to the community benefits agreement, which would set targets for minority participation, wage standards and benefits, Prosper Portland and Continuum Partners are also negotiating a disposition and development agreement and a master plan for the 32-acre property.

“We’re committed to getting it all done, and for us that means what does a win look like for each of the parties and how can we negotiate an agreement that works,” said Prosper Portland Executive Director Kimberly Branam.

Wheeler has not indicated whether he would intervene in the negotiations, although those involved said they believe Wheeler will come to the table. Asked directly whether Wheeler would re-engage in the process, spokesman Tim Becker issued a statement saying that Wheeler “is committed to the Broadway Corridor Project, and is working to find ways to see it through to completion.”

Wheeler has weighed in on large development projects before, including Zidell Yards. The South Waterfront mixed-use plan fell apart in 2018 after the city and the Zidell family could not agree on how much each side would pay for public infrastructure.

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the Broadway Corridor negotiations. On March 3, shortly before public shutdowns began, the two parties held a marathon negotiation at Prosper Portland’s office in Old Town Chinatown.

“We literally had breakfast, lunch and dinner there,” Satterfield said. “We were able to reach tentative agreement on so many provisions on the (CBA) term sheet.”

The pandemic “really shifted a lot of things at every level,” Satterfield said. “As a result of that … we all extended each other a lot of understanding and little bit of empathy.”

For the Healthy Communities Coalition, the CBA is an opportunity to help right past wrongs. In past large-scale redevelopments, Prosper Portland (under its former moniker of Portland Development Commission) displaced historical neighborhoods of color.

“This project has to be racially just because of the history of this site,” Satterfield said.

Old Town Chinatown has historically had significant Chinese-American, Japanese-American and Black populations.

In negotiating the CBA, the coalition is looking toward precedents set by other large redevelopments that had CBAs, including the Oakland, California, Army Base redevelopment and the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The coalition and Prosper Portland are working with a number of consultants, including Cecliia Estolano of California-based Estolano Advisors.

“CBAs are a thing,” Satterfield said. “There are some sideboards to what defines what a CBA is and what it’s not.”

Satterfield acknowledged the coalition has a “contentious relationship” with Continuum. The development adviser was selected in April 2018, in large part due to its commitment to inclusion.

Satterfield participated on the community committee that led to Continuum’s selection. “I specifically remember (Continuum CEO) Mark Falcone saying, “We are comfortable executing a community benefits agreement, of course,’” Satterfield said. “We were confident we had a partner who was there.”

Continuum has balked at some provisions demanded by the coalition, including health care coverage for construction workers. In a written statement, Falcone stated that the developer has “struck an appropriate balance.”

“Our unwavering commitment to have all construction jobs on the project pay at prevailing wage and the additional agreements we have reached with the (Service Employees International Union) for wages on janitorial and security are a substantial shift in the private development market for Portland,” Falcone stated.

Continuum is receiving a monthly retainer from Prosper Portland as the negotiations drag on.  “They continue to be active in all of the negotiations,” Branam said.

Meanwhile, all sides acknowledge the economic downturn spurred by COVID-19 has changed the development calculus. Still, the opportunity to redevelop a large swath of close-in Portland is seen as an enticing job for any developer.

“The opportunity to build an entire new neighborhood on prime real estate in downtown Portland is still going to be attractive to the development industry,” Satterfield said. “It would be a shame if they walked away. But regardless of who the developer is, this is the way that massive development happens in the future. There will be a community benefits agreement. There will be community outreach. We’re not going back to where we were. “

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