Developer Jordan Schnitzer was having lunch at a downtown Portland seafood restaurant weeks ago when he ran into Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith.

The conversation turned to the Wapato Jail, and Smith told Schnitzer a public use should be found for the long-vacant county property, Schnitzer recalled. He agreed and began to look into purchasing it himself.

Now Portland developer Marty Kehoe has sold a controlling interest in the Wapato Jail property to Schnitzer’s Harsch Investment Properties.

Schnitzer said he accepted fee title on the limited liability company controlling the property Friday. Kehoe is remaining on board the project as an adviser, Schnitzer said.

Yet, in keeping with the comedy of errors in the Wapato Jail’s history, Kehoe and Schnitzer appear to have differing visions of the property’s future.

Schnitzer said Tuesday he will meet next week with Portland developer Homer Williams, founder of the nonprofit Oregon Harbor of Hope, to discuss using the jail building as a homeless shelter with associated social services.

“If anyone can help figure this out, it’s Homer,” Schnitzer said.

But Kehoe said the property would not be used as a homeless shelter.

“All I can say is that’s not the plan,” he said. “That’s never been the plan.”

It was only last week that Kehoe completed the purchase of the Wapato Jail from Multnomah County for $5 million after he’d submitted an initial $10.8 million offer that tied up the property for months. Schnitzer said he purchased the property from Kehoe for $5 million. The two had arranged a transaction before the sale from the county closed, Schnitzer said.

“We entered into a transaction with him that if he did it, it would basically transfer with us,” Schnitzer said.

Williams was also bidding for the Wapato Jail at the time. He submitted a $7 million purchase offer that county commissioners opted not to entertain.

Now all three developers are involved in deciding Wapato’s future. Williams will have the “first shot” at finding a public use for the property, Schnitzer said.

“He is a brilliant real estate dreamer and developer,” Schnitzer said of Williams, pointing to his experience developing projects in the South Waterfront District and the Pearl District. “Now he is devoting his life, he said, to help the homeless, and I admire that. The first crack is yours.”

Schnitzer left the door open to other uses for the 18.24-acre property zoned for industrial use.

“If we can’t find a public purpose for it, we’ll try to repurpose the building for record storage or other use,” Schnitzer said. “If we can’t find a way to repurpose it, we’ll tear it down.”

Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals rejected a past attempt to use an industrial-zoned property as a mass shelter.

During the time Multnomah County owned the property, county officials – with the notable exception of Smith – were skeptical it could ever be used as a homeless shelter. They cited the jail’s physical layout, operating costs and distance from transportation and service agencies in Portland’s core.

In 2016, the county’s Department of County Assets evaluated the potential use of the Wapato Jail as a homeless shelter. The county report found doing so would have a start-up cost of $950,000 and ongoing costs of $140,000 a month, including the need for five full-time-equivalent staff members.

The report noted it was unknown if the building’s physical systems would perform at full operation.

County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury did not immediately respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.

County commissioners “did the best thing in terms of stopping the drain of dollars,” Schnitzer said. The county was paying $300,000 a year in maintenance costs.

Schnitzer said the Wapato Jail purchase is part of his family’s legacy in giving back to Portland.

“All of us, it breaks our heart to see all of these homeless folks,” he said. “It also hurts to see them on doorsteps hurting merchants who need their business to survive.”

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Wapato Jail, a lingering embarrassment for Multnomah County, could finally come off the books if the Board of Commissioners agrees to sell the property to a developer.

Commissioners are set to vote on a revised deal with developer Marty Kehoe during a meeting that will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The county and Kehoe Northwest Properties in October entered into a letter of intent to sell the property to the company for $10.8 million. After a due-diligence period, the two sides are working on a revised deal at $5 million. If the county opts not to sell for that price, Kehoe is releasing the property back to the county, according to a letter from his attorneys to the county.

Kehoe has said he wants to turn the never-used jail into a distribution facility for medical devices. It’s not clear if that’s still the plan.

“Our representatives are still talking with the county and we’re trying to find a way to make this transaction work for all parties,” Kehoe said.

Adding intrigue is an 11^th-hour offer from Oregon Harbor of Hope, a nonprofit organization founded by developer Homer Williams. Harbor of Hope has offered $7 million to turn the property into a homeless shelter.

Williams’ offer is not up for official consideration on Thursday.

Don Mazziotti, who is working with Williams and Harbor of Hope, declined to comment on the offer. “I’m not going to go into any details of the offer,” he said. “I don’t want to prejudice the decision in the press – it’s too important.”

County Chair Deborah Kafoury has expressed skepticism that the property could be used as a homeless shelter or a hub for social services. The property is zoned for heavy industrial use, and Oregon courts have rejected shelters in industrial zones.

Wapato Jail is also far from social services used by the homeless and is difficult to get to. The nearest bus stop is more than a mile away.

The Street Roots newspaper published an editorial against using the facility as a shelter, saying “rather than segregate our homeless neighbors to a jail on the edge of town, we should continue efforts with shelters that allow people to remain in their community.”

The county has struggled to find a use for the empty jail. It was built after voters approved a $46 million bond measure in 1996. The facility was dedicated in 2004, but never opened as the county found itself short of operating funds. At the same time, crime declined.

The county had to wait until Oct. 1, 2016, when the bonds were paid off, to sell the property. CBRE marketed the listing.

Multnomah County has been eager to get rid of the property. It costs $300,000 a year to maintain the facility, according to the county.

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