A Denver-based developer, Continuum Partners, is expected to become master developer of the 14-acre U.S. Postal Service property in Northwest Portland.

Continuum Partners would take the lead on advising Prosper Portland in redeveloping the site, which city officials regard as the linchpin of the 32-acre Broadway Corridor. A vote on selecting Continuum Partners is on the agenda for Prosper Portland’s board meeting on Wednesday.

Continuum Partners was widely preferred by Broadway Corridor advisory committee members, Prosper Portland spokesman Shawn Uhlman said.

Continuum will not be paid for its role as master developer. It will serve in an “advisory capacity,” with the right to negotiate exclusively for Prosper Portland’s portion of the Postal Service site, project manager Sarah Harpole said. The Portland Housing Bureau also controls part of the site; the bureau could partner with Continuum or opt for another developer for that area.

Continuum was one of three candidates that were invited to a public forum for finalists held March 21. The others were Related Companies and McWhinney.

“We had three teams who had the capacity to deliver on the project,” Harpole said. “Continuum Partners rose above with their visions and values that were aligned with the visions and values we have for Broadway Corridor.”

Continuum’s experience forging partnerships with minority-owned contractors, redeveloping Denver’s Union Station and navigating large advisory boards also helped its pitch, Harpole said.

At the public forum, Continuum touted its success rejuvenating the Belmar shopping district in Lakewood, Colorado.

“We like to think that we healed the neighborhood with this project,” Continuum Partners founder and CEO Mark Falcone said.

Falcone and Continuum Partners Development Director Frank Cannon also pointed to the 9th and Colorado project, a 26-acre former teaching hospital site in Denver. For the 9th and Colorado project, Continuum delivered 110 units of affordable housing before any commercial buildings. The developer also built a bike hub at Denver’s Union Station with capacity to store 160 bicycles.

“We think of ourselves as human ecologists,” Falcone said. “We are in the business of building and shaping the human habitat.”

Continuum has experience navigating projects’ hurdles and challenges while maintaining an open dialogue with community partners, Falcone said.

“Integrity stands behind everything we do because a community’s trust is literally our only currency,” Falcone said. “Capital is a commodity; it’s easy to acquire. A community’s trust is not.”

Unlike the other developers that vied for the Broadway Corridor project, Continuum has not added local firms and nonprofit organizations to its team. Rather than presume knowing the best partners ahead of time, Continuum will in the next few months evaluate which local partnerships would benefit the project, Harpole said.

Cannon did not promptly respond to messages seeking comment on the company’s selection.

Also on Wednesday, Prosper Portland’s board is scheduled to authorize the agency to contract with ZGF Architects to complete a development plan for the Broadway Corridor and a master plan for the Postal Service site. ZGF has served as a consultant to the steering committee.

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A strong turnout greeted three candidates seeking to serve as master developer of the Broadway Corridor, a 32-acre site in Northwest Portland with potential for more than 3.8 million square feet of development, on Wednesday.

A public forum hosted by Prosper Portland was held at the Leftbank Annex, drawing local developers, architects, planning professionals, union workers and nonprofit advocates. About 300 people showed up to hear the developers boast of their past projects and commitments to diversity.

Audience members repeatedly asked the developers questions about diversity within their own firms and projects, commitments to communities of color where they build and disability access.

The developers pointed to similar multi-block projects they’d led in the past. In describing their own values, they sometimes lapsed into business jargon.

“The number one product we have is synergy, which is energy in alignment,” said Chad McWhinney, CEO of Denver-based McWhinney.

The forum was an opportunity for the public to meet the developers vying to transform the Broadway Corridor. The area includes the 14-acre U.S. Postal Service site, Union Station and several other publicly owned properties in a broad swath bridging the Pearl District and Old Town Chinatown.

Prosper Portland in early March named three companies as finalists. Besides McWhinney, Related Cos., a New York-based developer represented by its San Francisco office, and Continuum Partners, another Denver-based developer, made the cut.

The three developers have jockeyed to line up local partners. McWhinney is working with Portland hotel group Sage Hospitality, nonprofit housing provider Hake Development and former Portland Development Commission executive Bruce Wood. Local advisers include Beam Development for project entitlements and Mortenson for construction planning. The James Beard Public Market is also on board with McWhinney.

Related California has enlisted Portland commercial real estate heavyweight Melvin Mark and nonprofit housing provider Central City Concern.

Continuum Partners has not publicly announced any local partners. The group pointed to its experience remaking Denver’s Union Station, the Belmar shopping center in suburban Lakewood, Colorado, and a 26-acre university-owned site.

Related California CEO Bill Witte garnered some of the little applause of the night when he said his firm “beat out Donald Trump for the Time Warner Center project in New York.”

Frank Cannon, Continuum Partners’ development director, said Prosper Portland’s “tremendously aspirational” goals may come into conflict with each other and will require careful balancing by the master developer.

“It starts with an open and honest dialogue with the community about your goals and objectives,” he said.

Maurice Rahming, co-owner of O’Neill Construction Group, praised Prosper Portland for bringing the developers in front of the public. He wrote a letter in support of McWhinney’s bid.

“This is refreshing,” he said. “In the past, a lot of this happened in a vacuum and there wasn’t a lot of public vetting.”

Prosper Portland has also done a good job clearly laying out the expectations for diversity, Rahming said.

“As far as the teams, some of them were stronger than others, but they have a good idea of the expectations,” he said.

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Two Denver-based developers and a partnership with local ties were named Friday to a short list of candidates to be master developer of the 32-acre Broadway Corridor area in Northwest Portland.

The companies are Continuum Partners, based in Denver; McWhinney, also a Denver firm; and a third team of Related Cos., based in New York City, in partnership with two Portland entities, Melvin Mark and Central City Concern.

The developers were culled from nine responses to a request for qualifications that Prosper Portland issued in November. The agency will host a public forum on March 21 to hear presentations from the developers.

Prosper Portland sought to evaluate the firms’ experience in completing projects of similar scope, said Shawn Uhlman, spokesman for the agency.

“Everybody involved, the committee, was pleased with how thoughtful the responses were,” he said.

Developers may choose to add local partners as the process advances, Uhlman said.

“It’s still to be determined for each team,” he said.

The short list did not include Kaven + Co., a Portland firm that proposed a 970-foot-tall twin-tower skyscraper, although it’s possible the local company could emerge as a partner to one of the larger firms.

Continuum Partners pointed to its experience redeveloping Denver’s Union Station. Portland’s own Union Station is part of the Broadway Corridor study area. Continuum also led development of Belmar, a 22-block mixed-use district in Lakewood, Colorado.

McWhinney lists as part of its development team HaKe Development, a nonprofit developer led by Thomas J. Kemper, a local real estate investor and developer, and William F. Hart Jr., a founding partner of Carleton Hart Architecture.

Bruce Wood, a former Portland Development Commission executive, is also part of the McWhinney team. Local consultants for McWhinney include Beam Development and Mortenson Construction.

The proposed James Beard Public Market is also tied to the McWhinney bid.

In the Related Cos. pitch, the firm’s San Francisco office, led by Related California CEO Bill Witte, and Melvin Mark’s development arm will act jointly as lead developer with shared decision-making. Central City Concern will work with Related California to build 30 percent of the housing mix as affordable housing.

“Given that the committee views the Broadway Corridor as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, I was pleased to see responses from developer teams that clearly indicate they have the qualifications and proven experience to deliver on a project of this scope and scale,” Nathan Kadish, chairman of the Broadway Corridor steering committee, stated in a news release.

Melvin Mark Cos. CEO Jim Mark declined to comment on the Broadway Corridor bid.

Agency staff members are tentatively scheduled to recommend a development team to the Board of Commissioners at a May 9 meeting. A memorandum of understanding between the developer and agency would follow, and later, a development agreement.

The master developer will work with ZGF Architects to design a thorough redevelopment of the Broadway Corridor, including the 13.5-acre U.S. Postal Service site.

The city’s , published last year, envisions 3.8 million square feet of development along with parks, open space and transportation infrastructure. The plan calls for building nearly 2.1 million square feet of residential space, including a large amount of affordable housing.

In October, the City Council agreed to increase allowable building heights in the Broadway Corridor to 450 feet north of Northwest Johnson Street and 250 feet south of it.

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