Prosper Portland‘s board has approved a $13 million sale of the 4.4-acre Centennial Mills property.

The board’s OK of the disposition and development agreement with a development group that includes Tim Ralston of Portland and two California-based partners kicks off a due diligence period. The developers will begin conceptual design work with GBD Architects and investigate the site.

Prosper Portland received four offers for Centennial Mills. The offer by Ralston’s group wasn’t the highest or the lowest, but it was the only one from a development group with local riverfront experience, said Sarah Harpole, senior project manager for Prosper Portland.

“We felt their offer was probably the most informed by their knowledge of the site,” she said.

Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement during a meeting on Wednesday.

The deal comes after numerous previous attempts by developers to redevelop the defunct flour mill property in Northwest Portland. In recent years, LAB Holding, Harsch Investment Properties and Lynd Opportunity Partners investigated redevelopment but ultimately abandoned those efforts.

The latest suitors include Ralston of MLR Ventures LLC, Orlando Montero of Handson Equities LLC and Emanuel Yashari of Yashari LLC or Emma Corp.

Prosper Portland chose the development team in part because of its experience developing River North, the property immediately north of Centennial Mills, Harpole said. River North includes the 140-unit Riverscape Townhomes.

The developers have not settled on what they will build, Harpole said. If housing is constructed, any inclusionary housing obligations would be satisfied on-site.

The disposition and development agreement allows the developers 10 years to complete the project. Some commissioners expressed concern about the long leash.

“I would just hate to see that property sit for 10 years – 10 more years,” Chairman Gustavo Cruz said.

In 2000, Prosper Portland (then the Portland Development Commission) acquired the property from ADM Milling Co.

Prosper Portland staff wanted to give the developers a “conservative but reasonable back-end date,” Harpole said, particularly given pandemic complications.

The fate of the historic flour mill on the property appears to be sealed. The agreement contains no provision requiring the developers to retain the mill.

“My feeling is that this decision was inevitable,” said Stan Penkin, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. “I know it was an impediment in any developer making a project pencil out. That’s disappointing, because it’s such an iconic historic structure.”

Prosper Portland “kind of went dark on us” after years of communication regarding Centennial Mills, Penkin said.

“This announcement caught us by surprise,” he said. “There was no communication with us that this was in the works.”

Prosper Portland staff will reach out to the neighborhood association and Restore Oregon, Harpole said Wednesday.

The neighborhood association would like to see some affordable housing at the site, Penkin said. The association also wants to ensure a “really significant connection to the river” from the north Pearl District.

Some previous planning efforts envisioned a bridge over Naito Parkway to connect the neighborhood with the riverfront property. Penkin acknowledged construction of a bridge would be expensive and maybe unrealistic, but added that a better connection between the property and neighborhood is necessary.

“I know it’s not a done deal yet,” he said. “When and if it is, I sure hope there’s going to be a really productive and meaningful conversation with the neighborhood (about) what will be there.”

Centennial Mills has various site challenges that have complicated redevelopment efforts. The waterfront location makes below-grade parking infeasible. The property is vulnerable to flooding and was inundated in 1996. Various environmental contaminants – including asbestos, lead, pesticides, creosote and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – have been found at the site. Some of that has been cleaned up in the past 20 years.

In 2017, a contractor completed demolition of a historic feed mill that was listing and settling, and removed pilings.

Prosper Portland’s board on Wednesday also approved a $1.2 million contract extension with Safeguard Security to provide round-the-clock security at the site. Trespassing has been an ongoing issue for Centennial Mills.

Prosper Portland spends approximately $450,000 a year in carrying costs at the site, Harpole said.

The $13 million purchase would give Prosper Portland additional funding in the River District, an area that also includes Broadway Corridor. In September, Continuum Partners walked away as developer of the initial blocks of the U.S. Postal Service site, although the Denver firm is remaining a development adviser.

The post Troublesome property attracts more suitors appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.