Amazon‘s massive PDX9 distribution center in Troutdale has sold to a San Diego-based real estate investment firm for $113.5 million.

At 857,379 square feet, the distribution center is one of the largest buildings in the Portland metro area to ever change hands, according to CBRE. It represented the seller, Clarion Partners, a major investor based in New York City.

The buyer was CIRE Equity. The California firm owns several other Oregon properties, including 829,087 square feet at 224 Logistics Park in Milwaukie, and others in Hillsboro and Eugene.

The property “is one of the most significant industrial transactions in Oregon this year — if not the largest,” CBRE’s Brett Hartzell, who along with Chris Reeves represented Clarion Partners, stated in a news release. “With few comparable assets in the region, its scale, strategic location and modern design set it apart. The long-term lease at favorable rates further enhances its value, making this a truly exceptional investment opportunity in the Portland market.”

The sale equates to $132.38 per square foot. The property, developed by Trammell Crow Co. and built by Sierra Construction Co., is part of the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park. Amazon’s neighbors at the former brownfield development include FedEx, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Bonneville Power Administration and NextEra Energy Resources.

“We’re certainly looking forward to working with them,” Port of Portland Development Manager Chris Damgen said of the new ownership.

The industrial park still has three undeveloped lots.

CIRE Equity did not respond to a message seeking comment. The firm operates the CIRE Real Estate Income Trust. CBRE’s news release stated that the acquisition “reflects CIRE’s ongoing commitment to strategic growth and its ability to capitalize on opportunities that deliver long-term value for investors by combining income generation with capital appreciation.”

The building is on a 73.7-acre lot and features 41-foot clear heights, ample parking and electrical resources.

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The Reynolds School District hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday at its new Troutdale Elementary School in Troutdale to celebrate completion of the $24 million project. Designed by BLRB Architects and built by general contractor Bremik Construction, the project is one of three new elementary school replacements carried out by the Reynolds district in recent years as part of a $125 million bond measure passed by voters in 2015.

The new school has 72,000 square feet of floor space spread over two stories, with a large multi-purpose room and cafeteria linking a performing arts stage and gymnasium serving as its main hub. The new building replaces an 88-year-old structure.

The new school will have a capacity of 519 students spread over 24 classrooms. The building will be open to students for classes in September. Check out our photo gallery below, taken Wednesday, Aug. 22, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and building tour hosted by the school district.

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FedEx Ground showed off its new Portland-area distribution center on Swan Island, meant to serve as a spoke to the shipping giant’s Troutdale hub.

The highly-automated, $54 million shipping station was delivered by general contractor Andersen Construction in October, but the ribbon wasn’t cut until this week due to the current seasonal shipping slowdown and the fact that FedEx is hiring, said company spokeswoman Nikki Mendocino.

A job fair will begin at 5 p.m., April 13, at the new 282,000-square foot facility at 6447 N. Cutter Circle. FedEx hopes to add about 20 people to the approximately 150 who already work there, though the rapidly-growing company is “always hiring,” according to FedEx station manager Josh Kubisch.

FedEx has doubled its business in 10 years, Kubsich said. The facility processes an average of 12,000 packages an hour. (In ideal conditions – handling only easy-to-sort, shoebox-sized boxes – the facility could process up to 16,000 an hour, Kubisch said.)

The facility features a large warehouse, accessory offices and extensive parking and truck loading areas. Each of six truck lines can hold 26 trucks at a time.

The site in the Swan Island industrial neighborhood is familiar to FedEx. Portland operations were housed on the same property in a 151,000-square foot building from 1992 until 2009, when FedEx relocated to a bigger building in the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park between the Columbia River and the Troutdale Airport.

The 22.3-acre Swan Island property was listed for sale, but FedEx ultimately decided to stay on the Port of Portland-owned site and build, Kubisch said.

“We’re happy to have you back in the city of Portland,” said Patrick Quinton, executive director of the Portland Development Commission, who spoke at the ribbon cutting.

Hubs like the one in Troudale manage regional deliveries, while stations oversee day-to-day ones. Most, though not all, FedEx packages delivered to Portland residents will pass through the Swan Island center, Mendocino said.

In February, the 91��Ƶ reported that FedEx was exercising an option to purchase 14 adjacent acres in Troutdale from the Port of Portland, after a longstanding plan to build a power plant on the site fell through.

The developer of the Swan Island distribution center was Setzer Properties, the civil engineer was Symons Engineering Consultants and the architect was Twenty-Ten Engineering.

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Watching semitrailers drive beneath the two Interstate 84 overpasses at Troutdale’s exit 17 interchange can be a nail-biting experience. The undersides of the structures in some places are 14 feet, 6 inches off the ground – just one foot greater than the average height of most tractor trailers.

“We’re talking a piece of paper,” Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight said of the clearance.

But close calls shouldn’t occur for much longer. The Oregon Department of Transportation has started design work for an approximately $22 million project to completely revamp the interchange, opening the doors for freight traffic and possible industrial development.

The two existing overpasses will be replaced with one that is longer, wider and higher (17 feet, 4 inches). Also, beneath the overpass, a section of Marine Drive will be widened to allow for two-way traffic so that eastbound drivers can exit and turn left directly onto the road.

Presently, to reach the westward portion of Marine Drive, drivers exiting from I-84 must first travel about a quarter of a mile east and then use Graham Road to essentially make a U-turn onto Frontage Road and go west. It’s a tiny hang-up that poses a huge problem for Troutdale’s burgeoning industrial transportation sector.

“Quite frankly it’s a mess,” said Dave Eatwell, executive director for the West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce. “I mean it’s so bad that when brokers advertise industrial property (for sale) in the Troutdale industrial area they recommend to access the property that you take the Fairview exit, and that’s not built for trucks. It’s a terrible route.”

The Port of Portland‘s Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park, just north of Portland-Troutdale Airport, covers 337 acres and is anchored by an approximately 445,000-square-foot FedEx Ground shipping hub. Other tenants include Swift Transportation Corp. and Walsh Trucking Co.

Observers say that a viable thoroughfare is needed to grow those companies and attract others. Kimberly Dinwiddie of ODOT said that approximately 8,300 drivers use the exit 17 interchange each day and that 12 to 15 percent of them are in trucks.

“Primarily, (this project) is taking traffic off of south Frontage Road that really isn’t looking to do business on south Frontage Road and directing them to, not only our industrial area to the north of Troutdale, but also to the other cities – Wood Village and Fairview,” Kight said. “So we see this as the missing link – the missing piece if you will – that will remove any impediments for future development as it relates to freight traffic.”

Kight said the Port of Portland is investing $43.1 million over the next three years to carve out nine additional lots at the industrial park. FedEx, he added, is looking to increase its space to 660,000 square feet.

David Westrick of FedEx Ground corporate communications said the volume of packages moving through its network has doubled in the past 10 years and that expansion in Troutdale will increase capacity. That work is scheduled to begin early next year.

Eatwell said that as shipping companies expand, web-based retailers have a tendency to sprout up around them. Kight said helping those companies thrive is an important step toward job creation in Troutdale. Currently, 66 percent of its residents commute to other metro-area cities for work.

“I think the key piece here is that time is a very, very valuable commodity – and when people are spending an hour (to) an hour and a half to travel to their job center, they would much … prefer being within 15 minutes of their job center; and that’s what we’re trying to create here,” Kight said. “Jobs closer to home so people can spend more time with their family, maybe more time with their children or even volunteering.”

All of that is dependent, at least in part, on adequate roadway infrastructure, he said.

The Troutdale interchange project is a joint venture of ODOT, the Port of Portland and the city of Troutdale. Dinwiddie said the Jobs and Transportation Act is providing $24 million for the project and that ODOT recently contributed $2 million to help the Port of Portland design associated road improvements.

The project is expected to go out to bid in winter 2013; construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2014.

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Metro is standing down from its plans to enforce punitive actions against the city of Troutdale.

Following the Troutdale city council’s adoption of land-use codes that protect water quality and wildlife habitat, the Metro Council announced it is dismissing enforcement actions against the city. Troutdale initially refused to adopt the codes, believing its existing regulations were already stringent enough.

In February, Metro councilors voted to impose economic sanctions on the city for failing to adopt Title 13 requirements. Initial sanctions could have included closing revenue streams from the Metropolitan Transportation Program, excise taxes from construction permits and money from a 2006 property tax bond measure.

Three Troutdale city councilors – Doug Daoust, Norm Thomas and Glenn White – negotiated an agreement with Metro, and Daoust said the resolution was a mix of clarification and mitigating measures. He said their discussions with Metro helped them further understand how the Title 13 requirements can be tailored to individual development projects, which provided some peace of mind.

Daoust said Metro also agreed to lower the number of trees and shrubs that will need to be replaced following development along waterways. According to Metro, Title 13 requirements are designed to allow flexibility for development, while mitigating the effects of development on sensitive habitats.

With the conflict out of the way, Daoust said city officials are looking forward to getting back to more pressing matters.

“Everybody is in agreement and feeling pretty good about it,” he said. “We’re over and done with it and we can move on to other things.”

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Kimco Realty has sold a 90,000-square-foot retail center in Troutdale to a California-based investment company for $4.5 million.

The Alamo Group purchased the Troutdale Market Place, located at the intersection of Troutdale Road and Stark Street, according to a press release from the city. The sale also includes a nearby Dairy Queen.

Built in 1985, the property was remodeled in 2001 and includes 16 separate retail spaces. Grocery Depot plans to occupy a 25,000-square-foot space at the marketplace by mid summer.

According to the city, the Alamo Group is a sole proprietorship owned by Don Guabe. The company has properties in Oregon, Washington, California, Montana and Nevada and manages 2 million square feet of retail and restaurant space. Alamo focuses on purchasing, remodeling and marketing under performing properties.

Alamo’s is shooting to have Troutdale Market Place at 100 percent occupancy within the next 12 to 18 months.

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Troutdale City Hall is structurally unsound, and at least partial demolition will be necessary to save it.

City officials knew for years that the 89-year-old building had problems, but until a recent report from a group of architects and engineers revealed that the roof could cave in, only temporary fixes were implemented. Now, City Council is expected to soon authorize plans to move offices from City Hall to leased space in downtown Troutdale.

“It’s a fast-moving situation,” City Manager Craig Ward said. “We need to act promptly to remove our employees from City Hall, but right now we don’t have any money budgeted for this.”

An investigation by of Lake Oswego found that the building’s roof could collapse if it were stressed by a seismic event or even significant snowfall.

“It’s sort of a shock that the building has deteriorated as much as they say it has,” said Community Development Director Rich Faith, who has worked in City Hall for 18 years. “It’s an old building, but it’s held up pretty well over the years. It was quite a shock we may just have to abandon her.”

Some of the structural problems trace back to the original construction in 1923, but an addition to the building in the late 1970s made matters worse.

“(The city hall) was built under a completely different set of structural criteria than we’d use today,” said Doug Pruitt, principal at BBL Architects. “It’s a very complex piling on of issues.”

One of the biggest threats exists because of a glued-laminated beam installed in 1978 as part of an addition, according to Pruitt. A notch was cut into the top layer of the beam to allow the roof truss to fit into it, but that notch compromises the strength of the 25-foot beam.

“I don’t have those construction documents, so I don’t know whether it was supposed to be that way or if the contractor just said, ‘I can’t get in there unless I notch it,’ ” Pruitt said. “But the engineers who looked at it last year were very concerned about the capacity of that beam.”

The beam was shored up last week, and scaffolding and shoring are now holding up the roof above where City Council formerly met. Pruitt discovered that the roof joists above council chambers were broken, possibly because of a small fire that went undetected at the time.

“The problems have become much more noticeable in the last couple of years,” Faith said. “It’s been a dramatic change.”

The building’s south wing, which houses the council chambers, has been closed off; however, city staffers will continue to conduct business out of City Hall until other arrangements are finalized.

Also, the building’s foundation is settling on the south side, and causing basement walls to bear structural loads they were not intended to. To repair the foundation, Pruitt said all of the additions would need to be demolished. The footings that are settling are now hidden behind the newer portions on the south and east sides.

BBL Architects presented cost forecasts for repairs, although the city has not yet determined a long-term plan for City Hall. Minimum repairs would cost approximately $875,000. Complete restoration could cost $3.4 million. All repair options would require the building to be vacant during construction, Pruitt said.

Ward will present final options for temporary office spaces during City Council’s meeting scheduled for Jan. 24. The council is expected to authorize him to make final lease arrangements for one or more downtown properties.

The 20 displaced workers will require approximately 5,000 square feet, which may be split among different properties along the historic Columbia River Highway. City Council is willing to spend approximately $1 per square foot, or $5,000 per month, on new leases, according to Ward, who is in the process of negotiating two- or three-year leases with possible five-year extensions.

Even though BBL Architects’ recommendation was to immediately move city offices out of the dangerous building, Pruitt said the building would most likely continue to degenerate slowly.

“It’s like old barns out in the country that look like they’ve been falling down for 15 years,” he said. “Wood construction tends to fail slowly over a long period of time.”

Nevertheless, given all of the other issues plaguing City Hall, something could “pop and snap” and cause a large section of the roof to collapse, according to Pruitt.

“I didn’t design it, but that building certainly wouldn’t meet today’s standards,” he said.

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Did the mayor of Troutdale build an illegal building on his property? Did he use his influence to get that building approved?

We may soon find out. Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight because of concerns about a new building he added to his property.

The $15,000 expenditure on the investigation still needs to be approved by Troutdale City Council, but the council authorized staff to start the process last week. According to , the investigation would look at whether Kight used his position as mayor to influence how a building he calls “accessory office space” on his property was permitted and approved. It’s a problem that was first raised this May, when the city council it’s had with Kight; after which he .

The issue, according to the Outlook, is that the building may or may not fit a classification as a “residential” building. Residential buildings have specific requirements and charges involved, which Kight didn’t have to fit because he claimed the building was not residential. The structure, which he hired a contractor to build, includes kitchen space, which may mean it meets the classification of a “dwelling” unit. (I’ve given Mayor Kight a call and will update this post if I hear back from him.)

Accessory dwelling units are a big trend in construction these days: the structures were a requirement in the annual Street of Dreams showplace this year… but they are also quite complicated. Our reporter Lindsey O’Brien reported on some of the issues that come up with ADU’s, specifically under Portland’s rules:

The idea seems simple enough, but the practice of actually getting an ADU built, financed and appraised is very complicated at this point,” said Taylor Watkins, owner and principal appraiser of Watkins & Associates, a Portland-based residential appraisal firm. (Read the whole story here.)

And even earlier this year, reporter Nick Bjork reported on the costs and financing issues — including a recently-eliminated system development fee — that provide more hurdles when building ADUs.

Oh, the murky regulations that come with building on your own property! What happened to the days when you could just build a treehouse and be left alone?

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The Port of Portland is feeling fortunate: A proposed development of two natural gas plants may be ideal for a 38.4-acre lot the port owns at the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park.

The deal is far from solid, but the Troutdale Energy Center would represent an investment of $800 million to $850 million. The proposal also is a good fit for the site, which has existing infrastructure and wetlands that limit a building’s potential footprint.

, a New York-based owner and developer of gas-fired energy generation facilities, announced its plans for the site late last week. The natural gas plants would fill a need identified by in an Integrated Resource Plan approved recently by the Public Utility Commission of Oregon. PGE is expected to issue a request for proposals for a developer to build the two plants early next year.

The utility expects to need both a base-load facility to run regularly and a flexible-resource facility to run only when needed, PGE spokesman Steve Corson said. The latter one would provide energy when irregular resources, like wind or hydropower, fail to meet demand.

PGE is planning to submit its own proposals to the RFP, which will be reviewed both by the utility and an independent evaluator assigned by the utility commission.

Development Partners Director Bob Howard believes his company’s proposal will be more cost-effective and efficient than the one planned by PGE. The lot, called lot 3, includes existing electric and gas infrastructure left from the site’s former use as a Reynolds aluminum plant. Other nearby resources will add to efficiency, Howard said; a wastewater treatment plant, for example, can be used for cooling.

Also, transmission resources for the Bonneville Power Administration, PacifiCorp and PGE exist nearby.

“There’s not a lot of generation in that area, but there’s a significant amount of transmission there,” Howard said.

The existence of a large natural gas pipeline nearby also will lower costs, Howard said.

For the Port of Portland, the fit could barely be better.

“The nearby assets might be viewed as a negative by some, but it’s an asset for this center,” port spokesman Josh Thomas said. “From the port’s perspective, (the center) fits exceptionally well within the existing site constraints.”

One of those constraints is the location of protected wetlands, which will limit construction to only about a third of the 38.4-acre lot. That won’t be a problem for the Troutdale Energy Center, Howard said.

Development Partners is working with on the project, and Howard expects that firm to serve as the general contractor. He said that according to the firm’s “back-of-the-envelope” calculations, the project would create 500 construction jobs and approximately 30 permanent jobs at the facility.

If the procurement process works out as Development Partners hopes it will, construction would start in 2013 and both plants would be up and running in 2015.

Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight said that the proposed deal is “bittersweet.” The potential for full-time jobs is a major benefit, he said. But under the state Strategic Investment Program, the plants would be exempt from property taxes for 15 years, which would mean less revenue for Troutdale in the short term. The environmental impact also raises questions, Kight said.

“City Council will be looking at the project and the balance between the economic piece and livability of the community,” he said.

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When Reynolds High School was built in Troutdale in 1976, plans existed for sophisticated athletic facilities.

But “plans never came to fruition,” Principal Jeff Gilbert said. “I don’t know why.”

“We say we have the worst outdoor athletic facilities of any 6A – or even 5A – school in the state,” Assistant Principal and Athletic Director John Olsen said.

Reynolds has approximately 2,850 students, and most schools with comparable enrollments have a synthetic-turf football field with lights and stands. Reynolds’ “practice-quality” fields, however, force sub-varsity football games and even varsity soccer matches to be scheduled around sunset, so some start as early as 3 p.m, Olsen said. Varsity football games are played on a rented field at Mount Hood Community College.

But the Reynolds School Board last month authorized fundraising – completely from private sources – for a new football stadium at the school. Gilbert believes ground could be broken on a new stadium within two years.

“The goal is that students who are freshmen now will be playing on the facility by their senior year,” he said.

To kick off the process, the school district enlisted to assemble a master plan for athletic facilities.

“They are blessed with a lot of space to work with,” said Group Mackenzie Director of Civil Engineering Matt Butts.

The master plan calls for not only a football field with stands and a track, but also two softball fields, two baseball fields, two soccer fields – and space for youth fields and other options.

The master plan is designed in phases, with phase one focusing on the football stadium; its design and construction costs are projected to be $4.5 million to $5.5 million. A more detailed design would be commissioned later, according to Gilbert.

“We have the feasibility study done, so we know that permitting is possible, the water drainage can happen, and that the physical structure can exist in that location,” he said.

The district doesn’t plan to start building additional fields at the high school – such as those laid out in the master plan – in the near future; however, it was also important to map out where they might be constructed later on, Gilbert said.

“We wanted to make sure that, five to 10 years down the road, we hadn’t put in a football stadium where we wanted baseball,” he said.

If the second phase is built out in the future, it will mean better drainage on Reynolds’ extensive grounds for multiple sports. The baseball facilities and others in the master plan are estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3 million.

The team behind the project has decided to pay for it without district money and without a request for a voter-approved bond.

“That’s pretty standard these days,” Butts said. “I think, from a funding standpoint, it’s difficult for districts to commit much funding to this (kind of project.)”

Group Mackenzie recently completed two similar projects funded by parent organizations or athletic boosters, Butts said.

“People pay a lot in taxes already,” Gilbert said.

He said he has spoken with people who appreciate that only the people interested in building the stadium are being asked to pay for it. That’s one reason, he said, why the community is energized already.

“Since we made the announcement, we’ve had people approach us who want to volunteer their time: construction workers, electricians and businesses,” Gilbert said. “They’re not only saying they want to help financially, but they’re giving a lot of in-kind donations of labor and materials.”

Interest is coming from a wide area because Reynolds High School draws students from several surrounding cities, including Portland, Gresham, Fairview and Wood Village.

“The stadium is bringing people from all those municipalities together,” Gilbert said. “When people come to visit, they see the overwhelming amount of spirit and excitement that’s happening here.”

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