Portland is a PR machine for light rail & streetcar

Here are Some Facts About Portland Oregon          

“It must always be remembered how cost-effectiveness works in the public sector: the cost IS the benefit.” - author unknown

Planning Failures - South Waterfront

Portland does not have enough money to fulfill its promises to a high density urban renewal district

Developer, Homer Williams, Describes the Backroom Deal Making Process

Striking deals or going public

Homer Williams, the developer who helped create the Pearl District and South Waterfront, says that with enough will and political capital, developers can put bold designs into place in Portland. But it’s hard, he says.

. . .

He says he learned from his experiences with the Pearl District and South Waterfront that he had to have agreements in place on specific pieces of developments before his plans went public.

With South Waterfront, he says, he secured commitments from Mayor Vera Katz and from Oregon Health & Science University on its investment in a campus that would be connected to its main campus by the tram. And those two weren’t the only ones with whom bargains were made.

“We got everybody around the table every Monday for months, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” Williams says. “PDOT, OHSU, PDC (the Portland Development Commission), (the) planning (bureau). We said, ‘OK, let’s make an agreement.’ ”

He says the parks bureau, for instance, wanted a greenway left along the Willamette River. In response, he and other developers agreed to give up the four acres of property along the river that is worth tens of millions of dollars.

In return, Williams says, the developers received commitments from the city for more height in South Waterfront buildings and more tax increment financing that made the Portland streetcar’s arrival in the new neighborhood possible. OHSU got its tram.

“It’s the only way to do it,” Williams says. “Let planning defend the plan. No developer can defend the plan. The developer has to be willing to take the bullets.”

But architect Jerry L. Ward, who lives within a mile of South Waterfront, says the fact that the neighborhood association as well as other property owners and public interest groups were not included in those early negotiations made the process unfair.

“The neighborhood association never knew about the heights (of South Waterfront towers) going to 325 feet until after all the amendments were signed and delivered,” Ward says.

Williams says he fears the Con-way plan, even with its green streets and sustainable design, is unlikely to successfully bridge the divide from vision to reality because criticism has begun and Con-way has no allies in place.

“I like the plan,” Williams says. “It was a bold plan. The minute they put that plan out to the public, I thought, this is going to be dead on arrival. It’s just sad.”

Boretz says he made a decision to include the public early, and he still thinks it was the right choice.

Specifically, Boretz says he didn’t want to follow the South Waterfront model.

“It wasn’t something I was comfortable doing – back room,” he says. “I just felt we needed to listen to what people were saying and respond to that in conceptual terms and not try to create special deals.”

Boretz says most of what he’s heard in response to his presentations has been positive, and that he’s not surprised at some neighborhood resistance.

“It may be because this is the first project I’ve worked on, but I don’t think it will be picked apart,” he says. “I think it is big enough and incorporates enough really good public benefit elements that it won’t get picked apart.” (Bold Added)

(By peter korn, The Portland Tribune, Apr 29, 2008 )

The Way Portland Works - Part 2

OHSU approves 'bare-bones' 2009 budget

absent in the plan is any further expansion on the South Waterfront, where OHSU has long-term ambitions for a new campus.

Oregonian , June 25, 2008

S. Waterfront greeway runs way over cost

SUMMARY: Projections Construction inflation through 2020 is cited as the park's price estimate rises 76 percent to $56 million The Oregonian, November 24, 2007

 Sweet deal? - PDC critics raise concerns about south waterfront parking deal.

Willamette Week, October 17th, 2007

Shadow falls on condo market (pdf) shelved projects and stalled construction dot the city, The Oregonian Oct. 9, 2007

One of the reasons to build the $60+million tram was to Support OHSU's genetic research. The result:

OHSU's Florida project lands millions in incentives

For the next 20 years, the district will burn through every dollar City Hall can spare, any tax and fee it can create and any grant it can pry loose from state and federal coffers just to pay for its basic needs.

Some North Macadam Urban Renewal District Documents

North Macadam Fact Sheet

Map

N o r t h M a c a d a m D i s t r i c t Framework Plan (August 1999)

NORTH MACADAM URBAN RENEWAL PLAN, June 24, 1999

Financial Issues Impavting the North Macadam District

Preliminary Economic Analysis of Proposed North Macadam LIDs

North_Macadam_URA_Return_on_Investment_Analysis-Executive_Summary

dev_macadam_report

N. Macadam: Some Campaign Donations

The Way Portland Works - Part 1

Ken Novack, CEO of the Schnitzer Group, has been trying since 1993 to get the city’s planning approval to develop 20 acres on North Macadam. He’s also been working with a group of property owners to develop the 100 acres of property that runs from the river to the freeway, and from the Spaghetti Factory to Zidell. “In ’98,” says Novack, “the city came up with the North Macadam Planning Framework. We supported it.” The plan called for mixed use, or what would be the equivalent of a low-density residential use. “The plan reflected a lot of compromise as a process of involving everybody. Some of the compromises were the result of a lot of thought,” says Novack

Today, Novack and the Schnitzer Group have been informed that the city is starting over.

From:  Vera’s Portland, The City That Shrinks, By Jim Pasero, March, 2002

Have Condo, Will Sell - Auction time for luxury condos in South Waterfront

“Now that same 2,200-square-foot condo elsewhere in the Atwater Place condo building could go this weekend at auction for as little as $699,000—or about half what the Andersons paid less than two years ago.”

“The Atwater opened in 2007 at the height of the bubble. Gerding Edlen Development and Block 34 Investors LLC have sold only 62 of their project’s 212 units”

“Those condos were originally priced at more than $500,000, and will now be auctioned off starting at $219,000. ”

What they don’t tell about those bargain condos:

LIDs are wonderful hidden taxes that the general public knows little about, and the people within the districts have little control over the LID bills.

The weekend bidder winners in SoWhat are going to find out that their winning bids are only a small portion of the debt. SoWhat will probably end up with six LIDs before long: The Tram; The Local Street Improvements; The Trolley; The Greenway; The Milwaukie Light Rail; The Street/Poodle Park Maintenance LID; and the Street Cleanup/Patrol LID. Three are in existence and the Milwaukie Light Rail is on the drawing boards.

Then besides the HOV monthly fees, there will be the Special Assessment Fees for the Atwater Tower building mistakes. The monthly mortgage and property tax payments will be secondary.

This is the kind of information that the general public knows little about and the mainstream media never informs the public about.

Posted by Lee | September 21, 2009 10:16 AM

Portland Developers have problems is Los Angeles too

Homer Williams, chairman of Williams & Dame and a South Group principal, said last week that the equity in the project has been spent and South Group no longer has any investment in Evo. He would not disclose how much Westport had loaned the project, but said the lender has essentially taken control of the building and its finances because it still has a stake in it.

“At this point, it’s their money that’s at risk, not ours,” said Williams. “Our money is gone, obviously.”

Though the South Group partnership is still intact, he said, “the decision-making is in the hands of the mezzanine lender.”

According to real estate experts, when a condo market tanks, developers often lose their equity, or raise more money and renegotiate their construction loans based on smaller projections. In Evo’s case, it appears that South Group took a back seat after losing its equity.

Now, “the mezzanine lender is trying to stay in position to keep their equity intact,” said lending expert Bob Safai of Madison Partners, who is not familiar with Evo’s financing. “It’s not the normal course of action where the mezzanine lender starts making decisions.”

The South Group has also abandoned plans for South Figueroa, two 34-story high-rises planned for two parcels at 12th Street and Grand Avenue, Williams said. Those properties have since been deeded to Swedbank, a leading Nordic-Baltic banking group, he said. While Williams would not discuss details of the transfer, experts say that type of transaction can be an alternative to a foreclosure.

As for the future of the South Group, Williams said, “We still exist, but there’s not going to be any activity certainly in any near time frame.”

Read the whole story at:

The South Park Shake-Up, Los Angeles Downtown News,  September 25, 2009 4:11 PM PDT

Portland leaves empty promises instead of affordable housing in South Waterfront