2 • The Southwest Portland Post
February 2011
EDItoRIal
An update on the Sears Armory site from the housing bureau
The Southwest Portland Post
7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203
Portland, OR 97219
Fax: (866) 727-5336
email: news@multnomahpost.com
Thank you for your engagement with
the public process involved in deter-
mining the best use for the Sgt. Jerome
Sears US Army Reserve Center.
Your involvement has been critical
in helping the City of Portland think
about important neighborhood needs,
and we appreciate your input. I know
for many of you, it has been some time
since you last heard about the City’s
plans to reuse the base.
I’d like to give you a quick update
about our approach for the site. As
you know, following our community
Neighbors clean up after
contractor on Multnomah Blvd
sewer project
The sewer job along South-
west Multnomah Boulevard is com-
plete and I see that it has been tested
and found satisfactory by the Bureau
of Environmental Services.
Thus, I want to make a note that
(while) the people that did the flagging
of traffic did a very good job at their
work I just want you to know that it
was the people of the neighborhood
process and initial due diligence as au-
thorized by the Department of Defense,
the Portland City Council approved
exploration of a reuse plan, with afford-
able housing as the first priority in 2008.
Since that time, we’ve been hit hard
by the recession, and many housing and
real estate development projects have
been stalled or cancelled altogether
in our region because they could not
secure public or private financing in a
tightening credit market.
City Council formed the new Port-
land Housing Bureau (PHB) with a
mandate to rationalize long-term hous-
ing policy and investment direction.
After analyzing our capital resources
against the level of investment needed
to undertake the planned development
in the current financial climate, PHB
has determined that we simply lack
necessary capital funding to support the
hoped-for affordable housing project
on this site.
Our determination is based on many
factors, not the least of which is our cur-
rent understanding that the City is very
unlikely to secure the site at no cost,
which was an original hope to make a
new development financially feasible.
Housing Commissioner Nick Fish
and I both regret that we’ve come to
this determination, as we see clearly
a growing need for housing that’s af-
fordable across the city, including areas
like Multnomah Village in Southwest
Portland.
Most of you know that we remain
committed to a redevelopment of Hill-
sdale Terrace by the Housing Authority
of Portland, and we are moving forward
with a new housing development in
South Waterfront, both of which will
address some of the pressing needs in
the community.
PHB’s next step is to return to City
Council with a report that we are un-
able to move forward with housing at
the site. We have informed the Mayor
Adams of this determination, and his
staff have begun examining other po-
tential reuse plans, including revisiting
the concept that the site could fulfill the
City’s need for a Westside emergency
response center. We have also informed
the Department of Defense about our
determination and desire to explore
other reuse possibilities.
I expect you’ll be hearing soon about
next steps for considering an alternate
public use and how the neighborhood
will be involved. I will work with my
City colleagues to keep all interested
parties updated as that moves forward.
Margaret S. Van Vliet
Director, Portland Housing Bureau
that cleaned up after them.
Every Saturday at the 40th and
Garden Home Road intersection and
along the parking areas there would be
a 5-gallon bucket of all kinds of trash
that was picked up after them. This
went on week after week until the job
was complete.
I am not sure but this could have hap-
pened in other areas as well. So thank the
neighborhood that cleaned up their mess.
RW Jepson
Southwest Garden Home Road
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•Walk-In Adult Immunizations
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(503) 292-7874
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Phone: (503) 244-6933; Fax: (866) 727-5336
general email: news@multnomahpost.com
web address: www.swportlandpost.com
Editor & Publisher: Don Snedecor
Reporters/Writers: Polina Olsen and Lee Perlman
Retail Advertising Manager: Harry Blythe
Graphic Design: Leslie Baird Design
Printing: Oregon Lithoprint
© 2011 by The Southwest Portland Post. All rights reserved. The opinions of the artists
and authors contained herein are not necessarily shared by the publisher.
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upon request.
The Post has a circulation of 7,000 in Multnomah Village and the surrounding
neighborhood business districts including Burlingame, Capitol Hill, Garden Home,
Glen Cullen, Hillsdale, South Portland, Raleigh Hills, West Portland and Vermont
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The Post is printed on recycled
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6630 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.
Portland, Oregon 97225
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