PageAò___________________ ______ il! ^Jnrthtnb ffib seru er___________________________ Ma.yl6-2007
Momentum Builds for Vanport Square Development
f
con tin u ed
fro m Front
business leader, and Jeana W ooley,
a com m unity activist. The same duo
w as b eh in d the first p hase o f
V anport Square, already undercon
struction tw o blocks north.
Begun seven years ago as a multi
block, 5(M),(XX) square foot m ega
project for econom ic developm ent
in the heart o f Portland’s African
A m erican co m m u n ity , V anport
Square got adram atic start in March
with ground breaking for a
40,000 square foot struc
ture that will house 13 to 15
b u sin esses.
P D C s ta f f e r B e rn ie
K erosky told the com m is
sion last w eek that 80 per
cent o f the spaces have
been sold, and that the
building, now 50 percent
c o m p le te , is d u e fo r
com pletion in October.
Adam Milne will become
one o f the first business ow ners to
operate at Vanport Square when he
expands hisO ld Tow n Pizza restau
rant. M ilne also is a neighborhood
resident w ho endorses the latest
developm ent.
“ It will lead to a critical mass that
will lead to success for all involved,"
he said. R epresentatives o f the
Vanport Project Advisory Com mit-
done entirely with private funds.
Faye Burch o f the National A s
sociation o f M inority C ontractors
protested that V anport Phase One
did not have a sufficient num ber of
minority contractors. She asked for
“a specific condition” for a better
perform ance in the new phase.
Steve Block o f 24-H our Fitness
said the health and athletics center
will be the 15th facility the com pany
An artist's rendering shows the Magic Johnson 24-Hour Fitness coming to Northeast Alberta and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
operates in the Portland area, but
The development is the latest phase o f Vanport Square, a minority-owned commercial and retail development under construction
will be the first M agic Johnson Sig
and supported by the Portland Development Commission.
nature gym located outside C alifor
T he 32,000 square club members.
nia, containing photos and m em o
K erosky said the sale w as calcu rabilia o f the form er NBA star.
foot Heritage Project
on M LK is ju st being lated to allow the developm ent team
“W e w ere ready to g c a year
com pleted, and last to m eet its obligations and m ake a ago,” he said.
m onth, PDC sold a 15 percent profit. (He later said it
Leary later told the Portland
parcel on N ortheast would probably be slightly less.)
O bserver that, “T his is one o f sev
Should Leary and partners gain eral gratifying m om ents - and I
B e ec h S tre e t to a
g ro u p o f in v e sto rs m ore than 15 percent profit after 11 em phasize m om ents - because we
who will create a head years, they will pay PDC the differ have a volume o f work in front of us.
quarters and clinic for ence up to a m axim um o f $ 1.7 m il T h ere’s architecture, design review
- Ray Leary
Planned Parenthood, lion. Leary pointed out that the $ 15 and perm itting. It’s a step toward
plus 10,(XX) square feet m illion cost o f construction will be our vision.”
this boulevard deserves. It tells oth o f ground floor retail.
tee also voiced their support.
The latest V anport developm ent
Kerosky, Leary, and his partner ers that the boulevard is retail-ready
MEMORIAL DAY
T here are other indications that had som e controversial co m p o
Jeff Sackett also stressed that 24-
Hour Fitness represents legitim iza it is so. The new 20,000 square foot nents. PDC is selling the parcel for
tion o f M LK as a business and M id-K B eauty h ea d q u arte rs at $600,000 when its assessed value is
M LK and Cook Street is com pleted $2.3 million. PDC’s Bruce Allen said
developm ent area.
“ Ina lot o f way s this is acatalyst,” and seeking retail tenants. So is the the elem ent that m ade the bargain
Leary later told the Portland Ob 8,(MX) square foot Frem ont Project price necessary was the parking
server. "This is the first national at M LK , w hich already has the garage, which will cost $3.5 million
and is essential to attract health
brand willing to pay the kind o f rent T erroir R estaurant as an anchor.
In a lot o f ways this is a catalyst.
This is the first national brand
willing to pay the kind o f rent this
boulevard deserves. It tells others
that the boulevard is retail-ready.
FRIDAY MAY 25™ 2007
a y
r"
/ / r
JOINING OF THE VOICES
LOS ANGELES, CA
Leadership Role Welcome Surprise
con tin u ed
fro m Front
N A A C P , but b efo re she and the
new P o rtla n d e x e c u tiv e c o m
m ittee can m ake strid e s in e d u
ca tio n and em p o w e rm en t, they
start from th e g ro u n d up, in
c re a s in g m e m b e rsh ip an d r e
b u ild in g a c o a litio n w ith fellow
o r g a n iz a tio n s .
“ W e ’re p re tty m u ch g o in g
back to a g ra ssro o ts ap p ro a ch ,
re sto rin g th e leg acy o f the P o rt
land b ra n c h ,” she said. “ P eople
w ant to say re v ita liz e , but I say
r e s to r a tio n .”
F o r s c o re s o f c o m m u n ity -
m in d e d a c tiv is ts in P o rtla n d ,
seeing such a y o u n g m in d lead
the b ran ch is an e x c itin g step
fo rw ard . M cG ee said sh e has
rec eiv ed d o ze n s o f c a lls from
the lik es o f Sen. A vel G o rd ly ,
E q u ity C e n te r D ire c to r Jo y c e
H arris and y ou th ad v o c ate M ark
Ja ck so n . M an y h av e to ld her
she faces a d iffic u lt ro ad , but
not to allo w failu re to sto p her
from m o v in g fo rw ard .
J a c k s o n , w h o h as w o rk e d
w ith M cG ee th ro u g h h is s tu
d en t o rg a n iz a tio n R E A P , Inc.,
said he c a lle d her soon a fte r he
read the new s o f h er n o m in a
tio n .
“ I t’s a sig n th a t th e la n d
sc a p e is c h a n g in g , in te rm s o f
a fresh v isio n an d fresh id e a s,”
Ja ck so n said , p o in tin g o u t th a t
as M cG ee has a d u al p e rsp e c
tiv e o f A frica an d A m erica, she
u n d e rsta n d s the o rg a n iz a tio n ’s
f u n d a m e n ta l g o a l o f r a c ia l
e q u a lity .
“ W h y it (th e b ra n c h ) s u b
sid ed , I d o n ’t k n o w , b ut I d o
k n o w C h a rlen e has the w h e re
w ith a l to resto re the o rg a n iz a
tio n to its o rig in a l p u rp o se .”
M c G e e ’s fa m ily h a s b e e n
su p p o rtiv e as w ell. H er b ro th e r
C h a rle s is a few y ea rs y o u n g er,
b u t he to o k tim e to g iv e his
sis te r ad v ic e an d sh are his e x
p e rie n c e ru n n in g fo r th e P o rt
la n d P u b lic S c h o o l b o a rd in
2 0 0 5 , w hen he w as ju s t 19.
N ow , as M c G e e ’s d ay s are
c ra m m e d fu ll w ith m e e tin g s
an d ev e n ts on to p o f h er fu ll
tim e j o b , th e w o r d s o f
A m e ric a ’s first A fric an A m e ri
can C o n g re ssw o m a n ring tru e
in h er m ind.
“ S h irley C h ish o lm said ‘se r
v ic e is th e re n t w e p a y fo r
liv in g on e a r th .’ T o m e, now is
m y tim e to p a y .”
TIM BISHOP B R O W N
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