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‘City ö/Roses’
Number 46
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www.portlandobserver.com
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Wednesday • November 27, 2013
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photo by D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
A nearly 2 acre parcel of land at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Alberta Street is proposed as the future site of a Trader Joe’s specialty grocery store. The Portland
Development Commission will sell the property at a fraction of its cost to spur economic activity in the neighborhood.
PDC defends
controversial
development
by D onovan
M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
The Portland Development Commission is defending its
move to bring the national specialty grocer Trader Joe’s to
the rapidly developing King Neighborhood in northeast
Portland.
Economic development in the long gentrifying neighbor
hood can raise the alarm of longtime residents, especially low
and middle-income African-Americans who have lost their
homes, but the economic development agency maintains
that this deal will not contribute to further gentrification, but
in fact help people stay in the neighborhood and “prosper”.
Not everyone agrees though.
The location in question is a 2-acre site at the intersection
of two o f the city’s rapidly changing streets, Martin Luther
King Boulevard and Alberta Street. Houses and businesses
on the property had been removed from several lots over the
years as the PDC worked to invigorate the heart of Portland’s
traditional black community with the adjacent V an port Square,
a retail hub that was created by minority and women-owned
developers as a magnet for minority entrepreneurs.
PDC had been in talks with various developers to double
the size of the Vanport Square project by luring a highly
attractive retailer; one that would bring more foot traffic to the
other vendors along the development.
At one point during the mid 2000’s it looked like former
NBA star and businessman Magic Johnson’s, Magic Johnson
Enterprises would ink a deal to bring a 24 Hour Fitness to the
space but late in negotiations that plan fell through.
Since that failed attempt, PDC followed a path that would
fill the space with an anchor grocer, a vision that drew some
support from the King Neighborhood Association and oth
ers. According to city data at the time, the area was deprived
enough to be deemed a “food desert,” even with big-name
retailers like Safeway and Fred Meyer serving the neighbor
hood, and various smaller grocers like the Alberta Co-op and
Cherry Sprout even closer-in.
With this justification, PDC moved forward with their
plans. Around 2011, they began talks with California-based
developer Majestic Realty Co. to bring Trader Joe’s to the
area.
The retail chain extended a stipulation of secrecy in talks
with the PDC, which may have stemmed some outcry from the
public once the details of the deal were revealed.
Although not yet legally set in stone yet, Majestic Realty
continued
on page 4