October 18, 2017
Page 5
Healing and Making Good
C ontinueD from f ront
hoods.
The Hill block was then sold to
Legacy Emanuel Hospital in 1980
for $397,000, but remained unde-
veloped until now. The change
came this summer when Legacy
announced it was willing to donate
the entire block back to the city for
something that would benefit the
African-American
community
while retaining some space on the
block for possible medical use.
Some possible developments
talked about so far include afford-
able and workforce housing for
seniors and families, community
gathering spaces, a culture busi-
ness hub, open space, retail spac-
es, and other desired amenities
that would be geared toward a
revitalized community.
The proposal, however, did
get some pushback when the an-
nouncement was made last Au-
gust, mainly over concerns that
Legacy should not benefit from
any public monies used on the
project.
Some members of the agency’s
urban renewal advisory committee
for north and northeast Portland
spoke out at the time to express
their concerns, including Leesha
Posey, Rhsaan Muhammad, Mi-
chael Davis and others.
One worry was that a portion
of $32 million of tax-increment
funding reserved for housing and
economic development in the
Interstate Urban Renewal Area
would help the medical provider
at the expense of community pri-
orities. The area’s tax-increment
funding is set aside to help small,
struggling, minority-owned busi-
nesses and for affordable housing
in the north and northeast Portland
corridor.
The complaints also stemmed
from the abruptness of the Hill
Block development announce-
ment, as committee members had
no prior knowledge of the pro-
posal Legacy was giving Prosper
Portland for the block’s future, ac-
cording to reports.
“They’re just repeating histo-
ry,” said local resident and com-
mittee member Michael Davis.
In response, Legacy officials
have promised that any portion of
the lot that is developed for Lega-
cy’s use would be paid for by the
health provider, not from the city’s
public funds reserved for econom-
ic development and housing.
Because the lot sits just outside
the Interstate URA, however, there
is a proposal by Prosper Portland
to revise the area’s URA boundar-
ies to add the property to the Inter-
state zone, making funds available
for the project as a whole.
Vicki Guinn of Legacy Health
Public Relations remembers the
site in its heyday as an anchor of
black life in Portland.
She told the Portland Observer
that Legacy would not be accept-
ing any tax-increment funding to
develop their portion of the lot.
“Legacy will pay for any por-
tion that expands our current cam-
pus,” Guinn said.
Overall, Legacy Health Chief
Executive Officer Dr. George J
Brown said he hoped the project
would help repair the displace-
ment scars left from actions from
long ago and “provide a new lo-
cation for the spiritual center
for what was once the center
of Portland’s African American
community.“
Prosper Portland continues to
take input for ideas and to grow
support for what might finally be
developed on the site.
A community facilitator was
named during the last meeting of
the group overseeing urban re-
newal projects for the Interstate
Corridor. He is Bishop Steven
Holt, a black pastor at King-
dom Nation Church, and chair
of a city panel charged with de-
veloping an affordable housing
strategy for north and northeast
Portland.
The next phase in the project
is to develop a Project Working
Group, which will be comprised
of community members, who will
ultimately decide what will be de-
veloped on the Legacy lot. Project
working group members will be
picked by Prosper Portland, Leg-
acy, and the city based on a “bal-
anced representation of the com-
munity,” Guinn said.
“This is an opportunity for us to
hear the community voice—seek
the opinion of who have some
kind of attachment to the commu-
nity. And this is their opportunity
to do something with that land
that’s been empty for so many
years. This is their opportunity to
get involved,” Guinn said.
The next meeting of the Pros-
per Portland North/Northeast
Community Development Initia-
tive Oversight Committee, which
is open to the public, is happening
Thursday evening, Nov. 16, with
the exact time and location still to
be determined.
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