On April 15, Williams and Dame (WDD) sent a letter to the City of Troutdale saying they were withdrawing from the selection process for Troutdale's urban renewal project. Upon receipt of this letter, ECO Northwest, the city's urban renewal consultant, contacted WDD to find out why they withdrew and encouraged them to continue their efforts in the selection process.
WDD contacted ECO Northwest yesterday and re-affirmed their decision to withdraw. Abe Farkas with Eco Northwest gave the city his impression regarding WDD's decision:
"Key reasons for the withdrawal seem to be: 1) most importantly capital markets (getting equity and debt financing) are troubling. They've got a number of projects committed where they must work through national turmoil to get project funding; 2) they feel the city wants a retail attractor as part of the development scenario and they don't believe that's viable from them at this time. They wish the city well. And if there's a revisit on the site sometime later they'd be willing to talk again."
(Information from staff reports for April 22, 2008 Troutdale Urban Renewal Agency Meeting)
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