Aug 8, 2008

Troutdale Update: No Library, and some FedEx News

Troutdale residents will have to wait a little longer for their library. As you may have read in the newspapers, the proposed Multnomah County Library for Troutdale hit a snag this week. Troutdale Partners LLC notified Multnomah County they were withdrawing as candidates for a library to be located in downtown Troutdale. Sources tell me that in spite of the advantage of a long-term library lease, banks were still gun-shy about financing this project.

Here's what the Gresham Outlook reported: "Citing problems with financing and market conditions, officials with Bremik Construction, owner of the Discovery Block property at Second Avenue and Historic Columbia River Highway, informed county officials they could not move forward with a mixed-use development plan that included a new 6,000-square-foot library.“Discussions with Multnomah County have been productive and cordial, and had market and financing conditions not significantly deteriorated, we would have been proud to be the landlord for Multnomah County’s new Troutdale Library,” said Mike Wells, a Bremik spokesman."

On the FedEx front, Troutdale city staff continue to help the Port of Portland slog through the hundreds of details necessary to begin construction on subdivision improvements at the former Reynolds/Alcoa site. The Port's First Phase Subdivision, called "Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park(TRIP) plat, was approved by the Troutdale Planning Commission and is ready to be signed off by the City's Community Development Director and Public Works Director.

Next on the to-do list: the Port's sale of one of the new subdivisions to FedEx so they can begin construction of their 425,000-square foot regional distribution center on Sundial Road along the Columbia River to replace its Swan Island facility in North Portland. This sale could be completed within the next few weeks.

FedEx Ground has submitted cash and paperwork to the City in order to take advantage of Troutdale's Enterprise Zone. On July 29, 2008, FedEx Ground paid the City $84,375, which represents 75% of their Enterprise Zone(EZ) initially computed application fee, and submitted two remaining elements of their EZ application. When the FedEx Ground buildings are completed, the final value of their tax abatement will be calculated. Then FedEx will need to pay the remaining 25% of the fee.

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