N. Interstate woes
Just got this off Jack Bog’s site, so decided I needed to comment with my thoughts. The primary developer of Killingsworth Station at N. Killingsworth and Interstate has pulled out of the project, leaving the PDC to find someone new. Both on N. Interstate and NE MLK, a couple of high profile projects have now gone down in flames that were associated with the PDC. On NE MLK, the Vanport project’s current non-status I contend has more to do with the developer and thier non-ability to attract tenents than it does with the PDC. Now, the PDC I believe is at fault to as they keep extending the contract for years even though nothing is occurring.
I don’t know enough about the “why” behind the Killingsworth Station and the decision by the developer, so can’t comment much. I do know that this project would change Interstate for the better. It only takes one big project to change an area in my opinion. Look at what the Nike Factory Store did for that portion of NE MLK. We walk by the Killingsworth Station vacant lot on the way to New Seasons and I recently commented that I was glad they kept it mowed and cleaned, but was worried that construction hadn’t started yet. Now I know.
What’s wierd is that between N. Interstate and NE MLK is N. Mississippi which is booming. And I mean BOOMING. It is becoming the scapegoat for all the gentrification crap being thrown about. There are now big developers looking to build condos and more storefronts there and I haven’t heard peep that the PDC is funding it. I do know the PDC supported many of the small business owners on the street with storefront improvement loans, so that may be their role on that.
Just my two cents.
So why is change so important to you?
Change for the sake of change isn’t necessarily good. Many project pursued in North Portland have caused much more problems than help to the community and did so at the expense of tax payers. The downtown of St. Johns was decimated by an urban renewal plan in the 70’s that rerouted traffic (over a dozen businesses closed or relocated with seven years after the projects completion).
Also, did you know that the PDC monies used to pursue these projects is taken directly from property tax revenues that would go to state coffers. So, any time you see a PDC urban renewal project you see another multimillion dollar leach on our schools that can’t fully fund ourselves. Thats one of the reasons Jack Bodanski is so critical of these projects (he’s a tax attorney).
You make the decision of your priorities Diesel. I’m confident that NoPo offers enough just with the community that the lot will develop itself without huge sweet heart deals (Nike Town and the Addidas HQ defintly did). That is if the PDC will sell it without unreasonable strings attatched that then force the need for a subsidy.
darepdx, i don’t think i was promoting the pdc with this. i was actually lamenting that the project isn’t going through. i actually posed the question – how is n. mississippi booming without large PDC projects. I don’t consider storefront improvement on the same level as giving away land for condos.
and yes, i think change is good. where do you live darepdx? westside? your url is nwrepublican.blogspot.com so i can only assume you live in gresham or maybe even clark county. hmmmm i actually live up here. 2 blocks off n. interstate. i’m young, i bought a house at a great price and i do want to see change. the motels on n. interstate are crap, utter horror and they all cater to drug dealers and prostitutes. now, if just one pdx project could get some other developer with some deep pockets to come in and raise one of the motels and put up something else, then yes darn it, i support change.