Downtown Shuffle

[November 7th, 2007]

Even with its widening budget gap and failure to open Wapato Jail, Multnomah County is set to buy a prime piece of Portland real estate—and perhaps sink further in debt to do it.

The county Board of Commissioners will meet today, Nov. 7, behind closed doors to discuss buying the downtown Lincoln Building for $44.1 million. The eight-story building at 421 SW Oak St. was sold by troubled Qwest Communications two years ago to another buyer for about one-fourth that price—$11.3 million.

The board is then set to vote on the sale in its regular public meeting Thursday morning, Nov. 8. If the county makes the $44.1 million purchase, the 256,000-square-foot building would need an additional $23 million in seismic upgrades and other improvements, says Doug Butler, county facilities director. That adds up to $67.1 million.

Bonds to finance the deal would send the county in the red to the point that commissioners also were set to vote Thursday to raise the county’s debt limit from 5 percent to 7 percent of the general fund. That vote got cut from the agenda to give staff more time to prepare information.

Butler says the purchase will let the county sell off two downtown buildings that need repair and to consolidate its health clinic and probation office from those two buildings with the human services staff already occupying leased space in the Lincoln Building.

Buying the Lincoln Building and upgrading it could cost either the same or more than keeping the current setup, depending on the deal’s financing, Butler says. Savings made by selling off the other buildings and from the current Lincoln Building lease are part of the equation.

But some observers say it’s the wrong time for the county to be scouting new real estate. The county this year cut funding for sheriff’s investigators, school health clinics and other programs. It still hasn’t found the money to open Wapato Jail three years after its construction. And voters also may be asked next year to approve a public-safety levy.

Sgt. Phil Anderchuk, head of the jail deputies’ union, says he’s puzzled that the Lincoln Building is being pushed after newly elected Chair Ted Wheeler promised to make public safety his top priority. “I just wish they would put that same amount of energy and importance into opening a freaking jail that’s been closed,” Anderchuk says.

Former Sheriff Dan Noelle is also critical. “That doesn’t provide any additional public safety for Multnomah County,” he says of the purchase.

Wheeler says the buy is a good deal and insists he hasn’t taken his “eye off the ball” with public safety or Wapato Jail.

Butler says buying the Lincoln Building will allow the county to sell the nearby seven-story Mead Building at 421 SW 5th Ave. and the eight-story McCoy Building at 426 SW Stark St. Both are aging structures poorly designed for county use. And both would require substantial upgrades if they’re kept.

“Our current circumstance is not sustainable,” Butler says. “I can say hands down this will be a cheaper and more cost-efficient scenario.”

The deal has been pushed by Butler, but it’s far from a sure thing with the five-person board. Commissioner Jeff Cogen says he’s not yet convinced, and Commissioner Lisa Naito also has doubts. Commissioner Lonnie Roberts remains undecided and Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey could not be reached for comment.

“I certainly wouldn’t be prepared to support it until a real compelling case is made that I haven’t seen yet,” Naito says.