Owner of Dante’s Complains to Mayor About a Reef-Managed Parking Lot That’s “Devolved Into Chaos”

“Gunshots fired in the lot are commonplace at night. There have been several gunshot injuries. One fatal. The lot has become a public nuisance.”

Health Inspector Images Photos taken by county health officials show trash overflow at Reef parking lots on Southwest 3rd, 4th and 5th avenues. (Courtesy Multnomah County)
By Sophie Peel

Last week, WW wrote about how Miami-based Reef Technology, which manages most of the parking lots in downtown Portland, is seeing some of its most meaningful contracts end due to alleged poor management. (It’s also shuttered the majority of its “ghost kitchen” trailers scattered across the city that make fast food for delivery, including Wendy’s.)

The owner of Old Town music venue Dante’s is offering his two cents about the Reef-managed parking lot next to his business.

Frank Faillace, a longtime nightclub owner, wrote to Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials Dec. 19.

“As you may or may not know, the management of the lot over the last few years has degraded into nothing short of a catastrophe. It is a daily and nightly battle for us to keep the lot clear of drug dealers, campers, broken-down vehicles, piles of garbage, etc,” Faillace wrote. “It has become a huge danger for us and all our staff. I personally go out there several times a day to get people to leave who are dealing and smoking fentanyl, breaking into cars, and worse. Our lives get threatened daily.”

Faillace added that he’s tried to contact Reef for years, to no avail.

“We had to beg the police to bring in a gas-powered spotlight every weekend night to help with security and thankfully they finally did,” Faillace wrote. “They have let the parking lot devolve into chaos. The negligence has been disgusting. Gunshots fired in the lot are commonplace at night. There have been several gunshot injuries. One fatal. The lot has become a public nuisance.”

Perhaps to the relief of Faillace, Reef will no longer manage that lot come Jan. 1. That’s because, according to Multnomah County Health Department records obtained by WW earlier this month, Reef will no longer manage any of the parking lots owned by the Goodman family. A Reef manager wrote to health officials late last month that the two parties could not come to a new lease agreement.

Faillace asked in the email that the incoming parking lot management company, Parking Northwest, meet with him to discuss safety measures, including a security guard and better lighting.

A Reef spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

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