November 9, 2007

PDC To Recommend Postponement Of 511 Building RFI

The Portland Development Commission was first notified of the Pacific Northwest College of Art's (PNCA) interest in possibly redeveloping the 511 Building in September 2006.  After completing a six month process of first-stage due diligence, the PNCA has informed the PDC they will be applying directly to the General Services Administration (GSA), through the Department of Education, to acquire the building. This decision was shared with city officials and representatives from other developers on Friday, Nov. 9.

The PNCA will apply for an Educational Use transfer, which does not require endorsement by the City of Portland or the PDC. Based on this new information, PDC staff will recommend to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Nov. 14 to postpone the recently undertaken Request For Interest (RFI) process PDC had initiated until a decision is reached by the GSA.

“At this point we believe it is prudent to postpone the RFI process and see what action the GSA takes,” said PDC Senior Development Manager Lew Bowers. “We have notified all of the parties involved in our RFI process of our intention to recommend postponement of the process and we will continue to keep them informed as this effort moves forward.”

The PDC Board of Commissioners recently directed staff to initiate a formal RFI process once it became clear that several groups were interested in redeveloping the building. If the RFI process does resume and proceed through to conclusion, the PDC would ultimately select a development group and submit an application to the GSA. As the owners of the building, the GSA could then accept or decline this recommendation.   

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