Downtown Waterfront

Mercy Corps World Headquarters -
A Center for Global Change

Introduction

Mercy Corps, an international organization that provides emergency relief service and sustainable economic development in more than 35 countries around the world, has identified the Skidmore Fountain Building and the adjacent surface parking lots as the preferred site for development of their world headquarters.

Prior to this selection, Mercy Corps explored more than sixty (60) potential sites over the past few years.  Mercy Corps determined, based on several amenities of the neighborhood, including access to light rail, proximity to the Willamette River and the location of Saturday Market, among other attractors, that the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood within the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area is an ideal home for its world headquarters and museum-quality learning center.

The Portland Development Commission is a major partner in the Mercy Corps Center for Change through assembly of the project site and financial commitments that make the project feasible.

The Mercy Corps headquarters, through the redevelopment of the Skidmore Fountain Building and the adjoining surface parking lots, will provide improvement to the Ankeny/Burnside area after a long history of policy and planning that has called for improvements in the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, dating back to the Downtown Plan adopted by City Council in 1972, and most recently in the Ankeny Burnside Development Framework completed in 2006.

The Mercy Corps project addresses the following City of Portland objectives:

• Creates healthy, livable neighborhoods
• Increases density, activity along transit lines
• Provides new retail and service opportunities
• Preserves an historic landmark
• Activates the streetscape
• Improves public safety

The project also meets the following PDC objectives:

• Re-connects the district to the waterfront
• Serves as a major public attractor
• Reinforces Ankeny Plaza as the core of the district
• Provides 200 quality, family-wage jobs
• Leverages PDC investment with substantial private investment

Mercy Corps proposes to build an approximately 80,000 square foot development that will essentially double the space in the Skidmore Fountain Building with an addition to the east.  The project will include corporate offices on the upper floors.  The ground floor will house a new global learning center that will educate the public – especially youth – about international issues and offer ways to “be the change”.  Also on street level will be the Mercy Corps Northwest small business center that provides financial and technical assistance to help entrepreneurs create or expand businesses.  The northern portion of the property will contain a surface parking lot for the use of Mercy Corps staff and visitors. Mercy Corps will bring approximately 200 jobs to the area, and during emergencies staff will work around the clock, adding additional activity and security to the district.

Click here to learn more about the project (PDF File)

For more information about the work of Mercy Corps throughout the world, go to: http://www.mercycorps.org/centerforchange/.

To learn more about PDC's support for Mercy Corps' headquarters and an Ankeny Burnside Update, click here (PDF File)

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