Central Eastside
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Urban Renewal Area Fast Facts
| Created: | August 1986 |
| Total Acres: | 681 |
| Expires: | August 2018 |
| Boundaries: | View the Central Eastside URA boundaries. |
The community, PDC Commission, Planning Commission and City Council have to determine whether there are needs important enough to justify amending the Plan to preserve the ability to issue debt beyond the URA's expiration date.
Overview
The Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area is located along the eastbank of the Willamette River. Warehouse, distribution and manufacturing uses are throughout the area, with retail uses primarily concentrated along arterial streets (Martin Luther King Jr., Grand, Burnside, Belmont, Hawthorne and Powell). The district is considered a key employment center for the Central City, and urban renewal efforts are focused on creating and maintaining jobs in the area through business development assistance and redevelopment financing. Major employers include Pacific Coast Fruit Company, Portland Community College's Workforce Training and Professional Development Center, McCoy Door & Stair and Portland Electric.
Objectives of the Urban Renewal Plan include transportation and pedestrian improvements, streetscape improvements, and the creation of the Eastbank Esplanade on the eastside riverfront.
The development of the Esplanade provides recreational opportunities along the river, previously limited by its proximity to the I-5 freeway.
The Esplanade, completed in 2001, extends from the Steel Bridge to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)—another attractor in the district.
Strategies for future redevelopment in the district focus on the areas surrounding the Hawthorne Bridgehead, the Burnside Bridgehead, and the Martin Luther King/Grand Avenue Commercial Corridor.
URA Goals
Goal 1: Urban Development
Encourage expanded opportunities for housing and jobs while retaining the character of established residential, neighborhood and business centers.
- Promote urban diversity by encouraging a range of employment opportunities and living environments to attract and retain a stable and diversified population.
- Encourage full use of vacant land, except in those areas designated as open space.
- Coordinate with and support goals of adjacent URAs.
Goal 2: Business Retention & New Business Development
Improve the level, distribution and stability of jobs and income for resident industry, business and people.
- Foster a public/private partnership for development responsive to the economic needs of Portland's business and residents.
- Encourage long-term employment opportunities that enhance broad vocational and income opportunities, decrease unemployment, and increase the disposable income of City residents.
- Encourage business and industrial district organizations that help meet the City's economic development objectives and are compatible with neighborhood livability.
- Keep Portland competitive with other regional and national centers by encouraging existing business to remain and expand and proactively attracting new business and industry.
Goal 3: Central Eastside Revitalization Program
Enhance the Central Eastside as a near-in job center featuring a diverse industrial base with compatible, supportive and appropriately located commercial and residential activities. Encourage the vitality of existing firms, provide an attractive climate for complimentary ventures, and offer a positive environment for adjacent neighborhoods.
- Enhance the function of the Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) as an incubator for new industrial and commercial business.
- Increase the attractiveness of the area as an industrial center, particularly for specialty manufacturing and distribution firms desiring convenient access to regional transportation networks.
- Enhance opportunities for existing firms by providing industrial sanctuaries for certain industrial activities while allowing commercial housing development within appropriate subareas.
- Feature high quality design standards complimentary to the overall business climate for new and existing businesses, recognizing the CEID is both the "front door" to nearby residential neighborhoods and highly visible to Portland's Central Business District.
- Intensify property use at locations not suitable for industry and increase the number of compatible businesses and retail services along commercial corridors.
- Improve the transportation system and parking resources to meet the CEID's business needs and redevelopment objectives while respecting traffic concerns of adjacent neighborhoods.
Goal 4: Riverfront Access
Implement the Willamette River Greenway Plan to preserve a strong working river while promoting recreation, commercial and residential waterfront development south of the Broadway Bridge. Increase accessibility to the river and enhance greenway areas as a public resource, and improve the environmental quality of life for adjacent and nearby neighborhoods.
URA Accomplishments
Current URA Information
- Holman Building
- Central Eastside Reporter - Summer 2006 (with Burnside Bridgehead Update)
- Current Budget
- Burnside Bridgehead Redevelopment Project
- Eastbank Esplanade
- Burnside Bridgehead Redevelopment presentation
Programs Available in URA
Publications
Central Eastside Urban Renewal Advisory Committee Meeting Notes
Contact Information
- Kia Selley, e-mail
Calendar of Events
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Portland Development Commission | 222 NW Fifth Ave | Portland, OR 97209-3859
Phone: 503-823-3200 | Fax: 503-823-3368
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