Portland seeks plan for developing site

PORTLAND (AP) — Portland’s urban renewal agency has requested applications for a master plan to redevelop an area that includes city-owned blocks on and around the former Pearl District Post Office and encompassing Union Station.

Prosper Portland sent out the call for submissions Wednesday, seeking a developer with experience in public-private partnerships and familiar with mixed-use and mixed-income projects, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

It comes less than a month after Portland included the 32-acre area, recently named the Broadway Corridor, in its pitch for Amazon’s second headquarters. The proposal did not include any special incentives for the online retailer. Officials called it a long shot because of the city’s proximity to the company’s Seattle headquarters.

Shawn Uhlman, Prosper Portland spokesman, said the action last week doesn’t mean the city is giving up on the Amazon proposal.

“We need to move forward with a master plan process regardless of who the tenants may be,” Uhlman said.

If Amazon chooses Portland out of the 238 proposals it received last month, Uhlman said the company would be worked into the planning process.

Gustavo Cruz, chairman of the Portland agency, said in the request that the development area presents an opportunity to deliver affordable housing, environmentally friendly structures and public spaces.

“The Broadway Corridor will be a laboratory of inclusion and opportunity, changing Portland’s downtown landscape in a way that touches residents from every neighborhood, income level and cultural community,” he wrote.

Officials said they expect the development to bring in more than $1 billion in investments. The agency plans to select a developer in April and have a master plan ready in 2019.