The Vancouver City Council on Monday agreed to pay philanthropist Michael Lynch more than $6.29 million for 3 acres in the Van Mall neighborhood where the city plans to build a 150-bed homeless shelter.
Lynch purchased the three parcels at 5313 N.E. 94th Ave., the former home of Naydenov Gymnastics, for $6 million just 10 days before city officials announced they were evaluating the site for the so-called bridge shelter. Design and construction will cost the city an estimated $9.5 million.
“We’ve got to have services for people to get into housing,” Lynch said.
Purchase timing
Vancouver resident Shannon Stamps questioned the timing of Lynch’s purchase at Monday’s meeting just before councilors voted unanimously for the purchase contract.
“How did they know to purchase that property four months ago? … Sounds like it’s a forgone conclusion,” Stamps said.
The city intended to purchase the property even if it wasn’t going to be used for the bridge shelter, city spokeswoman Laura Shepard said. The city and the Lynch Foundation had been independently looking for an appropriate location for the homeless shelter, she said.
In May, the city of Vancouver pleaded for Clark County’s quick help with funds to purchase a site for the bridge shelter out of fear the property could be scooped up by someone else. The Clark County Council voted to make the city go through the same extended process as other projects. A committee ultimately denied the city funding in October.
Lynch said although he purchased the site with the intention that it would be used as the city’s homeless shelter, city staff did not ask him to buy it.
“We were all looking at the homeless problem and how to address it and what places would potentially work,” Lynch said.
Lynch represents the estate of his father, Edward C. Lynch, a retired construction executive and philanthropist who died in 2015. The estate will level the property, including the 27,224-square-foot former Naydenov building, which the city determined to be unusable for the shelter.
Lynch will not make a profit on the sale because of this additional work, said Aaron Lande, the city’s policy manager.
The Lynches have a history of engaging in charitable causes addressing homelessness. The Edward C. Lynch Estate owns the property the city leases for its downtown Safe Stay shelter, a cluster of 20 huts that each sleep two people.
Lynch said the planned 150-bed shelter, which will have on-site drug treatment and other services to help people land more permanent housing, will help fill a gap in Vancouver.
“It kind of helps everybody in the community. It helps people with businesses and homes being impacted,” Lynch said. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Neighbors
The proximity of the planned 150-bed shelter to a child care center and Orchards West Park worries the surrounding neighbors. Some have expressed fear or anger at city council meetings.
However, most residents who spoke at Monday’s city council meeting expressed support for the project, including staff from the neighboring Kidspace Child Enrichment Center.
“The goal is for both populations to thrive in the same neighborhood,” said Kathy Stanley, the center’s owner.
The four Kidspace employees who attended the meeting asked for the city to create sidewalks and crosswalks by the shelter, place a bus stop in front of the shelter so residents don’t have to walk near the child care center, monitor the site with security 24/7 and clean up parks.
Those details will be worked out when the council discusses how the shelter will operate, said Jamie Spinelli, the city’s homeless response manager. Right now, officials are still working out the shelter’s design with the goal of opening the facility in mid-2026.
On Monday, the city council voted to hire Portland firm Scott Edwards Architecture to design the bridge shelter. The architect will consult with Do Good Multnomah, the nonprofit anticipated to operate the shelter.
Spinelli said she hopes the shelter residents can work to improve the community around them.
“In fact, that community building aspect is the core of all our (shelter) communities,” Spinelli said. “The same thing will occur here.”
