If this all happens, I am more than okay with this area not being used for a new baseball stadium. The only thing I might be sad about is the buildings on the south end of the Moda Center because it seems like it would really block the view of the Moda Center from downtown, and I like seeing it all lit up Blazers red.

I understand your point of view. Repurposing is a nice idea. In Oslo we have these grain silos which have been converted to student housing. I don't know if the earthquake code and risk in Portland would make repurposing cost prohibitive or even possible.

http://www.hrtb.no/sio-silo/

Brief article by Brian Libby on remaking the IRQ in the Albina Vision. If it's not already apparent, the ODOT plan appears to be antithetical to Rukaiyah Adams and the Albina Vision for inner N. Pland. The patchwork of non-functional caps ODOT will use for construction is the opposite of the continuous 10 block cap proposed by Adams. Here's Jonathan Maus from bikeportland.

I was involved in a project years ago that involved a principal player within the orbit of Louis-Dreyfus (hint... the individual's last name was the same), and they indicated that Paul Allen had approached on more than one occasion to purchase the elevators. He was told - paraphrasing - 'Sure, if you build and deliver us an equivalent grain storage and loading facility elsewhere along the industrial Willamette as an exchange, we'll consider it.'

Your recollection of it's status within the Dreyfus realm, appears accurate. I recall at the time (circa late 90's-2000) being told it was an asset that was free and clear of any debt and was tremendous net revenue source for L-D.

Maybe something will change as the Allen fortune distributes over the next few years and others have different/evolving visions for the area. Still a sizeable financial hump to clear, for a new development. Absorbing the cost of that new facility within the redevelopment budget probably will always be a killer, unless there is a sizable subsidy. Even Paul Allen who was known for pet projects not needed to pencil (EMP for example), didn't bite on this one.

Much has changed. I wouldn't be surprised to see this site become available in the coming years and the numbers don't pencil as a grain elevator any longer. There has been a tremendous amount of capacity (over)built in recently on the Columbia. The elevators in town cannot get the large trains in and cannot support the largest ships like their competitors. You hardly ever see ships being loaded at this location, and that is even after a massive investment LDC made in the elevator some 4-5 years ago. The biggest issue might be the book value far exceeds the land value and the company may not want to recognize the loss on sale, but eventually my guess is the writing is on the wall. It's unfortunate we may have missed a window with Paul Allen. It's going to be a difficult project to make work.

On that topic, they're requesting a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a zone change:

I'm in the same boat, having equated them with the IRQ since I was a kid. If they were ever repurposed, there are so many awesome things that they could turn into. Here's the Flakturm in Vienna. The parking lot adjacent to grain towers could easily be a park now.

Sorry the article's locked up, but this sounds like a step closer to possibly seeing the demise of this grain terminal? Such a prime waterfront area with great views.

Prominent waterfront property trades hands for a steal

By Jon Bell – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal
7 hours ago
The new owner of the former Louis Dreyfus Co. grain terminal north of the Steel Bridge is likely looking for a temporary user until the parcel can be sold or redeveloped.

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland..._news_headline

^They're reporting the property sold to Rabin Worldwide for under $200K, however there are probably additional details behind the deal. Such as profit sharing when/if the land is sold.

No redevelopment is proposed at this time however there is an oversupply of grain storage.

It also mentions that they are looking for an operational partner for at least the next few years when a better opportunity to sell/redevelop might come up.

This would be an exceptionally hard site to redevelop. Most of the land in between the grain terminal and N Interstate is owned by Union Pacific, who I doubt are eager to sell it. Under Central City 2035 there's a 50' setback from the river that no new buildings could be placed in. Once you account for those constraints there's not a lot of site left.

This would be very costly and would probably only be done for a major development that probably included help from the city, but Union Pacific could "sell" the air rights and allow a platform to be built over the tracks that could then be built on top of. From there, the city would have to make an exception to the zoning setbacks to allow for something taller to be built along that stretch.

Granted, I wouldn't hold my breath for anything like this happening here, but I could see something like this happen if all the parties wanted to take on a major project like this.

I've often thought this could be a great location for an intercity/high-speed rail station, as the tracks are already there, it would keep trains from having to cross the Willamette twice compared to Union Station (and avoid the road conflicts that entails), and it is still centrally located given its connection to the Rose Quarter TC. Send commuter trains (if they ever arrive) to Union Station, and the faster trains from Eugene/Seattle/Vancouver can stop on the east side without having to slow down for the crossing.

As a bonus, passengers arriving would have a killer view of downtown.

I remember a proposal from somewhere many years ago that floated the idea of a repurposed Memorial Coliseum as an HSR station, which made sense for the same reasons you outlined.

Indeed, the recent WSDOT Ultra High-Speed Ground Transportation Study lists several scenarios in which Portland's HSR station is located at the Rose Quarter (plus one scenario putting it at the airport and another at the Expo Center, but none at the present Union Station).

That would also go well with my idea of turning the whole area in front of the Moda Center into an underground transit station, especially if a tunnel line for light rail is constructed. It would make sense to have this site be the location for HSR and regional rail.

I’d like to just see a new development with inclusion of low income housing and mixed use commercial to activate the area for pedestrians.

Drawings [58 MB] for Analog at 1835 N Flint.

I always like WPA designs, this location looks awkward right now, but going to be amazing when that whole area gets redeveloped.

Not a big fan of the abstract lines. I agree it will look better when the rest of the area is redeveloped.

Albina Vision presentation [10 MB] to the Planning and Sustainability Commission.

The presentation starts about 10 minutes into this video:

• Video Link

...continues at OPB.