Willamette Falls
The principal of a California-based company says a plan for the Blue Heron mill site near Willamette Falls will bring thousands of jobs and new homes to downtown Oregon City.
Humboldt Bay Energy, a corporation registered in Nevada but operating out of Eureka, Calif., has come forward as interested in buying the site, and the bankruptcy court trustee charged with selling Blue Heron's assets said the company is furthest along in the process of buying the property.
Metro has also expressed interest in buying the mill site, and is continuing its environmental and structural review of the site before deciding whether to place a bid.
"Humboldt has made specific offers with specific numbers and Metro has not done that," said trustee Peter McKittrick. "In that respect, I'd have to say Humboldt is further along."
But Garison Russo, a principal of Humboldt Bay Energy, said he's cautiously optimistic his company will reach a deal to buy the site.
"There's still a huge amount of work to be done," Russo said. "We still have to do a lot of environmental testing," checking on toxins like asbestos and the level of soil contamination. It could be millions of dollars, Russo said.
"We're prepared to make that kind of investment, subject to what the applicable government regulatory agencies say," he said.
Russo said he's working on a mixed-use development plan for the property, which could include renewable energy and indoor farming, both of vegetables and seafood. The project could also include affordable housing. Foreign investors are subsidizing the endeavor, he said.
McKittrick said Humboldt Bay Energy also submitted a bid for the former Blue Heron lagoon on the West Linn side of the river, outbidding the $1.75 million offer two Clackamas County sewer districts put forth last month.
"We're looking to make a long term investment," said Humboldt Bay Energy's Russo. "The nature of the project we're proposing, I don't think it's ever been done before, anywhere on the planet. The secondary revenue streams we're going to create from tourism will be worth millions of dollars, not only to Portland but to Oregon City, in the form of filling up hotel rooms and that kind of thing."
Russo had made a pitch for Portland's Centennial Mills development, but the company's focus shifted south, he said. His plans for the Willamette Falls site could support more than 1,000 jobs, he said.
"It's the end of the Oregon Trail, but it's the start of something that potentially could revolutionize eco-friendly neighborhoods and communities," he said.
Metro continues research
Meanwhile, Metro is continuing to study the property to decide whether to put in a bid of its own on the site. Metro Sustainability Center director Jim Desmond emphasized that the region isn't trying to keep private sector parties from looking at the site, and is doing its due diligence on the risks associated with putting a bid forth.
The agency recently signed a license agreement with the trustee, formalizing access rules for the site so that it can continue studying the environmental effects of nearly two centuries of industrial use. Experts from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office will also look at the site's historic preservation potential. Grants from the state will cover most, if not all, of the cost of the environmental and historic studies.
Desmond said he didn't know how long it would take before his staff was ready to recommend a course of action to the Metro Council, but said it would be a matter of months, not weeks, before the environmental and structural review is completed.
"We think the best result for the public would be for the property to be redeveloped by private as well as public, and we don't want to stand in the way of any private development," Desmond said.
As for Humboldt Bay Energy, Desmond said Metro has not been in any contact with the company. He had no comment on the potential bid.
"We're going to continue with the due diligence," Desmond said. "Until the property is under contract to somebody else… we're not slowing anything down at this time."
See also:
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