PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland Public Schools said it will consider selling its administrative building in North Portland after the Portland Diamond Project offered the district $80 million and a second location off Northeast 82nd Avenue.
The Portland Diamond Project is scouting for a location to build a Major League Baseball stadium, in hopes MLB will either relocate a team to Portland or add another franchise. The PDP made unsolicited offers on two properties last week, including the PPS site on North Dixon Street, two blocks from the Moda Center.
The offer to PPS included $80 million cash and a second property: the former Banfield Pet Hospital headquarters on Northeast Tillamook Street and 80th Avenue.
On Friday afternoon, PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero issued a statement in response to the offer. Guerrero said the district would consider offers from the Portland Diamond Project or other entities, but inferred the second location offered by PDP isn't central enough for the district relocation.
"Any sale of property must help us advance our core mission and help us to guarantee equitable access, opportunity and outcomes for all of our students in PPS. Such a transaction would also require a significant effort to relocate PPS’s Central Office. Therefore, as a District, we would consider a new location based on is centrality, accessibility and one that meets continuity of services of core functions.
"We welcome the opportunity for you and/or other interested parties to participate in this process and
potentially partner to prepare the next generation of students to work, live and thrive in our incredible
city," Guerrero said.
He said the district is developing a process for interested parties to bid on the PPS headquarters site, the details of which will be released in "the coming weeks."
In a statement released on Friday, Portland Diamond Project managing partner and spokesman Mike Barrett said, "We welcome the process and look forward to being a good partner."
The Portland Diamond Project also placed an offer on industrial land owned by ESCO Corporation in Northwest Portland. The details of that offer have not been made public.
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