At a meeting on June 14, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to spend $8 million to buy an existing 300-space parking lot under the west end of Morrison Bridge, between Harvey Milk Street and Morrison Street, along Naito Parkway.
The lot is between Harvey Milk Street and Morrison Street. Portland Parks & Recreation will buy the new city land to add it to Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioner Dan Ryan mentioned the ordinance and said the purchase was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” The city wants to use the space “as is” now without making any significant changes. However, Ryan said the property could be used for more than just parking. It could also be used as an event place.
Dylan Paul, who is in charge of business development for PP&R land, said the land is a great way to add to Waterfront Park’s event space and visitor parking. The area will add more city-owned parking spots to the Portland Waterfront, but it was already a privately owned public parking lot run by the company Morrison Bridgehead LLC.
The Portland City Council unanimously approved the purchase of a parking lot located underneath the west end of Morrison Bridge for $8 million.
Commissioner Dan Ryan called the purchase a βonce-in-a-generation opportunity.β https://t.co/kKTRm0HyGE
β KOIN News (@KOINNews) June 14, 2023
Paul said that the paved parking lot would also make Waterfront Park a better place for events in the winter and fall when the grass is wet and hard to work with.
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The property was bought with the help of an emergency ordinance, which let the council buy the property without getting more feedback from the public. The Multnomah County assessor’s office said the property was worth about $8.6 million. Paul said the property was bought quickly to get the best price for the city. With the city council’s agreement, the city will use money from PP&R’s System Development Charges to buy the property.
