EPA Region 10 - South Waterfront Redevelopment Project, Portland, Oregon

The South Waterfront Redevelopment Project was a landmark project for the future of brownfields development efforts in Oregon long before the term “brownfields” was in use. The Portland Development Commission (PDC) brought 20 + years of urban land development experience to its first major environmental challenge. Similarly, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) brought a change in attitude and an untested cleanup program model to a site with complex problems and great potential for public benefit. Together the PDC and the DEQ redefined the roles of regulator and land owner by finding effective ways to work collaboratively toward the shared goal of implementing a long-range development plan focused on creating a downtown mixed-use residential neighborhood.

Aerial Photo of Site Before 1979 Photograph by Portland Development Commission	Aerial Photo of Site After 2002 Photograph by Bergman Photographic Services, Inc.

The 73-acre project site is located along the Willamette River waterfront immediately south of downtown and the central business district of the City of Portland. The first recorded use of the property was the Portland Lumber Company, built in the 1880s and designed to generate electricity and steam as a source of heat for downtown buildings. Steam plant boilers were converted to oil in 1947 and to natural gas in 1958. The plant closed in 1985 due to technological obsolescence. In the 1930s, an electrical substation was built in close proximity to the lumber mill location, remaining in operation until 1989 when it was relocated to accommodate site redevelopment.

In 1976, the Portland City Council made a landmark decision to remove Harbor Drive, a 6-lane expressway occupying the waterfront, thus implementing a long-standing public objective to reclaim the waterfront for public use and revitalize underutilized parts of the city core with innovative, mixed-use urban infill development. In 1978, the PDC acquired the 73-acre project site, incorporating it into the Portland Downtown Urban Renewal Plan and in 1979 the city council adopted the South Waterfront Redevelopment Program, focusing on a 16-acre tract of land, 10 acres of which were subject to remediation.

View of the Plaza - 1999 Photograph by Stephen Cridland

Public River Access - 1999 Photograph by C. Bruce Forster

Esplanade - 2003 Photograph by Portland Development Commission

The project site was the first property to enter DEQ's newly formed Voluntary Cleanup Program. Due to the complexity of subsurface conditions and the proximity of the Willamette River, site assessment and site remediation were the greatest challenges associated with the project. Risk assessment indicated high levels of lead and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in subsurface soils and PAH contamination in the groundwater. To alleviate concerns that contaminants might migrate into the Willamette River, complex modeling of groundwater flow was required. Although modeling demonstrated low probability of such migration, DEQ required a 5-year groundwater-monitoring program. The remediation program developed for this project included surface capping of discrete site areas, DEQ-approved abandonment of a water intake structure, and installation of a riverbank stabilization system designed to provide access to the river, enhance habitat for residents and migratory fish, and protection from upland contamination sources. Institutional controls included prohibition of groundwater use, a surface cap maintenance program, and specialized piling methods and post-piling groundwater monitoring.

Although the majority of the project development costs were borne by the private sector, the Portland Development Commission contributed over $23.5 million towards land assembly, site preparation costs, infrastructure development and subsidized land prices through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). A $350,000 grant provided by National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) was combined with TIF for the waterfront bank stabilization and repair.

Through the city's urban renewal plan, the PDC incorporated mixed-use development including retail, commercial, housing, parks, and open space, to meet neighborhood community needs as well as support the larger downtown community. The strategy encouraged efforts to promote infill development to curb sprawl that might otherwise be necessary to accommodate future growth of the region. The project provided the first non-subsidized market rate housing in the downtown core since the 1960s, offering opportunities for increased density close to the central city. The project recaptured underutilized lands within close proximity to the downtown core and better-utilized public access to the Willamette River. The 4-acre South Waterfront Park includes Tom McCall Garden, which serves as both a neighborhood park and a landmark on the 60-mile urban Greenway Trail System that extends on both banks of the Willamette River. A meandering esplanade lined with shops and restaurants faces the 83-slip marina that connects the existing waterfront park trail to the central city. Current tax revenues generated by the project for 2002 are over $1.5 million. An area that once employed 210 people in manufacturing and professional job classifications now employs 440 people in professional, property and business management, maintenance, and service industry job classifications.

This project and process confirmed the effectiveness of flexible regulatory engagement and redevelopment-oriented solutions as the surest path to addressing environmental problems on obsolete industrial lands throughout Oregon.

For further information about this project, contact Larry Brown, Senior Development Manager at (503) 823-3353 or at brownl@pdc.us.

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