January 29, 2014

Next week, City Council will vote to turn one of Portland’s long-time brownfields into a vibrant new multi-use development in the heart of St. Johns.

A "brownfield" is a property where a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant is present – which can prevent safe development of the property. 

Cleaning up brownfields improves water quality and watershed health, and encourages neighborhood economic vitality. The Bureau of Environmental Services’ Portland Brownfield Program provides EPA-funded technical assistance and financial support to clean up contaminated properties.

The St. Johns property on North Lombard and Baltimore has been vacant since the 1970s. Buried in the lot were 7 old storage tanks that held toxic materials. BES turned to the St. Johns community to help find a developer for the site. Since 2006, North Portland neighbors have been working with City staff to find the way to breathe new life into the empty lot.

Now that the property is clean and safe, a local developer will turn the empty land into a vibrant space with apartments, office space, a public children’s play structure, and more.

If City Council approves the project next week, developer Kevin Cavenaugh will break ground on the project at the end of the year. Read more about this great brownfield story in The Oregonian.

St. Johns brownfield will become new kind of mixed-use development

Casey Parks in The Oregonian