Row of dominoes
Portland's commercial real estate woes continue, with John Beardsley putting his large real estate holding company into bankruptcy. It's obvious that the company's broke, but the bankruptcy is kind of an odd story. Beardsley says the move is necessary because he doesn't want to lose the old Jazz de Opus building in Old Town -- a building he loves so much that he's got it rented out to a strip joint and a tattoo parlor.
The O article on the bankruptcy, by the adoring Ryan Gragg-Frank, also points out that Beardsley's the guy behind SeaPort Airlines, the startup local airline that touts in its ads that there's no TSA security on its flights. From the company website, it appears it also flies out of Memphis, Tennessee. Beardsley just fired the CEO and says he'll run the airline himself, without pay. Good luck with that.
| Posted at 7:02 AM | Permalink |
|
Comments (12)
I wonder if Ryan Frank is any relation to Gerry Frank.
Posted by Tom | November 24, 2009 7:32 AM
I don't know. But it's the Oregonian -- that's a pretty good bet.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 24, 2009 7:39 AM
That's what I'm thinking.
Posted by tom | November 24, 2009 7:52 AM
I've thought about flying on SeaPort but now I'm wondering. Is Beardsley qualified to run an airline? Avoiding the TSA is a fine thing but we need to know how committed he is to FAA safety rules.
Posted by Don | November 24, 2009 10:07 AM
You might ask one of his pilots. He'll probably be about 18 years old.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 24, 2009 10:08 AM
That strip club has a helluva steak and lobster special on Friday afternoons. You should join me there some night before a Blazer game. Steak, lobster, and walk to the MAX. That's living, my friend.
Posted by Richard Thruster | November 24, 2009 10:20 AM
Seaport air operates under FAA regs part 135. They do a good job. They are exempt from TSA because their planes are nine passenger and TSA regs start at thirty passengers. They have ten flights daily to Seattle and I've used them several times. They fly in to Boeing field so you don't have the trip from SeaTac to downtown.
Posted by Robert Collins | November 24, 2009 2:37 PM
I would be afraid that a short terrorist would take over a plane like that and deliberately fly it into a yurt.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 24, 2009 2:42 PM
Those planes bounce around so much I don't think a terrorist would make it to the cockpit.
Actually, they are pretty nice birds. Pilatus single turboprops. Pressurized. They climb up to about eighteen thousand on the Seattle run. You get there fifteen minutes ahead of time, show your ID, board the plane and you are at Boeing field in forty minutes. It's a pretty nice ride.
Posted by Robert Collins | November 24, 2009 2:49 PM
"You might ask one of his pilots. He'll probably be about 18 years old."
Jack, is Mayor Tramwhore moonlighting hiring pilots now? At least it would help his financial woes.
Posted by LucsAdvo | November 24, 2009 7:41 PM
Is Ryan Gragg-Frank related to Randy Gragg?
Posted by none | November 24, 2009 8:06 PM
That's not his real name. But he and the Graggmeister are kindred spirits.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 24, 2009 11:56 PM