Backroom shopping center talks in Milwaukie
The sleepy Portland suburb of Milwaukie (pop. 20,291) -- which is about to get a bazillion-dollar light rail train run to it from Portland for no sane reason -- is in secret talks with the developer who was trying to put a shopping center in Oregon City before giving up a couple of months ago. Not only is this guy, Fred Bruning, talking shopping center -- he's also ranting about a new trolley that would "supplement" the crazy MAX train. "Our idea," he says, "is to create a synergistic environment that gets capital investments moving and encourages spin-off investments.”
"Synergistic" -- it's this month's "linchpin." Can "catalyst" and "icon" be far behind?
He's also gung ho on the proposed minor league baseball stadium, of course. There's a near-guaranteed financial flop in the making. But you go, Milwaukie -- you're like Portland's cousin, the one with the mullet. Maybe you can beat us to bankruptcy court. Go by streetcar!
| Posted at 8:42 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (12)
"Synergistic" actuallly means:
Risk is not mine neither is most of the money. Betcha' he'll have all the political bumpkins in Milwaukie and Clack County drooling.
Posted by Steve | August 23, 2011 9:26 AM
I wonder if the retired teachers in California who are now getting money for their pensions from Mr. Bruning's "investments" (hence the name CenterCal) will continue to be able to depend on his investment strategies if his "synergistic" vision comes to fruition.
Posted by portland native | August 23, 2011 9:29 AM
I also see that Mayor Ferguson of Milwaukie wants the trolley to be "old fashioned". Could we assume he wants to reinstate the horse drawn trolleys of the 1880's?
Looks like the mayor could enjoy (looking at) a horse's a$$ after all...
Posted by portland native | August 23, 2011 9:37 AM
I'm sure his shopping center "vision" will fill a big niche underserved by the multi-million dollar upgrade they just did at Clackamas Town Center. Everyone knows that Milwaukie and Oregon City residents can't have enough high end kitchen options.
At least Portlanders can breathe a sigh of relief that the real estate confidence men are starting to move onto the burbs.
Posted by observer | August 23, 2011 9:38 AM
Wait a minute... is this all beginning to make sense? Build a light rail to Oregon City... but the shopping center never happens. So build another one that goes the same direction but along a slightly different path and what do you know? There's talk of a shopping center again. Maybe this one will be another "transit oriented" success like Cascade Station. Next they'll be announcing WES-2. Get yer reservation in now for hot future properties before they're all gone.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | August 23, 2011 9:42 AM
CenterCal is learning that the real money is in urban renewal. "Our project doesn't work without it." Then why are you in business?
Posted by Snards | August 23, 2011 11:07 AM
Fred Bruning is a lying sap.
He's telling people how well light rail spurred Cascade Station which only developed with big boxes after the whole idea light rail was supposed to spur was abandoned.
He also gave $2500 to the yes campaign for the Clackamas County fee scam that got crushed.
Now he's been brought on board to contribute to the propaganda pitching Milwaukie Light Rail as a catalyst for the salvation and renewal of Milwaukie.
In reality every element of the plans for Milwaukie and McLoughlin are exactly the same as what took place in Rockwood etc driving Fred Meyer out and producing crime and blight for 20 years.
But now these schemes and light rail boondoggles are hideously expensive and people are shutting it down.
Posted by Ben | August 23, 2011 11:12 AM
Fred is a crafty, lying sap! He knows where the money is.
Posted by portland native | August 23, 2011 12:27 PM
Bridgeport Village is working out quite nicely.
Of course, WES passes by without stopping. It has its own Transit Center (that actually pre-dates the mall) but the buses that use it are rush-hour only buses that don't go there on the weekends...you know, when people shop. (The exception is the 76 bus, but it runs so infrequently that it is shunned by those who have a choice in the matter.)
Milwaukie has a good amount of industrial land with railroad access (for freight, not passengers)...it doesn't need to convert it to commercial/residential use. Attract some good businesses that want to be close to Portland, but be on the Clackamas County side of the county line. The city will rake in the money, won't have to spend any money - it's a win-win. Unlike, say, a baseball stadium where the city spends to build, the city spends to operate, but someone else walks away with the profits (that are tax abated).
Posted by Erik H. | August 23, 2011 12:30 PM
I shop out at Cascade Station all the time and I very rarely see people getting on or off the Max at that stop, and when there are people, it's only one or two. Cascade Station is a car paradise, plenty of easy parking!!
Posted by NoPo Guy | August 23, 2011 1:58 PM
So it’s not just investors who are guilty of moving in a herd-like fashion.
Financial journalists use the same verbs and nouns with greater frequency as stock markets overheat but display more variety in their phraseology after the bubble bursts, a study by Irish computer scientists has shown.
Avoid financial meltdown – use a thesaurus
http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting/2011/07/21/avoid-financial-meltdown-use-a-thesaurus/
Not just limited to finance, the phenomenon is pervasive but revealing....
Posted by Mojo | August 23, 2011 2:28 PM
NoPo, are you suggesting that folks buying massive rectangular slabs of wood-like kit at IKEA don't find MAX the ideal multi-modal transit device?
Posted by Old Zeb | August 23, 2011 3:48 PM